Anyone else here a PKD fan? I've read a few of his books and he's become one of my favorites very fast. Here's my rankings for what I've read so far. Feel free to share yours.
Martian Time Slip > A Scanner Darkly > Ubik > The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch > Now Wait for Last Year > Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? > The Man in the High Castle > VALIS
you're fucked man, VALIS is his indisputable best
>>8209088
didn't engage me the whole way through like the others
Do Androids Dream > VALIS > Three Stigmata > Martian Time Slip > Man in the High Castle > Scanner Darkly > UBIK > Flow My Tears
i love pkd. will read everything he's written if i live long enough to do so.
>best
valis
a scanner darkly
transmigration of timothy archer
three stigmata of palmer eldritch
the exegesis of philip k dick*
>great
now wait for last year
flow my tears the policeman said
ubik
lies inc
the divine invasion
the shifting realities of philip k dick*
>good
counterclock world
deus irae
dr bloodmoney
vulcan's hammer
time out of joint
do androids dream of electric sheep
>ok
the man who japes
martian time slip
the man in high castle
*nonfic
>>8209123
You haven't read the exegesis you lying fuck
>>8209264
not cover to cover
it is still a fascinating read
>>8209079
>VALIS so low
awww come on man VALIS is god-tier
>>8209079
Coulnd't finish "Man in the High Castle" (read about 75%)
thought it was just too silly for me to take it seriously.
Should I give up or finish it, /lit/?
>>8209437
do whatever you want, doesn't make a difference really, you've read most of it and nobody's going to quiz you or judge you for not doing something you don't enjoy
>>8209437
drop it. it pretty much does not end, so fuck it
I love A Scanner Darkly and VALIS, less so Ubik and Eye in the Sky. His early work usually vacillates too often between pulp and thoughtfulness and ends up not succeeding at either. I hated Androids and hate even more that it's the only PKD book most people care about.
I bought this collection of short stories. The stories are hit or miss but I love the introduction and story notes he included. From the intro:
>...Look; I stay up all night writing SF stories and I'm real poor but I know things will get better, and I have a wife I love, and a cat named Magnificat, and a little old house I'm buying at the rate of $25-a-month payments which is all I can afford--but this man is interested in only one aspect of my desperate (but hopeful) life. I know what he is going to tell me. I have always known. The horsemeat they sell at the Lucky Dog Pet Store is only for animal consumption. But Kleo and I are eating it ourselves, and now we are before the judge; the Great Assize has come; I am caught in another Wrong Act.
My ranking:
Short Stories > A Scanner Darkly > Game Players of Titan > Man in the High Castle > VALIS > Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? > Ubik > Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch > Solar Lottery > Dr Bloodmoney
Couldn't even finish it tier: Deus Irae.
Maybe I should give it another chance though, that was back in high school.
Been a Dick fan for quite awhile...
Ever listen to his interviews ?
https://youtu.be/YBLCJVoK_z4
Watch his documentaries ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afam25BJMeU&list=PL0C6AAE4A6BC928CE
>>8210923
Anyone else read Game Players of Titan? Am I alone in thinking it's one of his absolute best? To me it just hits that perfect sweet spot between 50's schlock scifi shenanigans and schizophrenic philosophizing. Far better than Ubik or Three Stigmata ever do. Even though those two are very good they never entirely gel, the sci-fi often feels contrived in order to set up the schizophrenic musings instead of the musing feeling like a natural outgrowth of the scifi setting like it does in Game Players.
>>8210923
Deus Irae is really cool, why couldn't you finish? What didn't you like about it?
>>8210939
As I said it was a long time ago, but all I remember is a seemingly endless conversation over a dinner table about utterly abstract shit that didn't seem to have any bearing on the story, that was barely set up yet, and didn't at all seem natural from the characters, flimsily characterized though they were.
I mean I love my Philip K Dick ramblings but for some reason that one just seemed egregious.
>>8210957
I haven't read it in a while either, but I think I remember what you're talking about, probably either the expository dialogue about the Church of Wrath and the Christian Church or the one where the priest guy is talking to his mentor about psychedelic use as a means of trying to reach God or gnosis.
I personally loved the book for exactly those reasons. It was like a post-apocalypse that reverted the world to medieval feudalism where everyone sat around discussing the nature of God and truth and art, and the main plot was a painter sent to paint the face of God who encounters a lot of wacky scifi figures along the way, like an old AI and giant bugs, and a Mad Maxiesque hitman.
also the idea that the man responsible for the nuclear holocaust in his actions transcends humanity and becomes a God for the death he has created
>>8211019
Damn, that does all sound super baller. I'll have to give that one another shot.
I'd also just read The Dream Masters by Zelazny, which I found to be incomprehensible rubbish. So starting Deus Irae and finding more of the same I was instantly put off. Perhaps I need to give both a second chance.
