Ubik

Philip K. Dick
Ubik Cover

Ubik

Grayman14
1/27/2016
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"Can't make the frug contest, Helen; stomach's upset. I'll fix you PKD! PKD drops you back in the thick of things fast. Taken as directed, PKD speeds relief to head and stomach. Remember: PKD is only seconds away. Avoid prolonged use."

*spoiler warning* this "review?" may affect your grip on reality!

Once upon a time there was Ubik. Ubik wrote a story about a man called PKD. In this story, PKD was a writer. He wrote science fiction tales for a living. He was fairly successful, mostly due to the sheer number of stories he wrote. But a lot of people appeared to enjoy his work so PKD was able to keep on writing. Unfortunately, PKD never seemed to have enough money on him to pay for things like the doors to open or the shower to work, so he spent a lot of time indoors.

One day, he met a woman called Pat. She may have been a psychic, PKD wasn't sure, but she definitely had some kind of parapsychological ability to warp time. PKD eventually deduced this after noticing he was existing in different, earlier time periods. Was he moving back in time or was it only his surroundings? His apartment was surely different to how it had been earlier in the week.

Pat was a bit of an enigma to PKD. Maybe that's why she attracted him so much. He had an inkling the feeling was mutual, but there were outside influences suggesting otherwise. What were the mysterious messages that kept appearing on toilet walls and matchbooks? Was something trying to tell him somebody? (Apologies to Neil Gaiman!) And exactly what was this wonderful product known only as 'Runciter' which was being touted as the cure to all PKD's ills?

*End of spoiler warning*

I loved this book. It comes very highly recommended! It is often described as not being an entry-level PKD novel - many reviewers point to 'The Man in the High Castle' or 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' as being suitable for new readers - but I've only read a few of his novels and I found this really entertaining. Okay, I'm still not entirely sure who was behind it all, nor who was working against whom, but I'm only human. I don't think I'm an android. I haven't taken the Voight-Kampff test or anything, but I'm pretty confident I would pass it.

Please click on the link below to read my full review.

https://biginjapangrayman.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/ubik-1969-by-philip-k-dick/