Has anyone read Ubik?

[Wawona Girl]

Has anyone read Ubik by Philip k. Dick. It is a science fiction novel that leaves you guessing right to the end. I read the book years ago and it left me puzzling over the story for days. But I read it again a few weeks ago and it made more sense to me this time. If you have never read the book, do so, or else you are missing out on a masterpiece.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Yes, I think it is one of my two favorite novels by the author. (The other would be The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.) I have to admit that there are many PKD novels I have not read. It takes a while for the weirdness to get going, but once it arrives it's a real mind trip.

 

[S Blake-Smy]

Yes, amazing and twisted story. I love it! One of my favorites

 

[The Judge]

Tried it a few years ago, but only got one-third of the way through and had to give up. I think it's one of those books that are wonderful if you happen to be on the same wavelength as the author, but are unutterably baffling and unreadable if you're not.

 

[Wawona Girl]

Is Glen Runciter alive or dead? What exactly is Ubik? The book leaves you guessing. Why don't they use books like these in secondary schools and discuss the interpretations of them? I was forced to read the L-shaped room at school. BORING! BORING! And BORING! Who the hell chooses dull books like that?

 

[johnnyjet]

Yes! Excellent! Philip K. Dick is one of my all-time favorite authors. I've read a lot of his short stories and a lot of his novels. He's written many fascinating works. Hard to pick a favorite, but Ubik is up there with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Martian Time-Slip, Dr. Bloodmoney and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Among others.

 

[S Blake-Smy]

Is Glen Runciter alive or dead? What exactly is Ubik? The book leaves you guessing. Why don't they use books like these in secondary schools and discuss the interpretations of them? I was forced to read the L-shaped room at school. BORING! BORING! And BORING! Who the hell chooses dull books like that?

I agree, books like this would be amazing for a secondary school English syllabus. It would not only entertain but (hopefully) incite a great deal of discussion! especially at an age when kids are more likely to be bored by what they assume might be standardised literature. Imagine a disaffected teen expecting another 'mundane' book, which seems to bear no relevance to what they feel at that age, being told to read this or 'a scanner darkly'!

Mind -- Blown

 

[Toby Frost]

I read this years ago, but I remember it quite well. I thought it was one of Dick's better books: it managed to stay weird without falling apart at the end.