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A Scanner Darkly Philip K Dick 9780679736653 Books

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A Scanner Darkly Philip K Dick 9780679736653 Books

PKD was a visionary. And a master storyteller. He truly was one of the greats. But even the greats can't turn every at-bat into a home run.

For me, "A Scanner Darkly" is PKD's missed at-bat. It begins with a solid premise that makes a few predictions about technology and social development (with the promise of accompanying commentary) that's flavored by scenes of drug use. However, it quickly devolves into psychology and thinly veiled (or not veiled at all) references to PKD's own experiences with drugs, at times eschewing the plot altogether. The flimsy narrative that desperately wants to connect the disparate scenes of drug use and altered perceptions grows more and more anemic as the novel progresses. By the end of the book, it's no longer a story complimented or accentuated by situational recollection; it's a pseudo-memoir with a strangled, dystopian ending tacked on to complete the symbolism. Or metaphor. Or... whatever it was.

I'm willing to accept that this book is a genuine 'misunderstood' classic and that I was just one of the saps who couldn't appreciate it for the masterpiece that is. That statement was made with no sarcasm, by the way; that's an honest assessment of my own limitations regarding the appraisal of this particular brand of literature.

For me, "A Scanner Darkly" works as a sci-fi flavored version of "Fear and Loathing." In terms of strange, surreal randomness, it's tough to beat. As an exercise in facing down his drug-induced demons from days gone by, I can only imagine the degree of success PKD felt he had upon completion of this novel; I hope it helped. This was clearly an ordeal he had to work through, which is made all the more sobering in the book's afterword (which, by the time you've taken the journey the story puts you through, is pretty brutal).

Many of his observations are still remarkably on point, however. Here are a few for good measure:

"If I had known it was harmless I would have killed it myself."

"The guilty, he reflected as he drove amid the heavy late-afternoon traffic as carefully as possible, may flee when no one pursues- he had heard that, and maybe that was true. What for a certainty was true, however, was that the guilty fled, fled like hell and took plenty of swift precautions, when someone did pursue: someone real and expert and at the same time hidden. And very close by. As close, he thought, as the back seat of this car."

"If you were diabetic," he said, "and you didn't have money for a hit of insulin, would you steal to get the money? Or just die?"

"To survive in this fascist police state, he thought, you gotta always be able to come up with a name, your name. At all times. That's the first sign they look for that you're wired, not being able to figure out who the hell you are."

"He liked that; he liked to get rid of time."


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A Scanner Darkly Philip K Dick 9780679736653 Books Reviews

After having previously read a couple of books by Dick and enjoying them, I picked this one up and was surprised to find it really wasn't science fiction like much of his work. The only major sci-fi element is the scramble suits - special suits which undercover police wear that make them appear to others as little more than a blur. Instead, here is the story of drug addiction, showing many of the possible effects. In his afterword, Dick indicates he wanted to portray what can happen with drug addiction without judging those who become addicts. I believe he is successful.

The main character, Bob Arctor, is an undercover nark who has gotten into drugs as a result of his occupation. Almost all of the people around him are drug users. He is romantically pursuing Donna, a small time drug dealer whom he buys from. With Dick's descriptions it's easy to picture the people and the squalor in which they live. At first you feel sorry for Bob for having to live with such people; later you feel sorry for him because you find out the extent of what has happened to him. Wearing the scramble suit, he is known only as "Fred" to the officers he reports to. So with a fair amount of irony, Bob/Fred is assigned to spy on - who else? - but Bob Arctor. They received a tip from someone that Bob has gotten into some bad things, not just simply using drugs. I found one of the most interesting portions to be how Bob handles his assignment.

