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A review by hakimbriki
VALIS by Philip K. Dick
4.0
Valis contains multitudes... it's an autobiography, a science fiction novel, an esoteric novel, a theological story, a comedy, and a series of philosophical essays all at once... at heart, it's an experience. Whether you love it or hate it, Valis will stay with you. I've never read a book quite like this one, and I'm certain I will never come across anything like it again. It's a different type of beast, an alien in the literary world.
I was absolutely mystified by some of the ideas presented in the novel. I was introduced to hylozoism, among dozens of other philosophical point of views which I was not familiar with or well-versed in. Some of these bewitching ideas came in such short succession that I had to take breaks and let them sink in. For instance, the concept of a universe being pure "information" as opposed to being "three-dimensional and in space or time" made me take 5 Advil at the same time. The book touches on Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jungianism, perennial Chinese Philosophy, Dogon culture/belief system, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, ancient etymology... among MANY other topics.
It is also astounding to think that some of the events in the book actually happened (allegedly) to the author. PKD saw a pink beam of light that "turned out" to be an alien entity and theophany, and which revealed the reality of our universe to him. Is he going mad, or has he uncovered the truth behind reality? That's the central theme of Valis.
One thing this book lacks is an actual plot. Things happen but it's as if PKD was improvising as he was writing... It's 10 pages of plot, 40 pages of theological philosophy, 10 pages of plot, 60 pages of stream of consciousness, 2 pages of plot... and then the story just... sort of ends. (Cue Dennis Reynolds in that Shyamalan episode of Always Sunny).
The story arc is clearly secondary, which would have been fine if the consistency of the book was more solid. A lot of it is unfortunately disjointed, dense, too technical, too esoteric, verging on self-indulgence.
Nevertheleeeessssss, I still enjoyed reading Valis. I have a feeling I will still be thinking about it and its concepts while waiting for some train 25 years in the future. That's how you know a book is impactful.
I was absolutely mystified by some of the ideas presented in the novel. I was introduced to hylozoism, among dozens of other philosophical point of views which I was not familiar with or well-versed in. Some of these bewitching ideas came in such short succession that I had to take breaks and let them sink in. For instance, the concept of a universe being pure "information" as opposed to being "three-dimensional and in space or time" made me take 5 Advil at the same time. The book touches on Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jungianism, perennial Chinese Philosophy, Dogon culture/belief system, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, ancient etymology... among MANY other topics.
It is also astounding to think that some of the events in the book actually happened (allegedly) to the author. PKD saw a pink beam of light that "turned out" to be an alien entity and theophany, and which revealed the reality of our universe to him. Is he going mad, or has he uncovered the truth behind reality? That's the central theme of Valis.
One thing this book lacks is an actual plot. Things happen but it's as if PKD was improvising as he was writing... It's 10 pages of plot, 40 pages of theological philosophy, 10 pages of plot, 60 pages of stream of consciousness, 2 pages of plot... and then the story just... sort of ends. (Cue Dennis Reynolds in that Shyamalan episode of Always Sunny).
The story arc is clearly secondary, which would have been fine if the consistency of the book was more solid. A lot of it is unfortunately disjointed, dense, too technical, too esoteric, verging on self-indulgence.
Nevertheleeeessssss, I still enjoyed reading Valis. I have a feeling I will still be thinking about it and its concepts while waiting for some train 25 years in the future. That's how you know a book is impactful.