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The Exegesis Of Philip K. Dick (2011)

by Philip K. Dick(Favorite Author)
4.12 of 5 Votes: 5
ISBN
0547549253 (ISBN13: 9780547549255)
languge
English
publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
review 1: I think Philip K. Dick knew what mental illness was, and was in his estimation of himself, not exactly sane by one view, but sane by his own view to the contrary, which he also was aware of.The exegesis is required reading if you are a fan of PKD's SF books. It is the only way to get to know the author, now that he is no longer alive.I now know what Dick was thinking during his completely sober mind bender of a vision quest. It's all in his exegesis. To repeat it here is my own retarded quote, compared with the illuminated manuscript of his vision and its various ascribed meanings.
review 2: This wasn’t an easy book to read. Lacking in structure, consistency, or even payoff, one has to wonder what could be the point in reading it. And yet, I’ve read it
... moretwice and now I’ve changed my rating to 5 stars. What gives? “So,” I asked myself, “How did you like the book?” I needed to look at myself for several minutes to let the meaning of my statement sink in. A pink beam of light streamed into my skull and gave me visions of post-modern paintings at the rate of three-million per second, only stop in mid-blurp to tell me that the pink light is actually the Godhead, that the Empire Never Ended, that I’m still cribbing Valis, and you haven’t fucking seen anything, yet, motherfucker. The pink beam then just chuckled to herself for eight years and forced me to write about her the meaning of her to the tune of over one million words. I said to myself, “Thank God you’ve got a sense of humor, or this would have been completely unbearable.” I continued back at myself, “Thank God that we’ve got a team of dedicated editors and/or hidden gnostic survivors from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD who are able and willing to sort THAT mess out. I don’t care that Farris F. Freemont (666) got ousted from office in 1974. The fact that I’m here is proof that the Demiurge is still under the waters, dead but dreaming, and all of my admittedly mad ramblings are a call to arms for all true believers and we need to rise up and perform Anamnesis on ourselves. I mean, now. You know, 70 AD.” I said, “We’re under the gun, here.” I asked, “You mean sword? Hmmm.” So I asked myself one last time, “Am I bat-shit crazy?” I answered myself, “Hell no. I’m saner than I’ve ever been. Besides, after seeing an infinity of punch cards put before me by God is an example that no amount of words can express the Infinity That I Am (Binary); that I no longer think that I work for God, I’m just a dupe of Satan/Demiurge/Dross Matter of the Universe; and I’ve just woken up for the four-hundredth time to the immense realization that reality is nothing that we see, that Ubik is Jesus, and pot really opens up my mind.” I said, “But you really love that David Bowie movie, (The Man Who Fell To Earth) enough to see the opening up of all possible realities and that Spinoza is actually right, after all.” I really had to reply to this jab: “At least I’m enlightened. P.S. don’t tell anyone, and make sure you burn this Exegesis, ok?”(And now, for the The Really Strange Part: I honestly don’t think PKD is crazy. His working notes are information-rich and dense, philosophically diverse and deep. Like anyone, his views change over time, but he is almost excessively intense about his inner life. He just sounds like a sci-fi author who thinks deeply about all of the things he wants to understand. The only difference is the sheer volume of words he’s devoted to it; and after all, phylogeny recapitulates Philagony. Viva la PKD.) less
Reviews (see all)
Aaron
Went to a panel discussion with the editors and PKD's daughters - really excited to dive into this.
awyeah
I had wanted to finish this in 2012. I forced myself through the book.
brreader
Psychedelic trip through Dick's musings about the universe.
tori
currently browsing
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