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Ubik

by Philip K. Dick

4.04 · rating details · 8,741 ratings · 561 reviews

Philip K. Dick's searing metaphysical comedy of death and salvation is a tour de force of panoramic menace and unfettered slapstick, in which the departed give business advice, shop for their next incarnation, and run the continual risk of dying yet again.

Compact Disc, 6 pages

Published August 1st 2008 by Blackstone Audiobooks (first published 1969)

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Jan 03, 2011

RandomAnthony rated it

· review of another edition

Phillip K Dick's Ubik flirts with perfection. I inhaled this novel over three days when one of my kids was sick and Christmas break was ending. I started the book on the couch during a Mythbusters marathon. By page fifty I wanted to shut the door and leave my kids to forage in the refrigerator for Gatorade and string cheese. And on Sunday night, when I closed the book, I felt satisfied and excited with a novel in a way that doesn't happen much. Ubik is fun, smart, and exhilarating.
...morePhillip K Dick's Ubik flirts with perfection. I inhaled this novel over three days when one of my kids was sick and Christmas break was ending. I started the book on the couch during a Mythbusters marathon. By page fifty I wanted to shut the door and leave my kids to forage in the refrigerator for Gatorade and string cheese. And on Sunday night, when I closed the book, I felt satisfied and excited with a novel in a way that doesn't happen much. Ubik is fun, smart, and exhilarating.

Ok, let me take a shot at the plot summary. Joe Chip works for a team that shields organizations and the general public from illegal super-psychological activity like, for example, the unethical use of precognition. I think. Anyway, Mr. Chip is down and out, almost too broke to pay the nickel necessary to operate his apartment door. He is charged by his employer (and his employer's wife, currently in “half-life”, a finite state in which the dead and living can interact) with leading a team to Luna in search of the criminals of whom they lost track. From there Ubik takes off into territory defying summarization. I'd need a chart to track all the turns and potentialities. The novel addresses Chip's attempt to separate multiple realities and discern exactly who he is, where he is, and when he is. Somewhere in there Dick batters around the I-Ching and Plato's form philosophy. Ubik's genius emerges in Dick's obsessive attention to detail. He's a remarkably disciplined writer for a guy who sounds completely messed up (more on his biography in a second). The novel never goes dry; Dick balances the esoteric, theoretical analysis with an urgent storyline. Joe Chip's inner monologue, his attempts to piece together the myriad of clues pointing to the establishment and resolution of his questions, is paranoid, desperate, and brilliant. Ubik, and PKD's work in general, is a significant element of the genre's template. This is the third PKD novel I've read, and although I don't want to snap them up in a rush, I'll hit more this year.

Oh, I should mention that I read the Library of America edition of this novel. The LOA edition (you know, those heavy black books with the nifty attached bookmark) includes three other novels, notes from Jonathan Lethem, and a detailed author timeline/biography. Holy hell, PDK lived a fucked-up life, between social anxiety, industrial strength drug use, and multiple stints in psychiatric care. That said, I love the fact this novel was published in 1969. Put Ubik in your summer of love pipe and smoke it, hippies.

I don't want to become a star-whore. Over the last year I've assigned four books five stars. Maybe I'm getting soft. The little note over the fifth star, however, reads “It was amazing”, and those three words fit Ubik, so I'm sticking with the fifth star. This novel is the poster child for the difference between workmanlike genre fiction (nothing wrong with that) and the kind that makes you want to jump and down with your hands in the air like you're a twelve year old at his first rock concert. I want to hang its poster over my bed and blow kisses to Ubik before I fall asleep.(less)

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Jan 31, 2012

Giuseppe Mangialardi rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favourite

Se il buongiorno si vede dal mattino, questo 2012 si presenta ottimamente con una lettura scoppiettante.

Dopo essermi cimentato con Un oscuro scrutare, Le tre stimmate di Palmer Eldritch, La svastica sul sole, è arrivato il momento di affrontare uno dei capisaldi della narrativa dickiana: Ubik.

A detta di molti è il capolavoro di Dick. Onestamente ho preferito "Le tre stimmate di Palmer Eldritch". Ma usare il verbo preferire è ingiusto, visto che stiamo parlando d...moreSe il buongiorno si vede dal mattino, questo 2012 si presenta ottimamente con una lettura scoppiettante.

Dopo essermi cimentato con Un oscuro scrutare, Le tre stimmate di Palmer Eldritch, La svastica sul sole, è arrivato il momento di affrontare uno dei capisaldi della narrativa dickiana: Ubik.

A detta di molti è il capolavoro di Dick. Onestamente ho preferito "Le tre stimmate di Palmer Eldritch". Ma usare il verbo preferire è ingiusto, visto che stiamo parlando di due capolavori che hanno diversi punti di contatto.

Per quanto riguarda la mia esperienza personale con Dick, trovo sferzante la constanza con il quale questo autore riesce a riproporre temi a lui cari usando angolazioni e punti di vista diversi. Temi che si tramutano in veri e propri topoi, tra i quali la parte da leone la fa l'immanenza della realtà che viviamo quotidianamente.

