Rating: 
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Dick is amazing in that whilst he keeps coming back again and again to the same theme, he always reads freshly, with the amazing ability to surprise. I gasped reading this book. The plot "twists" are in the Dick tradition of questioning the nature of meaning and significance, yet in this book Dick goes even further. Without "giving too much away", Dick has written the book in a manner which subverts the readers own linear understanding of time. Pure unadulterated genius. Dick is possibly the greatest writer of the second half of the 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: Another modest Phil Dick mind grenade
Review: Dick is the only author whose works literally force me to put the book down from time to time, for fear that reading one more sentence will send me to the insane asylum forever. Not Stephen King, Clive Barker, or even H.P. Lovecraft can approach the depth of cosmic horror which Dick so modestly invites us to stare into. And yet, there is no pretension here; Dick sympathizes with his innocent protagonists, giving us a straightforward account of their daily struggles to lead normal lives. This is one of the most heartbreakingly hilarious SF novels ever written, with plenty of mind grenades that will detonate in your head long after you've finished the book.
Rating:
Summary: profound, dreamy, wonderful
Review: For me, the questions the novel asks (and leaves for readers to answer) are: what is archetypal memory? Does the world have its own memory? We are the aboriginal people of Earth, do we therefore have a memory of it encoded into our souls? Did the Native Americans have a memory/dream/spirit-connection to North America that we somehow psychically grafted onto our own souls when our ancestors migrated here? (why IS America so different from other counties?--all of the collective archetypal memories augmenting our individual selves?) The dream-time/touchstone of this incredible novel are the native Martians, to whom Dick continually returns as a narrative device, after describing the strange autistic children. The Martians are the indigenous people, the first inhabitants, who have such strange, distant ways. The autistic children, then, are the first generation of "martians", they are being "assimilated" into the spirit-connection, the soul, the archetypal memory of the planet. (Much as we say we want immigrants to "assimilate" and learn English.) The children literally experience time and space differently than Earth-born humans! They are not "autistic", they are "becoming Martians"! That is why the last chapters are so extraordianry.The basic question: If we went to another planet, or moon, or galaxy, and stayed, what would happen to our minds? I have read most of Dick's work; I mourn his passing and that we will never see his like again.
Rating: 
Summary: Experienced PKD readers only
Review: For me, this book sort of dragged after the first 50 pages or so, but picked up towards the end. I liked it, but would not recommend it for a novice to PKD, because it isn't his most "action-packed" stories
Rating: 
Summary: I must be missing something here...
Review: I bought this book, never having read any PKD before, simply because I thought it was time to try something by him, having read perhaps 75-100 other SF works, great and small. One of the reasons I tried this book is the very high level of ratings from the other (14 at this date) Amazon reviewers. Well, I've tried, folks, but I didn't like this book at all. I thought the writing was very poor. The characters didn't ring true to me at all. The setting is ridiculous: people living on Mars in much the same fashion they might live on Earth. Never a mention of the fact that humans can't breathe Martian atmosphere, can't wander about in Earth-style clothing on Mars, etc. Maybe I'm too literal-minded. The frequent references to mental illnesses, mainly schizophrenia, also came across to me as quite contrived. The plot, the story line, etc etc, I found to be mediocre at best. Furthermore, I was misled as the Amazon info on the book doesn't mention that it was originally written in 1964; it does mention that this is a re-release of the book, but that's all. I only forced myself to finish it because of the way the other 14 reviewers on the Amazon site had raved about it. But at the end I just didn't see what people were raving about. So, I don't understand how I can see this as a 1 or 2 star book at best, while the other 14 of you good people see it as 4 or 5... guess I have a lot to learn about SF yet!
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of Dick's best, but worthwhile
Review: I don't know exactly what happened to Dick when he was writing this book. He might have been taking the wrong drugs, or he might have had a nervous breakdown. I've heard both theories put forward. One of the problems I had with this book was the way PKD connected schitzophrenia with supernatural powers, like telepathy and being able to tell the future. In one way, it was good (some say great) science fiction writing. In another way, it was a manifestation of Dick's own psychiatric problems. The first half of the novel is indeed great, but it begins to break down about half way into it. That being said, I still liked the book and read it in only two days.
Rating:
Summary: Not one of Dick's best, but worthwhile
Review: I don't know exactly what happened to Dick when he was writing this book. He might have been taking the wrong drugs, or he might have had a nervous breakdown. I've heard both theories put forward. One of the problems I had with this book was the way PKD connected schitzophrenia with supernatural powers, like telepathy and being able to tell the future. In one way, it was good (some say great) science fiction writing. In another way, it was a manifestation of Dick's own psychiatric problems. The first half of the novel is indeed great, but it begins to break down about half way into it. That being said, I still liked the book and read it in only two days.
Rating:
Summary: The future is near
Review: I like this book for the great ability of the writer to show real what is absurd or fantastic. Dick is a visionary man that write with basic and semplicity events or people allucinant.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I purchased this book after reading Dick's novels "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" and "Ubik", both of which I really enjoyed. I have to say that I was very disappointed with this one. The characters were interesting enough, but the story wasn't and, frankly, it was confusing in places. The author's attempts to portray the perspective of the autistic boy Manfred Steiner, while creative, did nothing but squander what momentum the story had. And while the notion that autism might involve a distorted time sense is interesting, his extrapolation of this to an ability to see or even move through time is more than I can swallow. To top this off, Dick commits the sin of too many coincidental relationships. Jack lives next door to a man whose son is autistic, and in a special school. Jack ends up working for another man whose son happens to be in the same school. And, by the way, Jack himself is schizophrenic. To top it off, he ends up having an affair with his boss' girlfriend, whose brother was also schizophrenic! There are other unpalatable coincidences in the story, but I won't bore you with the full list. Suffice it to say, I would not recommend this book. Please do yourself a favor and read "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said". It will give you a much better idea of what PKD is capable of.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I purchased this book after reading Dick's novels "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" and "Ubik", both of which I really enjoyed. I have to say that I was very disappointed with this one. The characters were interesting enough, but the story wasn't and, frankly, it was confusing in places. The author's attempts to portray the perspective of the autistic boy Manfred Steiner, while creative, did nothing but squander what momentum the story had. And while the notion that autism might involve a distorted time sense is interesting, his extrapolation of this to an ability to see or even move through time is more than I can swallow. To top this off, Dick commits the sin of too many coincidental relationships. Jack lives next door to a man whose son is autistic, and in a special school. Jack ends up working for another man whose son happens to be in the same school. And, by the way, Jack himself is schizophrenic. To top it off, he ends up having an affair with his boss' girlfriend, whose brother was also schizophrenic! There are other unpalatable coincidences in the story, but I won't bore you with the full list. Suffice it to say, I would not recommend this book. Please do yourself a favor and read "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said". It will give you a much better idea of what PKD is capable of.
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