Martian Time-Slip | Essays and Criticism

  • 1960s Elements in a 1994 Setting

    Kerschen is an educator and freelance writer. In this essay, she discusses Dick’s decision to leave 1960s elements in his 1994 setting, which results in some dated material in this science fiction story.

  • The Human Mind and Critical Elements of Martian Time-Slip

    In the following review, Koornick remarks on the place of Martian Time-Slip in Dick’s career and its message about the human mind. Koornick also outlines what he considers to be the critical elements in the novel.

  • The Mars Frontier

    In the following chapter excerpt, Abbott examines the ways in which the homesteading experience of the American West has been recreated by writers in depicting planetary colonies. In particular, Abbott discusses Dick’s treatment of a successful settlement on the Mars frontier that shows the disaster as much as the triumph.

  • Martian Time-Slip Characters

    In the following excerpt, Carrere says that Dick wondered what it was like to be psychotic and then described the condition with his novel Martian Time-Slip. This excerpt discusses how other characters in the book become like the one character Manfred, yet Dick allows the plumber to escape the confusion of illusion and reality through death.

  • The Three Webs Integrated into Dick's Novels

    In the following essay, Aldiss identifies and explains the three webs that are integrated into Dick’s novels and how they are used in Martian Time-slip: the web of civilization, the web of human relationships, and the web connecting all the good and bad things in the universe. In addition, Aldiss discusses the comic effects and dark wit in the book.