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A review by apechild
The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick
4.0
It's a good story, clever ideas and all that but it seemed to take me an age to get into, as if I was so bored with it to begin with. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind for a good bit of thought-provoking dystopia. Or I don't know whether it was a comment on capitalism, with the ignorant, lied to masses slogging their guts out and living in cramped little spaces to fund the luxary lifestyles of the minority who live up top in their private estates, alone and sterile in their kingdoms, spinning lies to retain control.
World War III happened. For the folk underground they believe it's still ongoing, and the relentless building of robots to go up to the radioactive surface and fight is essential war work. They live in "ant tanks" and have been down there fifteen years, working to quotas, having to gather in communal halls to watch broadcasts from their great leader (who turns out to literally be a dummy nailed to a desk). All a bit 1984. Out on the surface, the war finished thirteen years ago. The elite few have beautiful estates of thousands and thousands of acres etc, and keep the lies going to keep all those millions of people down in the ant tanks. Because if they came up, the war would start again apparently (wars being started by the masses and not the elite folks at the top!). Even within the elite top though resources are being hoarded by the few, and there is this vile leader based at Geneva, in his eighties who has hoarded all the artificial organs left for donation, 'in case' he needs them to prolong his life, even though there are people dying who could use them now. And within the ranks of the surface people there are plots and plans to overthrown the current regime...
World War III happened. For the folk underground they believe it's still ongoing, and the relentless building of robots to go up to the radioactive surface and fight is essential war work. They live in "ant tanks" and have been down there fifteen years, working to quotas, having to gather in communal halls to watch broadcasts from their great leader (who turns out to literally be a dummy nailed to a desk). All a bit 1984. Out on the surface, the war finished thirteen years ago. The elite few have beautiful estates of thousands and thousands of acres etc, and keep the lies going to keep all those millions of people down in the ant tanks. Because if they came up, the war would start again apparently (wars being started by the masses and not the elite folks at the top!). Even within the elite top though resources are being hoarded by the few, and there is this vile leader based at Geneva, in his eighties who has hoarded all the artificial organs left for donation, 'in case' he needs them to prolong his life, even though there are people dying who could use them now. And within the ranks of the surface people there are plots and plans to overthrown the current regime...