Byron 'Giggsy'’s Comments (group member since Aug 31, 2009)

Byron 'Giggsy'’s comments from the Philip K Dick group.

I'm wondering if there might even be a Blade Runner video game released to coincide with the movie. Of course, the game would probably be even further from the book than the movie, but still, I'd probably have fun playing a Blade Runner game

I found Hoppy creepy too. The main character of Deus Irae is a phocomelus as well. Haven't read it yet, but I thought that was also creepy

so where did all the discussion go? I had another question to pose for discussion:

How important is religious background to reading VALIS? Should the reader has some background into Gnosticism before reading?

I guess that has two levels to it, the importance of background knowledge in 'liking' the novel and then the importance in 'understanding' the novel.

I have come across some of these gnostic concepts before, but ultimately don't have much detailed knowledge. I think I still understand it fine, but wondered as I read it how I might view certain ideas if this was an area of religion/philosophy I was more familiar with.

I enjoyed my second read much more, and while I can finally say I like this one, it still rates towards at the bottom of PKD books I've read if I have to rank them in order.

My original complaint was that this work was too much in-between the normal areas we define works. Too much in between fiction and non-fiction. Too much in between an autobiography and a fantasy. Too much journal entries without actually presenting his journal. So much religion but not enought to be a good religion study, etc... That assesment still stands, but knowing what I was getting into let me focus on the beauty of each individual portion or chapter.

I also remember on my first read having a very difficult time separating Kevin and David with such common names. They are very different, so I'm not sure if it my was lack of focus, or perhaps a flaw in PKD's presentation of them. Did anyone else have trouble separating the two? Also, Kevin is based on real life friend and writer KW Jeter and David is based on real life friend Tim Powers. I've yet to ready any of their work, but really want to, as they are considered heirs to PKD and seem to have their own strong individuality as well

I also wanted to mention now that Dick's The Exegesis has now been released [and I've got my copy already] and also mention some of the other books related to VALIS and Dick's pink beam of light experience. I know many of you are familiar with these, but some of the newer fans of Dick may not know of all of them.

in VALIS, we have PKD narrating as 'I', although he is essentially both the 'I' character and Horselover Fat. Towards the end of Chapter 3 in VALIS: "in reading this, you cannot see that Fat is writing about himself, then you understand nothing." and then a little afterwards "all my reading I have--I mean, Horselover Fat has--never found anything more significant as an insight into the nature of reality."

And much of the book reference's Dick's Exegesis journal. Previously there was this book, In Pursuit of VALIS: Selections from the Exegesis, a 300-pager with some excerpts. Now we have a larger version released. My version is 900 pages not counting some more for introduction, editors note, afterword, glossary, endnotes, and index... and the pages aren't small, 9 inches by 6 inches, so its definitely a large work. I've heard estimates that there are 9000 handwritten and typed pages in all, although some estimates have been closer to the 4 or 5 thousand range. The VALIS we are reading is only the beginning, the search for answers lead to this new work published 30 years after his death.

Also, VALIS is considered the first in a trilogy, with The Divine Invasion being second, and then the true third novel was not completed, however, his final novel The Transmigration of Timothy Archer was still similar enough in theme that it is often published as the third in the trilogy.

And then there is Radio Free Albemuth, which I love. PKD wrote this before VALIS, and it was his first attempt to deal with the pink beam experience in March 1974. Publishers rejected it and he rewrote it as VALIS, and RFA was published after his death. RFA is similar, but reads more like fiction and more like a novel. It features the alternate Nixon Ferris F Fremont, the christian fish sign, the pink beam, Nicolas Brady, Friends of the American People, the satellite, the Russians, and of course God and gnostics, although I'd say it doesn't get as detailed on the varitey of religious ideas and concepts. Dick uses the same device of essentially having himself be two characters. One character is Phil, a science fiction writer, and the other is Nicholas Brady, a record store owner. The pink beam experience happens to Brady (like Fat), but of course its really Phil. A Radio Free Albemuth movie has been made and been touring in festivals for 1.5 years now. I think there is some pending distribution coming, but don't know much details.. probably will get limited theatre release but hopefully we can all get our hands on it in DVD form someday soon.

A Scanner Darkly, is different, but it's mentioned in VALIS. In the middle of chapter 7 he mentions that he "ripped off Fat's account of his eight hours of lurid phosphene activity." and follows with a two paragraph excerpt of the novel here. The main character in A Scanner Darkly has a split-personality experience, and I found that a little interesting, as in Dick's two autobiographical novels VALIS and RFA he presents himself as main character and main narrator as separate persons.... is A Scanner Darkly also a glimpse into how PKD's mind worked after the pink beam experience?

I'm with Michael - its hard to tell what parts are true, versus what parts are complete fiction for enjoyments sake, versus what parts are Dick just being insane.

I'm about 75% done with my re-read... I'm liking it more now that I know what to expect and can analyze it for what it is rather than reading it and hoping it was something else - which is the case with my first read early this year.