E' reale quello che ci circonda? E se si, cosa si intende per reale? Queste sono le domande che il lettore porta a farsi leggendo i romanzi di Dick ed in particolare Ubik. L'autore rielabora questo concetto usando diversi viatici: in un "Oscuro scrutare" è l'uso della droga che fa dubitare il protagonista della veridicità di ciò che vede, tocca e sente; ne "Le tre stimmate di Palmer Eldritch" è sempre la droga il viatico creando una realtà parallela; ne "La svastica sul sole" Dick gioca con calchi imperfetti di dimensioni contigue. Tutte realtà tangibili ma effimere.

In questo caso le dimensioni-realtà viaggiano sui binari della vita e della morte (o meglio della semi-vita). Durante le peripezie del protagonista svilupperemo una certa empatia nei suoi confronti, chiedendoci dove finisca la vita ed inizi la semi-vita.

Ovviamente il finale è aperto, come in ogni romanzo letto finora. E come in ogni romanzo, tutti i vari espedienti dimensionali, temporali e via dicendo sono sempre utili per una critica della immanente società contemporanea. Dick disse che nemmeno lui sapeva bene quale fosse il significato in timo di questo libro. Non è però impossibile leggerci una critica alla società consumistica, alle cosmogonie religiose o un'allegoria della fantascienza stessa, come suggerito da Pagetti nella prefazione (che ovviamente mi son letto come postfazione per farmi influenzare da eventuali interpretazioni).

Se non avete mai letto Dick, Ubik è perfetto per iniziarne la lettura.
Se avete già letto altro di Dick, non potete ritardarne la lettura.
Se non avete intenzione di leggerlo, fate un errore madornale.(less)

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Sep 09, 2009

Kemper rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 100, sci-fi, spooky-powers

I don't know why but I always get a huge kick out of reading an older sci-fi story that was set in the near future, but it's a date I've lived through. In 2001, I'd just randomly shout, "Kubrick and Clarke were wrong,! We don't have bases on the moon! Those fools!" This is another one where Phil didn't exactly nail 1992 writing in 1969, but it's still a pretty good story.

In this 1992, there are people with psionic powers like telepathy or precognition that are used for in...more

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Feb 25, 2008

Mike Philbin rated it

· review of another edition

Ubik is a brilliant book mixing horror with humour in such a deep and poignant way. What I was most inspired by were the chapter headings, those little UBIKverts - this was a concept I butchered for self-marketing purposes back in the Hertzan Chimera daze:

UBIQUITOUSLY, HERTZAN CHIMERA

Hertzan Chimera Vaseline
The best way to ask for vaseline is to sing out Hertzan Chimera. Made from select goose grease, morons, slow-aged for perfect smoothness, Hertzan Chimera is th...more

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Jun 27, 2008

Evil_Dead_Junkie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, literature

My favorite PKD book. No mean feat considering I've read it five or six times and still barely have an understanding of what the hell is going on in the first third of the book.

Still once things get metaphysical it becomes a flat out masterpiece. Rarely has Dick's vision of the apocalypse of atrophy been given such a stirring rendition. Like Palmer Eldritch this is the story of the apocalypse on an internal scale rather then the usual external one, and its pretty freaking tremendous...more

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Mar 30, 2008

Jaci rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who want to think hard

Shelves: read-in-2008, own

This was the first book that I have read by Philip K. Dick, and I was not disappointed. This novel was a page-turner and relatively quick read. It is hard for me to explain what I got out of this book because it dealt with some very abstract concepts, but here are my thoughts (as disjointed as they may be).

How do we know if what we are experiencing right now is life, and not half-life, death, or a reincarnation of ourselves? This was the main question that the characters of Ubik f...moreThis was the first book that I have read by Philip K. Dick, and I was not disappointed. This novel was a page-turner and relatively quick read. It is hard for me to explain what I got out of this book because it dealt with some very abstract concepts, but here are my thoughts (as disjointed as they may be).

How do we know if what we are experiencing right now is life, and not half-life, death, or a reincarnation of ourselves? This was the main question that the characters of Ubik faced.

The book presents a juxtaposition between two worlds, real life and half life. Those who are "alive" exist as we know life to be. Those who are in "half life" have died and been placed in a cold-pac, similar to the cryogenics that we have today, except that the cold-pac keeps the essence or spirit of the person alive. In this state, the deceased can still communicate with the living as well as other deceased people in the cold-pac facility.

After a massive explosion, the protagonist Joe and his coworkers try to get their dead employers body to cold-pac and then experience series of events that lead them to believe that they are deceased. They are able to communicate with their boss, who they believe is alive. By the end of the novel, however, the employer begins to see signs in the changing environment around him that indicate that the deceased employees are influencing the "real world". Or is HE the one who is deceased? The novel ends without providing a resolution or clearing up who is dead and who is alive.

