Philip K. Dick - the novels

[D_Davis]

I'm just reading Ubik now and really enjoying it so far.

Definitely in my top 5. UBIK is an excellently told story, and it's entertaining as can be.

 

[Fried Egg]

Well, I just finished Ubik last night and I really liked it; the best of his I've read so far. You are constantly wondering who are the ones who have died (and are living in an illusionary world in coldpac) and who are the ones on the outside in the "real" world. And then at the end, just when you think you know, it flips again. And a great sense of humour running throughout; In this vision of the future every single appliance, even doors, are coin operated. Nothing comes for free. Much to the annoyance of the perpetually broke main character; Joe Chip.

Now I've finished all the PKD books in my "to read" pile. Which to read next? So far I've read (and enjoyed all):

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
The Penultimate Truth
Ubik

 

[Fried Egg]

I also meant to ask what collection of his short stories people would recommend? Is there a complete collection available or would I be better off with a best-of?

 

[D_Davis]

Which to read next?

A Scanner Darkly

 

[J-Sun]

I also meant to ask what collection of his short stories people would recommend? Is there a complete collection available or would I be better off with a best-of?

I have his complete stories in five volumes from Citadel. (The set is available in two versions which are the same except for completely different titles - and they may move a story from one book to another - I'm not sure. But the result is the same.).

For a one volume collection, the Ballantine "The Best of" series is generally superb - it looks like the Dick volume, edited by Brunner, is no exception. So that'd be my recommendation, at least for starters.

The only collection of PKD I had before the Collected Stories was The Variable Man, which was great but is only a limited slice of five relatively early stories.

 

[J-Sun]

Which to read next?

Oops. Missed this. Martian Time-Slip.

 

[Connavar]

I also meant to ask what collection of his short stories people would recommend? Is there a complete collection available or would I be better off with a best-of?

My only PKD short story collection so far and its pretty impressive one stories wise is called Selected stories of Philip K Dick. Amazon.com: Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick: Philip K. Dick: Books

Content table :

1. Beyond Lies the Wub
2. Roog
3. Paycheck
4. Second Variety
5. Imposter
6. The King of the Elves
7. Adjustment Team
8. Foster, You're Dead
9. Upon the Dull Earth
10. Autofac
11. The Minority Report
12. The Days of Perky Pat
13. Precious Artifact
14. A Game of Unchance
15. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
16. Faith of Our Fathers
17. The Electric Ant
18. A Little Something For Us Tempunauts
19. The Exit Door Leads In
20. Rautavaara's Case
21. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

Pretty famous stories and Minority Report was so good. Typical thoughtprovoking PKD whose rep is ruined by too simplelistic movie.
Avoid Paycheck not a good story.

Second Variety i havent read yet but as soon i get home after this post i will read it. The synopsis sounds very interesting and sounds like a great PKD.

"one of Dick's most paranoid and basis for the movie _Screamers_. When sophisticated weapons take on human guise and began to stalk man, what Dick calls his grand theme, knowing who is human and who only pretends to be, is starkly exhibited."

 

[woodsman]

On the next-to-be-read issue I'd say, give Galactic Pot Healer a spin. I've not read that much PKD (7/8 novels) but this is one of my favourites so far.

 

[Connavar]

I have his complete stories in five volumes from Citadel. (The set is available in two versions which are the same except for completely different titles - and they may move a story from one book to another - I'm not sure. But the result is the same.).

For a one volume collection, the Ballantine "The Best of" series is generally superb - it looks like the Dick volume, edited by Brunner, is no exception. So that'd be my recommendation, at least for starters.

The only collection of PKD I had before the Collected Stories was The Variable Man, which was great but is only a limited slice of five relatively early stories.

Have you read many of his short stories ? Any of the famous ones ? Favorites ? I have been going through my ss collection and have enjoying to bits the different kinds of PKD that you might not see in many of his books.

 

[J-Sun]

I've only read through Vol.3 of the Collected Stories so far, along with the one earlier collection and some in various anthologies. I'm not sure which the famous ones are, really, beyond things like "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" because it became a movie (and the story is way better than the movie Total Recall, as can even be seen from the titles. Favorites - I'm bad for remembering things, especially story titles, but some are "Beyond Lies the Wub", "The Hanging Stranger", "The Golden Man", "Second Variety", "Autofac", "The Minority Report" - and, as I say, the things in The Best of look like a really good selection. I seem to recall liking "Foster, You're Dead" and "The Father-Thing", too.

Yeah, I agree - his novels get so much attention that, aside from the odd movie adaptation, his stories seem relatively ignored. To me, they're very much a part of his whole work and, while he wrote too much too fast early on, that's probably also true of the novels. But they do often take different approaches or touch on slightly different things or sort of "lift things up" that are sort of just "woven into" the novels along with lots of other things.

How about you - what are some of your favorites?

 

[Connavar]

I have read these the stories so far in my collection and most of them in the last days going through the collection :

Beyond Lies the Wub
Roog
Second Variety
The King of the Elves
Adjustment Team
Foster, You're Dead
Autofac

Those stories i read in the last two,three days.

The Minority Report
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale
Paycheck

These three i read months ago when i bought the collection.

A great collection when i have read the stories.

Favorites in ranking order Minority Report,Second Variety,Autofac,We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,Foster, You're Dead.

What i like about his short stories is that he doesnt need many pages to tell his story. His style of sf is character,ideas that he can tell as good stories as the novels in 20 pages. Its done the same just minus the discriptions that builds his world more in the novels.

