#philipkdick — Public Fediverse posts

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”*…

Philip K. Dick, whose work appeared from the 1950s into the early 1980s, is one of those too-rare writers whose deep questions–and the mind-bending ideas they spawned– are at least as relevant today as then. Jared Shurin offers a path in…

Philip K. Dick is a persistent, iconic cultural presence. His work has given us Blade Runner, Minority Report, The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly and a pair of Total Recall movies (one of which is an undisputed cinematic classic, the other of which has Colin Farrell). Like all adaptations, these all have a strained (and occasionally distant) relationship with the source material. But however bastardised they are, they demonstrate the greatest strength of PKD’s work: the big idea.

Science fiction’s history is filled with big ideas. But Philip K. Dick had an exceptional, if not unmatched, ability to think about the biggest ideas of them all. What if we are not who we think we are? What are memories if they are not our own? What if reality itself were not, in any sense, real? His work is unbothered with how we make fusion energy or break light speed or maintain life on the moon. The ‘how’ and the ‘what’ are often taken for granted; traditional science fiction platforms used as launch pads for deeper, more provocative expeditions into perception, interpretation, and the nature of truth itself.

Big Ideas are great for inspiring Big Movies, even if something gets lost in translation along the way. Why have Arnie wrestle with existential angst when he can pull a giant metal booger out of his brain instead? With that ease in mind, it is hardly a surprise that Dick thrives in adaptation while his fiction, I’m sorry to say, remains (relatively, at least) unappreciated. 

This is not entirely Hollywood’s fault. Dick is inspirational. He’s exciting! He is challenging and surprising, always finding ways to push ideas forward; often beyond the point of exhaustion. His books can twist like a child’s tangled Slinky, and be—frankly—just as infuriating to unwind. In short, and I say this in full transparency: PKD’s works can be hard to read. Especially if one goes in expecting the film. 

They are, however, well worth reading. Below, you’ll find a few suggestions on where to start, and why. I’m a believer in not plunging into the deep end, which, with Dick, can be outright abyssal. Instead, there’s merit in starting with some of the slightly more straightforward (for him) works, which riff off recognisable tropes and scenarios, but in a uniquely Dickian way. (I’m sure there are many brilliant readers out there that read VALIS when they were ten and think I’m a big weenie. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments.)…

There follows a path into the extraordinary works of PKD.

A reader’s guide: “Jump in the Deep End With Philip K. Dick,” from @reactorsff.bsky.social.

FWIW, your correspondent, while agreeing that VALIS (and The Divine Invasion) are titles to hold until one is acclimated, would include Time Out of Joint (1959) as one of the novels with which to start… but then, that’s the point of lists like this :)

* Hunter S. Thompson

###

As we wrestle with reality, we might recall that it was on this date in 1993 (on the anniversary of the introduction of the first “TV dinner” about 40 years earlier) that the The X-Files, created by Chris Carter, premiered on Fox. The series– which followed FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they investigated unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena, government conspiracies, and extraterrestrial life– spawned two feature films, multiple spin-offs, a revival series, and a dedicated fanbase known as “X-Philes.” The show’s tagline, “The Truth Is Out There,” has, of course, become an enduring phrase in popular culture.

source

I've been reading #PhilipKDick recently; this was 4/5 planned.

#Ubik was a re-read; I was determined to do a closer reading & figure out WTF was going on! It was def. worth the effort.

https://thewallflowerdigest.co.uk/books/book-reviews/5-star-books/ubik-by-philip-k-dick/

#CloseReading #BookBlog #BookReview #PhilipKDick

Another weekend and another charity shop haul. Three more Arthur C Clarke books: "The Deep Range"; "Childhood's End"; and "The Fountains of Paradise". Also "The Man in the High Castle" by Phillip K Dick. Finally I picked up “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle. All in it cost me £11 which I think is pretty good going. #bookhaul #charityshop #arthurcclarke #philipkdick #arthurconandoyle #books #bookstodon

50 years later Replicants are still running… except now, running the world. Who were once hunted have become the hunters - they are not running away but are Runners after you.