While this lack of resolution can be frustrating to many readers, I saw it as a stroke of genius. Ubik, derived from the word ubiquitous meaning "everywhere", hints that perhaps we can exist in multiple ways and places at once. It is possible that we continue to exist in some form, or many forms, once we die, but it is also possible that the same could be true for our existence while we are alive. This concept reminded me of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, where doors could be opened to different "whens" and the same characters existed in multiple "whens".(less)

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Mar 11, 2008

Tony rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: pulp-fiction, literary-fiction

Ubik is the best of the novels I've read by Philip K. Dick, the classic sci-fi writer whose works have inspired a series of movies, such as Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. About Dick, Ursula K. LeGuin writes, "The fact that what Dick is entertaining us about is reality and madness, time and death, sin and salvation--this has escaped most critics. Nobody notices that we have our own homegrown Borges." This seems to me right on. Dick is the great postmodern author of ...more

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Mar 15, 2009

Maureen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 09

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 05, 2009

Ben Loory rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people with a firm grasp on reality

Recommended to Ben by: gene swift

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 02, 2011

Jason rated it

· review of another edition

"Ubik" is one of those rare astonishing science fiction novels filled to the brim with such perplexing and fascinating ideas but is actually supported by the author's literary flair and authoritative story telling abilities. How the hell does this guy continually come up with such mind-altering and visionary stories? My guess is drugs, lots and lots of drugs. Or maybe he's a genius. Nonetheless, anyone who happens to be ambivalent towards the genre should certainly check out "Ubik...more"Ubik" is one of those rare astonishing science fiction novels filled to the brim with such perplexing and fascinating ideas but is actually supported by the author's literary flair and authoritative story telling abilities. How the hell does this guy continually come up with such mind-altering and visionary stories? My guess is drugs, lots and lots of drugs. Or maybe he's a genius. Nonetheless, anyone who happens to be ambivalent towards the genre should certainly check out "Ubik" which is bound to eradicate any preconceived notions that science fiction is nothing more than poorly written space operas lacking any substance. I would also suggest that this would be a far more enjoyable first read without having any prior notions of the premise; there are far too many surprising twists and turns. Besides, this is Philip K. Dick so you know that you are in the hands of a master story-teller.

The novel can be approached simply as a wickedly entertaining and darkly humorous pre-cyberpunk extravaganza but of course, there is much more going on below the surface: a religious parable, an existential, philosophical an epistemological exploration of human nature and consciousness along with the elusive nature of reality. After finishing this novel, I kept thinking to myself: Why do we read and what is the point of reading fiction? It seems like a frivolous and transitory exercise most of the time; you pick up a book and maybe it lingers with you for a while after you finish it but then it is usually forgotten. You invest precious time and energy into a literary work to what purpose? Perhaps the acquisition of knowledge, to gain insight, to reflect on one's humanity or maybe just to be entertained. But then again, what does it mean to be entertained by fiction? I don't have the answers but personally, reading great fiction such as "Ubik" is capable of leaving and indelible impression by offering a unique perspective of life that makes me question the very essence of my being; a type of cathartic experience that confirms and/or radically undermines the very fabric of my existence. Literature rarely has that effect on me but this is one powerful novel that rocked my world.(less)

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Jun 30, 2010

Alex rated it

· review of another edition

This is the first book by Philip K. Dick that I have ever read, not knowing that he was behind many iconic movies of my lifetime, such as Blade Runner and Minority Report. I, therefore, was not acquainted with Dick and style as I am now. I am still eagerly pursuing that even now.

Sometimes you get used to books that are too idealistic. In the case of reading Ubik, soon, you realize that this book is not quite idealistic, with certain characters being the first to die, that you wish d...more

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Mar 18, 2011

Benji rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, potentially-life-changing, read-in-morocco, the-less-you-know-the-better, time-100, movie-relation

Updated: It's been quite some time since finishing this, and yet teh book remains with me. I like it even more, I look back on it fondly and think it is fun and sort-of cute. This is one that for me the resonance continues for quite some time afterwards.
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My first Philip Dick novel. I liked it, a good 24-hour's read. And it is fun and well done and fresh, and it inverts the sci-fi landscape by taking us progessively into the past, seeing the things around us in our world,...moreUpdated: It's been quite some time since finishing this, and yet teh book remains with me. I like it even more, I look back on it fondly and think it is fun and sort-of cute. This is one that for me the resonance continues for quite some time afterwards.
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My first Philip Dick novel. I liked it, a good 24-hour's read. And it is fun and well done and fresh, and it inverts the sci-fi landscape by taking us progessively into the past, seeing the things around us in our world, with a fresh eye (which is what sci-fi is supposed to do). The less you know the better, and its not a heavy read, its not too fantastical or hard to locate yourself in the world. Could have gone on for another 700 pages if he wanted to. Good also for its influence on some of my most dear movies.

And the small touches: Bliss is one characer, asking about world history and, the never-referred to joke is, the less you know, the better: Ignorance is Bliss.
Though this TIME 100 review says a lot, it doesnt distract from the work. But I wonder, why did they choose this sci fi novel over others to put on the list? The literary merits are not touched on at all, compared to other times where the whole review is the painstaking efforts they take to demonstrate why one book is chosen over others.