In many ways, the story tends to be on the depressing side much of the time. There are things to like about some of the characters though, particularly Bob and Donna. Fortunately it also includes some nice twists, the type which make you think. It is one of those books I wanted to continually read toward the end to see if my suspicions proved correct. Some were...
A difficult and depressing novel about addicts, narcs who become addicts, dealers who are narcs, and users in all senses of the term. The hard part was reading from the point of view of the addled minds of the drug abusers, trying to make sense of what's objectively real and what's a hallucination or warped perception. The boring parts, for me, were the repetitions of those bizarre perceptions, the explanations by non-addicts of the biological causes of the misperceptions, and the explanations of the world by the increasingly deranged addicts. The depressing part was feeling the well-intentioned addicts crumble and the manipulation of them revealed at the end. What I don't get is why this is set in the then-future of 1994 without modifying the '60s and early '70s hippy drug culture or almost anything else except adding scramble suits and holographic scanners. The constant male valuing of women first and foremost, if not exclusively, for their sexuality also got to me.
Now I don't always dig Philip K. Dick because frankly sometimes his endings leave me frustrated and I have therefore started reading him very cautiously. Many of this well known works are just ramblings of a drug addicted and bipolar brain, which were made into great movie and TV adaptations by solid writers who corrected his flaws. However, A Scanner Darkly is not a story going nowhere. I picked up the book after watching the movie by the great Richard Linklater. I must say the movie stays pretty faithful to its source and the book does not disappoint. This is a sad but important work about drug addiction. Its semi-autobiographical, which makes it all the more relevant and haunting. Pick it up and be amazed by all the "wondrous little things" that Dick throws at you.

A word about the book quality itself. I had wanted the book with the movie cover on it (yes, I am one of those people!!) and the seller did not disappoint, some seller don't even return the book if the cover is wrong. The book itself was in a great shape and was delivered fast, sturdy packing and all!!
PKD was a visionary. And a master storyteller. He truly was one of the greats. But even the greats can't turn every at-bat into a home run.

For me, "A Scanner Darkly" is PKD's missed at-bat. It begins with a solid premise that makes a few predictions about technology and social development (with the promise of accompanying commentary) that's flavored by scenes of drug use. However, it quickly devolves into psychology and thinly veiled (or not veiled at all) references to PKD's own experiences with drugs, at times eschewing the plot altogether. The flimsy narrative that desperately wants to connect the disparate scenes of drug use and altered perceptions grows more and more anemic as the novel progresses. By the end of the book, it's no longer a story complimented or accentuated by situational recollection; it's a pseudo-memoir with a strangled, dystopian ending tacked on to complete the symbolism. Or metaphor. Or... whatever it was.

I'm willing to accept that this book is a genuine 'misunderstood' classic and that I was just one of the saps who couldn't appreciate it for the masterpiece that is. That statement was made with no sarcasm, by the way; that's an honest assessment of my own limitations regarding the appraisal of this particular brand of literature.

For me, "A Scanner Darkly" works as a sci-fi flavored version of "Fear and Loathing." In terms of strange, surreal randomness, it's tough to beat. As an exercise in facing down his drug-induced demons from days gone by, I can only imagine the degree of success PKD felt he had upon completion of this novel; I hope it helped. This was clearly an ordeal he had to work through, which is made all the more sobering in the book's afterword (which, by the time you've taken the journey the story puts you through, is pretty brutal).

Many of his observations are still remarkably on point, however. Here are a few for good measure

"If I had known it was harmless I would have killed it myself."

"The guilty, he reflected as he drove amid the heavy late-afternoon traffic as carefully as possible, may flee when no one pursues- he had heard that, and maybe that was true. What for a certainty was true, however, was that the guilty fled, fled like hell and took plenty of swift precautions, when someone did pursue someone real and expert and at the same time hidden. And very close by. As close, he thought, as the back seat of this car."

"If you were diabetic," he said, "and you didn't have money for a hit of insulin, would you steal to get the money? Or just die?"

"To survive in this fascist police state, he thought, you gotta always be able to come up with a name, your name. At all times. That's the first sign they look for that you're wired, not being able to figure out who the hell you are."

"He liked that; he liked to get rid of time."