I just finished reading my first Philip K Dick book, that being the wonderful VALIS. Dick strikes me as someone that could have easily written in many different areas with ease, but for reasons lucky to us all, Philosophy and Science Ficition were the areas that allowed him to share his voice and his life best.
The mix of religion, physics, insanity, humour and just great story telling made this a real treat for me. The way in which VALIS is described is indeed extremely similar to that of the Daemon put forth by Tony, Or Anarch Peak!
"Kevin, inhaling deeply and gripping the seering wheel tight said, "She said that MY DEAD CAT...." He paused, raising his voice. "MY DEAD CAT WAS STUPID" ......
"My cat was STUPID." Kevin continued, "because GOD MADE IT STUPID. So it was GOD'S fault, not my cat's fault"
Pg 236
These two pages had me smiling very brightly. The way in which the book is structured is a perfect summary of the lengths to which individual search for meaning can be taken, but after all is said and done, we are left obliterated by choices and freedoms that usually leave us a bit perplexed (completely nuts!)
The story of his son who is saved by some information sent by VALIS kept reminding me of Anthony Peake's mention about the lady who was going to take those pills that would have harmed her baby, very similar and very interesting.
What engaged me so quickly was Dick's wit and humour, he is a very humorous writer, reinforcing my belief that the best comedy requires massive intelligence and perception about the world around you. As his world got more confusing, his humour and work obviously got more daring and from this, greatness was an inevitable consequence.
Next read from him?
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so what're your thoughts on watchmen?
ReplyDeletehaven't seen it yet (waiting on small town theater) - but it was my all-time favorite novel as a 20 yr old, and much as i disliked 300, I can't help but hold out some hopes for this one... fool that i am
as for dick - valis is the masterpiece for sure, one of my other favorites is flow my tears the policeman said; martian timeslip is well worth a look too
ReplyDeleteI was actually planning on "watching" the "watchmen" at lunchtime tomorrow. I am not really a comic book kinda guy but I will give it a go, so far others, many others have told me it is far too long. We will see. I actually plan to read VALIS again at some point as I think much would be gained from a second read. I'll let you know about "Watchmen" tomorrow from work tomorrow night probably. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeletetoo long??
ReplyDeletethe novel is 400 pages or so - a faithful adaptation would have been 6 hours probably. Personally, if i'd heard the movie was only two hours long (it's 169 mins, I believe), I'd have a lot less interest in seeing it. This way there's a least a chance they've captured the essence.
As I said, I haven't seen it yet and no little about it so can't really comment. This is merely the opinion of the ever reliable "public!"
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