Where to start with Philip K. Dick

tHE vAGGABOND

I saw K-Pax again the other night, and I think its brilliant. So it got me thinking that I should give a book/story or two of Philip K. Dick's a lash. I also may be the only person who liked A Scanner Darkly, when I saw it in IFI the other week!

I quite like 'odd' stuff, and indeed collections of short stories - so I'm thinking that I could quite like his stuff.

I then discover, like any Sci-Fi writer of note, he has written 3 million books and short stories :cool: . I do a search for books in his name on Amazon, and we have 400+ possible purchases.

Simple question, which would be considered his best peices of work or indeed a better question would be to feck the reviewers and critics and has anyone really enjoyed any of his stuff?

Earthhorse

Dick was a pretty prolific writer so it can be hard to know where to start.

Personally I love his short fiction and would recommend any of the collected volumes of short stories. Five is the best in my opinion (though I haven't read volume four), and they are ordered chronologically through his life so you can see his development as a writer as you work through the volumes. The collected stories come with some great introductions, as well as Dick's own notes on them, which are sometimes really elucidating and occasionally better than the stories themselves.

Of the longer fiction the only one I've really enjoyed is Bladerunner or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I did really enjoy it though. The Man in the High Castle, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, Confessions of a Crap Artist and Radio Free Albemuth were all pretty lacklustre as far as I'm concerned, though the first two did have their moments.

BossArky

I have only read one book of his, "The Man in the High Castle". It was worth the read although I did get a bit lost when he went on about characters consulting some eastern forturne telling book... or something like that. I think he was trying to highlight how different the world would be now if the allies had lost WW2. i.e. instead of being heavily influenced by the USA as we are nowadays we would have been heavily influenced by the Germans and Japanese.

Tree

he's much loved over on the scifi fantasty forum,see below.

i'd recommend starting on his short stories, some of his novels can be tough going, i think most of his short stories have been collected into five volumes.
some of his best novels include a scanner darkly, do androids dream of electric sheep, cry my tears the policeman said, and miilllllions more. he's definitely one of my favourite authors of all time

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054947633

sambora

I saw K-Pax again the other night, and I think its brilliant.

I've been contemplating buying this for a while but could never reallly decide. Think I might give it a go, since it is said to be a really good film!

tHE vAGGABOND

K-Pax is indeed a good movie. You cant go wrong with Kevin Spacey, and I love the story...

I ordered the last 3 short story books, all going well Amazon should deliver them today, that should keep me ticking over for a while

2040

I remember feeling the same before i started reading PKD. I think most people tend to start with Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? after seeing blade runner. That's the first book of his i read anyway, and as it happens it is a good start. I'd stay away from Valis onwards for now. You should get familiar with him first. Anything he wrote from the 60's up to A Scanner Darkly are safe places to start. Bibliography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_Philip_K._Dick

And as other people said: Flow My Tears..., Ubik, Man In The High Castle - all safe starting points.

Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch is my personal favourite. He gets all gnostic..

daithimac

the man in the High castle really is a classic though even for people who are not fans of sci-fi

Fidelis

I really liked the film adaptation of A Scanner Darkly too! I thought it was translated very well from the book.

I have The Man In The High Castle on my shelf waiting to be read sometime soon.

luckat

One thing to remember about Philip K Dick is that his books tend to start out *very depressing* - but they take off, and have a wow finish.

Another vote for The Man in the High Castle. Fabulous characters, quirky twists, brilliant story, his writing could take paint off the door.

Dades

luckat wrote:

Another vote for The Man in the High Castle. Fabulous characters, quirky twists, brilliant story, his writing could take paint off the door.

Just finished this a month ago and I swear we must have read different books. All theme and no story AFAIC.

Maze of Death is my cheesy choice for PKD.