/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.9698700]

Philip K Dick thread.

I just finished Ubik. Any suggestions as to why Runciter's coins have Joe Chip's face on them? What would be recommended if I loved Ubik?

Also general subjects for discussion: Which are people's favourite Philip K Dick novels? Which is his most underrated? Any favourite short stories? Best movie adaptation?

[Anonymous No.9698716]

bladerunner > do androids dream of electric sheep

[Anonymous No.9698724]

>>9698716
The Man In The High Castle > The Man In The High Castle

[Anonymous No.9698740]

>>9698700
Read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch it's basically Ubik part 2

[Anonymous No.9698747]

You know, I just realised it might be 12 or so years, maybe more, since I last read Ubik. That's crazy. I'm almost dead.

[Anonymous No.9698757]

>>9698747
Re-read it. I must admit it didn't capture my imagination at first, but everything post-humanoid bomb is wonderfully exciting.

[Anonymous No.9698771]

>>9698740
Been meaning to read that for a while too actually. Glad I read Ubik first if this one works as a sort of spiritual sequel.

[Anonymous No.9698820]

The Penultimate Truth isn't talked about much here and it saddens me.

[Anonymous No.9698855]

is there a PKD flowchart for the uninitiated such as myself? thanks

[Anonymous No.9698999]

>tfw started with VALIS
Are any of his other novells on VALIS level of mindfuck? The book was legit driving me nuts at some point

[Anonymous No.9699018]

>What would be recommended if I loved Ubik?

LSD and psilocybin.

Not meming.

[Anonymous No.9699184]

>>9698999
VALIS is shit, I stopped after page 80. It's literally an autobiography of him off amphetamine, LSD and other shit tripping balls. It's not philosophical, just theological. He doesn't provide explantations for anything and just spews random bullshit along the lines of muh pink light and muh occluded god. I read after reading minority report and other short stories which I really enjoyed. I have Ubik collecting dust on my shelf and was wondering if it was the same theological bullshit or actually intriguing philosophically? No spoiler plez

[Anonymous No.9699205]

OP here who just finished Ubik. Nothing theological in it. I suppose at its subtext there could be a debate on the importance of dying and the possibility of rebirth but that's about it. It's more like a fascinating mystery with telepathic powers. It's short enough to burn through it in less than a week, my dude.

[Anonymous No.9699211]

>>9699201
Thanks, I'm planning on picking up "do Androids Dream" first and then continue with Ubik. Some Anon said Ubik had some sort of virtual reality themes?

[Anonymous No.9699212]

>>9699184

OP here who just finished Ubik. Nothing theological in it. I suppose at its subtext there could be a debate on the importance of dying, letting go and the possibility of rebirth but that's about it. It's more like a fascinating mystery with telepathic powers. It's short enough to burn through it in less than a week, my dude.

[Anonymous No.9699214]

>>9699184
it gets better
i remember getting hooked like halfway through

[Anonymous No.9699221]

>>9699211
I wouldn't say it had anything to do with virtual reality, but I suppose what they might've meant is there is doubt whether the protagonist's reality is genuine or not and that he may or may not be dead.

(Sorry about deleting my post, I kept misspelling things like a mong).

[Anonymous No.9699223]

>>9699214
What happens? Any legitimate philosophy?

[Anonymous No.9699234]

>>9699223

PKD isn't a philosopher, assigning philosophical values to fiction is entirely up to you, the reader.

[Anonymous No.9699240]

>>9698724

[Anonymous No.9699280]

>>9699234
IIRC he gave some lectures on reality, time, god, the nature of ideas etc. Very philosophical stuff. And there are many philosophical themes and ideas in many of his short stories.

[Anonymous No.9699328]

>>9699212
> nothing theological in it
> Philip's own wife says Ubik is a metaphor for God

[Anonymous No.9699338]

>>9698700

> "Many readers have puzzled over the ending of Ubik, when Glen Runciter finds a Joe Chip coin in his pocket. What does it mean? Is Runciter dead? Are Joe Chip and the others alive? Actually, this is meant to tell you that we can't be sure of anything in the world that we call 'reality.' It is possible that they are all dead and in cold pac or that the half-life world can affect the full-life world. It is also possible that they are all alive and dreaming."

i mean, it's effective in conveying that uncertainty of which reality is reality, but when it's elaborated on it does feel a bit obvious.

[Anonymous No.9699349]

>>9699184
>claims book is bad
>didn't even get to the middle
Classic /lit/

[Anonymous No.9699353]

>>9699338
>>9698700
I saw it as Runciter being dead from the beginning and within his half-life existence the embodiments of his colleagues had died too. Joe Chip's half-life is like a half-life within a half-life.

[Anonymous No.9699380]

>>9699223
If you want philosophy go read critic of pure reason you fucking pseud
The point of VALIS is PKD showing you his schizophrenia. Thats a real intimate experience and extreamly hard to convey. If you didn't apreciate how he manages to get the reader into his headspace you are a casual. Start with the greeks, like PKD did.

[Anonymous No.9699398]

What is Dick's most overtly gnostic work? I'm trying to read only gnostic fiction right now.

