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A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Great Book
A Science Fiction/Drug Culture story, following an undercover cop through the seedy drug underworld, and his descent into schizophrenia as the drug he is taking seperates the two hemispheres of his brain. Philip K. Dick is the creator of stories like screamers, total recall, minority report and blade runner.
Below is the first half page or so :
Chapter One
----------------------------------------------
Once a guy stood all day shaking the bugs from his hair. The doctor told him there were no bugs in his hair. After he had taken a shower for eight hours, standing under hot water, hour after hour, suffering the pain of the bugs, he got out and dried himself, and he still had the bugs in his hair; in fact, he had bugs all over him. A month later, he had bugs in his lungs.
Having nothing else to do or think about, he began to work out theoretically the life cycle of the bugs, and, with the aid of the Britannica, try to determine specifically, what type of bugs they were. They now filled his house. He read about many different types and finally noticed the bugs outside. So he concluded the bugs were Aphids. After that decision came to him, it never changed, no matter what other people told him ..... like "Aphids don't bite people".
They said that to him because the endless biting of the bugs kept him in torment. At the 7-11 grocery store, he bought spray cans of Raid and Black Flag and Yard Guard. First he sprayed the house, then himself. Yard Guard seemed to work the best.
As to the theoretical side, he perceived three stages in the cycle of the bugs. First, they were carried to him to contaminate him, by what he called 'carrier-people', which were people that didn't understand their role in distributing the bugs; During that stage the bugs had no jaws or mandibles, and the carrier-people therefore felt nothing. He used to sit in the far corner of the room, watching carrier-people enter, most of the people he'd known for a while, some who were new to him, covered with the aphids in their none-biting stage. He'd smile to himself, because he knew the people were being used by the bugs, but weren't hip to it.
"What are you grinning at Jerry?" they'd say. He'd just smile.
In the next stage the bugs grew wings or something, but they weren't precisely wings. Anyhow, they were appendages of a functional sort that permitted them to swarm, which was how they migrated and spread - especially to him. At that point the air was full of them; it made his living room, his whole house cloudy. During this stage he tried not to inhale them.
Most of all he felt sorry for his dog, because he could see the bugs landing and settling all over him, and probably getting into the dogs lungs, as they were getting into his own. Probably - or so his empathic ability told him, the dog was suffering as much as he was. Should he give the dog away for the dogs own comfort? No, he decided; the dog was now, inadvertently affected, and would carry the bugs with him everywhere.
Sometimes he stood in the shower with the dog, trying to wash the dog clean too. He had no more success with him than he did with himself. It hurt to feel the dog suffer; he never stopped trying to help him. In some respects this was the worst part, the sufferings of this animal, who could not complain.
"What the f*** are you doing there all day in the shower with the goddamn dog?" his friend Charles Freck asked one time, coming in during all this. Jerry said "I've got to get the aphids off him." He brought Max, the dog, out of the shower and began drying him. Charles Freck watched, mystified, as Jerry rubbed baby oil and talc into the dogs fur. All over the house, cans of insect spray, bottles of talc and baby oil, and skin conditioners were piled and tossed, most of them empty; he used many cans a day now .......
Great Book
A Science Fiction/Drug Culture story, following an undercover cop through the seedy drug underworld, and his descent into schizophrenia as the drug he is taking seperates the two hemispheres of his brain. Philip K. Dick is the creator of stories like screamers, total recall, minority report and blade runner.
Below is the first half page or so :
Chapter One
----------------------------------------------
Once a guy stood all day shaking the bugs from his hair. The doctor told him there were no bugs in his hair. After he had taken a shower for eight hours, standing under hot water, hour after hour, suffering the pain of the bugs, he got out and dried himself, and he still had the bugs in his hair; in fact, he had bugs all over him. A month later, he had bugs in his lungs.
