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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 .......
Page:
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 .......
What was the point of posting that? It's a bit sh!te and has got nothing to do with the plot you described either. Phillip K. Dick is a great writer but that wasn't a very good passage.
Yes, but note the favourable effect such a sizable post will have had on his words to posts ratio.
Bane wrote:
> Yes, but note the favourable effect such a sizable post will have had
> on his words to posts ratio.
I think that's a bit obvious.
> Yes, but note the favourable effect such a sizable post will have had
> on his words to posts ratio.
I think that's a bit obvious.
I'm surprised Bane read it, (perhaps he didn't) after all it did have the undesirible word "guy" in the first few lines. I'm pretty sure he didn't now, but if he did, shame on him.
arrogant ass.
"Guy" is preferable to "some bloke" any day of the week.
"Guy" is preferable to "some bloke" any day of the week.
some nice intelligent posts there. my word to post ratio is so important to me after all, perish the thought that I should try to share some decent literature with you, regardless of the theme.
well done.
well done.
ßora† SagdiyeV wrote:
> 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 .......
I bet he's just trying to boost his word count!
> 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 .......
I bet he's just trying to boost his word count!
Well I am intrigued now. Might get this at some point.
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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