Rating: 
Summary: A head trip at times, but worth the effort
Review: Sporting one of the neatest titles in all of literature, SF or otherwise, this novel is considered one of Dick's handful of absolute masterpieces, written during his peak in the sixties. People who saw Blade Runner, went and read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and liked it enough to want to explore Dick further and came here (remove the seeing Blade Runner part and that's me) may find this book a decidely odd experience. Not outwardly psychedelic in nature but certainly dealing with altered states of conscious and the nature of reality versus our perception of it . . . if you find yourself reading it and think you're missing something, trust me you aren't alone. Probably no one other than Dick knew exactly everything that is going on in here but for the rest of us it's an interesting dilemma trying to discern his exact meaning, or our best interpretation. In the future, the earth is unbearably warm, people are being drafted to be sent to dreary colonies and Can-D is the drug of the moment, a substance which allows people to "translate" into layouts based on a doll called Perky Pat and basically experience a life that isn't theirs. Then Palmer Eldrich returns from outside the solar system with his new drug Chew-D which he claims will deliver immortality and show the nature of God . . . and then things get funny. Dick's vision of a future world is absolutely fascinating and for us low brow folks who don't get all the wacky symbolism, makes the book worth it simply for his depiction of an overheated earth, the boring spiritual desolation of the Mars colonies, the pre-cogs who determine the latest fashions, it all feels bleak and despairing but there's a sense of humor lurking in the wings and a vague feeling that something larger is going on. It starts to lose coherency toward the end as the reader begins to question reality, especially what is the nature of Palmer Eldrich (great name, by the way) and eventually you find your head starting to hurt just a bit. And it's not that bad a feeling, as it turns out. PKD books are more experienced than described and nothing here is going to really be able to convey the texture of his novels, you just have to read it for yourself. It's not perfect but it's both thought provoking and entertaining on vastly different levels and so in that sense comes highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Moments of brilliance, moments of tedium.
Review: I simply could not get into this book as much as others PKD wrote. His prose style in 3SoPE reads a bit clunky at times, and his descriptions of some places fall short of giving you the feeling of what's going on (while others, like when Leo was in Eldritch's world, are written brilliantly). I found myself wishing he'd hurry along the descriptions of the Maritan colonists you meet early in the novel.This is one of his novels where the perception of reality takes center stage, this time centered around a drug (chew-z) that is supposed to create a world entirely for you, in an instant. PKD explores this perception, not just from an objective standpoint (is this world any less real than the reality you live in?), but what effect it has on people as well. One of the aspects of PKDs fiction that I admire greatly is his unwavering devotion to displaying the full range of human emotion and experience when faced with the unknowable (or the just plain weird- Leo's actions when faced with the loss of his company were suprising, yet believable). No other science-fiction author I can think of was as concerned with the human soul/experience as PKD, even if he does fall short at times of displaying the concept with his words. Still a recommended book.
Rating:
Summary: Chewing on deep questions
Review: One of Dick's masterpieces, first published in 1965. The setting is a future Earth where the environment has heated up intolerably. Because of overpopulation, people are "drafted" to emigrate the even more miserable environments of Mars and other planets. The colonists, to escape the dreary reality of their hovels, take a hallucinogenic drug, Can-D. Like the psychedelic voyagers of the 1960s, they also have something like theological debates about the reality of the Can-D experience. A kind of negative messiah named Palmer Eldritch introduces a new drug called Chew-Z and at first it seems an improvement, producing not a fantasy state but a "genuine new universe." But those who step into it find themselves subject to Eldritch as the evil god of a hallucinated world. The hero Barney Mayerson, after taking the drug, is turned into a phantom in a future world that regards him as only semi-real, and then finds himself turning into Eldritch himself. Thus Chew-Z, promising the fulfillment of all desires, only produces a nightmare from which one perhaps never awakens. But drugs are in a sense a red herring in this novel. Can-D and Chew-Z are, rather, pretexts for revealing the fragility of the fabric of reality woven by our perceptions and conditioning.
Rating:
Summary: The best story I have ever read
Review: This was the first of Dick's stories that I read and it rocks!I love it,as it is by turns deeply, genuinely funny(not smart-alecky laughing at science fiction)and at the same time terrifyingly disturbing. Eldritch is set in one of Dick's characteristically bizarre futures.People have weird jobs and pastimes(minning?Perky Pat?)and their clothing is outlandish(shorts and colonial-type pith helmets?).And into this world is thrown a man who'll get you the ULTIMATE trip.For a price... The plot and the ideas expressed about our horrifying possible futures,are superb.And,as with most of Dick's material,the writng is very"pulp":robots,rayguns,spaceships,precogs,telepaths,etc,so its a very easy read,despite its depth and intelligence.The sort of book where the actual experience of reading it is something to talk about for years afterwards.This is a barnstormer of a read.So out there and go and read it. It will tear your soul apart.You've been warned.
Rating:
Summary: Further proof of genius.
