Bob Magaw
Footballguy
He was a seminal sci fi novelist, a precursor to the genre that later became known as cyber punk, a prolific short story writer and has had many film adaptations (including possibly my favorite overall, Blade Runner). **** had an at times very dark, paranoid sensibility, but in some of his greatest work had an incredibly imaginative vision and ability to build fully realized, self-consistent worlds, as well as capable of being uncannily prophetic. For me, his greatest novel was Ubik ('69), but some other favorites were The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch ('65), Martian Time-Slip ('64), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep ('68), Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb ('65), Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said ('74), Now Wait For Last Year ('66), The Man in the High Castle ('62) and A Scanner Darkly ('77). He died in 1982.
Feel free to share some personal favorite novels/short stories.
There is an excellent three volume series (of which I highly recommend the first two) available from the Library of America. **** was the first writer from the sci fi genre to be accorded that honor (since than, also at least Kurt Vonnegut).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick
Philip Kindred **** (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer, whose published works mainly belong to the genre of science fiction. **** explored philosophical, sociological and political themes in novels with plots dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness. In his later works, ****'s thematic focus tended to reflect his personal interest in metaphysics and theology.
He often drew upon his life experiences in addressing the nature of drug abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS.[1] Later in life, he wrote non-fiction on philosophy, theology, the nature of reality, and science. This material was published posthumously as The Exegesis.
The novel The Man in the High Castle bridged the genres of alternate history and science fiction, earning **** a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963.[2]Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, a novel about a celebrity who awakens one day to find that he is unknown, won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel in 1975.[3] "I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards," **** wrote of these stories. "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real."[4] Outside of his writing, **** spoke of a possible explanation for "my preoccupation with these pluroform pseudo-worlds" stating "now I think I understand; what I was sensing was the manifold of partially actualized realities lying tangent to what evidently is the most actualized one, the one which the majority of us, by consensus gentium, agree on."[5]
In addition to 44 published novels, **** wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime.[6] Although **** spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty,[7] eleven popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau and Impostor. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923.[8] In 2007, **** became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
Themes
****'s stories typically focus on the fragile nature of what is "real" and the construction of personal identity. His stories often become surreal fantasies, as the main characters slowly discover that their everyday world is actually an illusion constructed by powerful external entities (such as in Ubik),[30] vast political conspiracies, or simply from the vicissitudes of an unreliable narrator. "All of his work starts with the basic assumption that there cannot be one, single, objective reality", writes science fiction author Charles Platt. "Everything is a matter of perception. The ground is liable to shift under your feet. A protagonist may find himself living out another person's dream, or he may enter a drug-induced state that actually makes better sense than the real world, or he may cross into a different universe completely."[26]
Alternate universes and simulacra were common plot devices, with fictional worlds inhabited by common, working people, rather than galactic elites. "There are no heroes in ****'s books", Ursula K. Le Guin wrote, "but there are heroics. One is reminded of Dickens: what counts is the honesty, constancy, kindness and patience of ordinary people."[30] **** made no secret that much of his thinking and work was heavily influenced by the writings of Carl Jung.[31][32] The Jungian constructs and models that most concerned **** seem to be the archetypes of the collective unconscious, group projection/hallucination, synchronicities, and personality theory.[31] Many of ****'s protagonists overtly analyze reality and their perceptions in Jungian terms (see Lies Inc.). ****'s self-named Exegesis also contained many notes on Jung in relation to theology and mysticism.[citation needed]
**** identified one major theme of his work as the question, "What constitutes the authentic human being?"[33] In works such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, beings can appear totally human in every respect while lacking soul or compassion, while completely alien beings such as Glimmung in Galactic Pot-Healer may be more humane and complex than ****'s human characters.
Mental illness was a constant interest of ****'s, and themes of mental illness permeate his work. The character Jack Bohlen in the 1964 novel Martian Time-Slip is an "ex-schizophrenic". The novel Clans of the Alphane Moon centers on an entire society made up of descendants of lunatic asylum inmates. In 1965 he wrote the essay titled "Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes".[34]
Drug use (including religious, recreational, and abuse) was also a theme in many of ****'s works, such as A Scanner Darkly and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. **** himself was a drug user for much of his life. According to a 1975 interview in Rolling Stone,[35] **** wrote all of his books published before 1970 while on amphetamines. "A Scanner Darkly (1977) was the first complete novel I had written without speed", said **** in the interview. He also experimented briefly with psychedelics, but wrote The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which Rolling Stone dubs "the classic LSD novel of all time", before he had ever tried them. Despite his heavy amphetamine use, however, **** later said that doctors told him the amphetamines never actually affected him, that his liver had processed them before they reached his brain.[35]
Summing up all these themes in Understanding Philip K. ****, Eric Carl Link discussed eight themes or 'ideas and motifs':[36] Epistemology and the Nature of Reality, Know Thyself, The Android and the Human, Entropy and Pot Healing, The Theodicy Problem, Warfare and Power Politics, The Evolved Human, and 'Technology, Media, Drugs and Madness'.
