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I went on a bit of a Philip K. Dick bender, reading a handful of his books in quick succession so I’ll just combine them here. In addition to The Man in the High Castle which I talked about earlier, I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Minority Report and Other Stories, and Galactic Pot Healer.
I definitely enjoyed the book of short stories the most, and I suspect that Dick excells in this area over novels. They were mostly like neat thought experiments, like the future-telling paradoxes from “The Minority Report” and “Paycheck,” or the examination of paranoia in “Second Variety.” The novels were just kind of meandering and felt like he was filling a quota. Do Androids Dream (upon which the movie Blade Runner was based) was pretty good, but felt disjointed and like it needed to be fleshed out more. Galactic Pot Healer, on the other hand, ranks up (or down) there as one of the worst books I’ve ever read. It seems more like the literary equivalent of a doodle that was passed off for a complete work –there ar a few interesting ideas but it’s all mixed up, formless, and half-baked.
I think I’m done with Philliip K. Dick for now. I may pick up what are supposed to be his other classics (like Radio Free Albemuth or A Scanner Darkly) later, but I need a break.
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