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smithmick14's review against another edition
*laughing from within a police surveillance state beyond anything our literary predecessors could’ve imagined or even comprehended*
“There are no flying cars in the future, silly!”
You cannot escape. You can merely slip between the cracks of the sprawling machine. And in a machine believed by its operators to be perfect, God help you if you find yourself within the interstices. When the entire world is encompassed by a framework of violence how could existing outside of it indicate anything other than a conspiracy that necessitates your destruction?
And besides, no adoring fans will recognize you if you have no identity.
“There are no flying cars in the future, silly!”
You cannot escape. You can merely slip between the cracks of the sprawling machine. And in a machine believed by its operators to be perfect, God help you if you find yourself within the interstices. When the entire world is encompassed by a framework of violence how could existing outside of it indicate anything other than a conspiracy that necessitates your destruction?
And besides, no adoring fans will recognize you if you have no identity.
jeffcass's review against another edition
4.0
Another PKD novel down, and as usual I'm not disappointed. This one featured drug trips and alternate realities. Damn, what a brilliant writer - I love him so much.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
3.0
Having read this as part of [b:Five Novels of the 1960s & 70s|2033517|Five Novels of the 1960s & 70s|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266480026s/2033517.jpg|2038245], I feel like this is one of the better stories included in the anthology. I love mistaken identity action films and stories, so the idea of someone waking up as a 'nonperson' in a world where having ID cards means the difference between life and death (or a forced-labour camp) was really interesting to me. As awful as it sounds, I also found the idea of 'sixes' and the covered-up eugenics experiments to be quite interesting, which I imagine stems from my love for [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165517734s/5129.jpg|3204877].
I also liked that Philip K Dick managed to tie in these interesting themes with hallucinogenic drug use and 'travelling' through time and space. Although it can be a bit overwhelming to read several of his stories close together due to the overlap in themes, I was loving it. I wish the drug and time/space travel themes had been brought in a bit earlier though, because it kind of felt like bad pacing and that Philip K Dick had a bit of a deus ex machina moment and went 'Holy shit, I need to explain this craziness so I'll just throw some drugs and time travel in there real quick'.
It would have been nice for drug use to even be hinted at, or Alys introduced earlier in the text. The drugs didn't have to be a major component like they were in [b:Now Wait for Last Year|216378|Now Wait for Last Year|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172783409s/216378.jpg|1915738], but the story could have benefited from them being introduced benignly at the start. It felt like Dick had written most of the book, walked away from it, and come back with a completely new perspective - which is not always bad, but can make for a bit of a disjointed story. I felt the same while reading The Lovely Bones, though I was aware of the author's circumstances while writing that book.
I also wish I'd been able to read more about Alys and all her weird fetish behaviour - how the phone line orgies work is particularly fascinating to me! And Buckman briefly mentioned her having an operation to cut out everything but the pleasure centres in her brain, so it would have been cool to hear/read a bit more about the effects of that. And as repulsive as it is, I would have preferred the incest storyline to be expanded upon, because it seemed like that was thrown in there quickly and randomly too.
I didn't mind the protagonist Jason Taverner, because even though he was quite pompous and a bit conceited, he was far less annoying than other Philip K Dick protagonists, namely Eric Sweetscent from [b:Now Wait for Last Year|216378|Now Wait for Last Year|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172783409s/216378.jpg|1915738]. It's probably the Tall Poppy Syndrome coming out in me, but I have to say that I enjoyed watching him be cut down and reduced to a nobody ;] I would have liked to have heard a lot more about how he came to be a six though, and what the characteristics of sixes were.
I also wish the incident regarding the feeding tube creature had been resolved further. Judging from those scenes I thought the story would be along the lines of Alien, but this was never really mentioned after Taverner woke up in the hotel. Did that really happen? Was it simply there to signify the start of Alys' universe/delusion? Im not sure if I missed something there, but I wanted to know more!
Although my review might infer the opposite, there's actually something I was satisfied with - Katharine's storyline. I'm not dying to know anymore about her, though the cause of her psychotic break and whether Jack does exist or not would be interesting to explore. I'm just not begging to find out more about her ;]
I really enjoyed the themes in this book overall, but as is the case with many of his texts, Philip K Dick left a fair bit to be desired. I'm always able to find something in a text that I wish had been expanded upon, but Dick leaves me wondering enough that I feel like I need a whole 'nother book on that topic to satisfy me! But if you enjoy the themes and don't have an obsessive need for closure like I do, you may enjoy it a bit more. It's certainly an enjoyable read, and a bit better than other stories of his that I've read lately. :)
I also liked that Philip K Dick managed to tie in these interesting themes with hallucinogenic drug use and 'travelling' through time and space. Although it can be a bit overwhelming to read several of his stories close together due to the overlap in themes, I was loving it. I wish the drug and time/space travel themes had been brought in a bit earlier though, because it kind of felt like bad pacing and that Philip K Dick had a bit of a deus ex machina moment and went 'Holy shit, I need to explain this craziness so I'll just throw some drugs and time travel in there real quick'.
