SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

What have you read from him, what do you like and what do you recommend? I've only read ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (corny choice), and I'd like to know what you think of his other works.

PKD's writing career spans multiple changes in his style, the most basic breakdown goes a bit like:

Pre-1962: largely regarded as his "pulp" phase, generally most of these works are not regarded as the same quality as his later work

The Man in the High Castle phrase, 1962-1970: This phase showa a marked change in his style, moving away from pulp and exploring more of what most people associate with PKD's works, such as alternative histories, examination of the nature of cognition and the experience of reality, bigger philosophical and psychological questiona

1970 and after: This is the period where PKD's works start to get very odd and challenging for many readers. His mental health issues and drug use worsen, he become obsessive in some ways, he experienced the famous "pink cross" hallucination/epiphany after having dental surgery. He wrote some of his most important, and more difficult (for readers), works during this time, but generally PKD fans will advise newer readers to start with the 1960s books before tackling these works (I personally started here with PKD so it's not a hard, fast rule).

From his 1960s works: Ubik, The Man in the High Castle, Martian Time-Slip and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch are all good reads to follow Do Androids Dream...?

If you want to try some of his later works, I'd start with either A Scanner Darkly or VALIS.

CJ wrote: "PKD's writing career spans multiple changes in his style, the most basic breakdown goes a bit like:

Pre-1962: largely regarded as his "pulp" phase, generally most of these works are not regarded a..."

Omg, thank you so much! This will definitely help me in choosing books for future reading ^^!

I read four PKD books and I didn't really like any of them. Just weird and kind of harsh and unrealistic.

Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s

I’ve read a number of his novels and only really like “Do Androids Dream” (aka Blade Runner).

His short stories, on the other hand are stellar and much better than the movies would make them out to be!

I moved this discussion to the recommendations folder.

PKD isn't for everyone but I do think his works are worth the effort for those who are willing to dive into one of SF's most unique and challenging writer who really made SF expansive in ways no other author of that time did.

I don't think "realistic/unrealistic " is a fair measure for his work as that wasn't the point of his motivation for writing. I often say he wasn't so much interesed in creating worlds for the reader as much as inviting the reader into his head to experience reality as he did. It makes his works intensely subjective compared to much of the works of his contemparies, so it does require some adjustment for many readers' expectations.

I've only read L'uomo nell'alto castello, Ma gli androidi sognano pecore elettriche? and a selection of short stories, Le formiche elettriche, and those in translation, decades ago.

I'd like to find the time to read Ubik, even though the Virtual Book Club has already happened.

there was also a buddy read/reread

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
and
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Yes, it's been one of our BotM.

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Yes, it's been one of our BotM."

and it was also in the Bookshelf Rereads in May

In addition to books already mentioned I would recommend Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said and Time Out of Joint if you want to get a little weird...
both are kinda mindblowing in execution.

The first one I ever read was a late 60s reprint of his first novel to be published, Solar Lottery, which originally came out as half an Ace Double in 1955. As I recall it’s pretty good, with a crazy, event-filled plot and some wild ideas.