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The selection seems quite arbitrary to me - ''SF - The Illustrated Encyclopedia'' by John Clute names ''The Man in the High Castle'', ''Martian Time-Slip'' ''Three Stigmata'', ''Do Androids Dream'' and ''A Maze of Death'' especially, for instance. I added ''Three Stigmata'' and ''Ubik'' that both have received quite a lot of critical attention. I also put the list into chronological order, which seems the most indicative. I also put in the useless-special-powers theme that occurs quite a lot in Dick's works and is an aspect of his opposition to the optimism of Golden Age SF. --[[User:Good Intentions|Marinus]] 07:14, 1 February 2006 (UTC) |
The selection seems quite arbitrary to me - ''SF - The Illustrated Encyclopedia'' by John Clute names ''The Man in the High Castle'', ''Martian Time-Slip'' ''Three Stigmata'', ''Do Androids Dream'' and ''A Maze of Death'' especially, for instance. I added ''Three Stigmata'' and ''Ubik'' that both have received quite a lot of critical attention. I also put the list into chronological order, which seems the most indicative. I also put in the useless-special-powers theme that occurs quite a lot in Dick's works and is an aspect of his opposition to the optimism of Golden Age SF. --[[User:Good Intentions|Marinus]] 07:14, 1 February 2006 (UTC) |
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:I'd also suggest ''Flow My Tears'' [[User:Edfitz|unfutz]] 13:35, 3 February 2006 (UTC) |
Revision as of 13:35, 3 February 2006
I'd like to see his "normal" fiction addressed. He wrote conventional novels too, which were usually rejected, but posthumously published. 'Crap Artist' was in part about that. And put in something about how the fench loved him too. --brainhell
I hear that PKD gained a lot of popularity among European post-modern intellectuals due to the high quality of the French translations (which reportedly improve on Dick's own writing). Might be worth mentioning, but I'm not adding it to the article because I'd like to get some confirmation first. --Goblin 14:03, Jul 1, 2004 (UTC)
- It's true that he's quite popular in France, and not only amongst post-modern intellectuals. Actually, I'd say he's ranked right behind Asimov, Herbert, Silverberg and A.C. Clarke. It's also true that he benefitted from good translations but I wouldn't say it's better than his own writing, though I never compared directly a French translation with the original. In the same vein, it might also be worth mentioning that in the early 70's he sold more copies in France and Germany than in the US and couldn't have gone on being a professional writer without his European income. _R_ 20:05, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)
I'm not quite sure about the "friends with Heinlein" part of the general text. I think I've read that his opinion on Heinlein changed a few times during his life and I'm quite sure that he even wrote an article on Heinlein and the atomic bomb or something, which was indeed not very friendly. So, maybe someone who has some more biographical references could look this up and change it if nesecary.
[Ben]
- I remember reading sometime around Heinlein's death that although he and Dick had tremendously different world views, and that each man felt rather scornful of the other, Heinlein nevertheless helped Dick financially at least once and perhaps more often even after they were in some ways estranged. This may have been in Charley Brown's long obit about Heinlein in Locus.Hayford Peirce 20:16, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I removed two occurrences of 'rather', and the casual diagnosis of 'paranoia'. Known drug-use and exhibiting symptoms are one thing, but unless a diagnosis is backed up with sources.... MichaelTinkler
I heard that he believed that Stanislav Lem is in reality soviet team created from many s-f authors to take control over american sf. [[szopen]]
Yep, he did state that Lem is a special KGB unit. Ausir 13:27, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
This was just added -- what does it mean (obviously it's a typo, but I can't figure it out, otherwise I'd correct it): Music and sociology are themes in my novels....Hayford Peirce 22:54, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
The Variable Man
I have added a link from the article to The Variable Man - a short article I just did about the short story. Findel 16:15, 9 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Re "vesicle pisces"
Reading vesicle pisces and vesica piscis leaves me with the sense that
- wearing a pendant with the intersecting arcs called "vesicle pisces"
is imprecise. Am i wrong in thinking that this language i've edited in makes more sense?:
- wearing a pendant with what he called "vesicle pisces". (He probably was referring to the intersecting arcs of the vesica piscis.)