Having nothing else to do or think about, he began to work out theoretically the life cycle of the bugs, and, with the aid of the Britannica, try to determine specifically, what type of bugs they were. They now filled his house. He read about many different types and finally noticed the bugs outside. So he concluded the bugs were Aphids. After that decision came to him, it never changed, no matter what other people told him ..... like "Aphids don't bite people".
They said that to him because the endless biting of the bugs kept him in torment. At the 7-11 grocery store, he bought spray cans of Raid and Black Flag and Yard Guard. First he sprayed the house, then himself. Yard Guard seemed to work the best.
As to the theoretical side, he perceived three stages in the cycle of the bugs. First, they were carried to him to contaminate him, by what he called 'carrier-people', which were people that didn't understand their role in distributing the bugs; During that stage the bugs had no jaws or mandibles, and the carrier-people therefore felt nothing. He used to sit in the far corner of the room, watching carrier-people enter, most of the people he'd known for a while, some who were new to him, covered with the aphids in their none-biting stage. He'd smile to himself, because he knew the people were being used by the bugs, but weren't hip to it.
"What are you grinning at Jerry?" they'd say. He'd just smile.
In the next stage the bugs grew wings or something, but they weren't precisely wings. Anyhow, they were appendages of a functional sort that permitted them to swarm, which was how they migrated and spread - especially to him. At that point the air was full of them; it made his living room, his whole house cloudy. During this stage he tried not to inhale them.
Most of all he felt sorry for his dog, because he could see the bugs landing and settling all over him, and probably getting into the dogs lungs, as they were getting into his own. Probably - or so his empathic ability told him, the dog was suffering as much as he was. Should he give the dog away for the dogs own comfort? No, he decided; the dog was now, inadvertently affected, and would carry the bugs with him everywhere.
Sometimes he stood in the shower with the dog, trying to wash the dog clean too. He had no more success with him than he did with himself. It hurt to feel the dog suffer; he never stopped trying to help him. In some respects this was the worst part, the sufferings of this animal, who could not complain.
"What the f*** are you doing there all day in the shower with the goddamn dog?" his friend Charles Freck asked one time, coming in during all this. Jerry said "I've got to get the aphids off him." He brought Max, the dog, out of the shower and began drying him. Charles Freck watched, mystified, as Jerry rubbed baby oil and talc into the dogs fur. All over the house, cans of insect spray, bottles of talc and baby oil, and skin conditioners were piled and tossed, most of them empty; he used many cans a day now .......
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ßora† SagdiyeV wrote:
> A Book you NEED to READ
You read books nowadays? Whatever will they think of next!
> A Book you NEED to READ
You read books nowadays? Whatever will they think of next!
aye, PKD was one messed up guy. I think I'd have got on with him
Goatboy wrote:
> However, I am reading stuff by Robert Rankin - he's veh funny and
> amusing.
I'm reading the Antipope at the moment, then I've got Armageddon: The Musical lined up. I see what you mean about being harder to get into, his other books I've read have been more....well, just getting on with it, really, and keeping the gags coming. I still love it though.
I haven't read any Phillip K Dick apart from a short story in a little anthology I have. It's called "Not by it's cover," and is essentially about a type of fur, that when used as a book cover will alter the text within. Quite an interesting read.
> However, I am reading stuff by Robert Rankin - he's veh funny and
> amusing.
I'm reading the Antipope at the moment, then I've got Armageddon: The Musical lined up. I see what you mean about being harder to get into, his other books I've read have been more....well, just getting on with it, really, and keeping the gags coming. I still love it though.
I haven't read any Phillip K Dick apart from a short story in a little anthology I have. It's called "Not by it's cover," and is essentially about a type of fur, that when used as a book cover will alter the text within. Quite an interesting read.
Ray Bradbury - 'The illustrated man'!
"Hello Braling, he said."
Hello Braling, said Braling."
Quality.
"Hello Braling, he said."
Hello Braling, said Braling."
Quality.
