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rickwren's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book back in the late 80's when I was in the military, stationed overseas. Back then I liked it, thought it was weird, but quite frankly most of it went right over my head. This week I read it again and I was overwhelmed by the depth of Phil Dick's writing. His tie-ins with gnosticism and his investigation into what spirituality means, who God may or may not be, and what it means to be insane are spellbinding. This goes up into my all-time top recommendations list.
sunshine42's review against another edition
4.0
Mad. Made you ponder joining in the madness, only to then open your eyes to it.
w1nd0w's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely insight into the psychotically sane mind of Philip K. Dick. The author's perspectives were constructed in a way that invoked a strong mirroring effect from the reader. I feel as if VALIS explored the psychoscience-fiction genre in a seminal manner.
dunecello's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Child death and Drug abuse
isnotnull's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
veganvibes's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this book was a truly unique experience. There's not much plot, not very interesting characters, hardly anything happens, but its still utterly enthralling.
The start of the book is a little slow, but you slowly pick up the language Dick uses, almost subliminally. Dick seems to know the perfect moment, the moment the reader has become fluent in his language. Your eyes see you are reading nonsense, but your primed brain understands the noise.
Dick then uses the remainder of the novel to suggest different models of the relationship humankind has with the universe. Is there a higher order power? How did this creator come to be? Is the universe rational or irrational? I thoroughly enjoyed having my model of what was "reality" shift throughtout the text.
All in all a fantastic thought provoking novel.
The start of the book is a little slow, but you slowly pick up the language Dick uses, almost subliminally. Dick seems to know the perfect moment, the moment the reader has become fluent in his language. Your eyes see you are reading nonsense, but your primed brain understands the noise.
Dick then uses the remainder of the novel to suggest different models of the relationship humankind has with the universe. Is there a higher order power? How did this creator come to be? Is the universe rational or irrational? I thoroughly enjoyed having my model of what was "reality" shift throughtout the text.
All in all a fantastic thought provoking novel.
keelmcmurr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
arf88's review against another edition
2.0
This is the first of Philip K. Dick's work that I really haven't enjoyed. It wasn't bad, and there was part's I enjoyed, and it was an interesting structure, but I also found it boring and a struggle to finish. The "exegesis" parts especially were a chore that I started skimming towards the end. I also found parts of it uncomfortable - it's semi-autobiographical and I didn't really enjoy reading PKD's real psychological breakdown.