Jim ’s Comments (group member since May 22, 2020)

Jim ’s comments from the Philip K Dick group.

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my..."
I just finished rereading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Here's the review I just wrote:

I've read a lot of PDK over the last 60 years and now that I am retired I decided to go back and try to read them all again in the order they were written, not published. But the last 4 books left me cold and I was a little leery about rereading this since I remember liking it and I also liked the movie very much. After reading it again I found that the movie had distorted my impression of what the novel was about. The movie focused on one theme of many although it did maintain the theme of empathy being the determiner of what was human (or does it?). The movie focused on Deckard hunting down the androids who had escaped back to Earth. Ironically the movie appears to show Baty developing empathy towards Deckard but it was the other way around in the novel. Mercerism seems to actually be the main theme in the novel since it ties all the other themes together. A few remaining humans live on a post nuclear war Earth while the majority have migrated to Mars. In general life on Earth sucks and Humans are trying to cope. the two coping mechanisms are an empathy machine that lets you dial up the emotional level you desire at that point in time. the second coping mechanism is Mercerism which is a quasi-religious experience where everybody can develop a gestalt through a machine with everybody else through the character of Mercer who is continuously trying to reach the top of a hill but repeatedly falling to the bottom to start over. The third coping mechanism is a reverence for animal life that has also been destroyed by the after effects of the war. The remaining humans have a great desire to own one of the few remaining animals to care for it and also as a type of status symbol. The theme of Deckard hunting down and killing androids is to show how he changes with each new experience with the actual hunting and killing and also with his relationship with Rachael who is an android. I think that PDK does a great job of pulling these various themes together to give a great example of the Phildickian view of what it means to be human in the type of unique science fictional situations he develops. I have now restored my interest in PDK after a couple of recent bad experiences and I'm looking forward to reading UBIK next.

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my..."
I'll do that.

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app and put the..."

I think that I am almost through the middle period and if I remember correctly the tone of the stories changes in the later period especially after 2-3-74. I read some of those later novels many, many years ago and I don't remember that much. I think I will read the next couple of novels on my list and see what happens. Next up is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, UBIK and A Maze of Death. Now that I'm retired I read close to 100 books a year and I should be able to squeeze in one or two by PDK. I'm curious to see how the movie Blade Runner has impacted what I remember about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app and put them in that order. My reason was I would be able to see how PDK developed his ideas and changed over time. I tried to find the list you refer to in The Exegesis but couldn't find it and I don't want to try to get a copy of the book right now just for the list.

Picking up where I left off on 2/14/21 I have read quite a few more PDK novels and stories. I read everything written from "Time Out of Joint" up to "The Ganymede Takeover" which I DNF. Surprisingly I am finding that I don't like PDK as much as I thought I did. The last book I enjoyed a was "The Game Players of Titan" even though it had a coin operated robot that provided you with you with a paper newspaper by putting a coin in a slot. I've had "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" on my kindle since February and can't seem to get to it. Maybe I'm afraid I'll be disappointed although I remember enjoying it when I read it many years ago and loved the movie adaptation. Continuing in chronological order it looks like i have 11 or 12 more novels to read and another collection of short stories. I'm 76 years old now and I might not complete this task since there is a lot of other stuff to read.

I haven't read any books ABOUT PDK but I have read various stuff posted on the internet about him.

I have just read "Time Out of Joint" in my "retirement" project of reading or re-reading PDK SF in the order it was written (not published). That would mean I have just finished my 8th novel. I have also read the first 2 volumes of "The collected Stories" collection and to try to maintain some semblance or chronological order I intend the read the third volume of "The Collected Stories" next followed by "The Man in the High Castle".

I enjoy PDK's short stories. thy are a little less daunting than his novels which require more of your attention and focus to to get the full flavor of what he is trying to say. the short stories, for the most part, are interesting snippets of individual pieces of PDK's themes.

"the Father Thing" is an excellent example of PDK taking his themes of paranoia and and reality and telling it through the eyes of some young boys.

Another great example is "The Hanging Stranger" using a unique picture to setup a story about paranoia where aliens are the stand-in for the "Red Scare" or the potential government oppression that PDK worries about in his fiction.

I think that one of his earliest novels, "The Cosmic Puppets" had large elements of horror where a small town is a battleground with supernatural forces vying for control over what is real. . It was one of his first novels, written in 1953 and published in 1957.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_...
It was the first book published but the 4th SF novel that he actually wrote in the early fifties (after Vulcan's Hammer, Dr. Futurity and The Cosmic Puppets).

