Ladies, this is how guys feel right before they ask you out.
Most of you intimidate us.
While describing this feeling, most hack writers like myself might say “I’ve got butterflies in my stomach.” But Philip K. Dick describes that sensation in a much more articulate, unique way.
This, from Ubik:
“It did not seem possible that Wendy Wright had been born out of blood and internal organs like other people. In proximity to her he felt himself to be a squat, oily, sweating, uneducated nurt whose stomach rattled and whose breath wheezed. Near her he became aware of the physical mechanisms which kept him alive; within him machinery, pipes and valves and gas-compressors and fan belts had to chug away at a losing task, a labor ultimately doomed. Seeing her face, he discovered that his own consisted of a garish mask; noticing her body made him feel like a low-class wind-up toy.”
That last line just brings it all home, doesn’t it?
“Noticing her body made him feel like a low-class wind-up toy.”
Wow. Great stuff from Philip K. Dick.
Guess what, friends? I’m actually enjoying Ubik so far. So far.
