Philip K Dick favourites?

Re: Philip K Dick

There's a sub-forum for PKD in here. I'd imagine this thread will be moved there shortly.

As for the question, i really don't have much experience outside of his short stories (which are incredible BTW) really. There are plenty that i want to read though. A Scanner Darkly being at the top of my list.
 
Re: Philip K Dick

A Scanner Darkly is just fantastic. Dick's insight into the link between drug use and paranoia is portrayed brilliantly.

Dick's work can be quite hard to follow at times, and more than often his writing is very inconsistent, but it's definitely worth working through as he came up with some great stories.
 
Re: Philip K Dick

He was ahead of his time and he writes about themes,about real human characters that makes him one of the best writers i have read.

I like everything he does that i have read and his short stories are much better than people think. They are more edgy,crisp writing wise.
 
Re: Philip K Dick

Seriously everything I have read of his I have enjoyed to some degree or another. Reading PKD then moving onto another author just feels foreign to me, so I have laid off him for a while. Out of all the novels I have read of his, "The Ganymede Takeover" felt the weakest. My personal favourite (if I REALLY had to choose one) would have to be "Flow My Tears the Policeman Said"

I also have to agree with Connavar. His short stories are nothing short of amazing. The one short that has always stuck with me was "The Pre-Persons". The concept of being able to abort your children up until the age of 12 or so was just nasty.
 
Flow my Tears the Policeman Said is actually next on the to read pile but out of the ones I've already read I'd say Ubik is probably the strongest/ most complete story but I still have a soft spot for Time out of Joint despite the ending.
 
A Scanner Darkly and Flow my Tears for me, though that's a hard choice to make. I really like his seventies stuff.

One area where he really broke from the 50's/60's herd was in having his main characters be everyday guys rather than superheroes with a destiny. There just trying to pay the bills and then everything goes crazy...
 
One area where he really broke from the 50's/60's herd was in having his main characters be everyday guys rather than superheroes with a destiny. There just trying to pay the bills and then everything goes crazy...


Bingo !

His characters feel like normal people, they arent uber smart science heroes that will save the world, or action heroes.

They are messed up people that usually work for some company or like Dekkard where even being a Bounty Hunter isnt written like its a cool job.
 
Re: Philip K Dick

his short stories are much better than people think. They are more edgy,crisp writing wise.

I agree. I've really enjoyed his short stories. Their clarity I think is why more of them are used for film adaptations than his novels.
 
Yes A Scanner Darkly is definitely top notch. They did a really great job with the movie also.
 
"Flow My Tears the Policeman Said" is the stand out work for me-nothing else I've read of his made any impression.

Yeah but which books have you read ? Two others ? I dont think i have seen you read any of his other top level books.
 
Flow My Tears the Policeman Said Spoilers

Just finished Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said and right now I'm thinking it's just ahead of Ubik and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep for me but there's no clear favourite, all three of them have their share of great ideas/scenes. I think having read a few of his books now, the addition of the sixes made a big difference with this one, I loved how Taverner wastes so little time in self doubt and just keeps moving forward.

With so much of PK Dick's work exploring how character's experience, or relate to, reality it's those little touches that help keep each one interesting. Great characters and storyline the only thing I didn't really buy was the drug itself and Time Out of Joint was kind of along the same lines. They're amazing stories in how the characters react to different conditions but how those conditions get put in place maybe isn't the focus and so there can be a fairly brief attempt to justify them. Where as Maze of Death which did have a great explanation is otherwise not one of his best works by a long way (imo).

Maybe KR-3 is more central to the story or maybe I've just been reading too much PK Dick lately, if anything will make you over think things... :rolleyes:. A final comment on Flow my Tears and I really liked how he tidied everything up in the epilogue, those type of endings can be a bit hit and miss for me but I loved how two of the main characters in Taverner and Hart only get a passing mention, less in fact then several 'props' from the story, I don't know why but it seemed fitting.
 
I know Dick plotted his novels as he wrote them, but is that also true of his short stories? They feel a lot more planned out.

Maybe he felt he needed to be crisp,clear with a short story with few pages than a novel he can carry with interesting characters for most of the book.

Thats prolly why his short stories are easier to film than his books that are about themes,characters and not about a plot.
 
Right, I've just tried to attach something to this post. Never done it before, Hopefully its worked. Basically a letter from the great man himself that his family have never released before.
 

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