Feel free to share some personal favorite novels/short stories.
There is an excellent three volume series (of which I highly recommend the first two) available from the Library of America. **** was the first writer from the sci fi genre to be accorded that honor (since than, also at least Kurt Vonnegut).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick
Philip Kindred **** (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American writer, whose published works mainly belong to the genre of science fiction. **** explored philosophical, sociological and political themes in novels with plots dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness. In his later works, ****'s thematic focus tended to reflect his personal interest in metaphysics and theology.
He often drew upon his life experiences in addressing the nature of drug abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS.[1] Later in life, he wrote non-fiction on philosophy, theology, the nature of reality, and science. This material was published posthumously as The Exegesis.
The novel The Man in the High Castle bridged the genres of alternate history and science fiction, earning **** a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963.[2]Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, a novel about a celebrity who awakens one day to find that he is unknown, won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel in 1975.[3] "I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, because the world we actually have does not meet my standards," **** wrote of these stories. "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real."[4] Outside of his writing, **** spoke of a possible explanation for "my preoccupation with these pluroform pseudo-worlds" stating "now I think I understand; what I was sensing was the manifold of partially actualized realities lying tangent to what evidently is the most actualized one, the one which the majority of us, by consensus gentium, agree on."[5]
In addition to 44 published novels, **** wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime.[6] Although **** spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty,[7] eleven popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau and Impostor. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923.[8] In 2007, **** became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
Themes
****'s stories typically focus on the fragile nature of what is "real" and the construction of personal identity. His stories often become surreal fantasies, as the main characters slowly discover that their everyday world is actually an illusion constructed by powerful external entities (such as in Ubik),[30] vast political conspiracies, or simply from the vicissitudes of an unreliable narrator. "All of his work starts with the basic assumption that there cannot be one, single, objective reality", writes science fiction author Charles Platt. "Everything is a matter of perception. The ground is liable to shift under your feet. A protagonist may find himself living out another person's dream, or he may enter a drug-induced state that actually makes better sense than the real world, or he may cross into a different universe completely."[26]
Alternate universes and simulacra were common plot devices, with fictional worlds inhabited by common, working people, rather than galactic elites. "There are no heroes in ****'s books", Ursula K. Le Guin wrote, "but there are heroics. One is reminded of Dickens: what counts is the honesty, constancy, kindness and patience of ordinary people."[30] **** made no secret that much of his thinking and work was heavily influenced by the writings of Carl Jung.[31][32] The Jungian constructs and models that most concerned **** seem to be the archetypes of the collective unconscious, group projection/hallucination, synchronicities, and personality theory.[31] Many of ****'s protagonists overtly analyze reality and their perceptions in Jungian terms (see Lies Inc.). ****'s self-named Exegesis also contained many notes on Jung in relation to theology and mysticism.[citation needed]
**** identified one major theme of his work as the question, "What constitutes the authentic human being?"[33] In works such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, beings can appear totally human in every respect while lacking soul or compassion, while completely alien beings such as Glimmung in Galactic Pot-Healer may be more humane and complex than ****'s human characters.
Mental illness was a constant interest of ****'s, and themes of mental illness permeate his work. The character Jack Bohlen in the 1964 novel Martian Time-Slip is an "ex-schizophrenic". The novel Clans of the Alphane Moon centers on an entire society made up of descendants of lunatic asylum inmates. In 1965 he wrote the essay titled "Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes".[34]
Drug use (including religious, recreational, and abuse) was also a theme in many of ****'s works, such as A Scanner Darkly and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. **** himself was a drug user for much of his life. According to a 1975 interview in Rolling Stone,[35] **** wrote all of his books published before 1970 while on amphetamines. "A Scanner Darkly (1977) was the first complete novel I had written without speed", said **** in the interview. He also experimented briefly with psychedelics, but wrote The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, which Rolling Stone dubs "the classic LSD novel of all time", before he had ever tried them. Despite his heavy amphetamine use, however, **** later said that doctors told him the amphetamines never actually affected him, that his liver had processed them before they reached his brain.[35]
Summing up all these themes in Understanding Philip K. ****, Eric Carl Link discussed eight themes or 'ideas and motifs':[36] Epistemology and the Nature of Reality, Know Thyself, The Android and the Human, Entropy and Pot Healing, The Theodicy Problem, Warfare and Power Politics, The Evolved Human, and 'Technology, Media, Drugs and Madness'.
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