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Hello! I'm relatively new to the writings of Philip K. Dick, but have jumped in without caution. It was great to see so many readers subscribed to this group and active, I can't wait to discuss!

Hi!

Just starting out here. I like PKD. Thus I figured this might be one of the first groups to join on ŷ������.

My brief bio is as follows:
- An AI scientist.
- A waterman.
- Possibly, a writer. Mostly of oceanic fables inspired by my formal training (i.e. fantasy/magic realism upwelling from sci-fi depths).

You can sample the aspiring writer part of me here: . Not exactly like PKD, but some indirect inspirations by one of my favourites may pop up here and there, now and again.

As for my reading, I promise I'll make my ŷ������ profile more representative of my rather extensive backlog soon!

Greetings from the ᴜsᴇʀ known as ＭＴＢＤ. i am new[er] to goodreads and i am loving it here. im a huge PKD fan looking forward to getting to know all of you like-minded fans

I was excited to find this group, but it is not very active.

This year, I re-read The Man in the High Castle, and finally read Do Androids Dream... both with another group.

At least I learned from them that there are a few other PKD's that sound interesting (Ubik, Now Wait for Last Year)

It's not active at all lol. But welcome to the group anyway MTBD! Always nice to meet a fellow Dickhead.

This year I read The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report and I also re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I re-read Ubik last year. I prefer the spray-on variety myself.

Coming up in January I'm going to tackle Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said and later in 2018 if I have time I'll try to read another, maybe Time Out of Joint.

Happy Holidays everyone!

This year I've read and re-read a couple of PKD:
- The Simulacra - 3 stars
- Our Friends from Frolix 8 - 3 stars
- Clans of the Alphane Moon - 4 stars
- The Crack in Space - 2 stars
- The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - 5 stars (reread)
- Humpty Dumpty in Oakland - 2 stars


For my birthday I've received the gorgeous Folio Society edition of DADOES + A Scanner Darkly so I'll probably reread those novels in 2018.
Time Out of Joint is also on my to-read list for the next year.

well you all have great taste to be here lol. thanks very much for the welcome i went a little overboard this month on eBay mostly buying PKD novels so i will be spending alot of time catching up in the next few months.

i was going to read "Flow My Tears", and "Now wait for last year", after Ubik but being that i have never actually seen Bladerunner and i want to watch it ive decided to boost "do androids dream", to the top of the list

ＭＴＢＤ wrote: " was going to read "Flow My Tears", and "Now wait for last year", after Ubik but being that i have never actually seen Bladerunner and i want to watch it ive decided to boost "do androids dream", to the top of the list "

"Do Androids..." was my very first PKD, and to this day it's still my favorite (and the one I've reread the most). It's a great idea to read it before watching Blade Runner, althought, I'm sure you know it already, the novel and the movie are very different.

I've read "Flow My Tears..." once before and for some reason I remember struggling with that one. It seems to be a popular novel among Dickheads tho, so it's definitely worth checking as well.

Estelle wrote: "This year I've read and re-read a couple of PKD:
- The Simulacra - 3 stars
- Our Friends from Frolix 8 - 3 stars
- Clans of the Alphane Moon - 4 stars
- The Crack in Space - 2 stars
- The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - 5 stars (reread)
- Humpty Dumpty in Oakland - 2 stars"

Nice! I haven't read any of those. I might try to get to Three Stigmata later this year, depending on how much time I have.

Estelle wrote: ""Do Androids..." was my very first PKD, and to this day it's still my favorite (and the one I've reread the most). It's a great idea to read it before watching Blade Runner, althought, I'm sure you know it already, the novel and the movie are very different."

I agree. I watched the movie first, but it's nice to go back and see the little touches that were included from the book, like the Voight Kampff test (I think some of the questions are verbatim from the book). The one thing I did like about the movie better than the book was (view spoiler)[the implication that Deckard is a replicant (hide spoiler)]. I'm looking forward to seeing the sequel Blade Runner 2049 on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

I have read PDK off and on for almost 60 years. I find him to be a uniwue write that handles ideas that aren't usually in mainstream Sf. I'm 73 years old and retired for awhile and i have decided to start reading and re-reading PDK in chronological order by date written or composed, not published. I feel that this will let be see how his ideas evolved over time. Unfortunately I haven't found an authoritative list of books in that order. I have seen the lists on Wiki and others. I decided to start with "The Cosmic Puppets" which was listed as the first on a source I can't remember now. "Vulcan's Hammer" and Dr. futurity" were also written in 1953 but "The Cosmic Puppets" was published first in 1957 so that's another reason I chose it.

Hello, new member here but longtime PKD meditator. Actually, that's not true; I'm a longtime meditator on all things PKD but new to the PKD vehicle. Um...nope, that's not it either. I am a meditator on vehicles and have just struck my head up against the PKD vessel. Ouch!

So I wanted to poke my head out of my PKD bandages and say, "hullo", and see if anybody is still active on this board.

