sal Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 After putting it off for years, I've finally completed reading my first Philip K Dick novel, "UBIK". Absolutely loved it. What a mind trip! I'm looking forward to exploring more of his work. Thanks to jazzbo and the rest of you who contributed to this thread....it played a huge part in pushing me to finally pick up one of his books. I'm so glad I did. Just ordered Ubik online from my local public library on your recommendation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted September 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Wow. Nicely played Sal and Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 I did just buy several of Philip K. Dick's books some days ago before I saw this thread. And then this showed up, what a timing. Read some of his short stories some time ago, great stuff. Thought I would check up on some of the novels too like: "Ubik" and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". His bibliography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_Philip_K._Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 Here is an interview with Philip K. Dick from Vertex in 1974: http://www.philipkdick.com/media_vertex.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pasta Posted September 16, 2008 Report Share Posted September 16, 2008 novel.....i dunno.....short story, "a little something for us tempanauts" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 I just finished "Time Out of Joint" and really liked it. While not as profound for me as "Ubik" I found this one to be funner to read, and am now thinking about exploring some of his other earlier novels. Any favorites from the pre - "Time Out of Joint" period? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 The Man Who Japed (No, just kidding.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Clans of the Alphane Moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 (edited) Clans of the Alphane Moon. I actually placed a book order from amazon a couple days ago, and this is one that I ordered! I'm pretty psyched to read it. However, I think this one was written a bit later (mid 60s I think?). Edited November 18, 2008 by sal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 (edited) "Voices from the Street," "Eye in the Sky" and "Solar Lottery," are my favorites of the early ones. . . .Several of the other mainstream novels like "Voices" were written in part before Time Out of Joint I believe. . . and I like them ALL. Edited November 18, 2008 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Put me down as one of those who really like The Man in the High Castle. I always found Nobusuke Tagomi's character heartbreaking. Just a great novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Clans of the Alphane Moon. Definitely one of my favorites! The Penultimate Truth isn't quite as early as Time Out of Joint, but it's close and recommended, at least by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Clans of the Alphane Moon. Definitely one of my favorites! The Penultimate Truth isn't quite as early as Time Out of Joint, but it's close and recommended, at least by me. Couldn't help thinking that he should have written a sequel called "The Ultimate Truth." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I think he was trying to write the "Ultimate Truth," as he saw it or felt it was revealed to him, in the Exegesis and in Valis, The Divine Invasion, and The Transformation of Timothy Archer (maybe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I think he was trying to write the "Ultimate Truth," as he saw it or felt it was revealed to him, in the Exegesis and in Valis, The Divine Invasion, and The Transformation of Timothy Archer (maybe). The sad thing is that those novels were written after he kind of went off his rocker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I think he was trying to write the "Ultimate Truth," as he saw it or felt it was revealed to him, in the Exegesis and in Valis, The Divine Invasion, and The Transformation of Timothy Archer (maybe). The sad thing is that those novels were written after he kind of went off his rocker. Well, I don't really consider that he "went off his rocker." Something happened to him, yes. And he became obsessed with defining and describing that. He went deeply into gnosis and mystic realms as well as hard science realms (in the sense of positing alien intelligence and communication, parallel time frames past/present/future, etc.) I'm personally not certain that hew was "insane." I've gone down some of these roads of trying to find the answer to immensely difficult questions myself, in the eighties, and it made me very different from those around me. But I was not insane. I'm not going to point a finger in his direction either. Those novels, VALIS, Radio Free Albemuth, The Divine Invasion, the Transformation of Timothy Archer (which is fascinating if you read about Bishop Pike, who Phil knew well) are very interesting books that I get more out of each time I pick them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Long ago I read a mid-70's essay by PKD in which he claimed to start hearing a voice in his head. Without pointing any fingers, it did make me wonder a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Well, I've read as much of the material from this time as has been released, hundreds of pages. Phil was a habitual speculator and didn't dismiss anything and pursued thinking things many would consider a waste of time. He did at one time think he may have been experiencing voices within his head, even speaking languages he did not understand and had not learned. This to explain information that seemed to just pop into his brain, or as he speculated was placed there somehow. Personally I don't think he was insane, it's just my educated estimation. Think what you will! But I'd invite you to read the material, the novels, the letters before making a final judgment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) I think the drugs and the paranoia of the times did skew things for him, but it didn't make him insane. Just neurotic! Edited December 17, 2008 by Stefan Wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Neurotic, paranoid, yes indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Well, I've read as much of the material from this time as has been released, hundreds of pages. Phil was a habitual speculator and didn't dismiss anything and pursued thinking things many would consider a waste of time. He did at one time think he may have been experiencing voices within his head, even speaking languages he did not understand and had not learned. This to explain information that seemed to just pop into his brain, or as he speculated was placed there somehow. Personally I don't think he was insane, it's just my educated estimation. Think what you will! But I'd invite you to read the material, the novels, the letters before making a final judgment. I'm not sure WHAT to think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 That's okay. I lived eighteen years with a wife who was clinically diagnosed as insane and was on four psychiatric medicines. Neither she nor I believed Phil to be insane. I say read the stuff and make an educated decision. I did and decided that he was not "off his rocker." Of course that may all depend on how that is defined. Anyway, enough about it I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I recently finished reading "Confessions of a Crap Artist", a novel I noticed was mentioned a few times earlier in this thread. This was my favorite Philip K Dick read so far! Its a story that will probably be relavant for as long as humans continue to populate the earth. I loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.