...Philip K. Dick, that is.

I've been wanting to read some of his books this summer - I've always really enjoyed what I've read of his, but I've never really gone on a binge where I've read a bunch of his work over one period of time. I've always intended to do just that, and I'm working on it now.

Yesterday I checked out "We Can Rebuild You" (which I'm reading now), "The Man in the High Castle" and "A Crack in Space". I just picked those books because the blurbs on the back seemed most interesting...but they ALL seem really interesting.

Any fans of his work on here who can give me some recommendations?

If not, feel free to post gratuitous Dick puns. I really can't get enough of them, you know.

Anxiety said:

Philip K Dick is one of my favorite writers. I love everything of his I've read. I read The Man in the High Castle two summers ago, and I'm about to re-read it. His novels are good, but I'm partial to his short stories and there are a ton of compendiums to choose from.

Yeah, you were doing a little "advanced research" in the back.

All I know about Dick (pun fully intended) is that Sonic Youth (or was it Kitten ) once did something based on one of his works. Of course, I learned this back when I gave a damn about pretentious art-rock. It is good to fuck to, though (pretentious art-rock, that is).

Ace said:

Sonic Youth is great for reading these books too - I love my Dick with some Goo.

I'm also about to read A Scanner Darkly. I've been meaning to for years now, but I wanna get it done before the Richard Linklater movie comes out. And if you liked Minority Report, try the short story. It's very good, but quite different from the film.

RipHer2Shreds said:

the library had a funky little book that was just minority report - it was a tie-in with the movie, obviously, though it wasn't covered with a bunch of obnoxious movie stills. it was designed quite nicely. i might pick it up on my next go-round.

superspaceboy said:

i can't even mention his name around my boyfriend without getting a whole stand-up comedy routine about it.

Well, Charles Dickens was close enough

AzurePanther said:

Charles Dickens' "Blade Runner". Now THAT I'd like to see.

Anxiety said:

I think I know the one you're talking about. Big print, and the binding is at the top rather than on the sides? It was a weird publication. Try this one if you can find it:



It's a good assortment of his stories, and should give you a jumping off point for his other works.

Anxiety said:

Kim Gordon was such a honey, back in the day:



From Wikipedia:

On Sister (1987), Sonic Youth continued refining their blend of pop-music song structures with uncompomising experimentalism. Another loose concept album, Sister is partly inspired by the life and works of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick (the "sister" of the title was Dick's fraternal twin, who died shortly after her birth, and whose memory haunted Dick his entire life). It recieved very positive reviews, and remains one of the best-loved records among Sonic Youth's fans. The group regularly played songs such as "Schizophrenia" and "Kotton Krown" long after the album's release.

Ace said:

when i saw sonic youth a couple of years ago, kim was still lookin' good. she's a sweetheart, too.

Anxiety said:

Sister is only my second-favourite album partly inspired by Philip K. Dick's fraternal twin.

RipHer2Shreds said:

yeah, the book with the big print is exactly the one i saw, with the funky binding. i'll look for the short story collection - i'm starting off with some novels first, cuz i tend to have a hard time focusing on short stories, but when i'm really into someone's writing, i wanna read EVERYTHING, so i'm sure i'll wanna find that collection soon.

Ace said:

it's really an underappreciated genre, if you ask me. which you didn't. but feel free to ask anytime.

Anxiety said:

Not at all! Feel free to chime-in. I totally agree.

Incidentally, yes: my favourite Philip-K-Dick's-fraternal-twin-inspired album is Born in the U.S.A.

Ace said:

'pink cadillac' is especially evocative.

I only read a couple of short stories, and can't even remember them anymore thanks to movies based on them

Anxiety said:

"Pink Cadillac" is a Born in the U.S.A. b-side (obviously rejected for its not-Philip-K-Dick's-fraternal-twin-inspired content). Now, "I'm Goin' Down" is quite obviously inspired by Philip K. Dick's fraternal twin.

Ace said:

i knew that.

Read "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said"...I sent that book to Sweeny for her birthday. It's a fucking trip...

Byron said:

i think i've already read that one and i remember it ever so vaguely....i'll just have to read it again!

Anxiety said:

I think the movie "Donnie Darko" was inspired by this book, in certain ways...not that it's based on this book, but you can see similar elements within both. Director Richard Kelly is a huge Phillip K. Dick fan......there's also some weird story connected to the writing of this particular book, something about Dick meeting people who had the same names as the characters years after it had been published, and they were related/connected to each other in the same ways the characters in the book were...something like that...

Anxiety, read VALIS, Philip.K. Dick is one of the greatest authors ever.