Rating: 
Summary: One to read again and again
Review: Without a doubt, this is one of the best from PKD. Witty, thought-provoking and dark, it explores (some of) the best and worst aspects of man. There'll be at least one character in there to whom you will be able to relate.
The conclusion to the book is not completely unexpected but is completely compelling.
Rating:
Summary: The Slow Train to Oblivion, expertly documented
Review: There is an old adage about writing: "Write what you know"--as quoted verbatim from Hemmingway, among many others, this proverb is a key to mastering the craft. One's best work originates from principle experience, core emotions; the rest is just window-dressings, technique for transition. Philip K. Dick, one of the most prolific authors of science fiction for the later half of the twentieth century, wrote about what he knew: paranoia, 'big brother', psychological disruptions, drug abuse; and the sci-fi 'trimmings' of aliens, techno-dystopias, etc. usually served as interesting backdrops. As a mad, bad, meth-snortin' horsemeat lovin' pulp master, the dominant themes Dick experienced during his relatively short(ened) life appear again and again in the bulk of his work, though rarely so coherently expressed as in his tragic masterpiece, _A Scanner Darkly_.The 'basics:' Bob Arctor is a drug dealer who is also Fred, a narc working undercover with the LAPD to bust a big time drug dealer named...Bob Arctor. Bob/Fred's drug of choice, Substance D(eath), gradually splits the user's brain into two separate halves, corroding the interaction between the hemispheres and rendering one a split-personality veering chaotically close to schizophrenia. Bob doesn't realize he's Fred, and vice-versa (except in moments of rare epiphany). As anyone who has read VALIS can attest, the real-life events from which this story is based occurred to Dick in the beginning of the '70's, and most of his fiction afterward were attempts for him to glean and get down the life-shattering experience. _A Scanner Darkly_ was debatably his most successful attempt, and certainly his most lucid. For all the futuristic flourishes, the bulk of _A Scanner Darkly_ basically describes the everyday existence of Orange County drug users. The dissipation of the body and slow decay of the mind; the rupturing of the moral core for the immediate high; life on the downward spiral--it's all documented here, in harrowing fashion. Among the endless repetitive conversations and breakdown-ruminations, there are a few moments of outstanding imagery-the Connie/Donna face-melt and the flower-field being the most prominent in recollection--the first hideous, the second serene--both chilling to the bone given the circumstances. Never a literary stylist, Dick's simple prose veered from elegant to downright amateurish, making some of his lesser/cryptic works a bit of a slog, yet in this particular volume, the author's heart can be found in the characters, environments, and overall pathos; the feel of catharsis is prevalent throughout and made abundantly clear in the coda: "They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed--run over, maimed, destroyed--but they continued to play anyhow." A melancholic, mad masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction, Drugs & California
Review: What more could you ask for? This book is one of my all-time favorite science fiction books. Its a fantastic glimpse into drug induced mental illness. It has an extra creepy edge due to the sinister nature of the particular fictional drug involved. Certainly a classic. In my opinion either this or Man in the High Castle is Dick's best book.
Rating:
Summary: Once a guy stood all day shaking bugs from his hair.
Review: Perhaps the most insightful look into the mind of the paranoid dope user ever written, A.S.D. is a testament to the genius and madness of Philip K. Dick. This book takes the reader on a terrible and tremendous ride through the identity of self and the reality of drug use. A powerful anti-drug statement, Dick's author's note makes the reader understand how auto-biographical this novel really is. A must read for the P.K.D enthusiast.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the hype!!!
Review: I found this book terribly hard to read and extremely boring. The whole Dr. Jeklly and Mr. Hyde element of the book was poorly executed. And this is really bad when the whole book rests on the credibilty of multiple personalities. The "I'm a cop. I'm a junkie. I'm a cop and a junkie" idea is really interesting but it becomes so repetive after a while. On top of that, Philip K. Dick's writing style is very rudimentary and completely lacks anything to the effect of mood or atmosphere. The only thing I would get excited about was coming across the names of cites I had been to around Southern California. Honestly, I really don't understand why people like this book so much. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful, Brilliant and Moving Book
Review: PKD at his best - if you have ever wanted to try a PKD novel then you couldn't do much better than to start here. I found this story to be an incredibly accessible and moving story which displays Dick's darkly comic genius to brilliant effect. I am amazed that this story has not become internationally regarded by the masses as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. PKD wrote several masterpeices and this is certainly one of them. And what an amazing ending! Other PKD book titles worth considering: The Man in the High Castle The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Martian Time-slip UBIK
Rating:
Summary: Accelerated counter culture
Review: The beauty of A Scanner Darkly as with the few other PKD books I have read, is he the future worlds he creates is so deeply entrenched in the world he was writing in at the time. This is a story about a policeman posing as a drug addict in an attempt to find the source of the drug Substance-D (Death), a potent substance that would lead to the social collasp of a segment of the population if not most of it. As the reader follows the story, he or she will get watch the coroding effects of the drug on Bob and how it starts to affect who he is, yet at the same time find out about the conspiracy that is involved in the creating and trafficing of the drug. But the story itself is half the pleasure. The other part is the world PKD creates, the druggy counter culture, the social impact of D, and the all powerful police state that runs the world. It is part history, as in, for those of us who is interested in the 70's we can get a glimsp of the strange goings on at the time, in such vivid details. And part prediction come true. The effects of Substance D is horrifically close to those of Crack which devastated the inner cities. Mainly this book is shocking at how well PKD was able to conjecture what from what was happenning in the 70's to what was to become in the 80's and maybe how in retrospect how we do live today. However, outside of the social-cultural stuff that makes him more than just a good story teller, this is at the end a GREAT story. If you want to know about 70's counter culture. Or you like books on drugs, or a fan of Jeff Noon or you SF that has a compasionate and social commentry aspect to it or want to see how out world is deteorating and wonder what the future might be. Oh, whatever, if you are on this page, you should just go ahead and buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BEGINNING AND END . . . SHALLOW MIDDLE
Review: If someone were to ask me which author can consistently grab your attention with the very first sentence of a book, I'd have to say PKD, hands down. It all starts off with a man who is shaking invisible aphids from his body and he's afraid that they're going to eat him. If that's not weird, nothing is, and only PKD would have thought of it. But the bugs, though interesting, are not what this book is about. It is about drugs, and a cop that has to take on the role of a drug-user. The idea is excellent, sure, but I found it sometimes hard to follow--but never to the point where I stopped reading. But the ironic end of the book made it all worthwhile. And that's not even the end of the book, because then there's an epilogue written by PKD himself. Very moving. In my opinion, Confessions of a Crap Artist had a much larger impact and was better written throughout. But that's just me.
Rating:
Summary: good read
Review: this is a really good book about drug abuse and paranoia. dick himself was a [user] so it was partly biographical. he deals with szchizophrenia and brain stuff. you really experience the confusion of the main character, it's slickly written too. a super-cool book
Rating:
Summary: pkd's best
Review: I was always slightly hesitant about reading A Scanner Darkly. I was more interested in PKD's "real" science fiction than a gritty drug novel. Well, I read it. And I think, really, this is PKD's best novel overall. Not his very best or weirdest ideas...but the quality of the writing is very, very good. One of the rare PKD's with such good writing - most were written in a tearing hurry, with little time for redrafting. For those hesitant to go on to Scanner because it sounds too different from his other work; well, don't hesitate. Scanner Darkly is easy to read, brilliant, frightening and hilarious...all together. One minor problem: er, the death scene of Charles Freck may be hilarious...but has it really got anything to do with the rest of the novel??? It's just a bizzare inclusion, put in for no reason. JONATHAN LIM
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