From the TIME 100 list:

An accident has occurred. Joe Chip and his colleagues—all but one of them—have narrowly escaped an explosion at a moon base. Or is it the other way round? Did Joe and the others die, and did the one fatality, Glen Runciter, actually survive? If Glen is dead and Joe alive, why does Joe keep getting weird messages from Glen? Is Joe's experience of his post-accident life just a hallucination, played out as his flash-frozen body lies in suspended animation? Joe's reality begins to fall apart, and a mysterious, vaguely mystical substance called Ubik—available in a handy spray can—appears to be the only thing that can stabilize it. From the stuff of space opera, Dick spins a deeply unsettling existential horror story, a nightmare you'll never be sure you've woken up from.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packag... #ixzz1AO1anzEC
(less)

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Oct 08, 2007

Catherine rated it

· review of another edition

I don't think that this is my favorite Philliip K. Dick book, but neither is it my least favorite. I liked it better than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep but less than A Scanner Darkly; but the fact that I like Scanner better than Androids is probably an indication that I am not among the majority of PKD fans and critics, who generally prefer his earlier works. Ubik falls in the category of PKD books that contain brilliant, wild sci-fi theories but are hard to decipher plotwise.

U...more

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Aug 15, 2007

Dan rated it

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Recommends it for: Sci Fi fans, PKD fans

Glen Runciter is dead, or maybe he isn't. In a future where every appliance is coin operated, the dead are kept cryogenically frozen in "Half Life", and companies offer the services of psychics while other companies offer the services to protect against psychics; business is cut throat. That is why there was an accident on the moon that may or may not have killed Glen Runciter.

This book is very interesting and it is quite funny. The book makes reference to the Tibetan Book of the Dead ...more

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May 27, 2008

Jeff Scott rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: public-library, sony-reader, short-stories, science-fiction, fiction

This was a very chaotic read. Many of the concepts from Dick's short stories make their way into this book. Precogs (ESP), cold pac (like cryonic freezing except you can talk to the person, they are called half-lifers), and more.

Spoilers below

Glen runciter is the head of runciter associates, an inertial group formed to thwart those with precog talents. Is someone reading your mind? Call runciter associates.

Runciter and his group are given an assignment on Luna...more

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Mar 10, 2009

Erich Franz Guzmann rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: klassiker, dystopian, mystery, science-fiction, supernatural, fiktion, favourite, horror, humoristische, zukunftsvisionen, time-magazine-award, 1960s, award-winner, philip-k-dick, meisterwerk, nordamerika, sf-masterwork, own, todesopfer, fantasy, dramen, my-top-50

Well… another PKD masterpiece! Ubik was amazing! This is the kind of novel that will never leave me, physically and mentally. I am still trying to figure it out and that’s what I love about it! I have heard that Philip K. Dick has trouble concluding his novels, but I think he concluded Ubik perfectly. By not necessarily ending it, I have created five more chapters in my mind and they are changing constantly, in the same way my memories and dreams do. This is a book that you’ll want to high...more

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Mar 18, 2009

Hugh rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It’s been a few weeks since I finished Ubik -- and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’m probably going to echo a few comments already made. I agree with Brian’s comment on how wonderfully PKD’s books are like a screwdriver poking around in the circuitry of your brain.
I learned after finishing it that PKD had expanded it from a short story/novella into a full blown novel and in some ways that explains some of my frustration with the novel. By about Chapter 12, the ever spinning top of possibil...more

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Feb 23, 2009

Tama Wise rated it

· review of another edition

I picked this up on a wim. Hell, it's Phillip K Dick and he's done more than good by me lately with Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream. He has a great way of dumping you into the bizarre, yet a few chapters in you are happily riding along, ok with the slang and the weirdness.

This one would make a great film, but I bet they would hash it up.

A very cool first half of the book unfortunately (for me at least) boiled down into a bit of a let down of the eventual answ...more

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Jan 30, 2012

La Reyne rated it

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I often think there are some books you should read while young and impressionable. I'm lucky to have read many such books. Ubik is one, and it remains an all-time favourite.

I always used to think I'd like to have my memory wiped so that I could meet it fresh again! I remember thinking, how does a person imagine and create these things? Where does it come from? Of course, many would say it was a consequence of his infamous excessive drug use...

I love much of the intr...more

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Nov 25, 2011

Nate rated it

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Recommends it for: telepaths in cold-pac

Recommended to Nate by: the subtext of television comercials

Shelves: sci-fi, postwar-re-de-constructions, favorites, horror

Completely absurd yet simultaneously existentially terrifying, this deals very well with one of Dick's foremost recurring themes: the instability, or indefiniteness, or just fundamental inaccuracy of assumptions about reality. Not that I've actually seen it, but in some ways this seems to be a predecessor of what I understand to be the plot of Jacob's Ladder: a group of people whose time seems to be running out in a disquieting manner with deep implications towards their actual state of existenc...more

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Nov 22, 2011

Felix Zilich rated it

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С существованием мутантов человечеству пришлось смириться довольно быстро. Телепаты, телекинетики и аниматоры стали обычным явлением в повседневной жизни простых людей. Бояться их перестали тоже довольно быстро, благо от одних мутантов отныне легко можно было защитится с помощью других: анти-телепатов, анти-телекинетикиов, анти-аниматоров.

