Reviews

VALIS by Philip K. Dick

read_alert's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm writing this review to remind myself not to read this book again. Don't do it Jord. Do you really want to sift through that exegesis again?
No you don't.

I did however enjoy large parts of this book, and in 30 years if I don't read this review I may in fact read it again.

Does it deserve 3 stars? I think so.

yates9's review against another edition

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4.0

An amazing twist in writing built on a mythology that is convincing, dense of reinterpretation of Christian stories... Overly emphatic deliberations around the possibility of suicide but that become transformed.

I didn’t quite enjoy the book but I learned a lot about what is possible in writing.

wtfrjk's review against another edition

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3.0

*Spoilers*

I think my favorite part of the book is when he gets called out on his shit.

"Horselover Fat did."
"But that's you. You just . . . you just translated your name. 'Philip' means 'lover of horses' and 'Dick' means 'fat'."

mjdalton1717's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rpych2's review against another edition

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3.0

For a while, I didn’t actually understand what the hell was going on in this book. It was a slow burn, but the commentary on mental health and the meta aspects of it made it pretty awesome in the end. Leave too soon, and you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about. But stick around, and it’ll leave you with the existential crisis you didn’t know you wanted.

jaredfields's review against another edition

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1.0

This want not a novel so much as Dick's Putting forth his agenda and religious thoughts that came out of an event where he was in intense pain and was on heavy medication. Love most of his books, but this one was a huge dissapointment.

h_p_lipkea's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

akashic_dreckard's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

audreyx_'s review against another edition

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5.0

what the fuck did i just read

—

nov 22 - jan 23 reread

read for epq. actually cannot believe how much i missed the first time around…i fucking love pkd.

bobbo49's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 Much as I have loved several other books by PKD, this one was an outlier - lots of paragraphs and pages had to be read twice or three times to try to make sense of what was being said. Yes, the story overall is intriguing and thought-provoking, with a heavy dose of theology and philosophy, but it is also incredibly difficult to understand much of the time - perhaps because it is mostly told by a madman with two personas. I know you love it, Matthew - maybe I'll have you explain it to me!