I had trouble getting into this one and found the writing awkward and disjointed. Things didn't start to come together until about 30% of the way in. I didn't think he did a good job of world building with an dystopianish world civilization based on games and quizzes. I never really liked the protagonist and "hero" of the novel who expressed his dissatisfaction about the system through most of the novel by simply complaining. The fact that he suddenly becomes the new leader and now has actual plans plans and goals to save civilization seems to sprout from nowhere at the end of the novel.

Simon wrote: "Jim wrote: "I can see where it didn't want to be associated with the typical pulp SF and the fans who read it and why he wanted to write his own type of SF."

Yeah I view PKD as a clear break with ..."

I think that PDK really embraced a literary form of SF with 1961's "The Man in the High Castle". The work that followed reverted back to more familiar SF tropes but done in his unique way that made you think deeply about what you were reading.

David wrote: "Tessa his wife said he was a big fan of A Canticle for Lebowitz."
I can see were a novel concerning the post-apocalyptic rebuilding of the United staes based on a distorted version of Catholicism would tie in with PDK's own use of the theme of nuclear armageddon and unique views of Christianity.

John wrote: "In the Exegesis, PKD mentions Cordwainer Smith - which got me reading his collected short stories. I'd highly recommend them. Everything is set in one future - it's quite remarkable."

I have always been a big fan of Cordwainer Smith and my biggest complaint is that he wrote such a small amount of stories. I think Smith's quirky style of prose and the unique universe he placed his stories in would appeal to someone who also wrote his own brand of unique SF.

Notepad wrote: "There's a couple interviews out there where he states AE Van Vogt was a favorite, and a huge influence.

Doesn't surprise me as I find they have a very similar style of prose/writing."

I'm looking at van Vogt in the late 40's and early 50's when PDK was reading SF and just starting to write it I can see where "Slan" may have been an influence. In that story a new breed of super humans are being hunted down and killed by normal humans. But I wonder what PDK thought when van Vogt adopted the ideas of General Semantics into his Null-A stories.

David wrote: "He was quite fond of Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano."

I'm curious to know where you had heard that. I think it's significant because Vonnegut was a unique writer in the field himself and "Player Piano" was published in 1952 when PDK was just starting to write SF. This novel presented a view of the future where computerized machines were displacing human workers and an idea, I think, would have resonated with PDK.

Simon wrote: "I know that PKD was quite good friends with Robert A. Heinlein who helped him out financially and championed his work. Although PKD certainly didn't share his political and social view..."

Simon wrote: "I know that PKD was quite good friends with Robert A. Heinlein who helped him out financially and championed his work. Although PKD certainly didn't share his political and social view..."

That's was a pretty big putdown of the early SF fans by PDK. but I can see where he didn't want to be associated with the typical pulp SF and the fans who read it and why he wanted to write his own type of SF. I assume that by mentioning their names he considered Heinlein and A.E. Van Vogt more favorably.

Byron 'Giggsy' wrote: "Le Guin's "The Lathe of Heaven" has been mentioned twice already, I just finished it a week ago, but it's definitely Dickian and a good book

I also just finished Delany's "Babel-17", which is disc..."

I agree about "The Lathe of Heaven". If anything it's more Dickian than Le Guinian. I am generally not a big fan of Le Guin except for this novel.

I'm not sure which books would be considered minor but one that have may have been somewhat forgotten is "The Cosmic Puppets" which is one of the first books he wrote in 1953 if not actually THE first one. I decided to read it to get some perspective on where his head was when he first started to write novels (he had been writing short stories since the early '40's). While it's not the PDK we are familiar with from the late 60's and later I found it very enjoyable. There is a much bigger element of horror and fantasy than usual. I enjoyed the way the story built it's way to the finale and I don't think it has dated that much.

Paul wrote: "According to the Sutin biography, The Cosmic Puppets was written in 1953. Solar Lottery was written in 1953-54, so I suppose that makes The Cosmic Puppets the first SF novel that Dick wrote."

Thanks !!. I will look for a copy of Divine Invasions by Sutin. Should be interesting.

II believe this book was written/composed in 1953. Does anyone know if this was his first SF novel or was it something else?

Qiangpan wrote: "From my point of view Cosmic puppets is a fantasy, not science fiction, I enjoyed read it, the reality shifting, action scene, kids view :)"

I just read it and I agree that it had more horror and fantasy elements than SF. Interesting read for one of the first novels written by PDK. I gave it 4 stars.