Рэй Холлис и Глен Ранситтер возглавляют две самые могущественные организации мутантов на планете. Первый – представляет услуги по шпионажу, второй...moreС существованием мутантов человечеству пришлось смириться довольно быстро. Телепаты, телекинетики и аниматоры стали обычным явлением в повседневной жизни простых людей. Бояться их перестали тоже довольно быстро, благо от одних мутантов отныне легко можно было защитится с помощью других: анти-телепатов, анти-телекинетикиов, анти-аниматоров.

Рэй Холлис и Глен Ранситтер возглавляют две самые могущественные организации мутантов на планете. Первый – представляет услуги по шпионажу, второй – по борьбе с ним. Вполне логично, что очень часто противостояние идет не на жизнь, а насмерть, поэтому обе стороны готовы в любой момент к провокации со стороны противника. В 1992 году организация Ранситтера получает очень выгодный контракт от подставной конторы мультимиллионера Стентона Мика. Согласно этому контракту, Ранситтер и семь его лучших оперативников должны немедленно отправится на Луну для обеспечения безопасности его нового космического проекта. Но задание оказывается откровенной подставой. После взрыва заложенной в зале заседаний бомбы Ранситтер погибает, а управление командой берет на себя его заместитель Джо Чип. Уже через несколько часов после возвращения на Землю он начинает понимать, что с окружающим миром что-то произошло…

Не исключено, что эта книга и по сей день является лучшим фантастическим романом про мутантов. Хорошим подтверждением подобной заяве может служить тот факт, что отдельные сюжетные ходы “Убика” до сих пор муссируются в графических хрониках “икс-менов”. Не забывайте при этом, что эти самые “икс-мены” начали выходить в свет на шесть лет раньше рецензируемой книги.

Любопытно, что для самого Филиппа Дика тема мутантов была совершенно неинтересна. Роман “Убик” начинает абсолютно новую страницу в его творчестве – страницу, где правят балом всего две вещи - субъективный идеализм и религиозный гностицизм. До легендарного контакта с пришельцами оставалось еще целых пять лет, но писателя уже вовсю колбасит с этих детей.

“Убик” – одна из самых противоречивых и самых обсуждаемых книг классического сай-фая. Впервые со времен дедушки Амброза Бирса в фантастике нашелся человек, который сделал героями своей книги не просто мертвецов, но мертвецов, которые еще не знают о том, что они мертвы. Понятно, что к 2005 году этот прием уже давно стал разменной монетой, поэтому многие уже позабыли, что Дик писал совсем о другом. Соль его романа заключалась в том, что герои не просто умирали, а попадали в мир, созданный подсознанием другого человека. Фактически, навсегда становились игрушками чьей-то злой и совершенно эгоистичной воли. Подобная тема уже поднималась Диком на самом восходе его писательской карьеры в романах “Глаз в небе” и “Марионетки мироздания”. Но только если там герои все же находили успокоение в поисках собственного места под солнцем, то герои “Убика” оказались этого начисто лишены. Они – вечные узники мира, из которого больше нет возврата.

Многие пробовали экранизировать эту книгу, но ни у кого это, к счастью, не вышло. Особенно радует, что это не получилось у соавтора годаровского кореша Жана Пьера Гори. Жуткое было бы зрелище. Особенно по сценарию самого Филиппа Дика. (2005.12.21)
(less)

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Oct 30, 2011

Geoff rated it

· review of another edition

An entertaining read that races you along to a finish that is actually fairly conventional and predictable for Dick, though that, in a way, is fairly unpredictable.

However, a novel idea, where the unconventional is set in a conventional-enough setting in order for it to remain convincing. The story is fast-moving and you are driven along to the end to satisfy your rapidly aroused and ever-increasing curiosity as to how it will all tie together. And it does tie together, if a tad predi...more

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Oct 26, 2011

Steve Davis rated it

· review of another edition

A fantastic story with some amazing ideas, my favourite of which is the need for a team of anti-psychics to provide security and privacy in a world where psi phenomena is commonplace:

"It seems so - negative. I don't do anything; I don’t move objects or turn stones into bread or give birth without impregnation or reverse the illness process in sick people. Or read minds. Or look into the future - not even common talents like that. I just negate somebody else's ability. It seems -

...more

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Aug 18, 2011

Sandy rated it

· review of another edition

"The worlds through which Philip Dick's characters move are subject to cancellation or revision without notice," sci-fi great Roger Zelazny once wrote, and it strikes me that Dick's "Ubik" is a perfect example of that statement. The author's 25th science fiction novel since 1955 (!), "Ubik" was originally released as a Doubleday hardcover, with a cover price of $4.50, in May 1969. It finds Dick giving his favorite theme--the mutability of reality--a thorough workout...more"The worlds through which Philip Dick's characters move are subject to cancellation or revision without notice," sci-fi great Roger Zelazny once wrote, and it strikes me that Dick's "Ubik" is a perfect example of that statement. The author's 25th science fiction novel since 1955 (!), "Ubik" was originally released as a Doubleday hardcover, with a cover price of $4.50, in May 1969. It finds Dick giving his favorite theme--the mutability of reality--a thorough workout in a wonderfully well-written, at times humorous, increasingly bizarre story. Indeed, the book may be Dick's "spaciest" outing since 1964's "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch," and had me wishing that I had originally read it back in my college days, while under the influence of some, uh, psychotropic substance!

