Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by skttrbrn
We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick
3.0
Listed as science fiction and set against the backdrop of automata and lunar colonisation, We Can Build You takes a sharp left-turn, throwing the reader into the mind of Louis Rosen, a man in the business of selling electronic spinets and organs. Unable to reconcile his unrequited love for Pris, his business partner's daughter, he experiences mental breakdown and uncontrollably psychotic behaviour, threatening to kill Pris and her new business partner/lover, Sam Barrows. In what is perhaps the most challenging part of the book, Louis has a full-blown hallucination, lasting for several pages. I was so drawn in to his world I had to double-back and check that I had read correctly.
Once on the trajectory of exploring Louis' inner mental and emotional life, the plot points surrounding lunar colonisation and automata become perfunctory. (I had expected, on the contrary, that these would be further developed.) Published in 1972, We Can Build You addresses female autonomy and mental illness. By current standards this may be seen as somewhat problematic, as the two main female characters are either presented as either near-invisible, or mentally unstable. This is somewhat redeemed as Pris, although checked into a mental health clinic, does maintain agency and evade being possessed by either Louis, her father Maury, or her lover Sam.
Once on the trajectory of exploring Louis' inner mental and emotional life, the plot points surrounding lunar colonisation and automata become perfunctory. (I had expected, on the contrary, that these would be further developed.) Published in 1972, We Can Build You addresses female autonomy and mental illness. By current standards this may be seen as somewhat problematic, as the two main female characters are either presented as either near-invisible, or mentally unstable. This is somewhat redeemed as Pris, although checked into a mental health clinic, does maintain agency and evade being possessed by either Louis, her father Maury, or her lover Sam.