Favorite Philip K. Dick novel?

[jazzbo]

Yes, no kidding.

[sal]

I acquired a used 1st edition hardcover of "Radio Free Albemuth" from a used bookstore not too long ago. I probably won't get to reading it for a while though, as I'm trying to read his books chronologically. "Now Wait For Last Year" is next in the queue.

[sal]

I just finished "Now Wait For Last Year" and I liked it very much. I really enjoyed the political satire that went along with the other reality-bending elements of the book.

[P.L.M]

- "Le Maitre du haut-château" (Man in the High Castle) and "Ubik" (same title in French)...

Edited September 23, 2009 by P.L.M

[sal]

How's this one? It was recently released in hardcover..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765316943/ref=s9_newr_bw_tr01?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=1V7VJF7SFTSZVWXMZDD2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=41171042&pf_rd_i=283155

[jazzbo]

I love the non SF novels Dick poured so much of himself into in the fifties, and this is one of the best-written of those. It is bleak and in ways depressing. This to me is a testament to his writing skills, because the situations and characters are not hapy and not going to happy places.

[sal]

Thanks! I'll pick this one up eventually. A used bookstore up by Wrigley Field had brand new hardcover copies of "Humpty Dumpty in Oakland" for just $5. Its the same publisher that's been releasing these non-sci fi PKD novels over the past few years. I'm glad they're seeing the light of day again.

[jazzbo]

I picked up a copy of Humpty at that price too. . .not great that it's already discounted. Interesting novel. Bits used later in SF novels.

[mjzee]

6 of Phil's stories are available gratis through Project Gutenberg:

Beyond Lies the Wub

Beyond the Door

The Crystal Crypt

The Defenders

The Gun

The Skull

See here: Project Gutenberg

[BruceH]

6 of Phil's stories are available gratis through Project Gutenberg:

Beyond Lies the Wub

Beyond the Door

The Crystal Crypt

The Defenders

The Gun

The Skull

See here: Project Gutenberg

I always thought of "Beyond Lies the Wub" as one of the greatest sf story titles of all time.

[sal]

I started reading “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” yesterday afternoon, and I’m about half way through it now. Excellent!

[Michael Weiss]

Coincidentally just finished reading the short story collection, "The Preserving Machine." Title story about preserving music through animals.

Check out Jonathan Lethem's "The Wall of the Sky, The Wall of the Eye."

[BruceH]

If you can find a used copy of the Ballantine/Del Rey "The Best of Philip K. Dick" from 1978, that really is an excellent overview of his short work.

[BillF]

"Ubik" (same title in French)...

Same title in Polish, too, as I found out to my cost. Borrowed Ubik from a public library and on opening found the text was in Polish!

[mjzee]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The production company behind the Sandra Bullock hit "The Blind Side" is looking to bring the world of "Blade Runner" back to the big screen.

Yahoo News

[alankin]

If you can find a used copy of the Ballantine/Del Rey "The Best of Philip K. Dick" from 1978, that really is an excellent overview of his short work.

I've been dipping into this one over the last month or so. It's a very good selection; the stories hold up well. I'm about 3/4 through.

[Aggie87]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The production company behind the Sandra Bullock hit "The Blind Side" is looking to bring the world of "Blade Runner" back to the big screen.

Yahoo News

There's something wrong with this idea. That film should be left alone - no sequel or prequel, especially 30 yrs after the fact.

[jazzbo]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The production company behind the Sandra Bullock hit "The Blind Side" is looking to bring the world of "Blade Runner" back to the big screen.

Yahoo News

There's something wrong with this idea. That film should be left alone - no sequel or prequel, especially 30 yrs after the fact.

Nah, I welcome a prequel and sequel. That's just me I guess, but I bet there are others.

[Aggie87]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The production company behind the Sandra Bullock hit "The Blind Side" is looking to bring the world of "Blade Runner" back to the big screen.

Yahoo News

There's something wrong with this idea. That film should be left alone - no sequel or prequel, especially 30 yrs after the fact.

Nah, I welcome a prequel and sequel. That's just me I guess, but I bet there are others.

Maybe if the story were based on a book that Dick wrote, but that was a standalone work, wasn't it?

[ejp626]

The just released The Adjustment Bureau is an adaptation of one of PKD's stories. No idea how faithful it is. From what I've seen, it looks like it borrows more from the ideas behind Dark City, though not the look or feel of that film. Of course, Dark City may well have originally been inspired by PKD, though I don't think it was a pure adaptation.

[ejp626]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The production company behind the Sandra Bullock hit "The Blind Side" is looking to bring the world of "Blade Runner" back to the big screen.

Yahoo News

There's something wrong with this idea. That film should be left alone - no sequel or prequel, especially 30 yrs after the fact.

Nah, I welcome a prequel and sequel. That's just me I guess, but I bet there are others.

The weird thing is that the world of the movie is so very different from the actual book that you would be hard pressed to draw from it for either a prequel or sequel. A direct sequel would be the very worst. The only thing people care about are whether the girl is going to die within a year or two or not. And you'd also have to be far more clear about Dekker and his lifespan. No one would want to see anyone other than Ford playing Dekker in a sequel, and I doubt Ford is interested. Even if he were, you'd have your answer right away (I guess they could Tronify him like they did to Bridges).

A prequel might be more interesting, but really, it's hard to see what needs to be explored to get us to that dystopia, unless they wanted to focus on the company that made the replicants.

This exchange was kind of funny:

Because decades-later follow-ups to beloved classics always turn out GREAT.

Reply

Oh Yeah! & Justin Bieber can play Decker! It’s PERFECT.

I threw up in my mouth a little when I read that, but it is probably the best case scenario, given how bad most Hollywood movies are now. Seeing Bieber emerge from the replicant nutrient pool and being force-fed a ton of memories (maybe in a Dark City-style montage) would explain a lot.

[jazzbo]

Well, Jeter wrote three sequels to Blade Runner (the movie) that were at least okay. . . . I think it would be very interesting to see both a sequel and a prequel, they don't have to be tied to Do Androids Believe in Electric Sheep in any tighter a fashion than the original movie was as I really think the novel and movie are so different as to be hard to compare and contrast. I hope these come to fruition. I like Blade Runner a lot, but I don't think it's "untouchable" etc.

[Stefan Wood]

I'd rather see someone do UBIK or Maze of Death.

[jazzbo]

Ubik is once again planned.

My dream film is a version of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

Edited March 4, 2011 by jazzbo

[jazzbo]

Maybe if the story were based on a book that Dick wrote, but that was a standalone work, wasn't it?

Well, Blade Runner is in ways a loose adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, there are key plot elements of the book completely absent from the film, and the tone in my opinion of the movie is very different from the novel.

I think it's perfectly acceptable as Jeter has done to base a novel or film on the MOVIE. I would have gone a very different route with the material than Jeter did, and I suspect that these new developers will as well.