It would have been nice for drug use to even be hinted at, or Alys introduced earlier in the text. The drugs didn't have to be a major component like they were in [b:Now Wait for Last Year|216378|Now Wait for Last Year|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172783409s/216378.jpg|1915738], but the story could have benefited from them being introduced benignly at the start. It felt like Dick had written most of the book, walked away from it, and come back with a completely new perspective - which is not always bad, but can make for a bit of a disjointed story. I felt the same while reading The Lovely Bones, though I was aware of the author's circumstances while writing that book.
I also wish I'd been able to read more about Alys and all her weird fetish behaviour - how the phone line orgies work is particularly fascinating to me! And Buckman briefly mentioned her having an operation to cut out everything but the pleasure centres in her brain, so it would have been cool to hear/read a bit more about the effects of that. And as repulsive as it is, I would have preferred the incest storyline to be expanded upon, because it seemed like that was thrown in there quickly and randomly too.
I didn't mind the protagonist Jason Taverner, because even though he was quite pompous and a bit conceited, he was far less annoying than other Philip K Dick protagonists, namely Eric Sweetscent from [b:Now Wait for Last Year|216378|Now Wait for Last Year|Philip K. Dick|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172783409s/216378.jpg|1915738]. It's probably the Tall Poppy Syndrome coming out in me, but I have to say that I enjoyed watching him be cut down and reduced to a nobody ;] I would have liked to have heard a lot more about how he came to be a six though, and what the characteristics of sixes were.
I also wish the incident regarding the feeding tube creature had been resolved further. Judging from those scenes I thought the story would be along the lines of Alien, but this was never really mentioned after Taverner woke up in the hotel. Did that really happen? Was it simply there to signify the start of Alys' universe/delusion? Im not sure if I missed something there, but I wanted to know more!
Although my review might infer the opposite, there's actually something I was satisfied with - Katharine's storyline. I'm not dying to know anymore about her, though the cause of her psychotic break and whether Jack does exist or not would be interesting to explore. I'm just not begging to find out more about her ;]
I really enjoyed the themes in this book overall, but as is the case with many of his texts, Philip K Dick left a fair bit to be desired. I'm always able to find something in a text that I wish had been expanded upon, but Dick leaves me wondering enough that I feel like I need a whole 'nother book on that topic to satisfy me! But if you enjoy the themes and don't have an obsessive need for closure like I do, you may enjoy it a bit more. It's certainly an enjoyable read, and a bit better than other stories of his that I've read lately. :)
bugle13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is going to be difficult to explain but I'll try my best. I felt this book had so much potential but fell short. I was very interested through the beginning and in the middle but ended up disappointed. I enjoyed the characters despite their flaws or insanity but the story was very lacking. Again, so much could've been done with this world that PKD created but decided to take the most boring route with it. Maybe I read it wrong. Maybe it was really about the people the main character interacted with and their stories that the book was about. Cool. Can't say I hate it, but I also can't say I love it. To each their own.
hadeanstars's review against another edition
4.0
I've loved sci-fi for as long as I can remember, but for some reason PKD just never grabbed me. I was more of an Asimov guy when I was a teenager. This though was a very enjoyable, if slightly dated, slightly strange, slightly puzzling read. I enjoyed it very much, but you can definitely feel the vibes of its time. The bad: women's breasts seem to engage in the story almost as their own characters. The good: there is a freedom to 60s/70s sci-fi which is weird but enjoyable. I get the impression that today's sci-fi could never work like this because it would be considered too frivolous. Everything is like a Marvel movie these days, and so often, what lacks is a good idea. Anyway, I'm not saying I could do better, but it perhaps might jolt a few writers out of their special effects' cliches, if they were to pick up some of these older stories. They are just inventive and don't wrestle with the vast scope of today's works.
dreynoldsbook's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Another fascinating and compelling novel by PKD. Full of Intriguing characters (male and female) and dialogue with memorable philosophical passages. Not least the one regarding Emily Fusselman’s rabbit!
The narrative in PKD’s novels always confounds your expectations. He avoids the obvious or predictable.
The narrative in PKD’s novels always confounds your expectations. He avoids the obvious or predictable.
yiiiivhen's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
shohman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
boxofowls's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0