Rating: 
Summary: Better than Valis
Review: This book is better than "Valis"! Ive read it 3 times and i get it in a way that ill never get ValiS
Rating:
Summary: Better than Valis
Review: This book is better than "Valis"! Ive read it 3 times and i get it in a way that ill never get ValiS
Rating: 
Summary: a great read, ultimate paranoia!
Review: This is a very well-written novel from an author who is generally hit or miss. It also has an unusual narative structure (which I will not give away) that provides a clue into Dick's own state of mind. Based on actual events of Dick's life, (as he sees them) this novel, published after his death, is the first version of what became (the very confused) VALIS. Read this first and you will understand VALIS much, much more. Dick's final four novels (RFA, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) should all be read in that order to really unlock the mind of Dick in the last years of his fascinating life.
Rating:
Summary: a great read, ultimate paranoia!
Review: This is a very well-written novel from an author who is generally hit or miss. It also has an unusual narative structure (which I will not give away) that provides a clue into Dick's own state of mind. Based on actual events of Dick's life, (as he sees them) this novel, published after his death, is the first version of what became (the very confused) VALIS. Read this first and you will understand VALIS much, much more. Dick's final four novels (RFA, VALIS, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) should all be read in that order to really unlock the mind of Dick in the last years of his fascinating life.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Dick Novel
Review: This is my favorite of all of his works so far(and I've read most of them). Heavily autobiographical, Dick captures the paranoia of the early 70's surrealistically as he is slowly hunted down by 'The Friends of the American People' and desperately seeking contact with an alien force that could save them all. Recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Bleah!
Review: This is my first attempt at reading PK Dick. This book tried hard to be _something_... and I tried hard to find out _what_... but the experience left me with a headache and a vague nausea. I'm going to try another of his books, but this one left me ill.
Rating:
Summary: An essential part of the Dick ouvere
Review: This is, in many ways, the quiessential Philip K. Dick novel. It's not his best, and it's not the one you should read first (after all, it's part of the Valis series), but it is a culmination of the the themes that have always dominated his writing. In particular, paranoia and the nature of reality have always been his two major themes, and this book is no exception. At his best, Dick could truly make you ask the question "What is real?" and be unsure of the answer. His writing can also have that "looking over your shoulder" effect. He rarely portrayed either of these two themes better than in this novel. Also, the ruminations on God and religion that dominated his later writings (in particular the Valis series) is a major part of this book as well, though here it is looked at from a more remote perspective than in the previous novels. The plot is also very coherent and easy to follow, unlike in some of his books, while still retaining that unmistakable Dick touch. Essential PKD primer.
Rating:
Summary: Alternate dimension of VALIS?
Review: This was a great book when read alongside VALIS for the simple reason of all of the strange connections between them. To me, this seems to be an alternate universe in the same reality as VALIS, and there are little windows between them such as the movie VALIS using all the main character's names. This seems to be a world more hopeless than that of VALIS, and it makes me wonder <since these are the only two PKD books I've read> if there should be another book about a universe with more hope than either this or VALIS.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating forerunner of VALIS
Review: This was an early version of Dick's masterpiece VALIS. It is a very different novel and a very good one in its own right, full of the same metaphysical issues but not as directly autobiographical as VALIS. It is set in an alternate universe in which a certain Ferris F. Fremont (a thinly disguised Richard Nixon) is president. Nixon's paranoia about domestic "enemies" becomes Fremont's all-out campaign against a supposed conspiracy called Aramchek. To crack down on this enemy, an insidious secret police organization called FAP (Friends of the American People) is set up. Nicholas Brady, an alter ego for Dick himself, is the target for FAP harassment, and learns that the conspiracy is real. Aramchek is the satellite that is beaming information to several thousand highly aware individuals around the world, forming a "collective brain." Radio Free Albemuth is cast in a more straightforward science-fictional mode than the unconventional VALIS. But on its own merits, it is an absorbing novel that is the best possible introduction to the material and preoccupations of Dick's later years.
Rating:
Summary: Literary SF exists...
Review: Tired of SF novels that read like increasingly banal versions of "Starship Troopers"? Well, Philip K. Dick is the cure for you. Each of his novels sets off on its own, wonderful meandering journey that takes you places you've never imagined, and Radio Free Albemuth is no exception.The plot basically follows American History until the late 1960s, when a character named Fremont but actually a shell for Richard Nixon takes over the country by assassinating his rivals and proceeds to make a mockery of the Bill of Rights. That's just the backdrop for a fascinating foray into the "real" meaning of the Bible, the Jesus story, and eternal life. BTW, this book, at just over 200 pages, takes a while to read. There are no banal page-long descriptions of the weather, clothing, etc. a la a pulp fiction novel. It's rich with ideas from page to page, so it's not necessarily a page-turner. You have to stop and think about it -- best if read not all at once but a few chapters at a time.
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