Philip K Dick

[Abraxas]

So, The Adjustment Team hits theaters today, time for a Philip K Dick thread...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJehaCfn ... 2E92B08279[/youtube]

I've read 22 novels so far, about 10 more to go. My brain hurts.

My top three are as follows:

1.Valis
2.Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
3.Ubik

[Omphalos]

The Adjustment Bureau, at least here in the states.

I think this is going to suck. Damon comes off way too cutesy in the ads. He is so much better when his character has some mental issues and/or is really intense. This one seems like fluff to me.

[Abraxas]

Yeah, I sort of feel the same way. The reviews have been surprisingly positive though.

There is also Gondry's Ubik and Radio Free Albemuth on the way. RFA looks like it was made on a syfy channel budget, but its supposed to be a very faithful adaptation of the novel despite those limitations.

[Omphalos]

Hadn't heard about Ubik or Radio Free Albemuth. That's the one with the thalidomide baby in it (grown up and psychotic), right? Or is RFA the one with the guy who predicts enemy nuclear attacks by playing a game in the newspaper every day?

Perhaps Nekhurn can Google this for me and provide me with the answer I seek.

[lotek]

dick movies adaption suck

[Ampoliros]

You beat me to it.

It is literally impossible for Hollywood to make a good adaptation of PKD.

So far the best was Screamers which is based off one line in one of the short stories ("Second Variety" iirc).

I refuse to watch the movie based off of "Paycheck". I don't want to know what they did to that story. Minority Report was bad enough.


If it wasn't for PKD I don't think I would have loved Science Fiction enough to read Dune.

[DuneFishUK]

Scanner Darkly?

[inhuien]

Oh yeah, that was good. I loved the cell shaded live action approach.

[Omphalos]

Blade Runner?

[Nekhrun]

Hadn't heard about Ubik or Radio Free Albemuth. That's the one with the thalidomide baby in it (grown up and psychotic), right? Or is RFA the one with the guy who predicts enemy nuclear attacks by playing a game in the newspaper every day?

Perhaps Nekhurn can Google this for me and provide me with the answer I seek.

Radio Free Albemuth: A guy receives transmissions to overthrow the president.

I don't know about predicting future attacks through newspapers, but The Simpsons almost did it:
http://newsblaze.com/story/201011051827 ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dr. Bloodmoney has the thalidomide guy.

[Kojiro]

Blade Runner?

Not a faithful adaptation by a longshot, but it's fucking great anyway.

[lotek]

I haven't seen A Scanner Darkly I must confess, and Blade Runner is indeed a great movie but has only a few common elements with the book, so it doesn't count in my book.

Plus the joke was too tempting to pass.


I really liked Clans of the Alphane moon, and I even read The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, which after Ubik or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for that matter it was... weird...

There are still some I haven't read actually, that needs to be adressed

[Sandwurm88]

Well, you have to expect any PKD book to be "weird". The guy is my role model, he's books are great and he is probably my favorite author of all time. None of his books individually are better than Dune, but his classics are all so good. Androids, Ubik, Stigmata, VALIS, High Castle, Scanner, Clans, Martian Time-Slip, Now Wait for Last Year. The man was a genius. He was pretty fucked up too in his personal life, but still, awesome author who died too soon.
And I have only seen Blade Runner, as I am afraid of tarnishing my view of any of PKD's books by watching their respective movies. That's the only author that I can say that for.

[Omphalos]

I also liked Total Recall. Just looked at IMDB and I see that there is a TV movie and a series from that too. Never knew.

[Ampoliros]

Que disbelief

I'm not all that wow'd by Blade Runner. I don't get what the fuss is about. Its alright, I just don't think of it as the holy grail its held up to be.

[lotek]

I also liked Total Recall. Just looked at IMDB and I see that there is a TV movie and a series from that too. Never knew.

forgot that one

@sandwurm88
read the transmigration of T Archer you'll see what I mean by weird

[A Thing of Eternity]

Que disbelief

I'm not all that wow'd by Blade Runner. I don't get what the fuss is about. Its alright, I just don't think of it as the holy grail its held up to be.

I had the same reaction, but I get it now. It's not so much great as "SF" or even as "fiction" as it is great as a "film". Watch it again (and I mean just watch it, visually it is amazing, forget everything else).

[Hunchback Jack]

I've only read a couple of PKD - Electric Sheep a *long* time ago, and High Castle just last week - but I'm definitely going to read more this year. Any suggestions on which to tackle first?

HBJ

[lotek]

Ubik is pretty good, but I have a special fondness for some of the characters of Clans of the Alphane Moon so I'd say that one

[Abraxas]

I've only read a couple of PKD - Electric Sheep a *long* time ago, and High Castle just last week - but I'm definitely going to read more this year. Any suggestions on which to tackle first?

HBJ

I'd recommend starting with Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. Though Ubik and Clans are pretty good too....