Valis (original 1981; edition 1991)

A common saying is that there is a thin line between genius and insanity. PKD turns the line into a 4D hypercube and goes on at length about Gnosticism, WWII battles, history, politics, drug culture, and its still incredibly interesting. I won't pretend to judge on the nature of what happened to him, but his books are as interesting to think about as ever. ( )

Dizzyingly layered; demands to be re-read, but not until my head has stopped swimming.

Whether you buy-in to Dick's religious/philosophical position or not, there's certainly lots to think about and, if you make it through to the end, it will stay with you for a long time.

As is usual with PKD, there's much here about the nature and perception of reality and what it is to be human. There's a big chunk of auto-biography and painful honesty. Where PKD deals with characters, they are by turns funny, infuriating, warm, pitiful and frightening. There's also big chunks of religious and philosophical exposition (much of which went over my head, hence the need to re-read), so it's not a book I'd recommend for everyone. If you haven't read PKD before, it's probably better to start with something else and come to this in 5 to 10 book's time. ( )

I think I would have to read this a second time to truly understand it. Or maybe this is the kind of book where you just don't "get it", that's the point. In all honesty, I had been looking forward to reading this for so long that I came away slightly underwhelmed. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did immensely, but I didn't think it was the PKD masterpiece everyone else seems to. I preferred [b:Ubik|22590|Ubik|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352001s/22590.jpg|62929] and [b:A Scanner Darkly|14817|A Scanner Darkly |Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1211494268s/14817.jpg|1527439]. Maybe after a re-read a few years down the line my opinion will change.

This is definitely one of those twisty-turny rambling novels that will pulverize your brain and cause you to question the nature of reality. Written late in Dick's life, after he had renounced drugs and started experimenting with God instead, this semi-autobiographical story relates the religious experience of Horselover Fat (who is really PKD's alter-ego after he had a psychotic break following his friend's suicide), who saw a beam of pink light that he referred to as Zebra (later VALIS) and it transmitted information to him that helped him save his dying son, who he didn't even know was sick. Yeah. And then there's some stuff about ancient Christians and double helixes and crazy rock star filmmakers and AIs inside of little girls. See why I might need a re-read?

Oh PKD, you so crazy. ( )

I normally like PKD, but I found this just too weird and crazy. The only reason I kept reading it was because of the semi autobiographical nature, with both the narrator and Horselover Fat representing PKD.

The first half of the book seems to be going nowhere, but then the second half tells the real story.

Some people may like this, but it was just too much for me. I think I'll stick to PKD's earlier works. ( )

Holy shit. This book is like if Vonnegut were actually deft and interesting. Sincere, thought-provoking, and just a bit ludicrous (in the best way possible). Essentially a semi-autobiographical--using the term very loosely--account of Dick's breakdown and his attempt to make sense of it, I caught hints of mutual influence with Illuminatus! trilogy and other works by Wilson, even with Dick somewhat tongue-in-cheek referencing Cosmic Trigger. Definitely check it out, especially if you're having an existensial crisis. ( )