If i am wrong, i would hope more info can be provided, e.g., where he described this incident and who else used "vesicle pisces" before him. --Jerzy(t) 08:55, 2004 May 12 (UTC)
The actual date of 2-3-74 (why I changed it, despite Google).
In the biography I've been skimming, "I Am Alive and You Are Dead" (ISBN 0805054642), the date of 2-3-74 (the revelation with the girl and the necklace) is given as February 20. I'm considering this authoritative. If it gets changed, I'd like to see a reference. I can find internet resources referring both to February 20 [1] and February 2 [2]. Since the internet tends to be a bit of an echo chamber, I'm sticking with what I skimmed from the biography. grendel|khan 21:59, 2004 Jul 15 (UTC)
I've been reading the Lawrence Sutin compiled "In Pursuit of VALIS: Excerpts from the Exegesis". In one of the aforementioned excerpts, PKD refers to it as "2-3/74". This formatting inclines me to believe that it is in fact short hand for February and March of 1974, and not February 3, 1974.
In fact, just speaking generally, I think its a preferred formatting of the shorthand, and if I'm correct, I'd prefer to see it in wider usage, so as to avoid precisely this misunderstanding. --Seanlanders 02:34, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Hailed by Heinlein?
The beginning of the article says Dick was hailed by Heinlein. I'd like to see some verification of this. His works were very different from Heinlein's and Heinlein wrote very few blurbs for his friends and/or S.F. colleagues. I'm not saying it ain't so, I'd just like to know when and where Heinlein publicly "hailed" him.Hayford Peirce 20:37, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- I can't tell you where I first ran across this, but I saw an anecdote from a source I considered knowledable that Heinlein loaned Dick money while he was finishing up one of his books (see http://303.ubik.com.ar/pkdfaq.html for another source of this). This seems to be an indication that Heinlein found Dick's work worthwhile. While they were complete opposites in style, personality and politics, they were also both acclaimed masters of the genre at the same time. Another quote I found, from the intro to the short story collection titled "The Golden Man" (which may well be where I first ran across it; I have all 5 volumes of Dicks short stories)
- "I consider Heinlein to be my spiritual father, even though our political ideologies are totally at variance. Several years ago, when I was ill, Heinlein offered his help, anything he could do, and we had never met; he would phone me to cheer me up and see how I was doing. He wanted to buy me an electric typewriter, God bless him—one of the few true gentlemen in this world. I don't agree with any ideas he puts forth in his writing, but that is neither here nor there. One time when I owed the IRS a lot of money and couldn't raise it, Heinlein loaned the money to me.
- ". . . he knows I'm a flipped-out freak and still he helped me and my wife when we were in trouble. That is the best in humanity, there; that is who and what I love."
- (found at http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html)
- I think it's safe to say that Heinlein was very supportive of Dick's writing; "hailed" might be the wrong word, but I think that Heinlien's support of Dick should be mentioned; the fact that Dick and Heinlein were such opposites, yet had a strong mutual respect for each other is a very good insight into the personalities of both Heinlien and Dick. scot 14:26, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Removed
- "This distance is suggested by at least one music reviewer explaining the character "Horselover Fat" as being introduced by the opera's librettist, in order to interact with the PKD character in the opera. The fact that "Horse-lover Fat" was in fact invented by PKD, included in the novel to interact with a Philip-Dick character, and more or less faithfully retained in the opera, betrays a striking communication gap."
I removed the above text because I doubt the criticism: the "one music reviewer" is not cited, and would be mistaken themselves (if true), and the para reads simly as misplaced anti-classical music POV. More importantly:
- There were three original librettists, Catherine Ikam, Bill Raymond, and Tod Machover, later revised by Machover alone.
- In the liner notes it is made clear the Machover did not come up with the name "Horse-lover Fat": "To transpose his personal traits into exploratory fiction, Dick uses the convention of dividing himself (as the main character) in two...Phil Dick the science fiction writer observes and comments on Horselover Fat." Hyacinth 01:23, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)
asthma / methamphetamine removal
I removed the sentence relating Dick's childhood asthma and the fact that he was prescribed a form of methamphetamine, although the asthma point might be reworked into the article, if relevant.
