The Maze of Death

[Connavar]

By Philip K Dick


What do you think of this story?


I just finished it, im the only one who have read it?

 

[Quokka]

Definitely not one of his best (imo) but still an ok read. There's some nice idea's and I think a big part of the reason why I was a bit disappointed in it is that the idea's have been borrowed and retold so many times since.

 

[Connavar]

Sure it the weakest of the three PKD i have read so far but i still enjoyed cause as usuall PKD is great at creating interesting characters and having very interesting ideas he tells very well.

SPOIELERS:


The PKD books i have read has made me alittle depressed cause usaully they are very sad,dark at the ending but this one made me laugh cause of how ironic it was to me when Mary Morley went back to the dream world which was yet again Delmak-O. I like how she forget about her husband so fast cause the others left her alone when they plugged in to the dream world.

 

[Quokka]

Might as well keep that Spoiler heading up there.


True, although the book felt a bit like it needed another re-write/edit, which from my very limited experience doesn't seem to be all that uncommon in PKD there's still that spark of imagination there that keeps creating interesting ideas. Again I think one issue with the book now is that so much of it relys on the revelation at the end and this has been used so many times since, particuarly in movies, that it felt like a bit of a let down whereas had I read it in 1970 (?) it may well have left me thinking a little more. That's hardly PKD's fault and I did like how they weren't just using it for fun but to treat the isolation/depression and to starve off someone going violent, it's been awhile since I read it but if I remember right this tied in nicely with some interesting idea's on profiling?

 

[Connavar]

Nah i dont think it was that bad it needed editing.

As you say there was the usuall PKD imagination that made it worthwile.

Nah the end revelation was new to me. Even if i have seen it before i sure didnt remember it when i read the end of this book which is why it made me laugh. It wasnt predictable that was the most important at the end. If i saw the ending coming then i would have been dissapointed.


I think the wierd religion and the characters made it a good SF book.

I also liked how they weren't just using it for fun but to treat the isolation/depression and to starve off someone going violent

Heck IF it wasnt PKD who can do alot better than he did in this book and you knew that this book would have been great if it was some other writer.

I just expect more magic from PKD. It lacked the feeling of awe of the usauall PKD stories i have read. All PKD novels and short stories have had ideas,characters,stories,endings that awed me.

For example at the end of Androids Dream i was feelings so many emotions specially how pointlessly evil a certain Android was to a certain human.

 

[D_Davis]

This is, easily, my least favorite of Dick's books. I think it is poorly written, populated with uninteresting characters who are impossible to empathize with, and the premise just isn't that interesting. Being written in 1969/1970, you can tell that Phil was at a low point here. While his books are sometimes sad, and deal with themes of depression, they are almost always filled with a sense of hope. I feel as if Dick is pointing us in a direction that we need to look, a direction his characters can't often see. Maze of Death, on the other hand, is totally misanthropic. It's as if Dick hates his characters here. I was constantly reminded of Harlen Ellison's I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream, only Dick's book isn't as well written or interesting as Ellison's.

There are only three Dick books, of the ones I've read thus far, that I actively dislike, and Maze of Death is the one out of these that I hate the most.

/opinion

 

[Connavar]

This is, easily, my least favorite of Dick's books. I think it is poorly written, populated with uninteresting characters who are impossible to empathize with, and the premise just isn't that interesting. Being written in 1969/1970, you can tell that Phil was at a low point here. While his books are sometimes sad, and deal with themes of depression, they are almost always filled with a sense of hope. I feel as if Dick is pointing us in a direction that we need to look, a direction his characters can't often see. Maze of Death, on the other hand, is totally misanthropic. It's as if Dick hates his characters here. I was constantly reminded of Harlen Ellison's I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream, only Dick's book isn't as well written or interesting as Ellison's.

There are only three Dick books, of the ones I've read thus far, that I actively dislike, and Maze of Death is the one out of these that I hate the most.

/opinion

I agree about the characters, they werent nearly as interesting as his characters usually are in his stories.

The premise was alright, but the story was way too avreage for PKD.

Overall i think its decent cause PKD like ending, the interesting theology.


Its easily my least favorit PKD book too.