Ubik
Philip K. Dick
It seems like it's been a while, but here I am with a new read. I kind of wish that I had read Vonnegut more recently than I have, because I have a feeling that Dick's work is similar, at least in pace and rate of confusion. Dick's narrative is often muddled and twisted, but he delivers it all quite accessibly and creates enough solidity to leave the reader a wisp of sanity to cling onto. The book transcends the limits of time and space and presents a (then) futuristic look at the moral dilemmas we face with technological advancements. The book also creates an interesting corollary to technology-based espionage by empowering select groups of humans with psychological, and counter-psychological, powers.
At first I was afraid that this book would whisk me around aimlessly from one point of view to the next, and that I would never be able to gain a foothold. Being a die-hard fan of Catch-22, I should have known better. Though it takes a chapter or two to get a sense of what is going on, the chaos is part of Dick's style and in fact presents interesting commentary on reality and the ways in which we should and should not try to manipulate it. Dick's characters themselves do not know what is going on and jump to the same logical conclusions as the reader, prodded by events and experiencing just as much mental anguish over the mix-ups as those of us experiencing the book on this side of the paper.
Dick's ability to confuse his characters and his readers but still retain interest is remarkable. The twists and turns of the text to not deter the reader but instead press the reader effortlessly ahead as the mysteries of the book are partially revealed. Despite the fact that I am still trying to piece together in my own mind just what exactly happened in the book (particularly regarding the powers of Pat), I fully enjoy the challenge rather than being annoyed. Ubik does not approach its readers with a sense of pretension or glorified imagination. Its salient science fiction elements are woven effortlessly and, while exceeding imagination, are understandable enough to create a plausible alternate reality that faces much the same problems of our own. Ubik is a delightful jaunt into a scientific fantasyland, and I have every expectation that its second and third reads will be just as interesting as the first.
Grade: A
Philip K. Dick
It seems like it's been a while, but here I am with a new read. I kind of wish that I had read Vonnegut more recently than I have, because I have a feeling that Dick's work is similar, at least in pace and rate of confusion. Dick's narrative is often muddled and twisted, but he delivers it all quite accessibly and creates enough solidity to leave the reader a wisp of sanity to cling onto. The book transcends the limits of time and space and presents a (then) futuristic look at the moral dilemmas we face with technological advancements. The book also creates an interesting corollary to technology-based espionage by empowering select groups of humans with psychological, and counter-psychological, powers.
At first I was afraid that this book would whisk me around aimlessly from one point of view to the next, and that I would never be able to gain a foothold. Being a die-hard fan of Catch-22, I should have known better. Though it takes a chapter or two to get a sense of what is going on, the chaos is part of Dick's style and in fact presents interesting commentary on reality and the ways in which we should and should not try to manipulate it. Dick's characters themselves do not know what is going on and jump to the same logical conclusions as the reader, prodded by events and experiencing just as much mental anguish over the mix-ups as those of us experiencing the book on this side of the paper.
Dick's ability to confuse his characters and his readers but still retain interest is remarkable. The twists and turns of the text to not deter the reader but instead press the reader effortlessly ahead as the mysteries of the book are partially revealed. Despite the fact that I am still trying to piece together in my own mind just what exactly happened in the book (particularly regarding the powers of Pat), I fully enjoy the challenge rather than being annoyed. Ubik does not approach its readers with a sense of pretension or glorified imagination. Its salient science fiction elements are woven effortlessly and, while exceeding imagination, are understandable enough to create a plausible alternate reality that faces much the same problems of our own. Ubik is a delightful jaunt into a scientific fantasyland, and I have every expectation that its second and third reads will be just as interesting as the first.
Grade: A
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