A Scanner Darkly in Beyond Reality

Feb 04, 2010 Stephen rated it liked it

Shelves: multiple-award-nominee, ebooks, 1970-1979, world-in-the-shitter, award-nominee-british-sf, award-nominee-locus, award-winner-britsh-sf, cyber-punk-prep-and-post, award-nominee-campbell, audiobook

3.5 stars. One of Dick's best novels, this semi autobiographical novel is masterful in its description of drug use and the effect it has on the people taking them. The dialogue between the characters is often very funny and I would find myself laughing at their nonsensical conversations until I remembered that the reason for the funny dialogue was that these people were so messed up on "substance D" that they had become completely psychotic. No one other then PKD could have written this novel an ...more

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Dec 31, 2016 mina rated it did not like it

A story about drug addicts that seems to be written by an addict. The story tried to be absurd, but not my favourite kind of absurd.

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Jan 23, 2016 Chessa marked it as didntfinish · review of another edition

Shelves: sf_fantasy, own_it, millions, joseph-campbell-award

Finally calling this - DNF. Just too dark and gritty and sexist for me. Just can't. Will try another PKD later, I swear. ...more

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Feb 27, 2021 Jen marked it as dnf · review of another edition

I can go the rest of my life without reading women written this way. There's a reason my average rating went up when I started reading mostly books written by women. ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Oni rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

I admit that this is a difficult book to read. It requires a higher state of concentration to fully appreciate this book, and I think I fail to do that.

The story is about an undercover narcotic police agent. Deeply involved in his job, and actually too deep, he took Substance D, a highly addictive narcotics. He did not realize the side effect (or actually a permanent effect) of the drug until it was too late.

The science fiction theme of this book is not easily seen. It is hidden beneath the ramb I admit that this is a difficult book to read. It requires a higher state of concentration to fully appreciate this book, and I think I fail to do that.

The story is about an undercover narcotic police agent. Deeply involved in his job, and actually too deep, he took Substance D, a highly addictive narcotics. He did not realize the side effect (or actually a permanent effect) of the drug until it was too late.

The science fiction theme of this book is not easily seen. It is hidden beneath the rambling of drug users. I myself might not see it as a science fiction novel. It is more about drug abuse than exploring the (view spoiler)

The complexity of drug user behavior, which the author captured perfectly, makes it even more difficult to follow the story of the book. Only after reaching the second half of the book, I began to grasp the story.

What I admire most about this book is the realistic approach of the writer, in describing the drug user culture. The dialogue is so real, that you feel that you are inside the story, witnessing everything. Only an accomplished writer can do such a thing.

This book was written in the height of drug abuser culture in 1970s. Simply because I do not belong to those era, it makes me difficult to really grasp the inner meaning of the story. If I understand the struggle, the atmosphere of those hippies era, maybe I will give this book an extra one star. Maybe if you get high you can understand it better (sic). Living in this new century, when the issue around us are environmental degradation, religious fanaticism, public ignorance, etc, I cannot really see the importance of drug issues in this era. At the end of the novel, the author stated that this novel is about many of his friends, those died and suffered because of drug abuse, and I fail to get that feel.

Notes: I just found out in this book that, the voice of your own, that you hear directly while you are speaking, is not the same voice as it is heard by other people (?). ...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Banner rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

This is a dark and hopeless world (well maybe a little hope, but it's hard to find). I appreciated the Bibical reference and how it related to the title / theme of the book. The universal condition of man. Wow

We all laugh at the drunk in tv & movies and I laughted several times in this book. But the reality of that behaviour is humorless, as the story ultimately reveals . Very thought provoking read.
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Dec 28, 2011 Coyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

An interesting piece, though almost more "social fiction" than "science fiction," in that there is some advanced technology present, but most of the book focuses on the social results of drugs and corporate/government policy. Worth a read, though it probably shouldn't be at the top of anyone's to-read list... ...more

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Oct 06, 2019 Natalie rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

This is a choppy book that feels like a series of drug trips. The main characters are trashy people who don't do much in life but do drugs. It was an interesting experience to read it because the storyline kept moving forward but the characters didn't seem to do so. ...more

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