Review: This may well be Philip K. Dick's most brain-frying book, and I mean that as a complement. I put it down feeling overstuffed, as if the book were a rich cheese I'd had too much of. There is so much going on here, thematically, conceptually, and literally, that it's hard to keep track. The plot is... too much to describe, so I'll direct you to what Amazon has already provided. It's perhaps best not to know too much about what's going on beforehand anyway. Ultimately this is a story that works on many levels. Alongside questions about the divine, about the nature of reality, about the nature of happiness, there are some wonderfully simple human elements, such as Barney Mayerson's attempt to cope with failure, and his gradual redefinition of himself at the colony. This kind of character transformation- breaking down, then building up- seems central to much of Dick's work, and it is handled with a breathtaking emotional subtlety. I am not sure whether I consider this the best of Dick's work, but it certainly demonstrates why he was perhaps science fiction's most literary author- one whose efforts stand as a validation of the genre's worth. Here is a sci-fi novel that is also a brilliant piece of postmodernist literature, a study of faith and the human psyche that deals with the increasing (or simply continued) complexity and uncertainty of the world around us, and the need to find something to hold on to, be it illusion or reality. More thoughts will probably come with time. Right now I don't think the digestion process has finished.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars and 2 Planets
Review: Set in a science-fiction genre the story teller (PKD) has developed the uncanny ability here to insert a small but important wedge into the consciouness of the reader which will lead the reader to uncontrollably question their reality in a way previously only obtained through mind-altering practices of meditation or certain types of drugs. Will the reader be better off after such an encounter with PKD's craft? Only time will tell.
Rating:
Summary: wild
Review: One of the most imaginative sci-fi writer's ever. His writing style is a bit sloppy, but his books are incredibly interesting and inventive.
Rating:
Summary: Everything I hoped for
Review: This book was great. It has everything that I have come to expect from PKD, and even improved on some of his flaws. Historically, he has been berated by reviewers for lacking plot or characterization. Without losing the conceptual angle that is so brilliant in all of his work, this one focused more on story. The reader sees more of the main characters, as well. We learn all of their motivations and feelings. The author's characteristic wry humour is showcased in this book, too. For instance, he comments on American consumerism when he tells of the favourite past time of the Mars colonists who take the drug Can-D to experience a day in the life of a Barbie and Ken doll set. And he does it in a way that somehow makes sense in the story. Of course, stealing the spotlight is the real main character of the story, which is reality itself. You never know if what you are reading is really happening. The long-term effects of the drugs are unknown to the main characters, so when they experience getting lost in time or losing their identity, the reader gets similarly lost. As soon as you figure it out, you find that you are wrong. Some drugs are not so safe- even if used as directed. So, buy this book. Your brain will love you for it.
Rating:
Summary: Dick's Best
Review: This is my favorite book by Dick; I couldn't put it down. Besides having more of a plot than many others of his books, this work dives deep into mind-blowing issues like causality and the spatial dimension of time. The premise is interesting enough to hook you in, but once Palmer starts really messing with people, your head will spin. For anyone who thinks that a time travel story gives you lots to think about, this book will take those issues and rip them apart, sewing them back together inside your head without ever resorting to overt time travel. It's all hidden within the doors of perception, and it questions how perception is related to consciousness. What makes this book great is that it contains a great villain: Palmer Eldritch. Eldritch is a powerful, motivated, morally ambiguous character that is only the "villain" because of his relation to the other characters (and the fact that he seems to be trying to take over humanity). In fact, everyone's a villain in this book, except for the poor saps who can't control their own fate. It's also a major treatise on mind control through media and drugs. You will see how society today is being programmed by the corporate media, and how drugs (everything from alcohol and mj to speed and acid) are dulling probably half of America into a state of placid, easily controlled, and manipulated baffoons. Overall, entertaining, thought provoking, and out of this world. Completely original, Dick was a pioneer.
Rating:
Summary: Real or Fantasy -- the best and worst of Dick
Review: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch combines what I like most and least about the works of Philip K. Dick. Dick shows why he is among the best sci-fi writers ever. He makes us question what is real about the human experience. In the three stigmata, this is done by exploring the mind via the use of recreational drugs named Can-D and Chew-Z. As I understand the goal, it is to get at the core of how human experience is a mental phenomenon. Beyond the brain as experience creating maching, the three stigmata is packed with interesting ideas including pre-cogs (as in the movie "minority report"). Two aspects of the book limited my enjoyment. The first is the slippery divide between reality and fantasy. I'd estimate that 50% of the book is spent in action sequences of unknown reality -- is it actually happening or is it in the mind? -- you don't know. I understand that this relates to the main point of the book, but I tired of the device. The second quirk that limited my enjoyment relates to Dick's view of the sources of human happiness. In the three stigmata, human colonists on Mars and elsewhere are unhappy because they live in objectively difficult circumstances. The idea that hard times makes for unhappy humans may seem logical, but all the data contradict this notion. In fact, humans appear to be extremely good at adjusting to any world in which we live. A seminal study of happiness found that people who win a lottery end up being about as happy as those who become crippled in car accidents. See the greed chapter in Mean Genes for a longer description. All in all, the three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is an excellent book, well worth the read.
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