Customer Reviews

The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick: Selected Literary and Philosophical Writings

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There is a place in this collection of essays where Dick says "What helps for me-- if help comes at all-- is to find the mustard seed of the funny at the core of the horrible and futile." That sentence in particular carries the feeling that drew me so deeply into Dick's subject matter whatever he happened to be writing about. When he discusses the death of a dear friend by cancer and announces that he believe the spirit of that friend came to inhabit his cat it is-- on the one hand-- funny. It is also-- on the other hand-- clearly what he truly believes; so it's like so much of what Dick writes-- strange and moving and humorous and lightened with that quality of perceived truth that so few writers manage to convey.

This volume of essays covers everything from biography to notes about the conversion of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" to "Blade Runner" to possible sequels to his novels to musings about the gnostic revalations and how they relate to Dick's idea of the universe.

One of the most thought-provoking books that I've ever read. My one caveat (warning) being that this is perhaps not the best introduction to Dick and I suggest reading at least one or two of his novels (ideally the Divine Invasion books) before attempting these waters.

THE SHIFTING REALITIES OF PKD is a perfect title for this material. It was in his speeches to college students that PKD exposed his mental terrain--holding little back. Here he discussed his two obsessions: What is reality? & What constitutes an authentic human? This material shows how Dick used his sci-fi novels to poke holes in simpler cosmologies. Dick made the universe his own sandbox.

In THE ANDROID & THE HUMAN he says that free will may be an illusion. Were humans also controlled by tropisms that are so evident in the growth of plants? He sounded out his greatest fear as The reduction of humans to mere use--men made into machines, ... what I regard as the greatest evil imaginable. Dick saw the time to come when a writer would be stopped not by unplugging his electric keyboard but by someone unplugging the man himself.

In MAN, ANDROID & MACHINE Dick found a hopeful theory at the end of his dark tunnel. In this essay he discussed Teilhard De Chardins Noosphere, composed of holographic & informational projections in a unified and continually processed Gestalt,--a summation of the globes intelligence. Dick never worried about the label made in a laboratory.... the entire universe is one vast laboratory, he writes. Here he also lays bare his own reality--one composed of a series of crystallized dreams. He cites Ursula Le Guins THE LATHE OF HEAVEN as his model for understanding the nature of our world. He adds: I myself have derived much of the material for my writing from dreams. PKD challenged the reader to pry beneath the facade of daily existence and knead the silly putty of the dream world into some recognized shape.

While I've read this entire book cover-to-cover, I have probably read the last half (Part Five: Essays and Speeches, and Part Six: Selections from the Exegesis) at least four times. That's where the real philosophy is. Or perhaps I should say the real mysticism. Actually, P.D.K.'s thought was a combination of philosophy and mysticism, not unlike the works of Pythagoras or Plato. Indeed, I would not hesitate to place him in such exalted company.

Dick's Gnosticism is the Gnostisism of true revelation, of epiphany and theogony (of union with the divine.) Yes, some people arrogantly write this off as the rantings of a "schizophenic", but then they would no doubt apply that same meaningless, garbage diagnosis to every great mystic teacher or shaman.

Here you get the revelations of his novel ,_Valis_, developed and fleshed out in a much more satisfying manner. Indeed, unless you are fortunate enough to track down a copy of his mythical _Exegesis_ this is the best expression of his thought that you will find.

One last note, as much as I agree with the gnostic idea of a transcedent God (or Logos, or Tao) breaking through into our material "Black Iron Prison", I do have a problem with his concept of a Yaldaboath (i.e. deranged, lesser, creator god.) You see, human materialistic, hyper-rational, civilization functions as such a lesser "god." Have we not made money, science, and ego into idols that are worshipped in their own right to the exclusion of the the true transcendant God? You simply do not need to posit the existance of such a supernatural demiurge, devil, or "Moloch" (as Ginsberg called it.) Human ignorance and evil are quite up to the role.

(...)

Being interested in speculative reality and philosophy, this was a must read. I was not disappointed.
Philip K Dick writes, "All responsible writers, to some degree, have become involuntary criers of doom, because doom is in the wind...and the doom stories are intended to call attention to reality."
This is made all the more relevant by the fact that the human folly that gave way to encroaching doom(war) ~ as the interviews and essays complied for this book run anywhere from twenty five to fifty five years ago ~ is far more manifest and pervasive in our own perceived time. That much closer.

Part five: Essays and Speeches, deals with schizophrenia, LSD and Gnosticism. He delves into the Jungian concept of synchronicity regarding his own life, and the inexplicable coincidences in his novel, "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said"...(also see the movie, "Waking Life")..of "fiction mimicking truth, and truth mimicking fiction."
What he refers to as "a dangerous overlap, a dangerous blur." Take a look with *open* eyes at the society we've created and you realize that the "dangerous blur" is scarcely acknowledged it is so routine, so deeply solidified. 'Entertainment'(of the mindless sort) has proven to be the ultimate vehicle for Big Brother totalitarianism, so to speak.

The final section, Exegesis, at times feels like listening in on a discussion, a contemplation, within his own conscience, on the matter of God/Cosmos: "Creator: time past. Holy Spirit: time is. Christ: time completed."
Overall, a fascinating and unique read.

