by John Devera

Created on: August 01, 2008

Philip K. Dick is by far the greatest writer of science fiction, but he will remain, no matter the number of his successes, a lesser-known author because his works are just too challenging to ever be very popular. His works have been turned into films very successfully, especially Blade Runner based on "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", Screamers based on "Second Variety," Total Recall based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," Confessions d'un Barjo based on "Confessions of a Crap Artist," Impostor based on "Impostor," Minority Report based on "The Minority Report," Paycheck based on "Paycheck," A Scanner Darkly based on "A Scanner Darkly," and Next based on "The Golden Man."

In his autobiographical novel VALIS Philip K. Dick explores his most challenging effort. VALIS is a system of orbiting satellites that allow aliens to conduct a cryptic experiment. By projecting holographs, Dick himself as a character communicates with Horselover Fat (a very thinly disguised version of himself, for Phiilip means "horse lover" in Greek, and Dick is the German for "fat"). These two characters spend the novel discussing religion and reality. Dick goes over his concerns about Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and Jungian psychology. Much of the novel is devoted to his understanding of platonic reality, a "real" reality behind the world of illusion.

He is seeking some vague cure that is both a cure for his own psychic woundedness, and also a cure for the ontological universe. At the end of the novel, a girl named Sophia (the Greek word for wisdom) provides that cure to the character of Dick. As soon as she does, Horselover quickly disintegrates because he is no longer needed.

This is a challenging work because it defies plot and autobiographical expectations. Although there are aliens and mind-control and all the trappings of the genre, it is as important and insightful as anything that Vonnegut or Pynchon contribute in their more elaborate and conscious stories. Where Pynchon is pretentious and Vonnegut is sneering, Dick maintains a tone of true exploration.

This is not the novel to pick up on a lazy summer afternoon when you want lightsabers and kookie aliens. Rather, this is the book you need when you want to exercise your mind and spirit and challenge your intellect. Although it is hardly one of Dick's most accessible novels, it is certainly rewarding.

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