A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick > Reviews

Advantages: Interesting depiction of future drug use and relationships
Disadvantages: Slightly dated dialogue, introverted like all Phillip K. Dick

...values of modern society, creating a fairly seamless blend of present and future. But mostly, it's about drugs. And that is partly why I would recommend it. The writing is classic Dick- snappy, looping dialogue, themes of paranoia, conspiracy and shifting interpersonal relationships. But the autobiographical element of the novel is what is most interesting, and that is largely centered around drug use. Despite a final epilogue where Dick laments ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic writing
Disadvantages: None

I've long been a fan of Philip K Dick's writing. It's just so wild and witty and full of fantastic imagery - it's easy to see why Hollywood plunders his work so often (Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, Imposter, Paycheck). It's just a shame that so much of the tone of his work is generally lost in those adaptations. I was drawn to A Scanner Darkly after 2006's remarkable film adaptation. The story of an undercover policeman's attempts ... Read review

Advantages: BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT - Did i also say it was BRILLIANT
Disadvantages: Yeah, right

...I’m an amateur novelist hence a storyteller). But I shall get back on track! [do I hear great sighs of relief?] PKD always writes about places that are eerily familiar and yet entirely alien. He is seems (or was being dead - alas) obsessed with insanely totalitarian regimes and here there is another one. The story exists in a world of madness, where drug enforcement officers are the same as drug addicts (they work anonymously so the authorities ... Read review

Advantages: Highly moving - the author was there.
Disadvantages:

"This has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did." What they did was try to have a good time, and "A Scanner Darkly" has to be the drugs novel par excellence, a fitting memorial to Dick's former friends whom he watched go mad and die before his eyes. The story concerns a new drug, Substance D, which has taken over American society. The main character, Fred, is an undercover officer trying to find the ... Read review

Advantages: Compelling
Disadvantages: Disturbing

...That, however, should not be a surprise as it was written by Philip K. Dick. The writing style is good, the author manages to drag you through a quite disturbing tale and has even written it so that you can feel for some of the characters. This is a book about drugs and drug addiction, and the effects they can have. So if you do not want to read something dark with no real message of hope then this book is not for you. Then again most of Dick's books ... Read review