The Broken Bubble

By Philip K. Dick

Book Overview

Set in San Francisco in 1956, The Broken Bubble traces the ups and downs and ins and outs of four characters who are not quite sure of the lives they're living. Jim Briskin, local radio DJ, his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0575133082
• ISBN13: 9780575133082
• Release Date: June 2014
• Publisher: Gollancz
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.6" x 0.8" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

How do you mend a broken relationship

There's nothing like adultery to get a reader's attention and build a story around. In most such books, such as "Madame Bovary", "Lady Chatterley's Lover" or "Fanny Hill", the adultery is the main issue; it moves the plot forward and leads to a climax in which the couple in question either stays together or doesn't. You get the idea; adultery is what the story is about, such a big deal that just about any novel with adultery has to spend the remainder of its running time resolving the issue. "The Broken Bubble" is a novel of adultery in which the sexual shenanigans are sort of beside the point. Now, that may be new. Okay, so if the cheating isn't the main idea, what might the main idea be? As usual with Philip K. Dick, "The Broken Bubble" seems to be about love. In this case, the characters start out with little idea of what loving is. By the time the story is over, they haven't exactly become experts, but they are a little wiser. Adultery doesn't usually work that way in real life, of course, but it works that way here, and as usual PKD makes you believe it. Although the emphasis of "The Broken Bubble" strikes one as unexpected, the structure is pretty standard stuff. It's about two couples, one divorced and one married. Since the ex-spouses both work at the same San Francisco radio station, their relationship gets complicated fast. Jim Briskin spins records and Patricia Gray works the front office. Jim still loves Patricia, and she may love him too, but she has no confidence in her ability to love. It's hard to imagine many worse feelings. Art Emmanual, one of Jim's fans, is an 18-year-old kid with few prospects, a pregnant 17-year-old wife named Rachael, and a group of friends whose idea of a good time is wrecking rich kids' cars as some sort of rebellious statement. Obviously, these two have enough trouble in everyday life; they scarcely have time to ask whether they love each other, let alone answer that question. So Jim takes Patricia to visit the Emmanuals one night, thinking it might cheer her up, and the next thing you know Patricia has seduced Art in the most casual way possible. Rachael can't manage by herself, and insists that Jim take care of her until her baby is born. They may be contemplating an affair of their own. Clearly, the purpose of cheating in this story is not just to have sex. Patricia and Rachael spend a lot of time guessing about what the purpose might be, although their respective significant others don't seem to care about that - Jim and Al, instead of figuring out why all of this goes on, want more than anything to build something permanent with a partner, so much so that they don't spend a lot of time listening to their prospective partners. Doesn't matter much. The women never reach any definite conclusions about why the cheating has gone on, and the men don't seem to care. However, the emotional and sexual confusion does force everyone to confront themselves and their spouses or ex-spouse

Psychological exploration of 1950s relationships

This realist novel, completed in 1956 but not published until 1988, is an effective exploration of the psychological subtleties of a four-way relationship. Jim Briskin, a classical music radio announcer, still in love with his ex-wife Pat, introduces her to a teenage couple, Art and Rachael. Pat becomes involved with the violent and possessive Art. Meanwhile, in her curious, willful way, Rachael falls in love with Jim. The "broken bubble" of the title refers to a minor incident in which one Thisbe Holt rolls around naked inside a plastic bubble at a convention of optometrists, who end up filling it with junk and smashing it. The broken-bubble image is suggestive of the egoic bubbles that Jim, Pat, Art, and Rachael all float in, that separate them in their relationships. During the course of the novel these bubbles are broken.

Classic PKD non-sci-fi

Too bad the publishers kept PKD tied to sci-fi, thereby depriving us of what would have been one of our greatest FICTION writers ever. Go to your library, read it, savor it. This is a glimpse of the gems PKD wanted to share with us. Watch the bizarre scene of the girl in the bubble. Only PKD could create this!

Another great mainstream novel by PKD

Found this one at the library and devoured it. Not quite as good as Confessions... but definitely worth reading. As usual, slightly "off" but believable people make up the cast of characters and the overall mood is one of confusion and frustration. Read it! - Linn Stanley

The Broken Bubble (non-SF) - how it connects to PKD SF

The name of the protagonist (don't know exactly which it is, don't have my copy at hand) is a name that appears in some Dick stories, and I guess in Blade Runner (someone please correct me if I err). The used car dealer reappears in a somewhat different setting in The Simulacra. Maarten Daams