A Scanner Darkly

[RAV TUX]

I am excited about this movie, being a Philip K. **** fan.

I haven't read this book yet...has anybody here read the book or seen the movie?

I plan to see the movie tomorrow, I may buy and read the book first.

my favorite book by Philip K. **** is

"Do Androids dream of electric sheep?"

but I found the Movie based on this: "Blade Runner" disappointing.

I liked the "Minority Report" movie through.

I also like "The Man in the High Castle" book by ****

anybody here also like Philip K. ****? or movies based on his books?

http://www.philipkdick.com/

http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels.html

[BWF89]

I am excited about the movie also. I went to Barnes & Nobles a couple of days ago and got the book. It's not that long and I'm about half way through, its pretty good so far. The guy at the store said theres alot of people asking about the book lately. They even printed up a new batch of copies that use the movie cover as the book cover.

The movie is only playing in limited cities and I can't imagine it gaining mainstream popularity. It'll probably create a cult following though.

[woedend]

the immature person in me wants to laugh at a guy named phil ****....
but as for his movies...I think they are a little too 'out there' for my liking...not that I think they are bad, just not for me.
I say movies because I am not what you would call a "reader"..
I take it there is a new movie out?
let me know if its any good.

[RavenOfOdin]

I've always loved Blade Runner, but the art/style of this new movie is not for me.

[slider]

I've read a number of Phillip K ****'s books. A Scanner Darkly isn't one of my favorites. It was written after many people in his generation had damaged or killed themselves with drug use and it seemed he was trying to make a pretty strong anti-drug statement. It was pretty dark. I'll probably still go see the movie, a matinee so it is still daylight when I walk out of the theater.

[kripkenstein]

I'm a longtime Philip K. **** fan. He is among the best SF authors, in my opinion.

And "A Scanner, Darkly" is among his better books... so I hope Linklater didn't mess things up. Let us know how the movie is.

I think it is very 'telling' that so many movies are made from his stories (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck) - PKD is one of the best sources of good ideas that there is (20 years after his death, even). Would be nice if the movies were better and more similar to the books, but that's just how it is I guess...

[Bloch]

I'm a big fan of Philip K. ****. His short stories are the best. "Do Androids dream of electric sheep" was a short story made into a novel.

I also love his Martian Chronicles

[wishyjr]

yeah, im really looking forward to the new film. I think the book is perhaps not one of his strongest but its one of my favs. And yes, im another avid fan of p. k. ****.

I like 'the man in the high castle' and 'flow my tears, the policeman said' for no other reason other than personal taste. I'm reading 'the penultimate truth' at the mo, next is 'Valis'.

[RAV TUX]

http://wip.warnerbros.com/ascannerdarkly/

[RAV TUX]

http://www.jumpcut.com/media/flash/jump.swf?asset_type=movie&asset_id=A2D7DA56EC4011DA8E59FEAF976EA1AD&eb=1

[RAV TUX]

http://www.jumpcut.com/media/flash/jump.swf?asset_type=movie&asset_id=82D09EBAF1AD11DABDCA4E6A17CD0207&eb=1

[BWF89]

Thanks for the previews. I so can't wait to see this movie.

I've read more than half the book and half the stuff I've seen in the trailors has been what I've read in the book. From the looks of it this should be a good book-to-movie translation.

[RAV TUX]

I didn't get a chance to see this movie today. I think I will get a copy of the book tomorrow first then see the movie. It does look good.

[wmcbrine]

I also love his Martian ChroniclesAre you not thinking of Ray Bradbury there?

[BWF89]

I just finished the book and the ending was really good. It suprised me actually, if you haven't already done so buy it now.

[kripkenstein]

Heh, when are PKD's endings not surprising?

[BWF89]

Heh, when are PKD's endings not surprising?
I wouldn't have any idea, this is my first PKD book. Probably going to Barnes & Noble this weekend. Which of his books should I get? It's either a PKD book or Orwells Homage to Catalonia.

[kripkenstein]

Which of his books? Tough call... there are so many, and so many good ones.

You might want to check out his short stories, there are collections of them. He was brilliant at short fiction.

As for novels, his very latest ones were complex and difficult to read (but amazing). So I wouldn't start with them. Perhaps try "The Man in the High Castle" or "Flow my tears, the policeman said".