Dick's childhood methamphetamine prescription is irrelevant and misleading, at least because it is almost certain that the form of methamphetamine Dick took was (A) in inhaler form, not useful for obtaining substantial psychoactive effects of the amphetamine-class drugs; and (B) the isomer of methamphetamine contained in inhalers was not the psychoactive dextro-methamphetamine, but rather the much less active (especially for mental efficacy) laevo-methamphetamine, sometimes called benzedrine.
Furthermore, the sentence I deleted made a statement that is misleading, in that it termed methamphetamine as "dangerous" and likely to produce mental states similar to schizophrenia. While it certainly is true that methamphetamine can be dangerous, especially in high doses; and further although methamphetamine can produce "amphetamine psychosis," both of these effects are usually observed mostly in chronic abusers and/or at high doses (which were quite unlikely to ever have been attained by a child using a Vick's benzedrine inhaler). The sentence as it stood before would give the reader the impression that such effects are common or indeed, likely (which they generally are not—millions of people use amphetamine and methamphetamine (see Desoxyn) at therapeutic doses for treatment of ADHD or narcolepsy, and experience no such complications over years or decades of use). --Ryanaxp 06:13, Jun 5, 2005 (UTC)
Death, stroke or heart attack
The section titled Death states that Dick died of a stroke. Immediately below under Dick's Influence the second paragraph states he died of a heart attack. It could not have been both. Can we get some clarification? Wjbean 22:47, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Content removed
Most observers of this phenomenon would conclude that Dick's visions were a brief psychotic episode, and they might be correct in that assumption. What has allowed the mystery of Dick's experiences to endure are anecdotal reports of several intriguing incidences such as the following
- Removed spoon-feeding. Eventually, this should be replaced with factual reports of his alleged "psychosis", rather than what unnamed "observers" conclude. --Viriditas | Talk 09:14, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
Minor add by newbie
I added two sentences in the "Dick's Influence" section noting the Dick-inspired movie "Impostor". I am unable to assess the faithfulness of the movie to the short story; I'd welcome any thoughts on this. This is my first edit of any kind on Wikipedia, so please excuse any mistakes and let me know how to correct them for the future. --Shakrat 24 August 2005
POV?
Is this not (unnecessary) POV?
Novels recommended as an introduction to Dick's work
Some good choices for a reader new to Dick are...
Cigsandalcohol 03:21, 7 September 2005 (UTC)
PKD was Schizophrenic
The explanation of PKDs hallucinations being caused by complications from a stroke are revisionist and ignorant at best. There is plenty of evidence to suggest PKD suffered from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, and that the drug abuse, homelessness, poverty, multiple divorces and bizzarre behavior(severe agoraphobia, fear and paranoia about the police and fbi, etc) were the result of schizophrenia.
His Aunt was a catatonic schizophrenic. Schizophrenia is a hereditary disease and much of Dick's life was the life of a schizophrenic. There is so very little public awareness of this illness. Even after films like "A Beautiful Mind" and "The Aviator" most people still have a poor understanding of schizophrenia. I find it a disservice to PKD and his readers to misrepresent his life.
Statistically speaking, 1 of every 100 people suffer from schizophrenia. I had been suffering with schizophrenia for years without understanding what was wrong. It took me 15 terrible years before I was diagnosed. I was drawn to Dick's style of writing because it resonated with me. It might have been helpful for me to come to a wiki like this and see that Dick suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Maybe through that information people like myself can seek help earlier. I'm not suggesting that all of PDKs readers are schizophrenic, but I do think many of his readers relate to him because they see the world in the same way. Perhaps some of those people will benefit from knowing all the facts about PDK, not just the facts PDKs fans want to 'select' for him.
There are two sides to the coin of schizophrenia. Many schizophrenics are highly intelligent and creative people, but the stigma surrounding paranoid schizophrenia is troublesome. Please consider that the disease is what fueled PKDs genius and imaginative abilities to create the stories he did. He suffered from delusions, paranoia, anxiety and depression throughout his entire adult life. These are the characteristics of schizophrenia...a terrible illness that is now beginning to be treatable.
