Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960sI love Library of America editions. There’s just something about the hardcover with the paper-thin pages, bookmark sewn into the spine, and the overall compactness of the edition. (How do they get 900 pages to look so thin?) I don’t know why I don’t own more, but when I saw they had one for Philip K. Dick, I had to have it, even though I knew nothing about the man or his work.
Sure, I know that Keanu Reeves starred in that movie based on that book that I didn’t read, and it was all really cool because they like colored over the film or something. But I hate reading a book for a movie, especially a movie I didn’t see, especially one starring Keanu Reeves. True, I’ve seen the first five minutes of Blade Runner, but my childhood self could not understand why Indiana Jones was being so boring; and so, I know nothing about Philip K. Dick or his work.
Thank god for the Library of America. Now I’ve read four of his novels and I can now exult in the glory that is Dick. In Part One of my expose on this tome, I’ll discuss The Man in the High Castle and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Part Two will cover Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik.
First, I have to say how surprised I am at the depth of Dick’s work; it’s not that I thought his work would suck per se, but I didn’t expect to find such substance in these novels. Now I find myself compelled to read everything the man ever wrote.
The Man in the High Castle, published in 1962, won a Hugo Award for Best Novel. Despite it being my least favorite of these novels, I can still say I enjoyed it for the way Dick speculates about an alternative history. In this novel, the Allies did not win World War II, and Dick illustrates how different life would be if Germany and Japan divvied up the world. Needless to say, it’s not a pleasant picture. The plot is comprised of several different characters and their interactions as things finally come to a head at the end of the book. In The Man in the High Castle, it’s not plot that’s so important as is the alternative history that Dick presents.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, on the other hand, might be my favorite of the four novels. Published in 1965, it tells the story of a world in which people colonize other planets. Life on other planets is, needless to say, quite depressing; thankfully, there are lots of drugs to ease the pain. Specifically, there is Can-D, a hallucinogen that gives the user an out-of-body experience of sorts, one that allows the user to believe he or she is back on earth. The novel begins when industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from a ten-year exploration of Proxima Centauri. He has returned with a substance that rivals – even surpasses Can-D – and yet, it is not as benevolent as Eldritch would have everyone believe.
Unfortunately for those who haven’t read these works, there is far more to them than my mere summary can explain. Dick fleshes out whole worlds that defy easy summary. For example, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch features evolution therapy that many people can undergo; the earth is also in the throes of an ecological disaster which has heated the earth so that people cannot go outside without protective clothing. There is much more to these novels than meets the eye.
In a nutshell: Awesome. Dick tackles the question “What is real?” and proves that truth is often elusive, or an illusion entirely.
Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars
Stay tuned for Part Two: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik.
Sure, I know that Keanu Reeves starred in that movie based on that book that I didn’t read, and it was all really cool because they like colored over the film or something. But I hate reading a book for a movie, especially a movie I didn’t see, especially one starring Keanu Reeves. True, I’ve seen the first five minutes of Blade Runner, but my childhood self could not understand why Indiana Jones was being so boring; and so, I know nothing about Philip K. Dick or his work.
Thank god for the Library of America. Now I’ve read four of his novels and I can now exult in the glory that is Dick. In Part One of my expose on this tome, I’ll discuss The Man in the High Castle and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Part Two will cover Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik.
First, I have to say how surprised I am at the depth of Dick’s work; it’s not that I thought his work would suck per se, but I didn’t expect to find such substance in these novels. Now I find myself compelled to read everything the man ever wrote.The Man in the High Castle, published in 1962, won a Hugo Award for Best Novel. Despite it being my least favorite of these novels, I can still say I enjoyed it for the way Dick speculates about an alternative history. In this novel, the Allies did not win World War II, and Dick illustrates how different life would be if Germany and Japan divvied up the world. Needless to say, it’s not a pleasant picture. The plot is comprised of several different characters and their interactions as things finally come to a head at the end of the book. In The Man in the High Castle, it’s not plot that’s so important as is the alternative history that Dick presents.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, on the other hand, might be my favorite of the four novels. Published in 1965, it tells the story of a world in which people colonize other planets. Life on other planets is, needless to say, quite depressing; thankfully, there are lots of drugs to ease the pain. Specifically, there is Can-D, a hallucinogen that gives the user an out-of-body experience of sorts, one that allows the user to believe he or she is back on earth. The novel begins when industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from a ten-year exploration of Proxima Centauri. He has returned with a substance that rivals – even surpasses Can-D – and yet, it is not as benevolent as Eldritch would have everyone believe.
Unfortunately for those who haven’t read these works, there is far more to them than my mere summary can explain. Dick fleshes out whole worlds that defy easy summary. For example, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch features evolution therapy that many people can undergo; the earth is also in the throes of an ecological disaster which has heated the earth so that people cannot go outside without protective clothing. There is much more to these novels than meets the eye.
In a nutshell: Awesome. Dick tackles the question “What is real?” and proves that truth is often elusive, or an illusion entirely.
Bibliolatry Scale: 5.5 out of 6 stars
Stay tuned for Part Two: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik.
4 comments:
Whew! I'm happy to know I'm not the only person who felt that way about Blade Runner.
Glad to hear you are enjoying some Dick, though. ;)
Yeah, I'm a big fan of the Dick. The Man in the High Castle is one of my least favorites, though, the other three in this collection are great. I also recommend A Scanner Darkly, despite the association with Keanu. Valis is worth checking out, as well. And his short stories are a bit uneven, but often they're up there with Borges in terms of how many ideas he can pack into a few pages.
My husband loves Dick's stories but hates his novels. I really want to read A Scanner Darkly anyway, after seeing the movie (which I actually liked a lot).
You touch on my favorite things about PKD here. I went on a mini binge of his works a year or two ago, and it was quite rewarding. I've been thinking that there needs to be a canon of "paranoiac literature," with Dick, Kafka, Pynchon, etc., as featured authors.
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