7:43 PM Monday View

Ubik, Yukio Mishima, a question

I just finished reading Ubik by Philip K. Dick and Way of Samurai by Yukio Mishima. I had been told on a podcast that Ubik was a very profound 20th century novel at the level of the Lord of the Rings. I found the world of Ubik to be rather arbitrary. That is, like a fantasy novel where all normal physical laws can be disobeyed, it became arbitrary as to which laws could be or couldn’t be obeyed in order to advance the story. In one fantasy novel I had read, the characters could do anything defying laws of physics except fly, so that a walking journey through forest seemed illogical. Ubik had me feeling that way. Be that as it may, Ubik is a source of many tropes I have seen in many movies. I also found the half-dead wife Ella’s desire to not be bothered by her living husband to be profound. I enjoyed the Mishima work more. M’s reflections on a Samurai manual explained why he died the way he did. I found the saying “The way of the Samurai is death.” to be liberating. Especially, since my recently turning sixty and having more bodily ailments has made me think about my death. How we die is important. In a 50-50 situation, death may be the better choice.

Why are people with Mexican flags protesting Trump’s deportations?