I suggest watching "Philip K Dick - A Day In The Afterlife (1994 Arena Documentary)" to learn more about PDK through the accounts of his friends and family.
- NOTE: I added one line to the end of the title page and edited the highly speculative and innacurate comments regarding the complications from stroke being the cause of his hallucinations. Feel free to change my comments, but please do not remove the reference to schizophrenia entirely from the wiki for reasons I stated above.
- That PKD was schizophrenic is a particular POV - it is not proven fact, and it is notoriously difficult to perform accurate psychological diagnoses after a person's death. You're right, it may be helpful to put information about PKD's possible schizophrenia in the article, but the purpose of wikipedia is to present information in an NPOV manner, not to help people. What would be appropriate in this article, on the other hand, is to mention schizophrenia as a possibility (which it certainly is), and reasons that have been given for supposing he was schizophrenic (I understand that there have been a number of psychologists who have tried to perform post-mortem diagnoses). -Seth Mahoney 20:24, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
Seth ,
- Schizophrenia is not a concretely diagnosable disease like Diabetes or HIV, it's characterized by a very specific class of behaviors. Facts like his aunt suffering from catatonic schizophrenia, a very severe type, and Dick being plagued by paranoia, hallucinations, difficulty dicerning reality, and delusional thoughts of persecution throughout his entire adult life all overwhelmingly support the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Any competant psychiatrist with experience treating schizophrenia would concur with that diagnosis. His last wife even commented that at one point Dick was bedridden for 3 weeks out of fear of being monitored by the FBI if he were to leave the room. That is textbook schizophrenic behavior. None of these facts are disputed or a product of 'POV'. I would suggest that you carefully research these accounts and the definition of schizophrenia before dismissing my comments as a 'speculative theory'. None of this should in any way lessen the value of his writings or his contributions to science fiction. I'm unfamiliar with the editing style used on wikipedia so if you'd like to start an appropriate stub for me on the main page I would be more than happy to complete it in detail.
- I'm not dismissing your narrative as mere "speculative theory", or a product of POV, nor did I dismiss the facts you brought up. I actually have researched PKD's life, and have two friends who have been diagnosed schizophrenic, and I have myself noticed similarities in Dick's reported behavior and stories my friends have told me. That, however, is not the point. There are several competing theories as to why Dick behaved the way he did (including a handfull based on the idea that in some sense elements of his philosophical writings are true - his philosophical writings, by the way, are required reading for anyone attempting to understand why certain themes repeat in Dick's work and why they seem to resonate with so many people today, along with Baudrillard's writing, who claimed Dick was something of a prophet of the postmodern age), and schizophrenia is just one of them. It may be a particularly compelling narrative within the context of psychology and contemporary science (and a narrative that Dick himself speculated about at times), but that doesn't make it true, and since Dick is dead its not likely that we will ever know the truth. This, in the end, does make any theorizing as to why Dick behaved the way he did speculative, though not mere speculation. It is useful, and I would support information along those lines being added to the article (by the way, go ahead and add it - if its not quite in line with the style of the rest of the article, other editors will copyedit it - your contributions are welcome) so long as they stay within the realm of reports of the research of notable literary theorists, psychologists, etc. , since original research is not exactly warmly embraced in wikipedia. -Seth Mahoney 00:30, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
I've been doing more reading on this subject and found a good description of the problem:
"While no psychiatrist's opinion is verity, in light of Dick's chronic drug addiction, institutionalizations, suicide attempts, and diagnoses of schizophrenia (his aunt was a catatonic schizophrenic), an objective analysis of the facts of Dick's life as it is currently understood would be helpful to fans, Forteans, and general readers alike. For those genuinely interested, separating the various facets of Dick's existence as carefully, cautiously, and sensitively as possible is a must, and the only proper route to an accurate understanding."
