Philip K. Dick - Page 2

DMcCunney · 01-07-2008, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

I haven't watched the movie, so I'll just choose a book that has a nice-sounding title for a starter...if I enjoy that one I'll probably start reading everything he ever wrote, I usually do it that way...

Dick was an interesting writer. All of his books are concerned with the question "How do you tell the difference between reality and fantasy?" Dick suffered from bouts of mental illness, and wasn't always sure where the line was himself, which lent power to his work.

I'd start with "The Man In the High Castle", a "What if the Axis had won WWII?" novel, and go on through "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", and "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch".
______
Dennis

morpheus · 01-28-2008, 11:07 PM

I got the new Blade Runner DVD at Xmas, and just re-read Androids on my PRS-500. There are actually more common elements to the two stories than I remembered, and both of them are brilliant fiction in their own way. Scanner Darkly remains the most faithful PKD movie adaptation though. I defy anyone not to shed a tear reading the postscript to that book.

I've loved PKD's books since high school - he's the great unsung genius of American speculative fiction. I'm slogging through Valis at the moment which is pretty tough. It's basically a semi-autobiographical account of PKD's mystic revelations/mental breakdown.

montsnmags · 01-29-2008, 12:38 AM

PKD fans might like the following Red Meat cartoon:

(Note, it contains some "religious" reference, so if you're as easily offended as an 80-year-old nun at a Rocky Mountain Oyster Festival, you'll probably want to pass it by...)

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/2007-11-13/index.html

Cheers,
Marc (I would have thought She was a Tepper fan, myself)

CommanderROR · 01-29-2008, 05:16 AM

That cartoon is cool...

borax99 · 05-31-2008, 10:57 AM

Man in the High Castle is a delight, but I have also greatly enjoyed Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Dick in his decline was still head and shoulders above most so-called "Genre" writers...

And I have watched A Scanner Darkly repeatedly - it does a very very good job capturing the paranoid essence of the story.

Greg Anos · 05-31-2008, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Marquard

Many books from Philip K. Dick are still in copyright, but a good chunk of his stories might not. It is currently under investigation. It will probably take a year or two to complete though.
Checking the copyright costs money. If anyone wants to donate then contact Greg Weeks. He has already freed H. Beam Piper for us.

Good luck, but I'm not too optimistic. I remember that shortly after his death, his short stories were collected in a block of hard cover books (5-7 volumes, if my memory serves me) with cut out signatures from his cancelled checks. What text they used I don't know, but that probably reset a lot of copyrights (to life + 95). If they didn't use the magazine text versions, those might be expired. RSE

Spellbot 5000 · 06-01-2008, 07:17 AM

Ahhh, PKD! Does he really need a recommendation though? That's like saying "Hey guys, someone told me this guy Henline, Hindline, something like that, is supposedly a good writer. I should check his stuff out. Oh, and I heard some good stuff about some guy named, what was it... Clerk, Clarke maybe?"

One of the true masters of writing, let alone just sci-fi. He was one of the original visionaries who really shaped what readers think of as "the future", however nebulous the concept may be. Interesting as time goes by though, many of his amazing theories and inventions from "the future" are now becoming science fact of the present.

astrodad · 06-02-2008, 03:43 PM

Which story inspired Minority Report?

Spellbot 5000 · 06-02-2008, 04:40 PM

That would be his short story... "The Minority Report".

Go figure.

astrodad · 06-06-2008, 01:41 PM

LOL. That's pretty obvious. I didn't have a chance to look it up. Thanks.

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01-28-2008, 11:07 PM	#17
morpheus Aio, quantitas magna frum Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lemuria Device: Sony 505	I got the new Blade Runner DVD at Xmas, and just re-read Androids on my PRS-500. There are actually more common elements to the two stories than I remembered, and both of them are brilliant fiction in their own way. Scanner Darkly remains the most faithful PKD movie adaptation though. I defy anyone not to shed a tear reading the postscript to that book. I've loved PKD's books since high school - he's the great unsung genius of American speculative fiction. I'm slogging through Valis at the moment which is pretty tough. It's basically a semi-autobiographical account of PKD's mystic revelations/mental breakdown.

01-29-2008, 12:38 AM	#18
montsnmags Grand Sorcerer Posts: 10,155 Karma: 4632658 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: none	PKD fans might like the following Red Meat cartoon: (Note, it contains some "religious" reference, so if you're as easily offended as an 80-year-old nun at a Rocky Mountain Oyster Festival, you'll probably want to pass it by...) http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/2007-11-13/index.html Cheers, Marc (I would have thought She was a Tepper fan, myself)

01-29-2008, 05:16 AM	#19
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	That cartoon is cool...

05-31-2008, 10:57 AM	#20
borax99 Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Tablet PC - P1610	Man in the High Castle is a delight, but I have also greatly enjoyed Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Dick in his decline was still head and shoulders above most so-called "Genre" writers... And I have watched A Scanner Darkly repeatedly - it does a very very good job capturing the paranoid essence of the story.

06-01-2008, 07:17 AM	#22
Spellbot 5000 Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 732 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Cybook Gen3	Ahhh, PKD! Does he really need a recommendation though? That's like saying "Hey guys, someone told me this guy Henline, Hindline, something like that, is supposedly a good writer. I should check his stuff out. Oh, and I heard some good stuff about some guy named, what was it... Clerk, Clarke maybe?" One of the true masters of writing, let alone just sci-fi. He was one of the original visionaries who really shaped what readers think of as "the future", however nebulous the concept may be. Interesting as time goes by though, many of his amazing theories and inventions from "the future" are now becoming science fact of the present.

06-02-2008, 03:43 PM	#23
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	Which story inspired Minority Report?

06-02-2008, 04:40 PM	#24
Spellbot 5000 Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 732 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Cybook Gen3	That would be his short story... "The Minority Report". Go figure.

06-06-2008, 01:41 PM	#25
astrodad Guru Posts: 962 Karma: 568242 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Oasis 3, Kindle Paperwhite 1, iPad, iPhone	LOL. That's pretty obvious. I didn't have a chance to look it up. Thanks.

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