The Eyes Have It

About twenty years ago I wrote a short story comprised of homonyms. That is, I packed it as densely as possible with words that sound like other words, about one-third of the 600 word story. If someone were to read it aloud to you, you'd not notice a thing. It was fun to create as well as to share. Eventually I sold the story, How Eye One the Wore, to Games Magazine for a modest check and a measure of gratification.

This incident came to mind when I read a very short entertainment by Philip K. Dick this week. I've been reading a collection of his early short stories and this one deals with the manner in which many of our metaphorical expressions become comical when taken literally. In football an announcer might say "Aaron Rodgers threw a bomb" and every fan knows he did not literally throw a bomb. What happens when people take these words literally? Hail Marys and chip shots are not what you'd expect. Why do announcers talk about the Red Zone when the grass is green all over the playing field?

All this to say I think you might enjoy P.K. Dick's very short story, The Eyes Have It.

Meantime, life goes on all around you, eh?

From the Writer's Desk: A Factoid About Philip K. Dick

"Philip K. Dick wrote like a madman. Forty-seven novels and more than a hundred and twenty short stories from a man who died at age fifty-three and also found time to get married five times and by his own admission suffered serious mental problems for much of his life." ~Warren Ellis*

Hmmm. A life out of balance? You be the judge.

*Source: Afterword in the illustrated version of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Sci Fi

Science fiction is a category of fiction that blends the craft of fiction with scientific speculations based on current or future science and technology. My grandmother was a huge fan of the genre, her shelves packed with works by Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark among others.

My first Michael Crichton read was The Andromeda Strain which I read back in the sixties. I also pulled Planet of the Apes from off her shelf, among others of such caliber that many became Hollywood films of note during my lifetime.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an early example of the form, which captivated the imaginations of many writers. H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds and his Time Machine both advanced the sci fi appetite amongst readers, as did Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Whereas readers of science fiction are many, the general culture more often encounters the great sci fi writers when their works become fleshed out on the silver screen. Jurassic Park, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Johnny Mnemonic, the latter an example of the cyberpunk school by William Gibson. His nihilistic worlds bring dark future scenarios to bear upon people striving to remain human in an increasingly oppressive environment. The first Gibson novel I read was Mona Lisa Overdrive.

One writer whose works have captured an audience through Hollywood is Philip K. Dick, who has had at least nine stories transformed into film. His cult classic Blade Runner was based on a story he wrote called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? Other well known big name films include Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Minority Report (Tom Cruise).

Alas, as a writer I have myself amused myself with the writing of a few stories of a sci fi character. Perhaps you would enjoy reading something a little different for a short time away from whatever else you are doing in this moment.

The Angry Visitor from Xon