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Just finished reading PKD's "Valis" - what a bizarre little book!

Supposedly semi-autobiographical, this book can be "hard going" in places - PKD mixes religion, mythology and extraterrestrial intervention with events in his personal life from 1974 onwards. This book made me laugh out loud, scratch my head in bewilderment and gave my vocabulary a thorough going over.

If you've never read a PKD book before make sure you leave this one until later or it might just put you off trying one of his more (un)conventional novels.


Just started "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley then I'll move onto PKD's "A Scanner Darkly" and finally revel in my second outing with Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty Four".

Yes, I too read "Valis" a while back. I agree with what you had to say about it.

I am currently finishing up "The Simulacra". My next one to read is "A Scanner Darkly" (can't wait!!! lol).

Cheers!

I just finished reading a biography of PKD entitled I AM ALIVE AND YOU ARE DEAD by the french author Emmanuel Carr?re. I liked it very much. He describes the facts in Phil's life that were happening while working on each novel, so it gives you a broader view, if a little "enriched" by the author's style. This is not a "date-and-fact" biography, but instead he tries to approach what might have been Phil?s emotions, feelings and thoughts, as if he was a character. The VALIS chapter gives some very interesting info.

I too have read Valis. Though it is out there, I wouldnt really call it bizarre. MOre like the culmination of one mans completely unique journey. It is fascinating and thought provoking in a way much different than all his earlier works. "The Divine Invasion" & "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer" follow the same lines. Though these three are described as the Valis trilogy, they arent in the conventional sense. Yes they were his last three books, written one after the other and deal with very similar themes, but obviously the characters and situational thematics are different. Each has something to offer IMO.

How is it so many people havent read A Scanner Darkly. I surely hope you have by now my friends, what with the film and all. This book is probably the one I can most relate too (though not my favorite PKD work it is up there) as many of the situations and characters hit close to home. Hopefully the movie will be a fullfilling experience tomorrow.

I read it! AND I'm going to see the movie today. CAN'T WAIT!!!

I found that book among my top five favourites by him so far.

I really enjoyed the film, i found it to be quite faithful to the book, infact it is probably the most faithful book-movie adaptation around. I give it a 9.5/10