Welcome to Litsy!

A schizophrenic descent into a narcotic agent and junkie‘s double life, who gradually begins to lose the threads of his double act, as the addictive Substance D he ingests, in turn, eats away at his own brain. Instead of this novel being PKD‘s view on any and all drug wars, he claims it is more of a personal and neutral memorial to those friends devastated by substance abuse, himself included.

Starting this next on #primereading

Be happy now because tomorrow you are dying.

This is my first P. K. Dick and a) I can't help but roll my eyes at the themes (drugs/addiction and the tricks your mind can play on you), and b) I hate the hip sixties writing style so much! If it wasn't for book group, I'd bail. I know P. K. Dick is a well-loved author. Are there any other titles I should try before giving up on him?

Bob Arctor is an undercover narcotics cop who is attempting to uncover the bigger players in the supply chain. To do this effectively he has to pose as a drug fiend, and for complicated reasons is assigned to spy on himself. The appeal and horror of drug addiction is expertly rendered and the meandering paranoid conversations of the dopers is brilliantly done and often very funny.

72/150 Robert Arctor is a substance D addict and dealer. Fred is a narcotics agent assigned to investigate Robert and his roommates. Simple enough, except Fred is Robert, and substance D has caused a split in his brain where he begins to see himself as two separate people. Usual PKD mindf*ck, all about identity and what is real or unreal. Paul Giamatti is a fine narrator. 3⭐⭐⭐💫
1st book for #20in4 readathon @Andrew65

I didn't exactly like it, but there were some fascinating passages, and I'm sure this story will stay with me for a while.

Idk i was intrigued by the start and end, and the character building was interesting, but it just felt like the story was filler monologuing for a lot of it. Might be better if I approach it in book format instead of audio.

Thank you for this Sweet #ManicMonday @JoScho 😊

#LetterS
📖 - (a) Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick (a sci-fi masterpiece 😧)
📝 - Sanderson, Brandon
🎥 - Star Wars (all of them)! 🤓
📺 - Star Trek (all of them)! 🤓
🎤 - Simons, Simone (Epica)
🎸 - Slipknot (I know, I know... 🙈 But they have some of my favorite drum and percussion tracks of all time!)
🎶 - “Stand My Ground” by Within Temptation

Classic from Dick‘s Mid-Late period. The horror is in no way offset by the effortless lyricism but what really nails it for me is the dialogue. Spaced, stoned and darkly funny, it sets A Scanner Darkly apart from anything he‘d written up to that point. A career high, only matched by Valis a few years later. Masterful.

Much better than film

Read this having seen the film. It is much better than the movie, with a plot that is perfectly explained and an ending that makes sense

But the actual touch of her lingered, inside his heart. That remained. In all the years of his life ahead, the long years without her, with never seeing her or hearing from her or knowing anything about her, if she was alive or happy or dead or what, that touch stayed locked within him, sealed in himself, and never went away. That one touch of her hand.

Imagine being sentient but not alive. Seeing and even knowing, but not alive. Just looking out. Recognizing but not being alive. A person can die and still go on. Sometimes what looks out at you from a person's eyes maybe died back in childhood.

I absolutely LOVE this book. Philp K Dick is a genius and I didn't see the ending coming at all. The movie is also spot on, I'd highly recommend it.

"This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed--run over, maimed, destroyed--but they continued to play anyhow. We really all were very happy for a while, sitting around not toiling but just bullshitting and playing...??

@dystopianaut My shelf-full of Dicks - too long to fit them all on the Dick pick! (I promise I'll stop with that, now 😂)

ice cream social at work + reading outside on my break = best day ever. 🍨📚💕 #myPKDjourney

Holy calamity it's #virtualinsanity - time to suit up! Bob Arctor/Fred bears witness to the destructive nature of Substance D by posing as an addict.
This vision of a troubled near future is loosely inspired by Philp K Dick's own experiences with drugs.
#aprella @Mdargusch @Reviewsbylola @emilyhaldi @Cinfhen

Not sure what I just read but that's sort of the classic PKD style. Overall the book felt slow and confusing to me but the last 20% really shines. If you can make it through the first 80% it's worth a read.

This book demands your undivided attention, so I may have to re-read this in the future. For now, I can proudly say I have read a Phillip K. Dick book, and it was just lovely. 😍 #Lovedit

I just couldn‘t get into this. Nothing about the story or characters were compelling to me. Moving on

Super excited for this Amazon download!! I feel like I totally forgot this book existed. Changing from my #TBR list to my second book of #december.

Although I should switch to reading The Magicians at night, I think....
#nighttimereading #twobooksatatime

#eyecandygiveaway part 2! The centrefold shows the contrast in design choice. There‘s a great YouTube video via one of the Folio Society newsletters, with one of the editors chatting to the illustrators 💚💙❤️📚

I just finished listening to this and while it's not horrible, it just wasn't for me. I've never been able to get drawn into stories that mostly deal with drugs and somehow missed that, that is what this book is completely about. Decent writing, just didn't find myself caring about anyone really.

From the top:
1. A pre-history book of the natives. Was also tucked away behind a big stack of books on the floor.
2. I want to own the complete royal diaries series.
3. On my TBR list
4. Non fiction about a region
5. Historical fiction
6. Non fiction on my TBR.
#usedbookstore #hiddengems

And now I have Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done" playing on my own internal recording. "For every junky's like a setting sun..."

Phillip K. Dick doesn't ease you into his weirdness, he plunges you straight in. That's one helluva opening paragraph!#FirstSentences

Listening to this on audio book with Paul Giamotti narrating. Now this is good stuff!

It's a bit hard to find words to describe this book, especially so soon after finishing... In some parts it is darkly funny then pages later heartbreakingly serious. The afterword by the author shows how personal this book was to him. It is a snapshot of life as a drug addict with hints of growing mental illness set against a slight sci-fi backdrop. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Justice and honesty are not properties of this world, she thought; and then, by God, she rammed her old enemy, her ancient foe, the Coca-Cola truck, which went right on going without noticing. The impact spun her small car around; her headlights dimmed out, horrible noises of fender against tire shrieked, and then she was off the freeway onto the emergency strip, facing the other direction, water pouring from her radiator...

Reading A Scanner Darkly now with little Leeloo 🐶🤓

A strange and troubling and touching tribute to the world of drug use in the '60s. Excellently written, of course.

I've loved this novel. It's weird, dark and very psicological. It's also a weight travel into the degradation of human because of drugs. There are lots of religious reference, most of them ravings, but the work is crossed by a deep, even if weak, vein of hope. The final dedication to his friend is touching.

My favourite of PKD's work, darkly funny and ironic, but still plausible enough to make you more than a little uncomfortable