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The link isn’t loading for me, but I definitely relate to the title at least. PKD’s stories definitely have a tendency to untether you to reality, and you finis

The link isn’t loading for me, but I definitely relate to the title at least. PKD’s stories definitely have a tendency to untether you to reality, and you finish them feeling both extremely creative and kind of mentally lost in space. The interesting thing though is how it seems like he developed this over time. Many of his stories are just straight up bad, goofy cliche messes. When you read an anthology of his short stories, for example, at least half of them read like bad jokes an AI came up with. At some point I need to read his works in chronological order, just to observe his growth as a writer more directly.

zeafoamrun 1mo ago
My local library had them so I read through most of his works in high school. My favorite is Ubik which if I remember correctly follows an anti-psychic contractor who dives into the world of his comatose boss' brain after an explosion on a moon base in order to get some important information, which is trying to communicate itself via in-world advertising.
- Trasmatta 1mo ago
  > who dives into the world of his comatose boss' brain This isn't quite what happens. It's actually left extremely ambiguous what's happening and where they are after the explosion.
  - zeafoamrun 1mo ago
    Yeah I decided not to Google it and rely on my own fuzzy decades old memory of it, which seemed more PKD-esque
wise_blood 1mo ago
I'm going through this collection right now, and loving it: https://www.loa.org/books/311-the-philip-k-dick-collection-3-volume-boxed-set/ https://www.loa.org/books/311-the-philip-k-dick-collection-3...
vintermann 1mo ago
He also reinterpreted his experiences several times - and was open about it. Crumb gives a mostly Buddhist take, but PKD often gave far more Gnostic Christian takes on it (or surprisingly orthodox Christian ones)
- Trasmatta 1mo ago
  I have a copy of his Exegesis, and I can confirm, he reinterpreted the experience probably hundreds of times. He loved the gnostic interpretation (which is the main focus on VALIS). But also yeah, sometimes just straight up orthodox Christian ones. And he even fell back to interpreting it as just psychosis sometimes. PKD also invokes Buddhism and Hinduism frequently in the Exegesis. Here's a quote I love from it: > I have seen the infinities of Judaism, which is morality, of Christianity, which is love, of the Greeks, which is wisdom, and I have seen God’s power as pronoia and charis to rescue me by bending the world itself; but beauty is a perplexing infinity, raising more questions than it answers. It is a puzzle too intricate for me. It spans all else. As I sit across the game board from Krishna I say, “I have found in beauty that which I could not myself have made; thus I have found the benchmarks. I believe, for I have the evidence that I trust; it is sufficient.” There is an infinity of good, of love, of wisdom, of power, but each particular beautiful thing is infinitely beautiful, and there is an infinity of them, so beauty, alone, is an infinity of infinities: ∞2.
  - wartywhoa23 1mo ago
    This beauty is so immensely infinite that humans came up with making it finite by creating definitions made of words, which became both their salvation and damnation.
    - Trasmatta 1mo ago
      Agreed. I think PKD himself got trapped by words and trying to intellectualize his experiences. He experienced a lot of anguish because of that
- adfm 1mo ago
  Here's a link to a video of PKD in Metz, France in 1977 where he reviews the material: https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT
Trasmatta 1mo ago
Sometimes he wrote his worst trash in between some of his best books. He was ultimately a pulp fiction author, and often just pushed stuff out for a paycheck.
vidarh 1mo ago
His early stories were churned out because he needed money, and if you read them chronologically you'll also see them for on very much in the zeitgeist. E.g. his early stories are dominated by "easy" post-apocalyptic stories with simple structures and a straightforward reveal. His more complex stuff came later. But then too his need for money would lead to churning out something publishable over something polished. I think PKD might well have been tickled by the idea of whether he might have been an AI sent back in time to become a sci-fi author.

zeafoamrun 1mo ago

My local library had them so I read through most of his works in high school. My favorite is Ubik which if I remember correctly follows an anti-psychic contractor who dives into the world of his comatose boss' brain after an explosion on a moon base in order to get some important information, which is trying to communicate itself via in-world advertising.

Trasmatta 1mo ago
> who dives into the world of his comatose boss' brain This isn't quite what happens. It's actually left extremely ambiguous what's happening and where they are after the explosion.
- zeafoamrun 1mo ago
  Yeah I decided not to Google it and rely on my own fuzzy decades old memory of it, which seemed more PKD-esque

wise_blood 1mo ago

I'm going through this collection right now, and loving it: https://www.loa.org/books/311-the-philip-k-dick-collection-3-volume-boxed-set/ https://www.loa.org/books/311-the-philip-k-dick-collection-3...

vintermann 1mo ago

He also reinterpreted his experiences several times - and was open about it. Crumb gives a mostly Buddhist take, but PKD often gave far more Gnostic Christian takes on it (or surprisingly orthodox Christian ones)

Trasmatta 1mo ago
I have a copy of his Exegesis, and I can confirm, he reinterpreted the experience probably hundreds of times. He loved the gnostic interpretation (which is the main focus on VALIS). But also yeah, sometimes just straight up orthodox Christian ones. And he even fell back to interpreting it as just psychosis sometimes. PKD also invokes Buddhism and Hinduism frequently in the Exegesis. Here's a quote I love from it: > I have seen the infinities of Judaism, which is morality, of Christianity, which is love, of the Greeks, which is wisdom, and I have seen God’s power as pronoia and charis to rescue me by bending the world itself; but beauty is a perplexing infinity, raising more questions than it answers. It is a puzzle too intricate for me. It spans all else. As I sit across the game board from Krishna I say, “I have found in beauty that which I could not myself have made; thus I have found the benchmarks. I believe, for I have the evidence that I trust; it is sufficient.” There is an infinity of good, of love, of wisdom, of power, but each particular beautiful thing is infinitely beautiful, and there is an infinity of them, so beauty, alone, is an infinity of infinities: ∞2.
- wartywhoa23 1mo ago
  This beauty is so immensely infinite that humans came up with making it finite by creating definitions made of words, which became both their salvation and damnation.
  - Trasmatta 1mo ago
    Agreed. I think PKD himself got trapped by words and trying to intellectualize his experiences. He experienced a lot of anguish because of that
adfm 1mo ago
Here's a link to a video of PKD in Metz, France in 1977 where he reviews the material: https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT https://youtu.be/P3TXfwGV8LQ?is=09XaeMgMDZaRChGT

Trasmatta 1mo ago

Sometimes he wrote his worst trash in between some of his best books. He was ultimately a pulp fiction author, and often just pushed stuff out for a paycheck.

vidarh 1mo ago

His early stories were churned out because he needed money, and if you read them chronologically you'll also see them for on very much in the zeitgeist. E.g. his early stories are dominated by "easy" post-apocalyptic stories with simple structures and a straightforward reveal. His more complex stuff came later. But then too his need for money would lead to churning out something publishable over something polished. I think PKD might well have been tickled by the idea of whether he might have been an AI sent back in time to become a sci-fi author.