In the book, the reader makes the acquaintance of the various members of Runciter Associates, run by Glen Runciter and his half-dead wife, who is able to give business advice although in cryogenic "cold pac" in a Swiss "moratorium." Runciter Associates is comprised of special individuals who almost come off like very unusual members of the X-Men, except that these individuals, rather than commanding superpowers, possess what must be called antipowers; that is, they can cancel out the fields put forth by telepaths, clairvoyants, telekineticists and so on. During a promisingly lucrative business venture on the moon, Runciter, his assistant Joe Chip, and 11 of the various antitalents are ambushed in an explosion, orchestrated by Glen's enemies. Runciter himself is gravely injured and put into cold-pac storage, while the other team members scramble to find out how this attack transpired. But wait...why does reality itself seem to be changing? And why are various objects reverting to earlier forms, such as a modern (1992) stereo in Joe's apartment suddenly morphing into a Victrola? And how is it that everyone suddenly seems to be living in the year 1939, while one by one the team members crumble to dust? And just what is up with Ubik, a miraculous spray can that seems to be their only ticket to salvation? Dick certainly had his imagination working on overtime when he plotted out this one, that's for sure, and the wonder of it all is that, ultimately, the story DOES hang together coherently and ingeniously. It is a bravura piece of work, and one that "Time" magazine chose for inclusion in its "Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century" article. No argument from me!

"Ubik" really is a consistent pleasure to read. The aforementioned humor pops up in many guises, from throwaway remarks (such as a reference to a Supreme Court ruling to the effect that a man can murder his wife if he can prove that she would never grant him a divorce; the five-times-married Dick giving vent to some pleasant daydreaming, perhaps?) to hilarious turns of phrase (a man is said to be wearing a dress "the color of a baboon's ass") and to the truly outlandish outfits that all the characters wear (the moratorium owner sports a "tweed toga, loafers, crimson sash and a purple airplane-propeller beanie"). As in so many of Dick's other novels, amphetamine and LSD use are spotlighted, and the author's empathy for the plight of his characters is strongly pronounced. Dick also gets to show off his knowledge of 1930s minutiae in this tale, whether from in-depth research or by dint of having been an 11-year-old himself in 1939 America. His details are not ALWAYS spot on, however; a 1939 issue of "Liberty" magazine is said to contain a famous story entitled "Lightning in the Night," although that story actually appeared in the August 1940 issue; the Ford tri-motor plane is said to have come into existence in 1928, whereas 1925 would be closer to the mark. Still, these are the merest quibbles. "Ubik" is basically an extraordinarily clever, mind-blowing entertainment. It may cause some to furrow their brow in bewilderment--"very confusing," Joe Chip thinks to himself at one point--but I can't imagine anyone not being bowled over by this amazing piece of work. It is, quite simply, Philip K. Dick at his best, and modern-day science fiction doesn't get too much better than that.(less)

· see review

Aug 15, 2011

Jacquelynn Luben rated it

· review of another edition

Ubik - my latest book circle read.

It took me several chapters to get into Ubik, (written in 1969) so my first complaint is that the initial characters who meet up in order to carry out some sort of project, in a 1992 of the future, are barely defined at all. The main character Joe, is absolutely fine. I liked him and got to know him. He is hard up, and constantly scrounging money, so a very human anti-hero. The others in the team, however, make hardly any impact. To me, therefore, they...moreUbik - my latest book circle read.

It took me several chapters to get into Ubik, (written in 1969) so my first complaint is that the initial characters who meet up in order to carry out some sort of project, in a 1992 of the future, are barely defined at all. The main character Joe, is absolutely fine. I liked him and got to know him. He is hard up, and constantly scrounging money, so a very human anti-hero. The others in the team, however, make hardly any impact. To me, therefore, they were just a list of names. I couldn't work out who was who, and wasn't terribly interested in doing so. Nor did I really understand the project and the competing team, with yet another set of names. I did, however, enjoy the humour of the doors that had to be paid before they would open, and similar futuristic jokes.

After several chapters, the story began to interest me. What was going to happen to Joe's team, a group of people who were being struck down by an invisible force? Joe and the team are pulled back into another era – 1939 – there is a villainous woman who is working on destroying them, or so it seems, and their old boss, Runciter, apparently dead, is sending messages, trying to help them.

Things get very pear-shaped, however, for by the end of the book, we don't know who was alive and who was dead, who was awake and who was dreaming. I got lost a little around here, but on the whole, I'd enjoyed the middle and latter end of the book.

