Philip K Dick favourites?

[nightdreamer]

Ubik has stood out in my mind for decades.

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by TedKeller

For some reason Time Out of Joint is my favorite sci-fi book of his. It's got intense literary realism bursts, cause it's written at the end of the 50's, before he gave up being a high lit author. His failed attempt at high lit - Confessions of a Crap Artist - is one of my favorite books ever.

I liked Time Out of Joint too -- looking forward to reading it again. You mention his realistic work -- have you read Humpty-Dumpty in Oakland? There is a scene in which the protagonist drives to a construction site and looks around, and somehow the writing filled me with delight. This sequence was before the fellow had a heart attack. Somehow I think it was my favorite passage in PKD (out of about ten books that I have read). Does anyone know what I am talking about??

[rand00]

Ubik, of course.

[Connavar]

The Man in The High Castle i just finished and it skyrockets to top of my fav PKD list. My fav and the best written PKD book i have read so far.

It doesnt make The Three Stigmata of Palmer Elderitch and Now Wait For Last Year less fantastic but its just above them.

[Zoolook]

Am I the only one who really like The Game Players of Titan? It's one of my faves. The others are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and A Scanner Darkly.

[Venusian Broon]

A Scanner Darkly was the only book I have ever, ever re-read immediately after finishing it. I'm already getting misty-eyed thinking about the end.

Next three that probably come next are: Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and (for some reason) Maze of Death.

His short story corpus would complete my top 5 for PKD.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Zoolook

Am I the only one who really like The Game Players of Titan? It's one of my faves. The others are Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and A Scanner Darkly.

The Game Players of Titan is very good and its one of my favs. Just outside my top 3-4 PKD books. I like it more than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which i found to be only decent and Maze of Death the only Dick novel i truly dislike.

[gully_foyle]

What is it about Dick's books? Even my least favourites have been amazing reads. I am halfway through The Penultimate Truth and it is just fantastic. I guess it is the element of constant mystery (i.e. what the hell is going on?) mixed with real humanity in his characters. My favourite is probably Ubik, but I would be hard pushed to say what was his best. Maybe Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep because of the frailty of Deckard and the notion of empathy and how we seek to shut it out of our daily range of emotions. I hope that in 2000 years they are treated the way we treat Greek classics now, as insights into a civilisation coming to grips with the human condition.

[coinspinner]

Three stigmata, by far. Probably because it has such great depths to the imagination. Ubik is a close second, a terrifying novel indeed.

[Illusive]

PKD has so much good stuff it's hard to decide. If I had to rate my favorites, I guess they would be

1. Ubik--All around amazing.
2. The Man in the High Castle--The scene when Tagomi sits on the bench and imagines our real future is just brilliant)
3. Scanner Darkly--Love the bits where one half of his brain is speaking German to the other, and he doesn't know German.
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep--Such great ideas: The empathy box, Mercerism, human/machine fusion, etc.

I also have a bit of a soft spot for The Game Players of Titan.

[Kylara]

Mmm I love him, such a wonderful style and the ideas! Oh joys...Some of them remind me of Gibson's style in Neuromancer, though I don't know why, perhaps the franticness, and not telling the reader evrything; you actually have to think, which is wonderful...I have, for a long while now, wanted to go out and bulk buy everything of his, then read it (all at once? or in chunks...now that is the question, how long do I wish to enjoy them for...) but have come up against just how much he has written and the names/availability of them all, AND WHERE IS SECOND VARIETY HEY!? WHERE! *cries in a corner* I can't find his shorts ANYWHERE!

[Illusive]

Originally Posted by Kylara

Mmm I love him, such a wonderful style and the ideas! Oh joys...Some of them remind me of Gibson's style in Neuromancer, though I don't know why, perhaps the franticness, and not telling the reader evrything; you actually have to think, which is wonderful...I have, for a long while now, wanted to go out and bulk buy everything of his, then read it (all at once? or in chunks...now that is the question, how long do I wish to enjoy them for...) but have come up against just how much he has written and the names/availability of them all, AND WHERE IS SECOND VARIETY HEY!? WHERE! *cries in a corner* I can't find his shorts ANYWHERE!

You can find "Second Variety" in The Philip K. Dick Reader. I have it so I am sure. I tried to post the link to Amazon, but it wouldn't let me. A simple search of the title will get you there, however.

I never really made the connection between PKD and Gibson, maybe because the prose is so different. They are both amazingly inventive though.

[Kylara]

Haha I'll have a look thanks Illusive...Man that was a bad week I had there: Neuromancer, A Scanner Darkly and a few other strange books, hectic lines, crazy words, proppelling me through hours, I was confused over what was real and what wasn't for about a month, luckily I had my good ol' LOTR to fall back on to stop my poor head spinning...
I think it was reading those specific two right after one another that really linked them...the crazy style, losing you in thoughts and fears, grand plans that no-one seems to understand...brilliant stuff

[Venusian Broon]

Originally Posted by Kylara

AND WHERE IS SECOND VARIETY HEY!? WHERE! *cries in a corner* I can't find his shorts ANYWHERE!

I'm surprised you can't find his short story collections - They are usually published in five volumes and they are called (in order)
Beyond lies the Wub, Second Variety, The Father Thing, The Days of Perky Pat and We can Remember it for you Wholesale.


Second variety is, as you'd expect, in volume 2!

My collection has the full set of 1991 reprints (which I see on Amazon as the 1999 reprint). I do know however that there are quite a few other anthlogies called different things floating about - but the above are, I think, the main ones.

Of course if you are trying to find them second hand - that may be more difficult.

[Kylara]

I try an buy everything I can new, that way they stay perfect forever...I'll have to trip into London then to the big bookshop and try there...evrytime I look I only see the man in the high castle and electric sheep, it is annoying... -_-