 Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author | Philip K. Dick |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Timescape Books/Simon and Schuster |
| Publication date | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 255 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-671-44066-7 |
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer is a 1982 novel by Philip K. Dick. As his final work, the book was published shortly after his death in March 1982 following a series of strokes, although it was written the previous year. The book was originally titled Bishop Timothy Archer. The novel was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1982.
Contents |
Plot introduction
Set in the late 1960s and 1970s, the story describes the efforts of Episcopalian Bishop Timothy Archer, who must cope with the theological and philosophical implications of the newly-discovered Gnostic Zadokite scroll fragments. The character of Bishop Archer is loosely based on the controversial, iconoclastic Episcopalian Bishop James Pike, who in 1969 died of exposure while exploring the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea in the West Bank. As the novel opens, it is 1980. On the day that John Lennon is shot and killed, Angel Archer visits the houseboat of Edgar Barefoot, a guru and reflects on the lives of her deceased relatives. During the sixties, she was married to Jeff Archer, son of the Episcopalian Bishop of California Timothy Archer. She introduced Kirsten Lundborg, a friend, to her father-in law, and the two began an affair, and had a son, Bill. Tim is already being investigated for his gnostic, allegedly heretical views about the Zadokite scrolls, which reproduce some of Jesus Christs statements about the world, but have been dated to the second century before the birth of Christ. Jeff commits suicide, but appears as a spirit to Tim and Kirsten. At a seance, the three are told that the latter will die. As predicted, Kirsten loses her remission from cancer, and also commits suicide. Tim travels to Israel to investigate whether or not a psychotropic mushroom was associated with the resurrection, but his car stalls and he dies in the desert. On the houseboat, Angel is reunited with Bill, Tim's son, who experiences Aspergers syndrome. He claims to have Tim's reincarnated spirit within him, and although she is sceptical about this, Angel agrees to care for Bill, in return for a rare record that Edgar offers her. Transmigration is one of Dick's most overtly philosophical and intellectual works. While Dick's novels usually employ multiple narrators or an omniscient perspective, this story is told in the first person by a single narrator: Angel Archer, Bishop Archer's daughter-in-law. Dick's work was often criticized for its flat, stereotypical female characters, so Angel may represent his effort to prove he could create a rich and believable feminine voice.
Characters
- Angel Archer: narrator, manager of a Berkeley record store, widow of Jeff Archer
- Timothy Archer: Bishop of California, father of the late Jeff Archer and father-in-law of Angel
- Kirsten Lundborg: Timothy Archer's secretary and lover
- Bill Lundborg: Kirsten's son, afflicted by Asperger's syndrome and obsessed with cars
- Edgar Barefoot: Houseboat guru, radio personality, lecturer, based on Alan Watts
- Jeff Archer: professional student, Angel's deceased husband, son of Timothy Archer
Other works
Transmigration is thematically related to Dick's unfinished VALIS trilogy of novels:
- VALIS (1981)
- The Divine Invasion (1981)
- The Owl in Daylight
The novel has been included in several omnibus editions of the trilogy as a stand-in for the unwritten final volume. Transmigration was not intended by Dick to be part of the trilogy; however, the book fits comfortably with the two finished volumes and Dick himself called the three novels a trilogy, saying "the three do form a trilogy constellating around a basic theme." [1]