[Anonymous No.9699405]

>>9699398
VALIS
A
L
I
S

[Anonymous No.9699459]

>>9699398
did you read The Flight to Lucifer?

[Anonymous No.9699476]

>>9698700
I've never read any PKD. I bought six of his novels, that I'm about to read as soon as I finish my Heinlein.
I tried to organise them chronologically, then I thought by theme would be preferable:
The man in the high castle --> Do Androids...? --> Clans of the alphane moon --> Ubik --> The three stigmatas... --> A scanner darkly
(2 "most famous" --> mind stuff --> drugs)

What do you think lit? Anything else I should not miss?

pic related, newish French editions with pretty cool covers I bought

[Anonymous No.9699481]

>>9699223
nah the plot gets compelling when he goes to see a movie

[Anonymous No.9699487]

>>9699481
That and everything after was the worst part of the novel, at least for me. I liked the ending tho.

[Anonymous No.9699539]

>>9699459
No but its by Bloom so why would I want to?

[Anonymous No.9699541]

How is the Exegesis of Philip K Dick?

[Anonymous No.9699556]

So he lived in poverty his entire life?

That is some serious dedication.

[Anonymous No.9699576]

Cadbury, The Beaver Who Lacked is my favorite short story.
A Maze of Death is probably mt favorite of the novels that he wrote, so far atleast.
Total Recall is so much better than We Can Remember It For You Wholesale that it's not even funny. desu they should've adapted Faith of Our Fathers instead.

[Anonymous No.9699598]

>>9699556
Probably why he wanted to get so much work published too. Probably has a larger following posthumously than he ever did alive and that's probably in part due to his influence on Hollywood films.

[Anonymous No.9699640]

>>9698700
i still have a copy of ubik for ps1

[Anonymous No.9699669]

>>9699398
A Maze Of Death has a lot of religious stuff in it too, it's in a universe where the religion is proven to be true and shit like thaty. Although the religion featured is a fictitious amalgamation.

>>9699476
Don't forget to read his short stories. I wonder if the French still likes PKD as much as they apparently did back in the day. Saw an interview with him where he said that was the only place he was really taken seriously.

[Anonymous No.9699702]

>>9699669
I'm french, and my father used to love Dick's writings as he was a teen, and he still does
I didn't know he had this link with France already

[Anonymous No.9699751]

>>9699702
If I'm not mistaken it was in this interview he went on about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGyhT5nVsEU

[Anonymous No.9699766]

>>9699751
This is nice i'm going to watch it

[Anonymous No.9699847]

>>9699640
i-is i-it good??

[Anonymous No.9699892]

>>9699847
Never actually played it for longer than a minute. I remember that it needed a PS1 mouse for it to play properly. May revisit it soon, I have a big pile of PS1 games that just fell into obscurity as soon as they were released, don't really know what half of them are like.

[Anonymous No.9701299]

>>9699328
You are definitely a brainlet.

[Anonymous No.9702732]

>>9698700
I started reading PKD a few months ago. I've read
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik so far. ~90 pages through VALIS right now and I love it. I told myself I'd read 3 PKD books before reading interviews.

Next PKD books on my shelf:
Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview, A Scanner Darkly, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick.

Where do I go about reading his short stories? I've seen a bunch of oversized books like 'We can Remember it for you Wholesale, and other short stories" but they're far too big to be practical.

[Anonymous No.9702771]

>>9702732
Well. I think his 50's short stories are in the public domain so you can find that over at gutenberg. Faith of Our Fathers is also in the Dangerous Visions anthology which may or may not be of interest depending on how into SF history you are.

[Anonymous No.9702802]

>>9698999
VALIS is the most fucked up thing I've ever read

[Anonymous No.9702847]

I enjoy dick(female).

[Anonymous No.9702938]

Read A Scanner Darkly ffs. After Ubik, it's his best work imho.
Three Stigmatas of Palmer Eldritch is great too.

I read Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (great title btw) and I still don't get it. it seems like he was in somebody else's drug trip - wtf?

[Anonymous No.9702948]

>>9702802
>VALIS is the most fucked up thing I've ever read
So you haven't read The exegesis of Philip K Dick?

[Anonymous No.9702975]

>>9702948
no, nor has almost anyone. the publication is ~10% of the actual work.

[Anonymous No.9703015]

>>9702975
Just entered part 2, part one was VALIS in real life through letters and files.
If it was fucked up, in a good way, I really recommend the exegesis.
But only removing the dust jacket make you know it's going to be a wild ride.
It's gold
> the publication is ~10% of the actual work
What do you mean?
10% of the Exegesis is the VALIS trilogy? or something else?

[Anonymous No.9703022]

>>9703015
>"From 1974 until his death in 1982, Dick wrote the Exegesis by hand in late-night writing sessions, sometimes composing as many as 150 pages in a sitting. In total, it consists of approximately 8,000 pages of notes, only a small portion of which have been published."

[Anonymous No.9703055]

>>9703022
Ah, like that.
8000 pages of comfyness.

Though from the publication the few note-photo's of hand written pages are depicting A5 or smaller notes and he writes horrible and spacious with doodles/graffiti like writing. So reading that all might be too much even for me.