Beyond Lies the Wub was a good start to my collection since it was crazy humor story compared to the real dark ones the rest seem to be. I thought his novels was grim,despair but when you read two short stories in a row about nuclear world wars,machines dominating humans its wonderully dark.

Second Variety was scariest story of his i have read. Aswesome story. I hope there are novel versions of it. Not the same story but horror like sf like it.

 

[J-Sun]

Plenty of overlap in our story lists.

Yeah, "Second Variety" is intense - of all the things that were turned into movies, it seems like that would make a good one, but I don't think it has been. Could have had something to do with inspiring the Terminator stuff, though. I'm not sure which of his novels would be closest to that in spirit. Many of his novels feature the paranoia and confusion and, uh, fatality of that story, but not usually in as concentrated a way.

 

[D_Davis]

Yeah, "Second Variety" is intense - of all the things that were turned into movies, it seems like that would make a good one, but I don't think it has been. Could have had something to do with inspiring the Terminator stuff, though. I'm not sure which of his novels would be closest to that in spirit. Many of his novels feature the paranoia and confusion and, uh, fatality of that story, but not usually in as concentrated a way.

It was made into Screamers, and it stunk.

As big a fan I am of PKD's novels, I've read more by him than any other author, I am not a fan of his short stories. From what I've read, a couple dozen or so, they do not pack the emotional punch of his novels. They feel more like little zingers to me, and lack the mastery of human understanding of his longer work.

PKD the novelist, and PKD the short story writer seem like two very different authors to me. And this is actually kind of cool. He approached his short stories on a completely different level, and while some like this, they just don't do much for me.

Eventually I will read them all simply because I will soon be out of PKD novels to read.

 

[Connavar]

Maybe you have read the weaker short stories ? There are some weaker ones and some i read that i forgot was a short story cause of the emotional punch in it like in his novels.

Some you see are early in his career and experimenting or simple pulp sf in Paycheck type and some like Minority Report,Autofac,Second Variety are the great PKD of the 60s imo.

I personally think you will like several of his better short stories. The comedic ones are an example you wont see in his famous novels. Second Variety are too dark for a novel of his.

Have you read the different types of short stories ? Have you read many or few of them ?

 

[J-Sun]

It was made into Screamers, and it stunk.

Ah well. It was a thought.

Eventually I will read them all simply because I will soon be out of PKD novels to read.

Well, like Connavar, I suspect you'll find at least a few you do like but, yeah, he's much more generally regarded for his novels.

 

[D_Davis]

Just finished The Game-Players of Titan. It's a solid mid-level work. It contains some interesting ideas and characters, but the plot isn't extremely interesting. There are also a few too many double-crosses towards the end. I did enjoy the idea of the game, though, and as an avid board gamer, this intrigued me. I also liked the main character and his relationship with his wife and wannabe mistress.

I am starting on a months-long PKD research project for an article I'm writing in which I examine PKD's search for authentic human emotion filtered through his idealized woman: the dark haired girl.

I am re-reading a number of novels and biographies, and I will also crack into The Dark Haired Girl, a collection of essays written by PKD, as well as the Journal of Science Fiction Studies collection, On PKD.

This should prove to be a fascinating study, and I am looking forward to writing the article.

 

[Fried Egg]

I just finished A Scanner Darkly. Here are my thoughts:

This is another one of those books in the SF Masterworks series that I wouldn't really call SF attall. OK, it was set in the future but not by much. 1992 and the book was published in 1977. Just far enough to allow for a few minor differences, like the prevelence of a new and dangerous drug: Substance D.

John Arcter (codenamed "Fred") is an undercover narcotics agent and must live the life of a doper in an attempt to work his way up the chain of supply to try and find the ultimate source of Substance D. Things start to go awry however as the drug begins to damage his brain and his undercover persona becomes a suspect whom he must observe and report upon. His confusion grows as he begins no longer to recognise himself on the camera.

This book is a profiles drug abuse and the devestating effects that often result and the price they have to pay for their pleasures. It is more serious than other books I have read by Dick but it is not without humour. And unlike his other books, it doesn't attempt to mess with the reader's sense of reality, only that of the main character.

It's not SF, but it is a must read.

 

[AE35Unit]

I quite enjoyed the movie of that book,which DOES look SF,unlike most of Dick's stuff which isn't 'classic' SF

 

[Fried Egg]

Yeah, I am looking forward to watching the film at some point...

 

[Connavar]

I just finished A Scanner Darkly. Here are my thoughts:

This is another one of those books in the SF Masterworks series that I wouldn't really call SF attall. OK, it was set in the future but not by much. 1992 and the book was published in 1977. Just far enough to allow for a few minor differences, like the prevelence of a new and dangerous drug: Substance D.

John Arcter (codenamed "Fred") is an undercover narcotics agent and must live the life of a doper in an attempt to work his way up the chain of supply to try and find the ultimate source of Substance D. Things start to go awry however as the drug begins to damage his brain and his undercover persona becomes a suspect whom he must observe and report upon. His confusion grows as he begins no longer to recognise himself on the camera.

This book is a profiles drug abuse and the devestating effects that often result and the price they have to pay for their pleasures. It is more serious than other books I have read by Dick but it is not without humour. And unlike his other books, it doesn't attempt to mess with the reader's sense of reality, only that of the main character.

It's not SF, but it is a must read.

Isnt set in a dystopian future like many other PKD ?

I think most of what he does are sf, no matter if its social side of it.
I have read books of his that hade time travel,space travel,aliens but still was about human emotions. His themes are always more important the sf elements of his worlds. He could have written his books as well without any sf elements.