#74 What the Dead Men Say- P.K. Dick
It’s the year 2075, the world’s richest man lies dead, in frozen suspended animation. His smart but uneducated PR man, Johnny Barefoot, is supposed to bring him back to life. But they fail to revive him back to “half-life”, the pre-cursor to full re-animation.
However, the most powerful man in the world becomes the most powerful man in the afterlife. The voice of Louis Sarapis suddenly appears to be emanating from a light-week away right outside the solar system. These post-mortem transmissions give instructions to Barefoot and his grand-daughter, the drug addict religious heir to his communications empire. His power grows and all communication systems broadcast remnants of Sarapis, his voice, his shadowy image, knocking out any ability for real-time communications.
His aim appears to be political, of course, and he moves to elect his long-time ally from beyond the grave. Intrigue, conspiracy, dead-men talking…all sorts of fun here. There were several fun tid-bits. Dick foresees the inevitable merger of the Democratic and Republican parties into one duopoly. Also interesting was when Sarapis supposedly communicates with the living by remotely typing out a message, it was described as “Got a text”. I’m guessing that 1964 is probably the earliest use of that phrase in that context.
Notable Passages: “Burial is barbaric…remnant of the primitive origins of our culture.”
Being dead- “It was dreamlike. I don’t mean vague or unreal. I mean the logic, the weightlessness; you see, that’s the main difference. You’re free of gravity. Its hard to realize how important that it, but just think how many of the characteristics of the dream derive from that one fact.”
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