I don't believe I'm qualified to make such a careful analysis. Such a treatment of Dick's life would be lengthy, cumbersome, and would probably overwhelm the wiki. Most people are visiting the PKD wiki to read praise of Dick's literary achievments and to learn more about his writings specifically. It would be nice to simply preserve the reference to the likelyhood that Dick was schizophrenic without belaboring the point. Unfortunately there seems to be a specific cult following of PKD who 'want to believe' that Dick was a kind of prophet or medium who was sensitive to other realities and dimensions(as demonstrated by his 'visions'). Making such a conclusion about an individual who has a genetic predisposition for, and a behavioral history of schizophrenic behavior(hallucinations, hearing voices, delusional thinking) is dubious. This does not mean that Dick's philosophical questions were invalid or irrelevant, nor does it need to tarnish his reputation as a writer. As for my own theorizing, most of Dick's best work was written while on amphetamines, a class of drugs that are known to increase positive schizophrenic symptoms(hallucinations, intricate structures of thought, delusions). The combination of schizophrenia and amphetamines was the 'perfect storm' of generative creativity that allowed PDK to create the stories he did.
- I don't really want to drag this out, so I'll just add a few comments: I agree that most people come to this page to read about Dick's literary achievements, but I think understanding him as a person helps to understand his literary works, so I don't think the two are really separable. I'd like to see a large section devoted to analyzing his life and works in terms of his possible schizophrenia. I'd just, and I'd like to make it clear here where my objection lies, not like to see it say, or imply, that he was schizophrenic. This isn't to protect his name from any sort of scandalous association or any nonsense like that, but just because, though it does seem likely, we don't know that he was schizophrenic. As far as his fans wanting to treat him like a prophet or medium, that's sort of a strawman representation of the general statements I've seen. Finally, as far as his possible schizophrenia affecting his relevance as a writer, far from it. Baudrillard, who I mentioned above, seems to view the postmodern age as somewhat schizophrenic (and not in a metaphoric sense), so a firm diagnosis of schizophrenia for Dick would only make his writing more relevant, not less. Please, and I'm going to try to put this a third way in this paragraph, don't try to take my statements that we shouldn't say that Dick was schizophrenic as some sort of attack on schizophrenia or dismissal of schizophrenics, because that is not what I'm doing here. I'm saying, and this is all I'm saying, that there are several competing narratives for Dick's life (Dick gives us several himself), and those involving schizophrenia are only a subset. We don't know that he was schizophrenic, and there are a lot of bizarre events in his life that schizophrenia alone doesn't explain.
- Finally, if you want to add such a section, you certainly seem a capable writer, so I'd say go for it. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, but are able to research it, feel free to compile any information you find on this talk page (with references - this isn't to doubt your integrity, but because there has been a strong push in Wikipedia to include more references in articles), and other editors can piece it into an article section. -Seth Mahoney 22:38, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
OK. I would however appreciate a bit more detail on your statement "there are a lot of bizarre events in his life that schizophrenia alone doesn't explain". I would like to read more about those because I have yet to read or hear of any of his experiences which aren't easily attributable to schizophrenia. This includes the infamous 'break in'.
- I should have added, "if they are true", to be fair. There's the whole story of him predicting his son's illness, his acquiring knowledge of Aramaic, etc. Some of them are discussed in the intro to The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick, others on [3]. The point, if this is the direction we're headed, though, isn't to discredit a diagnosis of schizophrenia on scientific grounds, but to say that structuring his life according to a scientific or psychological narrative is one way, among many, to do it, and one that doesn't, and shouldn't, get a privileged truth value. I personally think it would be better to follow an approach similar to that which Dick takes himself and present sets of possibilities. For example, Dick vasillated between the possibility that he was schizophrenic, that everyone else was (more or less), that we were being intentionally deceived as to the nature of reality, that reality itself was deceptive, and so on. Many of these possibilities are very much in line with prominent philosophical ideas, and Dick makes these connections (and that they are in line with philosophical ideas and that Dick makes the connections doesn't mean, and isn't intended to prove, that he wasn't schizophrenic - that's not the point). Dick also questioned what schizophrenia actually is (I so wish I knew where I left my copy of The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick), making arguments that would suggest a bland diagnosis of "schizophrenic" doesn't really work - significantly more explanation would be needed. Finally, though, what I'm saying is that we just aren't able to say, for sure, that he was schizophrenic, and it isn't the business of an encyclopedia to make assertions that aren't known to be true, though it is the business of an encyclopedia to present prominent theories, and that is one prominent theory. -Seth Mahoney 22:27, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
OK. It's clear to me that you know quite a bit more about PDK than I do, and I find it interesting that he spent time considering the possibility of his own schizophrenia. Unfortunately I haven't read the book you're referencing. I imagine that it would be illuminating to do so. I would however like to mention that the very nature of schizophrenia is the ability to convince one's self (and even others) of a version of reality that is not neccesarily in accordance with the facts. A purely 'logical' treatise on one's personal relationship with 'reality' is a bottomless excercise, especially for a schizophrenic genius like PDK. My own problem with this illness actually prohibits me from being able to accept that PDK was able to objectively address the questions he was raising in his philosophical themes. In other words I don't trust his conclusions about himself. In my own experience with this illness it's been striking to read about other sufferes of this illness in that the similarities of lifestyles, life affecting events and means of communication and percerption are practically identical. I've been convinced of the reality of this illness not just because of my own experiences, but because of reading of the experiences of other people suffering from schizophrenia as a veritable mirror of my own life. So in a way I'm very prejudicial of PDK in the sense that his behavior selects him perfectly for membership in the 'club' of people with schizophrenia.