[wishyjr]

BWF89 -If you're just starting on PKD, try 'do androids dream of electric sheep?" which as most know was turned into the film 'blade runner' - i personally feel the book was better (just a little) but its a great place to start with PKD.
As kripkenstrein says, 'the man in the high castle' is a good one. I also found that 'flow my tears the policeman said' was really fast paced in comparison to his other stuff which was a nice change. both great novels.

[Yossarian]

Another PKD reader here.

Time out of joint is another good one. It's about a 1950s American town that's not quite what it seems.

[RAV TUX]

I wouldn't have any idea, this is my first PKD book. Probably going to Barnes & Noble this weekend. Which of his books should I get? It's either a PKD book or Orwells Homage to Catalonia.

I would suggest you start with:

"Do Andrioids dream of Electric Sheep?"

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/2402/covandroids200zo0.jpg

IMO much better then the movie, this is a book you will want to keep reading over and over again to pick up more enjoyment. I wish they would do a better movie and preserve the original title.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1968
Trade paperback published by Del Ray
Currently available

Basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner (http://www.philipkdick.com/films_bladerunner.html)

Plot Summary:
By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans.

Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.

Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.

[RAV TUX]

I would suggest you start with:

"Do Andrioids dream of Electric Sheep?"

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/2402/covandroids200zo0.jpg

IMO much better then the movie, this is a book you will want to keep reading over and over again to pick up more enjoyment. I wish they would do a better movie and preserve the original title.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1968
Trade paperback published by Del Ray
Currently available

Basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner (http://www.philipkdick.com/films_bladerunner.html)

Plot Summary:
By 2021, the World War had killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remained coveted any living creature, and for people who couldn't afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacrae: horses, birds, cats, sheep. . . They even built humans.

Emigrees to Mars received androids so sophisticated it was impossible to tell them from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans could wreak, the government banned them from Earth. But when androids didn't want to be identified, they just blended in.

Rick Deckard was an officially sanctioned bounty hunter whose job was to find rogue androids, and to retire them. But cornered, androids tended to fight back, with deadly results.



I also recommend "Martian Time-Slip"

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/1126/covmartiantimeslipv200bb2.jpg
Martian Time-Slip
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1964
Trade paperback published by Vintage
Currently available


Plot Summary:
On the arid colony of Mars the only thing more precious than water may be a ten-year-old schizophrenic boy named Manfred Steiner. For although the UN has slated "anomalous" children for deportation and destruction, other people--especially Supreme Goodmember Arnie Kott of the Water Worker's union--suspect that Manfred's disorder may be a window into the future. In Martian Time-Slip Philip K. **** uses power politics and extraterrestrial real estate scams, adultery, and murder to penetrate the mysteries of being and time.

[RAV TUX]

I also recommend "Martian Time-Slip"

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/1126/covmartiantimeslipv200bb2.jpg
Martian Time-Slip
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1964
Trade paperback published by Vintage
Currently available


Plot Summary:
On the arid colony of Mars the only thing more precious than water may be a ten-year-old schizophrenic boy named Manfred Steiner. For although the UN has slated "anomalous" children for deportation and destruction, other people--especially Supreme Goodmember Arnie Kott of the Water Worker's union--suspect that Manfred's disorder may be a window into the future. In Martian Time-Slip Philip K. **** uses power politics and extraterrestrial real estate scams, adultery, and murder to penetrate the mysteries of being and time.

As previously mentioned "The Man In The High Castle" is awesome.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/718/covmancastlev200do2.jpg


The Man In The High Castle
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1962
Trade paperback published by Vintage Books in 1992
Currently available through Vintage Publishing

Plot Summary:
It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. **** as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it **** offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to awake.

[RAV TUX]

Here are a few other good books by Philip K. ****, of the many that he wrote:

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/3281/covradiofree200vkj3.jpg

Radio Free Albemuth
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1985
Trade paperback published by Vintage
Currently available

Plot Summary:
In the late 1960's, a paranoid incompetent has schemed his way into the White House and convulsed America in a vicious war against imaginary internal enemies. A struggling science fiction writer named Philip K. **** is trying to keep from becoming one of that war's casualties. And ****'s best friend, a record executive named Nicholas Brady, is receiving transmissions from an extraterrestrial entity that may also happen to be God - an entity that apparently wants him to overthrow the President.

