Unteleported Man [Paperback]

Philip K. Dick (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd; New edition edition (August 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0417046006
• ISBN-13: 978-0417046006
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Psychedelic best novel of Dick's is sadly out of print., February 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unteleported Man (aka Lies, Inc.) (Mass Market Paperback)

Phillip K. Dick's novel deals with the dueling theme of the perils of the modern media society and the psychedelic experience in this must read novel for science fiction fans. The novel is most likely unpublished today because of a few pages missing from the final manuscript; however the overall plot line remains intact. The story is set on a future Earth where one corporation controls the technology which can teleport people to a far away planet, billed as an ultimate paradise. The only problem is no one can ever teleport back. The story begins when someone discovers the films of happy crowds cheering their newfound existence sent back from the planet are faked -- the cheering and applause are "canned". The "unteleported" man and others decide to investigate, and invent a list of the various possible worlds that might await them at their destination. The psychedelic side of thing comes in later, and I don't want to ruin it for you, (although you quantum physics buffs might be able to make a guess), let's just say the twists and turns, from the author behind "Total Recall", are very original. This novel is not to be missed if you can find a tattered copy of the unabridged version at a used book store.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Drug-Induced Haze, November 20, 2007

By 

Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unteleported Man (aka Lies, Inc.) (Mass Market Paperback)

There are books with surprise twists and turns, that make for enjoyable reading. This is one of those books. Then there are books that seem to actually change genres mid-stream. It might remain science fiction but be of such a different sort that a reader who enjoys the first half of the book would be repulsed by the second half. This is one of those books.

I really enjoyed the first half. People are being teleported to a planet that has an ominous feel to it, and their return broadcasts are being digitally altered. Our hero steps in to save the day by taking an eighteen-year journey in a spaceship, to find out what's really going on. Written in 1966, Dick makes some very prescient predictions for life in 2014, at the same time, understandably, unable to predict elements like the world wide web or the the lack of need for paper.

Then, our hero gets his by an LSD dart, and honestly, I have no idea what happened in the second half of the book. It's not just because of the three missing pages, that Dick didn't get to correct before his death. It's because he writes as if the hero is *in* a drug trip. Maybe this was exciting reading in '66. It's not in '07. I don't like reading about what it's like to be on a drug trip. If I did, I'd do LSD. And this goes on for page after page- so long, that altered reality merges with the possibility of alternate reality, and it's never fully explained which is true. Indeed, all of the answers never get explained, and the bulk of the second half of the book is this drug trip. Or something else. Who knows.

I don't like books that start off one way and their whole approach to the reality of the book. The reader feels robbed of the investment they made into the author's world. And this approach rarely actually answer the questions that were initially raised. It is as if Lost broadcast eight episodes and then stopped because of a Writer's Strike. If I know that's happening ahead of time, I'll wait for the DVD. If I know the writer's strike will go on forever, and the book ends without answering- I'll choose a different book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Torture to Read, September 14, 2009

By 

Louis N. Gruber "Author of Jay" (Lexington, SC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unteleported Man (aka Lies, Inc.) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's described as a "world famous classic" and it may be, but I found it almost impossible to read. The plot involves teleportation (but only one-way) to a distant planet, that's being promoted as a utopia, but may be a giant slave labor camp. The universe is controlled by a few very powerful groups in constant warfare. Nothing is as it seems, and perception itself is constantly changing, revealing a universe of parallel worlds.

I would have given the book two stars, but I did manage to finish it, hence the third star. Reading it was torture. Author PKD is brilliant and clever, writes in devilishly complex puns, symbols, allusions and made up words, has uncanny unsight into the nature of consciousness, but--he is simply unreadable.

The Unteleported Man is out of print and would never be published today. The author could have said it all in half the pages. Sorry, I don't recommend this one. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.