- No doubt you're right. Your experiences and maybe even your attitude toward schizophrenia and PKD (along with your obvious interest) would make you a perfect candidate to contribute (gentle nudge) some info to the article. No doubt plenty of people have written about PKD and schizophrenia, and plenty of them have probably diagnosed him post mortem. It shouldn't be too difficult to dig up some interesting stuff. -Seth Mahoney 03:54, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
Well, I'm at an impasse. Most of what follows is just loose rambling, but it's the theory I'm operating from:
Dick has intentionally covered his tracks. This was his personality, the motif of his life, and the nature of his storytelling.
As far as the diagnosis of schizophrenia being categorically 'proven'...I think it's impossible here. There are really only two ways to get a "definitive" medical diagnosis of schizophrenia:
- A) The individual is hospitalized or institutionalized because they are unable to function in society, and the professional diagnosis of that inability to function is deemed to be consistent with schizophrenia.
- B) The individual, observes or is convinced that they have a condition that is problematic enough to justify seeking medical (pharmacological or surgical) intervention.
Dick falls into neither of those categories, and that was entirely by his own design. I say this because according to what I've read(on the web) Dick had several problems(agoraphobia, etc) starting in his early teens. Apparently he saw one or several psychiatrists and the initial diagnosis was one of schizophrenia. What's even more interesting than the diagnosis is Dick's extremely fearful reaction to the diagnosis. As I mentioned earlier, his aunt was diagnosed with a very severe and debilitating case of catatonic schizophrenia, the social stigma of this, terror of the disease, and the cruel treatment of the mentally ill(see "One flew over the cuckoo's nest") would scare anyone, but for a paranoid person like PDK, it would have been terrifying. It was the beginning of Dick's survival mode, a mode that kept him well clear of psychiatry for the remainder of his life. His effectiveness at hiding his illness from friends and family makes it just as hard to learn the 'truth' of his condition now as it would have 20 or 30 years ago.
I'm frustrated because it seems that the only way to approach this subject is to list the characteristics of his behavior (as reported by friends, family, journals etc) and compare those with commonly accepted behavioral characteristics of schizophrenia. That would be trivial for me to do, but it would probably come across as baseless 'original' research. So the problem here is not necessarily whether Dick was schizophrenic or not, but what would constitute proof of his being schizophrenic. I'm sure he'd be delighted by the irony, and proud of his handiwork.
There are several books listed on the main page, biographies and such that I plan on checking out of the local library that may or may not contain more definative information about Dick's medical and psychiatric history. If anyone could suggest reading material(book->page->paragraph), video, audio interviews etc. that would shed more light on this subject I would be grateful for the information.
- Sorry this has gone so long without a response. I can suggest two resources off the bat (but I can't remember the name of one of them): One is the introduction to The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick (along with several of the later essays in that book where he seems to doubt his own sanity), and the other is a perusal of several speeches he gave (which can be found in the same book, or in "his" website, which a quick google will easily find), the most notable being the one he gave about Disneyland. I'll see if I can find any lit crit where his mental state is explicitely discussed, as well. -Seth Mahoney 18:17, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
Stanislaw Lem?