I have to agree with Paul some about when it is best to read VALIS. Some PKD fans will list VALIS as their favorite or even argue it's Dick's best book, but I definitely don't think it is a good starting poing for reading Dick. If you are new to Dick, I think you will enjoy this one later on, after you've sampled a few of his major novels and also some of his minor novels which are still great in their own way.

i should be beginning my re-read of it tomorrow, so hopefully I can add more insight and see if I like it more the second time around

I read VALIS back in March, and fall into the category of Dick fans that wasn't so impressed. Its interesting how polarizing this one is.

I haven't decided if I will completely re-read it or just skim over it again to remind myself. I'll proabably re-read it, as I'm sure a second read will bring a different perspective

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118039315

This was shelved, and then revived again. This says we can expect it out Holiday 2013, which probably means Holiday 2014.

good question. Unfortunately I haven't read any yet, but over time I've gotten the impression that Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick is highly recommended amongst PKD fans and often considered the best. I hope to read it soon, and it was recently republished so it shouldn't be hard to find

Mike wrote: "The visual effect, the way the film was presented in cartoon-o-vision, wore off real quick..."

But a cartoon Keanu Reeves acts much better than a real-life Keanu. :)

VALIS would probably generate the most discussion. And while 99.9% of the time the group read should be a single book, I'm seeing an opportunity to expand VALIS as a selection:

VALIS versus Radio Free Albemuth
I loved RFA but didn't like VALIS much. I'm curious how others compare the two, and if those that don't like VALIS end up loving RFA since it brings more fiction into PKD's experiences.


Of course, this idea can simply be a part of the discussion, for those that have read both, but I certainly think its interesting for Dick fans to read these at the same time

I think every movie of a book is going to leave out key portions of a book, otherwise the movie would have to be 10 or 12 hours long. So I agree with Pickle, A Scanner Darkly worked as a movie for me. The format reminds me so much of a graphic novel coming to life, that I am able to watch the movie and enjoy it without ever really thinking about the book, and what is different or missing.

I also agree with Mike, in that it would be nice for a new Bladerunner to include portions of ElectricSheep that were left out the first time - but I have a strong feeling Ridley Scott won't do this. I think he'll take it even more in a direction he wants and less in a direction that is true to PKD.

Also, one thing I also find interesting about this project, is that with a large percentage of the remakes in recent years, espeically in the horror genre, the director of those is a first or second time full length director. My wife is a huge horror fan that gets irate at all these remakes that are 'butchering' the original great movies, but I've noticed very often these are given to young directors making their first full length feature - so I support them in that aspect, viewing them as an exercise to help build a new generation of talented directors rather than a remake butchering a work. BUT, in this case you have a BIG name involved, and its the original director... so this is different than some of the other recent remakes... it has me a little intrigued of the possibilities here.

And maybe a new movie will also introduce a whole new generation obsessed with sparkling vampires to PKD and better fiction that what's they've been introduced to thus far

I wish they showed the full voting results with number of votes. why not tell us what was 4th, 5th, 6th, and how close? oh, well.

Ridley Scott - "This is arguably the greatest science fiction movie ever made and we're not remaking it," he said. "It's a prequel or a sequel."

from http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-t...

I also like the movie, but was disappointed more of the book didn't make it in, especially the mood organ and Mercerism. But I'm also guessing Ridley is consdering this a redux of the movie and not a remake of the book, so this one could be even further from the book.

I also just recently read that rumor has it Ridley Scott never even finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Can't remember where I saw that, but I think it may have been another sci-fi author that mentioned it. Anyone know more about that rumor?

I disliked VALIS as well. But I loved Radio Free Albemuth. VALIS didn't read like a novel to me, but was also too far from non-fiction for me to put on the different thinking cap that requires. I'm expecting Dick's upcoming Exegesis to be better. Exegesis will truly put us inside Dick's head. Radio Free gave us great insight into Dick's 'pink beam' experience, but it still read like great fiction. VALIS just seemed like a mess to me at times.

Alex mentioned Jonathan Lethem's Girl in Landscape. I just read my first Lethem book: Amnesia Moon, and found it Dickian and something I'd high recommend to PKD fans, its dystopian and apocalyptic, with dreams and influence from hallucinogenic drugs.. sound familiar?

Also, Lethem has an Ubik tattoo on his bicep.. the spray can with the pink UBIK letters. That is just a minor hint he is influenced by Dick.

And I've got a Dick tattoo started and a Dick-inspired backpiece planned.. will have to post pics someday

Joe Chip. Need I say more? Just the name of the character sums it up. I surely hope there is no one left with that name right now.

I'd go with Flow My Tears for myself. I'd have the ultimate panic to wake up in that situation

look at the comparison of editions section here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliogr...

It shows 3 previous collections of the complete short stories, with Subterranean starting a 4th.