ßora† SagdiyeV wrote:
> he's
> like a thinking mans stephen king I reckon.
that's just plain terrible english.
I apologise.
> he's
> like a thinking mans stephen king I reckon.
that's just plain terrible english.
I apologise.
fair enough, I know a lot of sci fi is complete crap. I made the mistake of buying an alien vs predator book. it's just trash for kids really. various others also that I had to stop reading part way in as they bored me to death. but quite a lot of them have some brain bending ideas, which has always attracted me.
horror-wise, dean koontz is excellent, if you get the chance read 'The Face', a recent one of his - I thought it was good anyway. he's like a thinking mans stephen king I reckon.
Not to say King isn't great, he is, but Koontz's books seem to have a far deeper 'soul'.
Do you envisage such discussions as a teacher? :)
that john simpson thing is on BBC1 again. the friendly fire incident.
horror-wise, dean koontz is excellent, if you get the chance read 'The Face', a recent one of his - I thought it was good anyway. he's like a thinking mans stephen king I reckon.
Not to say King isn't great, he is, but Koontz's books seem to have a far deeper 'soul'.
Do you envisage such discussions as a teacher? :)
that john simpson thing is on BBC1 again. the friendly fire incident.
Never heard of him.
I generally don't like sci-fi writing, it reeks of Star Trek to me.
And I know I might be missing out some life-changing books, but there's just an inbuilt resistance to it.
More power to you though.
Same with fantasy, 99% of that makes me shiver. But Phillip Pullman's "Dark Material" trilogy is awesome, and Rankin makes me laugh.
I've actually found myself reading less and less fiction as time wears on.
It's mostly biographies, political stuff and social issues.
Which is strange, because I used to be a fiend for Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon etc but I just think "Uh-huh...monsters/pointless sex/science-gone-wrong" when I re-read them.
Perhaps I am undergoing a metamorphasis in preperation for being a teacher?
And I know my spelling is starting to fail, but it's 01:44am and my eyes are hurt-baubles.
I generally don't like sci-fi writing, it reeks of Star Trek to me.
And I know I might be missing out some life-changing books, but there's just an inbuilt resistance to it.
More power to you though.
Same with fantasy, 99% of that makes me shiver. But Phillip Pullman's "Dark Material" trilogy is awesome, and Rankin makes me laugh.
I've actually found myself reading less and less fiction as time wears on.
It's mostly biographies, political stuff and social issues.
Which is strange, because I used to be a fiend for Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon etc but I just think "Uh-huh...monsters/pointless sex/science-gone-wrong" when I re-read them.
Perhaps I am undergoing a metamorphasis in preperation for being a teacher?
And I know my spelling is starting to fail, but it's 01:44am and my eyes are hurt-baubles.
Cheers, I'll look his stuff up. It was the film total recall that first got me interested in PKDs stuff. that was only a short story though. Electric sheep is the next on my list after I finish reading Ubik.
Another good writer I recently discovered is Michael Marshall Smith.
Another good writer I recently discovered is Michael Marshall Smith.
I've never got on with Phillip K D!ck's stuff to be honest.
I read "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?" because I love Blade Runner, and it just wasn't my cuppa.
I know he has a huge cult following, but do Burroughs and Ballard, and they don't float The Goat much either.
However, I am reading stuff by Robert Rankin - he's veh funny and amusing.
I read "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?" because I love Blade Runner, and it just wasn't my cuppa.
I know he has a huge cult following, but do Burroughs and Ballard, and they don't float The Goat much either.
However, I am reading stuff by Robert Rankin - he's veh funny and amusing.
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> Well I am intrigued now. Might get this at some point.
cheers for the reply. just wanted to share what I thought was a great book with you lot, and I got slated for it by all but you.
some people.
> Well I am intrigued now. Might get this at some point.
cheers for the reply. just wanted to share what I thought was a great book with you lot, and I got slated for it by all but you.
some people.
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