/lit/ - Literature

I read about a quarter of the way through this before I stopped.
I was thinking maybe this book isn't a good place to start with PKD.
Any good starting point you could recommend?

just finished reading A Scanner Darkly..

awesome book, and the film isn't bad too.

what are your opinions on the book?

ITT: Shit you didn't understand in this book.

>In New Path, the "Concept Time". It seemed like this was intended as a replacement for what the addicts' talked about while stoned/wired/whatever. Most of it equated to nonsense. First time I read that part I thought "I don't get this, I guess I'll come back on thursday."
>Why did Barris just sit around watching Luckman die? Or almost die. I didn't get that. He only really had cause to hate Arctor, and maybe Donna, too.
>Did Barris sabotage the car? I could never be sure, because it would've killed him, too.
>Donna ramming the coca-cola truck. That made no fuckin' sense.
>Donna, was she on coke, or just making it up? Obviously she smoked hash.
>Did anybody else think that while Arctor/Fred was fast-forwarding and rewinding the scanner tapes hours ahead and watching the dialogue pick up right where it left off was a result of the dudes in the house talking about the same shit over and over, or that his perception on the scanner clock was so fucked that he saw it read hours instead of minutes, or both?
>When Bob/Bruce sits in "the game" getting insulted, what was the point of that?

As much influence as Asimov, Clarke, and rest of the big 4 may have had, I honestly think Philip K. Dick's body of work completely blows them out of the water. I haven't yet seen any other author that can so seamlessly blend advanced philosophical concepts with an engaging and addictive writing style that perfectly fleshes out just how fucking crazy our world really is.

Thinking about picking up this book and reading it. I've seen the movie, and would like to get the full experience from the author. Thoughts?

I didn't like this book. I thought the first 3 pages or so were excellent and hilarious and I really thought it was going to be a great book. Then it just got duller and duller and duller. Here are a couple of the things I hated most about it.

Like 5 pages of guys standing around a car wondering what's wrong with it. Oh wow, so fucking interesting. I love hearing about carburettors. Maybe I could perhaps forgive 5 pages in a longer book but in one this short it's just a complete fucking waste of time and paper. Things like American Psycho have entire chapters where all that happens is a dude explaining in meticulous detail all the shit he owns. In normal circumstances it'd be boring as fuck but it's relevant to that particular novel because it makes a point about Bateman's character. What point did this car bullshit serve? Nothing. What a waste of my fucking life.

The protagonist goes from being almost totally functional to a complete retard who can't tie his shoelaces within the space of about one page. No buildup. It just happens. How lazy. It's like DICK just abruptly realised he needed to end the book.

So. I humbly invite you to tell me how fucking wrong I am, how I didn't ''get'' it, and maybe even my sexual preferences. Take it away.

HI /LIT/! /mu/fag here.
Wondering what you think of my favorite book.

I have by my side a beautiful edition of A Scanner Darkly, but I keep procrasting and whenever I decide to read it I read a few pages and then put it down to whack off/snack/browse 4chan.

What are some tricks that /lit/ uses to get them in the mood to read?