Rating: 
Summary: Scary... yet amusing... then shatteringly... very intense...
Review: I read this book first when I was quite young after my dad told me to to discorage me from drug use. I would say as a discoraging agent it was effective but the effect wore off. Now when I have more experience I shudder reading this book because it is so right, and the little climaxes and troughs in the book are almost as intense as reality, which is disturbingly close to what is described.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, funny, interesting
Review: My favorite so far (I've also read: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Elderich, and Ubik, all of which I would recomend). Although his writing is somewhat hazy at times, the inventiveness is nearly constant and always interesting (true in all of his books I have read so far). Scanner Darkly, is my favorite, but I would not read it again because the ending was gut wrenching, (almost as depressing and defeated as the end of Orwell's 1984).
Rating:
Summary: Sad, Tragic, Hilarious, HELLISH
Review: This is Dick's most autobiographical book. The drug/conspiracy plot is fascinating, but familiar to any of us that have read RA Wilson. Leary, Burroughs, et al. We're presented with a world where D has taken over. On our three hands: 1) Straight Society (what we are used to), 2) User Society (Anarchy in fear of police/getting gypped on quality..quite common), and post <2>'s, (3 Rehab farms). Lovely, wonderful sounding, isn't it? The problem is that the the drugs are designed to swell your ego and the farms are run by ego-breakers. (It's awful.) So, in addition to your physical withdrawl, you go through a marine boot camp (so to speak) as well. The addiction/withdrawl sections are among the best, most moving passages written in recent memory. We must never forget that our inmates are often people of high intellectual standing. The biggest problem with the book is that IT IS NOT METAPHOR. I't's happened, is happening, and although I rank this as HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED, I don't think I'll be reading it again any time soon. I just don't know if I can handle it.
Rating:
Summary: More than it seems
Review: Once again Dick has disguised the major elements of philosophy in the narrative elements of a novel, this time his own version of the street culture of America. People who read this and feel that the descriptions of drug use and bizarre behavior of those who use them are exaggerated or cartoonish are wrong. They are dead on. (They may be stereotypical, but that doesn't make them untrue). Dick himself knew people who did all kinds of things like this, and so do I. He also did many of them himself. Beyond drugs, this book is about identity, and the nature of being. In other words, who am I? Am I my name, my flesh, or my actions? This is the ontological versus phenomenological question in a nutshell, and Dick makes this debate so human in this novel with a character you really must pity. Am I the same person I was yesterday? If so, why? Because I inhabit the same flesh suit? How do I know I do? This book is a mind-warp, you will read it and question your very humanity.
Rating:
Summary: A Disturbing Tract for Both Sides of the Brain
Review: I have always felt that PKD was the type of author who could really blow me away with his mind-expanding ideas. Unfortunately his other novels that I previously read struck me as overrated, as the ideas failed to gel into coherent stories. However, he hits the bullseye with "A Scanner Darkly" which has to be one of best novels. Taking place in a dysfunctional near-future, the story revolves around the new drug called Substance D. (The only glitch in this book is that PKD places the story in the 1990's, and PKD's vision of the future from back in the 70's is a bit distracting in its inaccuracies). Substance D causes a disconnect between the left and right sides of the brain, causing a split personality syndrome in which both of the user's selves are active simultaneously and compete with each other. The main character, Bob Arctor, is an undercover cop who poses as a dealer, and his undercover self has been assigned to watch his dealer self. At first he realizes the bureaucratic mistake, but as he falls deeper and deeper into the world of Substance D, Bob can no longer perceive the difference between his two selves and descends into a schizophrenic nightmare. Bob's deteriorating state becomes a very disturbing tract from PKD on the nature of one's identity, the destruction of the self through drug abuse, and the reality or un-reality of the self's replacement. Also, in PKD's future the drug war becomes a class war, as the "straights" need the users as a class of non-persons to manipulate and to experiment on. This may just be the way users see the world, and PKD shows us that it may not be a farfetched conspiracy theory. This is a truly troubling look into the world of damaged and ruined minds, from a man who just may have been there himself.
