Kim Miller
An early PKD work where he's exploring the mind swapping theme that appears in some later books. A few visitors go to witness the turning on of a particle accelerator. There is a malfunction and the particle beam sprays over them, burning them with radiation. They wake to find the world changed into a religious fundamentalist state where mere belief is the only currency of value.
Hamilton, the main man, realises they have been cast inside the mind of one of the other visitors and are living out his deep desires. They manage to break free, only to find they are now in a world of puritanical whim - once again inside the mind of one of the visitors. She turns things off that she doesn't like, loose women, cats, factories, puddles. They manage to force her to turn off so much stuff that everything disappears and they are free of her mind.
in this manner they cycle through the minds of other visitors, finishing in a brutal communist state. For this they blame Hamilton's wife, who has been called a communist because of her support for social justice issues. At the start of the story Hamilton has been dismissed from his job researching rocket propulsion as the bosses see his wife as a security risk. However, Hamilton works out that the real communist among the visitors is the very security chief who has charged his wife.
They emerge from this 'mind cycle' when the paramedics pull them from the rubble. Hamilton is back before his bosses and points to the security chief as the real communist among them. They don't believe this and he walks away and with another member of staff starts his own business building HiFi systems.
The book shows itself to be a manifesto of rebellion against the McCarthyism of the era by pointing out that pursuing people for thought crimes is ridiculous once we see what lives in the minds of the ordinary people around us.
An early PKD work where he's exploring the mind swapping theme that appears in some later books. A few visitors go to witness the turning on of a particle accelerator. There is a malfunction and the particle beam sprays over them, burning them with radiation. They wake to find the world changed into a religious fundamentalist state where mere belief is the only currency of value.
Hamilton, the main man, realises they have been cast inside the mind of one of the other visitors and are living out his deep desires. They manage to break free, only to find they are now in a world of puritanical whim - once again inside the mind of one of the visitors. She turns things off that she doesn't like, loose women, cats, factories, puddles. They manage to force her to turn off so much stuff that everything disappears and they are free of her mind.
in this manner they cycle through the minds of other visitors, finishing in a brutal communist state. For this they blame Hamilton's wife, who has been called a communist because of her support for social justice issues. At the start of the story Hamilton has been dismissed from his job researching rocket propulsion as the bosses see his wife as a security risk. However, Hamilton works out that the real communist among the visitors is the very security chief who has charged his wife.
They emerge from this 'mind cycle' when the paramedics pull them from the rubble. Hamilton is back before his bosses and points to the security chief as the real communist among them. They don't believe this and he walks away and with another member of staff starts his own business building HiFi systems.
The book shows itself to be a manifesto of rebellion against the McCarthyism of the era by pointing out that pursuing people for thought crimes is ridiculous once we see what lives in the minds of the ordinary people around us.