A Scanner Darkly

 

A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly
by Authors: Philip K. Dick
Released: 03 December, 1991
ISBN: 0679736654
Paperback

Sales Rank: 6,166
List price: $12.00
Our price: $9.60 (You save: $2.4)
Book > A Scanner Darkly > Customer Reviews:
  Average Customer Rating:

A Scanner Darkly > Customer Review #1:
A disturbing insight into the mind of Philip K Dick

I have read almost everything Philip K Dick has written (I Say "almost" because he was one of the most prolific authors of the genre) and this was the one which affected me the most. It is basically the story of an undercover narcotics cop, Bruce, pretending to be a drug user, Bob, living with a group of other screwed up drug users and taking large quantities of drugs. The descent into psychosis, triggered by both the drug use and the deception, (posing as an imposter) mirrors Dicks own and, though totally predictable, it is the inevitability of the grim end which provides the drama. Bob starts off in a bad way but, as his drug use accelerates, the lines between his two identities, Bob and Bruce, cop and "criminal", drug addict and narc begin to blur. Dick explores the familiar (for him) territory of Kantian philosophy in a way which anyone with familiarity with psychotropic drugs will recognise as the voice of experience. The book is full of Dicks razor humour and the ending is all the more poignant for the affection that I, at least, felt for the cast of hopeless, helpless head cases. The dedication at the end made me want to cry. I love this book

A Scanner Darkly > Customer Review #2:
A Disturbing Tract for Both Sides of the Brain

I have always felt that PKD was the type of author who could really blow me away with his mind-expanding ideas. Unfortunately his other novels that I previously read struck me as overrated, as the ideas failed to gel into coherent stories. However, he hits the bullseye with "A Scanner Darkly" which has to be one of best novels. Taking place in a dysfunctional near-future, the story revolves around the new drug called Substance D. (The only glitch in this book is that PKD places the story in the 1990s, and PKDs vision of the future from back in the 70s is a bit distracting in its inaccuracies). Substance D causes a disconnect between the left and right sides of the brain, causing a split personality syndrome in which both of the users selves are active simultaneously and compete with each other. The main character, Bob Arctor, is an undercover cop who poses as a dealer, and his undercover self has been assigned to watch his dealer self. At first he realizes the bureaucratic mistake, but as he falls deeper and deeper into the world of Substance D, Bob can no longer perceive the difference between his two selves and descends into a schizophrenic nightmare. Bobs deteriorating state becomes a very disturbing tract from PKD on the nature of ones identity, the destruction of the self through drug abuse, and the reality or un-reality of the selfs replacement. Also, in PKDs future the drug war becomes a class war, as the "straights" need the users as a class of non-persons to manipulate and to experiment on. This may just be the way users see the world, and PKD shows us that it may not be a farfetched conspiracy theory. This is a truly troubling look into the world of damaged and ruined minds, from a man who just may have been there himself.

A Scanner Darkly > Customer Review #3:
Let Them Play Again

This is not an SF novel. This is a story about Dicks drug-addicted friends and their sad fates. The book consists of a series of anecdotes and scenes that range from the absurdly funny to the grotesquely tragic and are too familiar if you have some experience with drug addiction.
We see the characters (Dicks friends) degenerate into madness because of their drug habit. But still we refrain from saying they are degenerates and brought it on themselves, because of the compassion that Dick puts in his writing. All they wanted was to play, how can you think that is wrong.
At the end is an authors note in which Dick honors his dead friends and wants them to play again but in another way. This note is one of Dicks best writings and will break your heart (if youve got one that is). Oh yeah theres also a kind of plot to the book, but thats just thrown in to please the straights.

 
A Scanner Darkly > Related Products
Ubik The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Valis Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said The Man in the High Castle The Divine Invasion The Transmigration of Timothy Archer Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Time Out of Joint Martian Time-Slip
architect books