Philip K Dick (1928-1982) was one of those writers who struggles in life to make a living from writing despite critical acclaim, but whose reputation is posthumously assured. Although not a household name to most people, many will have seen films based on his novels or short stories, including Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall (based on We Can Remember It For You Wholesale) and Minority Report.
Dick had something of an unsettled childhood, losing his twin sister of five weeks old and then his father when his parents divorced. He dropped out of university and worked in a record shop for four years before selling his first story. Although he aspired to enter the mainstream of American literature, only one of his mainstream novels was ever published in his lifetime. Dick's sci-fi stories and novels found an eager audience, but unfortunately acclaim (such as the 1963 Hugo Award) still did not translate into financial security (Dick himself once claimed that he and his wife used to live on pet food). In addition Dick was a regular user of drugs, including amphetamines, in the 1960s, which may have contributed to his state of mind in the 1970s when he believed he had received a religious revelation. Sadly this did not contribute to greater stability in life, and he did struggle with paranoia. His personal life was also rather tangled, being married and divorced five times. Dick's last work was published in 1982, shortly after his death from disconnection from life support after a stroke.
It is impossible to discuss in a short space the nature of Dick's work, but he differed from authors such as Arthur C Clarke who held what might be called the "heirs to the Enlightenment" point of view, namely the idea, however vague, of a marching forward towards a better future and the possible perfectibility of man. Dick's view was more ambivalent: his protagonists were often drug users or people with mental problems, and usually "little people". Dick was intensely interested in psychology, altered states of mind and the perception of reality, and also owed a fair amount to Jung. The apparent "pulp fiction" character of his short stories belies a well-honed craft and ability to create an interesting narrative.
The following are reviews of some of Dick's novels and short stories.
Opening her eyes she saw a blob, a mound of sagging, gelatinous protoplasm - ludicrously, with its name stitched to its front, in red thread. E. B. Black.
A good introduction to Dick's style of writing. In the aftermath of a war between Earth and the slug-like inhabitants of Titan, the telepathic Vugs, the human race has been reduced to a very small number of survivors occupying the remaining cities. The privileged play Bluff, a game that allows the win or loss of properties and even marriage partners, the latter being particularly important in the light of the race's apparently loss of reproductive fertility. The story's protagonist Pete Garden, a man suffering from mental disturbances and occasional drug and alcohol binges, loses his wife in a game and tries to get former player Joe Schilling back into the game to help him stay afloat. What follows is a tale of murder and political intrigue, leading to the discovery of a greater game behind Bluff. As in many of Dick's stories the characters are world-weary and would do well in film noir, while the scientific speculation is interesting while not over-chroming the general dilapidation of the damaged Earth. Recommended.
The Official Philip K Dick site, with a welcome from three of Dick's children
www.philipkdickfans.com, a fan site not affiliated to the Dick estate