I'm a little suspiscious of the statement in the opening paragraph that Dick was hailed by Stanislaw Lem. I don't know for certain, but the fact that Dick was writing to the FBI in the mid-seventies about how Lem was a communist mouth-piece seems like it would have put a dampner on whatever relationship they might have had. Does anyone have a source for the statement as it stands?
Zytsef 13:04, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- Both are true, and a google search will demonstrate any number of citations. --Viriditas 13:22, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- Thanks for that. The only real critical work by Lem about PKD I could find is "Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans", however, and though Lem generally seems approving he tends to mitigate with with things like criticizing the use of stock, "pulp" sci-fi themes; something Lem has always hated. I also turned up some non-specific stuff about a corespondence between the two before PKD's paranoid breakdown about his fellow sci-fi authors. I was really wondering if you could point me to something a little more athoritative than what an average Google search will turn up. Perhaps the individual who inculded the bit about Lem could enlighten me with his or her source. --Zytsef 14:34, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- If you like, you can reference: Heer, Jeet. (2001). "Philip K. Dick Versus the Literary Critics". Lingua Franca. May/June. Lem also said: "An original and interesting mind was Philip Dick...science fiction is garbage with exceptions and Dick is one of them." [4] (See also "Science Fiction: A Hopeless Case - With Exceptions", Microworlds). And again from Science Fiction Studies: "His reputation among fellow SF authors was admittedly very high—Stanislaw Lem, Brian Aldiss, Ursula Le Guin, John Brunner, and Thomas Disch are a few examples of colleagues who were also admirers—and a small handful of others (mainly journalists and academics) were convinced that Dick's was a neglected major talent." [5] --Viriditas 21:12, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- Thank you, sir. That's exactly what I wanted to know. --Zytsef 22:17, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- If you like, you can reference: Heer, Jeet. (2001). "Philip K. Dick Versus the Literary Critics". Lingua Franca. May/June. Lem also said: "An original and interesting mind was Philip Dick...science fiction is garbage with exceptions and Dick is one of them." [4] (See also "Science Fiction: A Hopeless Case - With Exceptions", Microworlds). And again from Science Fiction Studies: "His reputation among fellow SF authors was admittedly very high—Stanislaw Lem, Brian Aldiss, Ursula Le Guin, John Brunner, and Thomas Disch are a few examples of colleagues who were also admirers—and a small handful of others (mainly journalists and academics) were convinced that Dick's was a neglected major talent." [5] --Viriditas 21:12, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
- Thanks for that. The only real critical work by Lem about PKD I could find is "Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans", however, and though Lem generally seems approving he tends to mitigate with with things like criticizing the use of stock, "pulp" sci-fi themes; something Lem has always hated. I also turned up some non-specific stuff about a corespondence between the two before PKD's paranoid breakdown about his fellow sci-fi authors. I was really wondering if you could point me to something a little more athoritative than what an average Google search will turn up. Perhaps the individual who inculded the bit about Lem could enlighten me with his or her source. --Zytsef 14:34, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
Pre-people
"No one is sure"... "many suspect"... See WP:WEASEL for details.--SarekOfVulcan 00:10, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
I was trying to be NPOV...No one is sure of anything (outside their own life of course) unless someone else tells them. Since he's dead you can't really ask him the full impact this had on the pre-people. I urge you to re-include it, by reverting your edits, unless you can give me a better explanation for its deletion. Thanks, Chooserr 00:17, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
Best Known Novels
The selection seems quite arbitrary to me - SF - The Illustrated Encyclopedia by John Clute names The Man in the High Castle, Martian Time-Slip Three Stigmata, Do Androids Dream and A Maze of Death especially, for instance. I added Three Stigmata and Ubik that both have received quite a lot of critical attention. I also put the list into chronological order, which seems the most indicative. I also put in the useless-special-powers theme that occurs quite a lot in Dick's works and is an aspect of his opposition to the optimism of Golden Age SF. --Marinus 07:14, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
- I'd also suggest Flow My Tears unfutz 13:35, 3 February 2006 (UTC)