I realised that Philip K Dick was being philosophical here. He was expressing his feelings about death – do we just go into another state and imagine we are alive? Do we dream, and do our dreams feel just like life? When Runciter tries to help Joe with the all-powerful Ubik, it seems he is talking about God, manifestations of God and perhaps faith or religion. Is Runciter God? is Joe God? Or is Ubik God? What is the difference between life and death? What is reality – and is everyone's reality the same reality? These I think were the questions, though I don't think Philip K Dick gave us all the answers.(less)

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Jul 04, 2011

Cinzia rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: my-favourite, novecento, sci-fi-distopie-utopie

Ho divorato questo libro in appena due giorni e mezzo.
Come sempre nei confronti della fantascienza sono scettica. In questo caso poi, in quarta copertina, c'era solo scritto "Io sono vivo, voi siete morti". Diciamo che non so nemmeno io perché abbia scelto questo romanzo: ero nella feltrinelli e me lo sono ritrovato in mano. Come spesso mi succede, è il libro che ha scelto me.
Il fatto che la Fanucci abbia deciso di usare il rosa shocking per la copertina non c'entra niente ...moreHo divorato questo libro in appena due giorni e mezzo.
Come sempre nei confronti della fantascienza sono scettica. In questo caso poi, in quarta copertina, c'era solo scritto "Io sono vivo, voi siete morti". Diciamo che non so nemmeno io perché abbia scelto questo romanzo: ero nella feltrinelli e me lo sono ritrovato in mano. Come spesso mi succede, è il libro che ha scelto me.
Il fatto che la Fanucci abbia deciso di usare il rosa shocking per la copertina non c'entra niente :D , anzi, devo ammettere, che in questo caso, quel colore l'ho trovato piuttosto fastidioso e inutilmente appariscente.

Non racconterò la trama perché, secondo me, qualsiasi passaggio svelato rovina l'atmosfera, la tensione, quel quid che ti fa restare sveglia tutta la notte, resistendo agli occhi che si chiudono, per sapere come prosegue la narrazione.
Dirò solo che mi ha preso tantissimo e che in certi momenti ho iniziato a farmi così tante domande da dover sospendere la lettura per restare 10-15 minuti a pensare e metabolizzare. Più di una volta, alla fine di un paragrafo, mi è sfuggito un "WOW!" ad alta voce, reazione, probabilmente infantile, al mondo e alle dinamiche create da Dick. L'epilogo, poi, mi ha lasciato completamente di stucco e non perché non l'avessi previsto: m'era venuta un'idea simile, ma non era abbastanza convincente. C'erano così tante cose poco chiare, confuse, sfumate, sovrapposte, contraddittorie che quella probabilità non riusciva a diventare certezza e quindi ho optato per un'altra teoria. Anche in questo, Dick è stato fenomenale.
In questo romanzo ho trovato in piccolo quello che avevo adorato della trilogia di Valis: il richiamo alla filosofia, al misticismo e alla spiritualità. E' sempre entusiasmante leggere come Dick cerca di spiegare il suo punto di vista sulla realtà, la sua visione del mondo, in modo assolutamente semplice ed elementare, pur ricorrendo a teorie non alla portata di tutti. La citazione del pensiero di Platone non me l'aspettavo e mi ha stuzzicato parecchio, soprattutto perché sono cose studiate molto tempo fa e che, da allora, non ho più avuto modo di affrontare (avendo scelto un percorso di studi di merda!).
Inoltre, il tema della realtà che non è reale e della manipolazione di quest'ultima tramite la mente e la volontà mi ha fatto venire in mente Matrix, che evidentemente non era poi così originale come ce l'hanno fatto passare. :>
Mi è piaciuto molto il mondo del 1992 immaginato da Dick: un mondo grottesco permeato di tecnologia. Tutto è elettronico e funziona con le monetine, persino la porta di ingresso di casa, che si rifiuta di aprirsi e tiene prigionieri gli inquilini finché non riceve il suo compenso. Sembra di trovarsi in una versione tecnologica del paese delle meraviglie di Alice, in cui la realtà si manifesta in modo assurdo e illogico.
Infine, ritengo geniali le piccole pubblicità che aprono ogni capitolo: l'Ubik è pubblicizzato in ogni forma e inizialmente non si riesce a capire se sia una presa in giro oppure abbia una utilità ai fini del racconto. Chiaramente ce l'ha!

Che dire ancora? Ubik promosso a pieni voti!

Avvicinandomi alla fantascienza che prima snobbavo mi son resa conto che 40 anni fa (anno più anno meno) avevano davvero una strana idea del progresso tecnologico, come se quest'ultimo potesse compiere straordinari, rapidi e ampi balzi in avanti: macchine volanti, viaggi spaziali, tecnologia onnipresente e predominante, organi artificiali, androidi, etc... Pensavano che 20, 30 o 40 anni potessero essere sufficienti per stravolgere completamente la realtà. Diciamo che con il senno di poi, mi sembra una prospettiva un po' troppo ottimistica.
Ad esempio, gli eventi di Ubik si svolgono nel 1992, ma il libro è stato scritto nel 1969. In 23 anni, secondo la fantasia di Dick, il genere umano avrebbe colonizzato la Luna, costruito macchine volanti, perfezionato la scienza medica al punto da mantenere le persone in semi-vita, congelate, ma coscienti (anche se in modo non continuo), etc... Se oggi penso a come sarà il mondo tra 23 anni, vedo nella migliore delle ipotesi una realtà a grandi linee immutata, magari con la tecnologia ancora più funzionale e presente, ma non credo che avremo colonizzato alcunché o scoperto la strada per la quasi-immortalità... Questo sempre se non ci saremo annientati l'uno con l'altro, ovviamente. Non vedo un futuro esageratamente progredito. Come facevano?(less)

