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roach's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Insane people - psychologically defined, not legally defined - are not in touch with reality. Horselover Fat is insane; therefore he is not in touch with reality.
Philip K. Dick was good at marrying lively scifi with thought-provoking philosophical themes, as in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep for example. Dick was also good at frying his brain with drugs and using his experiences in his later writing, like VALIS, the semi-autobiographical novel that processes Dick's very real encounter with what he believed to be a sort-off divine entity. In 1974, he was struck by a wisdom-filled pink beam, began having hallucinations, and started writing an 8000+ page exegesis, a sort of journal about his newfound insights about the world.
It seems that part of him knew that all of that was madness. In VALIS he creates a story that includes himself as a character as well as an alter-ego called Horselover Fat who experiences the exact same things that Dick did in real-life. And that is the setup for what feels like Dick's journey of self-reflection where fiction and the author's real life constantly blur together.
VALIS is a fully harebrained experience. It's light on actual plot but spends lots of time letting the character(s) discuss all their out-of-this-world ideas and wisdoms. It combines so many religious, spiritual, philosophical, and technological ideas into chaotic ramblings, page after page, that it can feel like the book is frying the reader's brain just like the pink beam did to main character Horselover Fat. It might be a complete mess of overwhelming information, but that might just be the point and it does end up being rather captivating. It's challenging but also funny at points, and while it throws so many difficult and crazed concepts at you about God and the world, Dick seems to be aware of how all of it sounds and makes that a point as well.
I don't know if VALIS is very good as a novel in itself, but it is absolutely fascinating as the result of the author processing his own strange experiences that took over his life in a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer
thealienatlas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I’m glad I read VALIS after reading other Dick books — it provides a lot of interesting context to his frame of mind & life while writing many of his books. It’ll be interesting to revisit some of his works with this knowledge in mind, and draw more connections between the themes of this book and those of his others. VALIS is difficult to parse at times, but I don’t think it’s meant to be easy to understand. Dick’s/Fat’s struggles with delusion and trauma result in confusing or nonsensical mentalities & actions Dick himself struggles to interpret; I think that trying to find meaning in these struggles as a reader makes the book tougher to experience, and might turn many readers off of it in the first few chapters. I had to come back to this book after a short break because I was reaching too far to find metaphors in the madness. However, the intimate exploration of religious delusion and mental illness is extremely impactful and I find this book very powerful. It provides excellent insight into the way in which drug abuse and long-standing grief/trauma can impact someone’s mind. VALIS is up there with my favourite Dick books. It’s thought provoking and a challenging read. This is definitely a book you need to read multiple times to appreciate its full experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual assault and Animal death
timgreenard's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A book that makes you think about some of the big questions: "What does it mean to be me?", "Is there a god?", and "What drug was Philip K Dick taking when he wrote this chapter?". A book that was thought-provoking and confusing but a bit too drug-addled for me. I prefer his other books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Addiction, and Mental illness
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