Flow my Tears, the policeman said

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story opens at the end of another successful TV show hosted by Jason Taverner, an extremely successful singer in a fictional late eighties environment. Published in 1974 this would have been set in the not too distant future, details of which are touched on but not given a great deal of depth. There has been a second American civil war which has led to the emergence of a totalitarian police state. The population is divided into citizens and the non-persons who are driven uyndergound by the Pols (police) and Nats (national guard), everyones movements restricted via frequent check points demanding various papers and identification. Jason Taverner and his current lover are also identified as a six, a possible genetic engineering experiment which has been outlawed with few individuals remaining living in secret.


Into this scenario Jason Taverner the womanising celebrity singer and TV personality is attacked by a former lover with some kind of alien parasite. He repels the attack but not before he is given a potentially fatal wound. He is taken to the hospital where he fades into unconsciousness surrounded by his lover and hospital staff.


He awakens in a cheap hotel, his identity papers missing but a large roll of cash still in his possession. He soon establishes that the world has forgotten who he is, friends, lovers and peers no longer remember him or will help him. Without ID he is unable to travel anywhere without the risk of being sent to a forced labour camp and is forced into trusting starngers and the blackmarket to acquire forged documents.


The story unfolds at a fairly good pace there are some interesting characters introduced along Jason's journey, the escaped mental patient forger, the aged ex lover and in particular the Police General and his sister/lover. The reasons for his non existence slowly unfold and as his existence is intertwined with the Policeman and his sister/lover event lead to the explosive climax. Just a dream? Parallel universe?


I though this was a great read, it had all the classic PKD traits, crazy drugs, dystopian future, mad characters and truly touching pieces of dialogue. My favourite scene was the policeman meeting the stranger at the garage and the outpouring of emotion and grief symbolised by his crude drawing of a heart with an arrow through it. Simply brilliant.





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