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Mar 22, 2011

Kathleen Molyneaux rated it

· review of another edition

P.K. Dick's writing is largely driven by IDEAS. It seems like he picks a concept to cover and then wraps a story around it. This means that his characters are a bit 2-dimensional and appear more like constructs designed to herd the reader towards epiphany. Still, I enjoyed this novel. Dick has a great grasp of setting and his vision of the future is both unique and at times quite funny (Disney's face on the currency, every appliance in your house fitted with a voice feature and requiring a c...more

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Feb 27, 2011

Cheryl Gatling added it · review of another edition

When people die they are put immediately into cold-pac, in a state of half-life. Their living relatives are able to still talk with them through a microphone. Eventually, though, the residual brain activity of half-life fails and the person is really dead. Glen Runciter runs a prudence organization, with the help of his dead wife who is in cold-pac. His employees are able to cancel out the powers of telepaths who might be invading people's privacy, and stealing corporate secrets. He takes eleven...more

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Jan 29, 2011

Tancredi rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: strano-forte, statunitensi, sci-fi

"Tutta la tua vita non è che un'allucinazione ad occhi aperti"

Ubik è costantemente, almeno da quando ho cominciato a leggere Dick, presentato come il suo miglior romanzo, il suo gioiello più prezioso. A me di Dick sono piaciuti ben altri romanzi ed ho già trovati quelli che, per me, sono i suoi capolavori. E questo Ubik non vi rientra.
E' senz'altro un bel romanzo, gli ingredienti giusti ci sono tutti: fantascienza visionaria e originale, mescolanza di immagini e tematiche div...more"Tutta la tua vita non è che un'allucinazione ad occhi aperti"

Ubik è costantemente, almeno da quando ho cominciato a leggere Dick, presentato come il suo miglior romanzo, il suo gioiello più prezioso. A me di Dick sono piaciuti ben altri romanzi ed ho già trovati quelli che, per me, sono i suoi capolavori. E questo Ubik non vi rientra.
E' senz'altro un bel romanzo, gli ingredienti giusti ci sono tutti: fantascienza visionaria e originale, mescolanza di immagini e tematiche diverse (dagli esper alla semi-vita ai viaggi spaziali!), stile tipicamente dickiano, ovvero confuso e frammentario, ed il tutto condito da un altrettanto tipicamente dickiano humor particolarmente nero.
Gli ingredienti ci sono, è vero, ma il risultato non è esattamente un capolavoro. Da quando ho iniziato a leggere fino a quando non ho letto l'ultima pagine non è andata via la sensazione che, sì, si poteva fare di meglio. Che con tutti questi ingredienti si poteva scrivere un romanzo lungo almeno il doppio, molto più approfondito.
Le carenze ci sono, soprattutto nella resa dei personaggi, la cui caratterizzazione è appena accennata. Joe Chips è un protagonista che non convince proprio, ben lontano dagli altri classici personaggi alienati di Dick. Gli altri personaggi, poi, riesci appena a ricordarti chi siano. L'ambientazione è curata, ma alla fine anche questa risulta accennata. Come se Dick si fosse impegnato a costruire un'ambientazione molto ricca e particolareggiata, con questa società che ha conosciuto la sospensione della morte e l'impiego a fini meramente commerciali dei poteri paranormali, ma poi si sia "dimenticato" di inserire tutti i dettagli, lasciando il tutto fin troppo vago.

Ubik, dunque, non è un capolavoro, spiace dirlo. Nondimeno è un gran bel romanzo, soprattutto se si sta a guardare unicamente allo sviluppo dell'assurda trama: da un colpo di scena all'altro, il lettore vede la realtà della storia esser fatta a pezzi colpo dopo colpo, finché sopraggiunge un finale assolutamente mozzafiato, un epilogo perfetto per la dissoluzione della trama.(less)

· see review

Jan 26, 2011

Mark rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: time-100, science-fiction

I'm finding that I appreciate any novel that anticipates ridiculous consumerist impulses. Ubik, written in the 60s but set in a 1992 with telepaths, precogs, cryo-freezing and all sorts of other seeming science fiction staples, is also set in a world where you have to put in a nickel to go through a door. Which door has a personality, by the way, and absolutely knows that it should never take your assurance that you'll pay it back, and may even threaten to sue you. Other products exist in this f...more

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About Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. He briefly attended the University of California, but dropped out before completing any classes. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memo...more

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Quotes from Ubik

“We are served by organic ghosts, he thought, who, speaking and writing, pass through this our new environment. Watching, wise, physical ghosts from the full-life world, elements of which have become for us invading but agreeable splinters of a substance that pulsates like a former heart.” — 1 person liked it

“Las formas primitivas deben de llevar una vida residual, invisible, en cada objeto, meditó Joe. El pasado está latente, sumergido, pero sigue ahí y puede aflorar a la superficie tan pronto desaparezcan, por cualquier desafortunado motivo y contra lo que nos enseña la experiencia diaria, las características del objeto último, más tardío. El hombre no contiene al muchacho, sino a los hombres que lo precedieron. La historia empezó hace mucho.” — 1 person liked it

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