Have any of y'all read "High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies" by Erik Davis? Davis is one of the editors of the Exegesis and always does his homework on his homework. "High Weirdness" connects the psychedelic spirituality of PKD with Terence McKenna and Robert Anton Wilson. Recommended.

Anyway, here's to you in mercer, eh!

I haven't read any books ABOUT PDK but I have read various stuff posted on the internet about him.

I have just read "Time Out of Joint" in my "retirement" project of reading or re-reading PDK SF in the order it was written (not published). That would mean I have just finished my 8th novel. I have also read the first 2 volumes of "The collected Stories" collection and to try to maintain some semblance or chronological order I intend the read the third volume of "The Collected Stories" next followed by "The Man in the High Castle".

I can't allow this group to go a whole year without a comment. How is everyone doing?

Picking up where I left off on 2/14/21 I have read quite a few more PDK novels and stories. I read everything written from "Time Out of Joint" up to "The Ganymede Takeover" which I DNF. Surprisingly I am finding that I don't like PDK as much as I thought I did. The last book I enjoyed a was "The Game Players of Titan" even though it had a coin operated robot that provided you with you with a paper newspaper by putting a coin in a slot. I've had "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" on my kindle since February and can't seem to get to it. Maybe I'm afraid I'll be disappointed although I remember enjoying it when I read it many years ago and loved the movie adaptation. Continuing in chronological order it looks like i have 11 or 12 more novels to read and another collection of short stories. I'm 76 years old now and I might not complete this task since there is a lot of other stuff to read.

Amateurs

Mike wrote: "Amateurs"

I have to admit I have not yet been hired to read professionally yet. And you?

Reading is my profession. Try reading PKD in the order He suggests in Exegesis.

Jim wrote: "Picking up where I left off on 2/14/21 I have read quite a few more PDK novels and stories. I read everything written from "Time Out of Joint" up to "The Ganymede Takeover" which I DNF. Surprisingl..." Jim, if you have discovered that you don't Like PKD as much as you thought you did, that's great! Why not just give up your quest to read all his books and just read the ones that are supposed to be his best books: Ubik, Three Stigmata, and a scanner darkly. You have started a silly completionist quest and found it to be lacking now that you've hit some less-than-stellar-work, but that will be the result when reading almost any author. Don't let that stop you from reading the brilliant stuff.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I can't allow this group to go a whole year without a comment. How is everyone doing?"
What's up with that? I just joined goodreads, although I had used it for years to read reviews without ever posting or making an account, and this is the first group I've joined and it seems to have plenty of members, are all goodreads groups like this outside of the super popular ones?

Read PKD in the order he suggests in The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick

i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app and put them in that order. My reason was I would be able to see how PDK developed his ideas and changed over time. I tried to find the list you refer to in The Exegesis but couldn't find it and I don't want to try to get a copy of the book right now just for the list.

Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app and put them in that or..."
But is that really a worthwhile goal if you aren't enjoying it? Only you can answer that but it seems to me that it is clearly "no" since you are considering abandoning the project. I would just read the cream of the crop of PKD titles if you are finding his lesser works uninteresting.

Ok read The Exegesis of PKD to find out WHY you should read his novels in the order he suggests. nothing to do with date published or continuity. It would be interesting to communicate with someone who has, to see if the “experience�� repeats.

This is work. Not fun. The answers are in Exegesis. The reading order is a recipe.

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app and put the..."

I think that I am almost through the middle period and if I remember correctly the tone of the stories changes in the later period especially after 2-3-74. I read some of those later novels many, many years ago and I don't remember that much. I think I will read the next couple of novels on my list and see what happens. Next up is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, UBIK and A Maze of Death. Now that I'm retired I read close to 100 books a year and I should be able to squeeze in one or two by PDK. I'm curious to see how the movie Blade Runner has impacted what I remember about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

Jim wrote: "BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my Calibre app..." I personally believe Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep? is a masterpiece. However, my take on it is very different than most. I'd love to know your take on it. please let us know when you are finished.

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my..."
I'll do that.

I joined this thing because I was hoping to find someone who read The Exegesis of PKD. There is a reading order to his novels. Not a preferred reading order or chronological. If read in this order, hidden secrets of reality will be revealed. I did. It’s true.

I have read the Exegesis, and I do recall something about a certain reading order for a few books. Glancing at some of the previous posts I don’t see the specific order given. What page of the Exegesis is it on?

IIRC, he believed those books in that order reflected elements of what the 2-3-74 experiences reveled. But you could say that the entirety of the Exegesis involves an endless number of similar interpretative experiments that tested out meanings of 2-3-74. I think the “truth�� of the Exegesis isn’t so much in the specific, given content of any of the particular theories given in it, but more so the productive multiplicity of the Event of 2-3-74 to always exceed any one theory or reductive explanation of it. And I think there’s also a certain technique of reading and making connections that goes along with that “truth�� of the 2-3-74 and Exegesis assemblage, and it’s a technique that’s transmittable to the reader. Hence the infectious nature of PKD’s “synchronicities�� and the schizo-paranoiac mode of perception that goes along with them.