In Radio Free Albemuth, his last novel, Philip K. **** morphed and recombined themes that had informed his fiction from A Scanner Darkly to VALIS and produced a wild, impassioned work that reads like a visionary alternate history of the United States. Agonizingly suspenseful, darkly hilarious, and filled with enough conspiracy theories to thrill the most hardened paranoid, Radio Free Albemuth is proof of ****'s stature as our century's greatest prankster-prophet.

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/7332/covconfessionsv200cn3.jpg


Confessions of a Crap Artist
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1975
Trade paperback published by Vintage
Currently available


Basis for the French film "Confessions d'un Barjo" (http://www.philipkdick.com/films_other.html)
Plot Summary:
Confessions of a Crap Artist is one of Philip K. ****'s weirdest and most accomplished novels. Jack Isidore is a crap artist -- a collector of crackpot ideas (among other things, he believes that the earth is hallow and that sunlight has weight) and worthless objects, a man so grossly unequipped for real life that his sister and brother-in-law feel compelled to rescue him from it. But seen through Jack's murderously innocent gaze, Charlie and Juddy Hume prove to be just as sealed off from reality, in thrall to obsessions that are slightly more acceptable than Jack's, but a great deal uglier.

http://img305.imageshack.us/img305/9545/covubikv200fh5.jpg

Ubik
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1969
Trade paperback published by Vintage Books
Currently available

Plot Summary:
Glen Runciter is dead. Or is everybody else? Someone died in an explosion orchestrated by Runciter's business competitors. And, indeed, it's the kingly Runciter whose funeral is scheduled in Des Moines. But in the meantime, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering -- and sometimes scatological -- messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping in ways that suggest that their own time is running out. Or already has.

Philip K. ****'s searing metaphysical comedy of death and salvation (the latter available in a convenient aerosol spray) is tour de force of paranoiac 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.

http://img422.imageshack.us/img422/3730/covgalacticv200sb5.jpg

Galactic Pot-Healer
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1969
Trade paperback published by Vintage
Currently available

Plot Summary:
What could an omnipresent and seemingly omnipotent entity want with a humble pot-healer? Or with the dozens of other odd creatures it has lured to Plowman's Planet? And if the Glimmung is a god, are its ends positive or malign? Combining quixotic adventure, spine-chilling horror, and deliriously paranoid theology, Galactic Pot-Healer is a uniquely Dickian voyage to alternate worlds of the imagination.
http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/1682/covvulcanv200os6.jpg

Vulcan's Hammer
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1960
Trade paperback published by Vintage


Plot Summary:
Objective, unbiased and hyperrational, the Vulcan 3 should have been the perfect ruler. The omnipotent computer dictates policy that is in the best interests of all citizens—or at least, that is the idea. But when the machine, whose rule evolved out of chaos and war, begins to lose control of the “Healer” movement of religious fanatics and the mysterious force behing their rebellion, all Hell breaks loose. Written in 1960, Philip K. Dick’s paranoid novel imagines a totalitarian state in which hammer-headed robots terrorize citizens and freedom is an absurd joke. William Barrios, the morally conflicted hero, may be the only person who can prevent the battle for control from destroying the world—if, that is, he can decide which side he’s on.
Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. **** has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves.


http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/8243/coveldritch200vintagekt7.jpg

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
By Philip K. ****

Originally published in 1965
Trade paperback published by Vintage Books
Currently available

Plot Summary:
In this wildly disorienting funhouse of a novel, populated by God-like--or perhaps Satanic--takeover artists and corporate psychics, Philip K. **** explores mysteries that were once the property of St. Paul and Aquinas. His wit, compassion, and knife-edged irony make The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch moving as well as genuinely visionary.
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Ok this should be a good beginning for you. enjoy.






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[BWF89]

@Yozef: thanks for the reviews

@Everyone else: Heres some goodies:
http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/670/670907/vids_1.html

To watch the first 24 minutes you have to be useing IE unless your already registered on their site as being over 18. The age verification page doesn't work if your useing Firefox.

Enjoy!