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe… and this one is going on my watch list too! No time to die before the binge ends!🤖🌧️

https://youtu.be/0Dr8I_RyRCg

#BladeRunner2099 #BladeRunner #RidleyScott #PhilipKDick #cyberpunk #scifi #tvseries #PrimeVideo

With a Replicant uprising serving as the plot, Blade Runner 2099 will air on Amazon Prime Video. It premieres on November 25, 2026.

Amazon will be releasing all right episodes at once. Hopefully it'll be a binge worthy chapter in the Blade Runner universe.

Source: https://youtu.be/0Dr8I_RyRCg?is=lJuoKuLfI7Ok97ZF

#Movies #Film #Cinema #BladeRunner #BladeRunner2099 #PhilipKDick #RidleyScott #MichelleYeoh #HunterSchafer #Vangelis #Deckard #VoightKampffTest #CyberPunk #CassetteFuturism #NeoNoir

Two Cyberpunk shows are coming and I am super excited. This is probably my favourite sub-genre of SF.

Blade Runner 2099 was shifted from 2027 to November 2026 likely due to the fact that Neuromancer was announced as coming in January 2027.

For Neuromancer I’m only concerned that the lead doesn’t look sick and wasted enough as Case. I can get over that.

Unfortunately, I’ve already seen people on ShitTube saying Neuromancer’s Molly shouldn’t be a person of colour and apparently Blade Runner 2099 is terrible and garbage because of women.

No one has seen either show.

I really fucking just can’t with these toxic arseholes masquerading as fans.

Me, ima watch the shit out of both, fuck the haters.

#Neuromancer #BladeRunner2099 #BladeRunner #Cyberpunk #WilliamGibson #PhilipKDick

“Dick foresaw the collapse of #reality and rise of #bogus #replicas of #human #culture.” open.substack.com/pub/tedgioia... #books #societalcollapse #BookSky #PhilipKDick

A Reading List for the End of ...

𝐋a 𝐒éance du 𝐒oir

𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭
Film Américain réalisé par Steven Spielberg en 2002
Avec Tom Cruise , Colin Farrell , Max von Sydow , Samantha Morton et Kathryn Morris

*Minority Report est tout simplement un pur chef-œuvre de science-fiction.

#MinorityReport #StevenSpielberg #TomCruise #ColinFarrell #MaxVonSydow #SamanthaMorton #KathrynMorris #PhilipKDick #ScienceFiction #classic #cinema #films #culte #cinegenres @Cinegenres #LaSéanceDuSoir

𝐋a 𝐒éance du 𝐒oir:
https://cinegenres.com/film-de-la-soiree/

Lektüre als Vorbereitung für die bevorstehende #Merz - #Weidel - #Diktatur von #cdU und #FCKAfD.
«The Man in the High Castle» habe ich gerade verliehen.

#AfDVerbotJETZT #NieWiederCDU #Merzweghalle #FTZNFRTZ
#TheBoysFromBrazil #IraLevin #Fatherland #RobertHarris #TheManInTheHighCastle #PhilipKDick

#2023 is almost over, and while there's still *much* more work to do (/sigh/), at least I managed to break my "books read in one year" record for the second year in a row (I read 80 books in 2021, 96 books in 2022, and 111 books in 2023).

Protip: #ShortStories *totally* count as individual #books, so if you're a book or two shy of your #ReadingGoal for the year (and you're into #dystopian #SciFi), snag a copy of "The Collected Stories of #PhilipKDick" from your local library, and prepare to have your brain melted, scrambled, and/or warped, a few dozen pages at a time.

The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play:

#PhilipKDick
#RobertMusil
#JaneAusten
#DanielSuarez
#SvenRegener
#MaxGoldt
#SebastianHaffner
#ThomasMann
#HermannHesse

hmmm not that much. i'm a slow reader

#Reading #AudioBooks

#MyHashtagList #MastoTags