Ding ding we have a winner. Page 312. Forget about synchronicities and connections. I’m calling them �� impossibilities ��. I was only halfway through the second book on the list when things started happening. And it hasn’t let up in the 4 years since. I seem to have a new perception of reality and it’s been inspiring choices I’ve been making. I would be interested if others who follow the recipe have similar experiences. A few civilians ( non-PKD users) who have witnessed these experiences along side me have been astonished and think I am �� on to something ��. Thank you for showing interest. It’s why I joined this group. If you would like me to elaborate, I will.

Very interesting... and an excellent reason to reread some PKD.
I will be investigating further, thanks Mike.

Right on!

BBB wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I can't allow this group to go a whole year without a comment. How is everyone doing?"
What's up with that?..."

Beats me. But welcome to the group Triple B!

BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "BBB wrote: "Jim wrote: "i have been readint them in the order written not published although ther are only a few differences. I can't find that list now but I downloaded the books on my..."
I just finished rereading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Here's the review I just wrote:

I've read a lot of PDK over the last 60 years and now that I am retired I decided to go back and try to read them all again in the order they were written, not published. But the last 4 books left me cold and I was a little leery about rereading this since I remember liking it and I also liked the movie very much. After reading it again I found that the movie had distorted my impression of what the novel was about. The movie focused on one theme of many although it did maintain the theme of empathy being the determiner of what was human (or does it?). The movie focused on Deckard hunting down the androids who had escaped back to Earth. Ironically the movie appears to show Baty developing empathy towards Deckard but it was the other way around in the novel. Mercerism seems to actually be the main theme in the novel since it ties all the other themes together. A few remaining humans live on a post nuclear war Earth while the majority have migrated to Mars. In general life on Earth sucks and Humans are trying to cope. the two coping mechanisms are an empathy machine that lets you dial up the emotional level you desire at that point in time. the second coping mechanism is Mercerism which is a quasi-religious experience where everybody can develop a gestalt through a machine with everybody else through the character of Mercer who is continuously trying to reach the top of a hill but repeatedly falling to the bottom to start over. The third coping mechanism is a reverence for animal life that has also been destroyed by the after effects of the war. The remaining humans have a great desire to own one of the few remaining animals to care for it and also as a type of status symbol. The theme of Deckard hunting down and killing androids is to show how he changes with each new experience with the actual hunting and killing and also with his relationship with Rachael who is an android. I think that PDK does a great job of pulling these various themes together to give a great example of the Phildickian view of what it means to be human in the type of unique science fictional situations he develops. I have now restored my interest in PDK after a couple of recent bad experiences and I'm looking forward to reading UBIK next.

There is a mysterious force preventing “non-selected�� people from reading PKD novels in the order suggested in the Exegesis. This is probably the same force that compelled me to read them in that order.

Jim wrote: "...I'm looking forward to reading UBIK next."

That's one of my favorites. I like it better each time I read it.

I think it’s the same mysterious force that prevents rational people from reading The Warren Commission. I think PKD should be read in the spirit of exploration. Enjoyment is only incidental. But clearly solipsism is indicated if I’m the only explorer. Hey, Exegesis Editors. You out there? Try it. Read the novels in his suggested order(see p.312). Then see what happens. I don’t think comprehension is needed. Just commitment.

Hello, my name is Levi.

I wrote my bachelor thesis in English Literature on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, largely centered around how the works of PKD and PKD himself are intrinsically linked. PKD repeatedly mentioned in interviews that he wrote in order to make sense of his own world. I've always found it intriguing how writing to him was a necessity more than an artistic escape. It's even more interesting to me how he made sense of his world with break-neck pace sci-fi. Mostly I've looked at how the most common themes in his life have been morphed by the author into narrative arches that encompass these themes, and how DADES to quite a surprising degree mirror his own life.

I am excited to be a part of a community that seems to love this brilliantly troubled man and the works he spawned as much as I do.

Read The Exegesis of PKD. In this book he provides a reading order of selected works of his and claims if read in that order it will unlock secrets of the universe. I did it. The results were profound. I can elaborate if you wish.

Certainly. I'd love to hear what your experiences have been.

After reading only 2 books on his list things started happening. But it’s 4 in the morning, so more later. But thanks for showing interest. Mike

The way I interpreted The Exegesis is if you follow his recipe, the Universe will talk to you. What started happening was that I began to experience what other people have been calling synchronicities. But the ones I’ve been experiencing are on a whole nother level than the what other people have been experiencing. No comparison. I’m reluctant to describe them due to the Heisenberg Principle. These things have been constant since the first one and my second reading of The Exegesis of PKD(that’s when I started the reading list).
I’ve been with people during some of these experiences, so I know it’s not my imagination. These witnesses think I’m on to something but they are not readers . . . Oh I think you should familiarize your self with PKD’s �� Metz Speech �� before you embark . . .

Levi wrote: "Hello, my name is Levi..."

Welcome to the group, Levi!