Rating:
Summary: One of Dick's best- step into his minds...
Review: Phillip K. Dick is one of my all-time favourite authors. And this happens to be one of his best books. To call Dick's stories (post 1966) science fiction is to insult them. Dick was writing about the nature of God, the human mind, mental illness, drugs, and paranoia in a way that was humorous, dark, intelligent, and entertaining. If you have never read anything by Dick, this would be a good place to start- I don't really enjoy his 'straight science fiction' novels from the 50's and early 60's.
In this book, Dick writes brilliantly about paranoia, drug addiction, and psychosis. This book carries with it a unique vibe. It really hit me hard when I first read it (and happened to be like/be friends with some of the people in this novel). A definite counter-culture classic
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Burnt-Out
Review: A Scanner Darkly is not just a great book. It's a paradigm-shifter. It's not just incredibly well-written, it is something that was never done before and hasn't really been done to the same level since. Scanner deals with multiple levels. On a level, it's gut-busting hilarious. Yet, I found it hard to laugh because I KNOW people who've baked themselves just like Jerry had, or Bob Arctor eventually does. On another level, it's conspiratorial. And finally, it shows the true horrors of addiction. It's not necessarily an easy read and shouldn't be read for pure entertainment value, but for those who want to use that grey matter between their ears will find it fscinating, shifting realities and all.
Rating:
Summary: Powerfully harrowing
Review: Philip K. Dick has a very unique and distinctive writing style that is, quite simply, great and revolutionary. I am surprised that his name as a writer is not more often heralded. His work - the Hugo award for The Man In The High Castle, non-withstanding - went largely unnoticed during his life - relegated to a cult existence, at best - and critical ackwnoledgement was all but nil. Since his death in 1982 - and thanks in no small part to several blockbuster Hollywood pseudo-science fiction films since based on his works - his reputation has increased greatly, critical acceptance has garnered, his books (many of which were sadly missing) are now back in print, and are now more widely accepted and loved, and a certain area of scholarship has even built up around them. His prose is extremely unique - very direct and brute - even brash - he has some of the most realistic dialogue you'll see in all fiction. He pulls no punches. Though not a literary stylist, PKD writes for the common man - or, rather, the uncommon man. It has been said the the hippie generation produced no great American writers, but that Philip K. Dick obviously is. He is the very essence of the counterculture. Although not dated, his books propogate all the themes that were of major concerns to the people of the time: highly subjective paranoia, drugs, drugs, and more drugs, and the Big Questions. The book A Scanner Darkly is many things. One of the more obvious things it is is a blunt, bleak portrayal of the simple realities of drug use. Dick neither condemns nor idolizes drugs, but simply shows what really happens when you use them. He passes no judgement. Dick, himself an addict, knew that drugs themselves are neither good nor bad: it's what you do with them, in the end, that counts. Much like knowledge, drugs are themselves neutral; it's when people use them as an excuse to act like a jerk that problems arise. This is what the book tells us. It also tells us one of the reasons that people use drugs in the first place, and the pre-dominant reason for the escalation in their usage in the 60's: a dissatisfaction with society - static, stolid, and unchanging - a need to move beyond the mundane, the everyday, the normal, the "right." Dick says it all in the author's afterward, in which he says that the people of that time - users - were punished - finally, in the end - but punished too hard... all they wanted to do was "play in the street." A very subjective and debatable stance to take to be sure, but one that resonates. Dick is not making excuses: he is merely telling it like it is. You can blame it on everything else - drugs, society, your hometown, your friends, your parents, the President, Big Brother, the government, the Men In Black - all you want to; reality won't budge. In the end, it's still your decision, your responsibility. Dick sizes up the situation well when he says, in the afterward, that "Drug abuse is not a disease; it is a decision... like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would not call that a decision, but an error in judgement." As I said before, Dick is not heralded enough in his work. He is truly a great author, and wrote masterpieces. His works