Though I prefer my own interpretation of his novels to what Dick writes about them, his lurid explanations of the metaphysical theories that he toyed with are quite fascinating. I can't say that I "lost sleep" over any of it (some passages put me to sleep, in fact) but there's definately a lot of undiluted, pure PKD in this little collection.

Many people seem to draw comparisons between PKD and Kurt Vonnegut, but I think the two don't compare at all. Reading this book certainly destroys the illusion that PKD can be compared to *any* conteporary writer, really. I've seen a lot of poor imitations of him, however.

Most enjoyable to me is the essay on "what it means to be a science fiction writer". In there he expouses on the difference between a "hack writer" and to be a real sci-fi writer. A really inspirational piece, especially if you aspire to be a sci-fi writer someday -- it talks of the pleasure and commaradarie of meeting other sci-fi writers, as opposed to other genres were egos run much larger.

There is a whole section devoted to meditations on androids and schitzophrenia - thrilling insights which have influenced my own perceptions of so-called "mental illness."

Like another reviewer recommended, buy this book if you are a long-time PKD fan, but if you're not very familiar with his works, I'd let it go for a while.

PKD is my number-one writer, both for style, but more particularly for ideas. There is so much in this book that shows the man was a thinker, an explorer of ideas not just for the novels and short stories he could generate from them. With PKD, ideas developed a unique philosophy which is why his fiction is founded on such a firm basis. Even when his ideas change and we can see the change (for example 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' and 'A Scanner Darkly') there is no contradiction involved, just a clear evolution. For PKD fans who haven't yet read his non-SF novels I encourage you to do so - I would be surprised if you were disappointed.

PKD has also left a great legacy of pithy quotes - such as 'reality is what is left behind when you stop believing in something'. My favourite, however, he wrote in a forward to one of the anthologies of short stories. He said that science fiction is not about 'what if ......' it's about 'My God! what if .....'.

There is a lot of this in his philosophy too.

Dick's perspectives and introspections are frightening. I read this book everyday on the bus to school until I was mugged and it was stolen from me. The imagination and oeuvre of Dick's work are close to the perfect example of Edward Wilson's Consilience, the unity of everything. One has but to see the dark eye within to know how that dark eye looks back. Brilliant.

This book is a gathering of eclectic, mostly non-fictional, writings by one of my favourite authors -Philip K. Dick. I have given it a five star rating in spite of the fact that the material is of uneven quality. Dick can't talk to us anymore since he died in 1982, and so it is wonderful and special to come across these writings. From a literary point of view they are invaluable as spotlights on the mind of the author of such brilliant, disturbing and important works such as The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Ubik, The Man In the High Castle, Faith of Our Fathers, etc. But these works also stand on their own for their intelligent, creative and transcendent analysis of what it is to be human. If you have any interest in Gnosticism, you are in for a treat, since Dick is a kind of Gnostic warrior, and offers up many fascinating, and at times, profoundly uplifting Gnostic thoughts and speculations. There is much more -biographical material, thoughts on SF as a genre, comments on other SF works and writers, political commentary, musical musings, two excellent completed chapters from an abandoned sequel to The Man In the High Castle, and even a brilliant pitch for a never-made television sit-com about angels visiting earth on commission to help clients out of tight jams. Some of this material is frightening, since Dick is constantly challenging the very concept of reality. As with all of Dick's writing -fiction and non-fiction -there is a mind expanding effect. Your universe is never the same after reading him -it will be enlarged or even multiplied, as well as being rendered a lot stranger. All P.K. Dick fans should have this book, but anyone wanting to learn more about the views of one of the brightest, most intriguing minds of the past century will find it an invaluable and entertaining book to read. Lawrence Sutin has done us all a wonderful service by making these pieces available, some of them for the first time. These are peculiar and magical writings from a 20th Century savant. Read it. It could change your life.

For any PKD fan or anyone interested in the art of SF or any other genre of writing, for that matter, this book should be on every college text list.

Personally as a fan of the writer since childhood, it has only been lately that my interest in the man has increased. What can we lable this writer: sage, druggy, political activist, mystic, expert on esoteric texts - the list simply goes on and on...

These selected "literary and philosophical writings" covers just about everything about SF writing and the pure intent of a writer to, well, simply write. This man, relationship-wise, money-wise and mystic-wise has seen the depths and the heights. Imagine being threatened to have your electricity turned off, (most of us have) kicked out of your apartment, waiting for at least one royalty check to come in...and when it does, the total amount is $4.60.

Here is a writer that sacrificed a lot in order to practice his craft.

One of the most if not the most prolific writers of his time - and what a mind.

If you love PKD or interested in SF or the art of writing in general, read this book.

The revelations, for me at any rate, directly from this text continue and continue and...

Read it.

This book is full of info about PKD, and Sutin is probably the best person in the world to write about the man, because at once he knows so much about the man without actually ever knowing him while he was alive (I don't think). In this way, the biography does not degenerate into nostalgic, anecdotal material, in the way that "Only Apparently Real" does. Sutin is a formidable biographer, and his three books on PKD (this, In Pursuit of Valis, The Shifting Realities of PKD) mean that he is the best supplement to the primary texts themselves. This book is a biography, not of the books, but of the man himself, and if that is what you are interested then this is an essential book.