It
was Descartes, when asked “How do you
know you exist?” famously replied: “I
think, therefore I am.” Other
responses possible, it nevertheless is impossible to respond with any more
rational certainty. Descartes’ proof empirical,
any system of logic is bound to fail in similar fashion. In the world of science fiction, Philip K.
Dick is the writer who has perhaps capitalized most on this subjective aspect
of existence. But he had his
predecessors. Defying Aristotlian logic
in favor of General Semantics with the goal of laying hands on existence and
identity, A.E. van Vogt penned The World
of Null A in 1948. The “controversy”
that resulted only distracts from the (unintentional?) mark it set for Dick
and other writers wrestling with certainty.
The World of Null A is the story of
Gilbert Gosseyn. Considering himself of
superior intelligence in the workings of non-Aristotlian logic, he goes to the
giant machine that rules Earth to be tested.
The result, however, is catastrophic—not in physical terms, rather
existential. Discovering that his
memories are false, he sets about trying to rectify the situation—to get to the
bottom of who he is and which memories are real and which are false. The search by necessity taking him to Venus,
he there discovers that even death cannot satisfy his quest. Reborn with memories intact (‘reappearing’
the best descriptor), his quest revives itself anew with each dead end. A larger plot in the solar system revealing
itself while Gosselyn is in pursuit of his identity, getting at the heart of
who he truly is soon has implications beyond just himself.
Philip
K. Dick is the recognized master of slippery realities in science fiction. Any reader confronting Ubik or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch for the first has their brain oiled and then twisted
sidewise. Whether drug induced or just
plain subjective to the senses, his imagination takes the reader on a ride that
begins in the mundane but at some point—only Dick knows—enters another reality,
or two. The World of Null A exists along very similar lines. While van Vogt invests a noticeably stronger
pulp sentiment into the plot, on a scene by scene basis Golleyn’s experiences
are anything but concrete in terms of reality common throughout the novel. The hero put through his paces, van Vogt
continually tests his ability to analyze and come to conclusions when offered
evidence which only General Semantics can make sense of. I will not get into a discussion of General
Semantics vs. syllogism, but suffice to say the result in presentation is a
continually evolving sense of unreality.
Through the middle section of the book the reader is particularly never
sure where the narrative truly stands, which makes for intriguing reading.
Though
rendered with some ungainliness and clumsiness, The World of Null A is still one of the author’s most engaging
works ideologically and better written, style-wise. The sentences are not always hurled off the
page at the reader, and due to the more probing nature of the story, has layers
beyond much of his pulp-ish short fiction and novel work.
At
several points in extra-curricular reading about The World of Null-A I found the word ‘controversial,’ including the
first sentence of van Vogt’s own (unflattering) introduction to the revised
edition:“Reader, in your hands you hold
one of the most controversial-and successful-novels in the whole of science
fiction literature.” Peering between
the lines one can see the controversy is not as large as the internet and van
Vogt’s self-aggrandizement would have it be.
Damon Knight, whose opinion is not always founded in objective analysis
itself, made some strong negative statements about the novel, putting van Vogt
and his fanbase in something of an uproar.
While Knight is certainly correct to point out that van Vogt is not a
prose craftsman and his characters are not 3D, he missed the boat when it comes
to critiquing the novel’s plot, character interaction, and backdrop. In short, I would love to hear what Knight has
to say about Philip K. Dick’s works. As
they too are dodgy in terms of contiguous reality, character flaws, and
seemingly misused plot devices, I can’t help but wonder whether Knight, so
steeped in pulp science fiction to that point in the genre’s history, hadn’t
been brainwashed into thinking the best novels are those which are transparent,
follow logically along A-B-C lines, and do not attempt to play narrative games
or complexify theme. (I am aware Knight more sophisticated work, which makes his critique all the more confusing.) Certainly most of
van Vogt’s other works are written in this more 'standard style,' and certainly
van Vogt did himself no favors by ending Null
A in pulp form, but this should not detract from the manner in which plot
and character ambiguity complements the ambiguity of existence and
identity. Presenting the idea
that reality remains a highly subjective element of human existence, and that
Aristotlian logic may not always be the best manner in which to tackle the
resulting uncertainties, the novel artistically (yes, not an adjective often
used with van Vogt) depicts such a scenario.
Thus, whether the reader agrees or disagrees with the ideology, one
can’t fault van Vogt for representing the philosophy in a story. The concept on
the page runs parallel to the ideology intended, and for that the novel
succeeds. As such, Knight would seem to be judging an apple with the criteria
of an orange.
In
the end, The World of Null-A is one
of the science fiction’s initial ontological examinations into the subjectivity
of reality. Ahead of its time
genre-wise, it pre-dates the numerous works which have since followed that
question the reality of reality. A somewhat atypical work for van Vogt, it
balances examination of a ‘high concept’ with pulp sentiment: a galactic
takeover scheme overlays a search for an individual identity and
existence. I have my doubts whether the
successful presentation of fractured reality is intentional (exactly as I have
doubts surrounding the intention vs. reality of Dick’s masterpiece The Man in the High Castle), but the
words on the page remain, and for that van Vogt may have penned his magnum
opus.
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