aren't as readily available as those of author science fiction authors; and, sadly, when the names of great SF writers are being mentioned, his name doesn't come out as often as it should. Of course, part of the reason for this is that Dick wasn't really science fiction at all. True, his early work was basically science fiction (as were his short stories), and he continued to use SF themes and backdrops throughout his career; but, essentially, he was a mainstream writer. He dealt with themes that concern all people. He was continually marketed as an SF writer thrhoughout his career - and continues to be - mainly for the reason that his books are simply too crazy to be considered anything else. His books aren't easy to read: they deal with profound themes, and are not often written smoothly. This book has very little actual science fiction in it. He's obviously not a "hard" science fiction writer; stringent fans of the genre might not consider him to be one at all. It is simply that he has fantastic elements in his story to back up his gargantuan ideas. This book is essentially about drugs, in all their aspects; it is not about machines, or anything else. It is, though, quite simply, a masterpiece. Anyone could enjoy this novel, and everyone should read it. Forget science fiction, forget the name - just read the book. It's a masterpiece; you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: A nightmare of drugs, deterioration, and paranoia
Review: A horrible addictive drug known as Substance D (a.k.a. "Slow Death") destroys the minds of dopers and undercover officers alike in this powerful novel of the not-too-distant future. In the paranoid world where discovery means death, narcotics police keep their identities secret from everyone - even their superiors - so that undercover agent Bob Arctor is unsurprised to find that he's been assigned to watch... himself. He lures his brain-fried housemates on a road trip so that his home can be appropriately bugged, and later watches the endless hours of tapes of himself and his friends getting stoned, holding deliciously absurd conversations, and generally living their sad, silly lives. As we watch their drug-sodden brains deteriorate, there's another intriguing plot thread at work - someone seems to be out to get our hero. Are the dopers on to him? Is there some wild cosmic conspiracy at work? Or is he just being paranoid? Equally interesting is how Bob deals with a common moral dilemma: how to be a good person in an imperfect world. This is most obvious in Bob's dealings with women. He recognizes his inability to help the battered woman at the apartment house. He finds himself strongly attracted to the elusive Donna even as he uses her to buy drugs and meet still-bigger dealers. Can he help her? Or must he betray her? Of course the true nature of their relationship (and Bob's astounding sacrifice) doesn't become clear until the very end, which is painful enough that some readers might be tempted to rush through it - don't - a great deal is explained in the last dozen pages. In fact without spoiling the story, it's safe to say that readers don't actually know what the real plot of this book is until they've read the conclusion. Neither does Bob, and we're pretty much trapped in his disintegrating world-view. Thus his final Pyrrhic victory doesn't have the uplifting effect one looks for in a tragedy. Readers will certainly pity Bob Arctor, but the terror remains long after the book is over. Granted, the wild-eyed paranoid ravings of the addicts are deliciously funny, as are some of the ironies of Bob's situation, but watching Bob's mental collapse in the third act is far too heavy to consider this book a comedy. Rather Dick has succeeded in working some levity into what is in fact an incredibly serious, and ultimately tragic story. Based in part on Dick's own personal experiences with addictive drugs, this is a novel more for drug culture insiders, who will quickly see the veracity of every far out scene, than for non-users, who may find this book not so much science fiction as just plain crazy.
Rating: 
Summary: Tioo much psychosis
Review: I can't say I enjoyed this work as much as some of Dicks other work. What appeals to me about his work is the chaotic out of control pace of his books, invariably taking some poor soul (and the reader) on a hellish (usually dystopian) journey through one warped scenario after another. I found this book to be actually quite slow paced, based predominately in Fred/Bob Arctors house. The book is very much an account of a long descent into drug-induced paranoia & schizophrenia and is rich with 60s/70s references and culture. But I found it lacking in ground-breaking science-fiction content and ideas. Readable enough, but not quite Ubik or Electric Sheep.
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