Ubik by Philip K. Dick

Ubik, written in 1966 and published in 1969, is one of Philip K. Dick's masterpieces (The Three Stigmata of Plamer Eldritch is another one). Ubik is the first novel to introduce spiritual elements that will culminate in his last novels VALIS, the Divine Invasion and the Transmigration of Timothy Archer. According to movie industry rumor Ubik could be the next big PKD movie project. Philip K. Dick himself wrote a screenplay for Ubik in 1974 but it was never made into a movie. PKD was hoping that it would by sending "the novel to the agent of Victoria Principal- whom he revered - in hope that she'd wind up reading it."(Tim Powers in the introduction to Ubik: The Screenplay). Ubik was expanded and adapted from the short story "What the Dead Men Say" published in Worlds of Tomorrow in 1964. Ubik is one of the most published books of Philip K Dick in the world.

Este livro foi parar as minhas mãos sem saber muito bem como, li a descrição e achei interessante, mas nunca na vida ía achar que o livro é tão bom só pela descrição. Como foi a minha primeira leitura do Philip K. Dick toda a permissa do livro surpeende-me imenso, mas sendo que já vi outros livros dele apercebi-me que a temática do “o que é real o que é na minha cabeça” é bastante comum nos livros dele.
Eu acho que é daqueles livros que não deviam ter muita coisa a dizer na sua descrição, e desse modo também não vou explicar muito. Só sei que vale imensa a pena ler este livro se gostam de fantasia e ficção científica. E especialmente quem nunca leu Phillip K. Dick.

I liked Ubik by PKD. But again, it seemed like it barely got started before it was already over. Not only that, like so many books, it gave no closure. I guess Ubik is a metaphor for God (it's everywhere and fixes everything!) but as a guy reading a book I like to see a story take full arc and come to a close.

The book starts out interestingly enough - with Joe Chip and G.G. Ashwood finding a new “intertial” - someone who can negate the effects of a “psi” with powers like they've never seen. Seems like a great start to an epic adventure! But as you progress through the book, the girl they find is mostly quiet, and instead the story turns to the characters being trapped in a fantasy world that exists because of (what I assume to be) a psi boy who was killed and put into half-life prematurely. Some super villian.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the ride while I was taking it. I was just as anxious to turn the page as I have been in any story, wondering what it all meant and what the clues would lead to next. But by the end I was disappointed in both the main antagonist and the non-closure of the storyline.

List of unresolved plot points:
- What is the “rebirth” that Ella Runciter is going through?
- Why did Pat claim to be working for Hollis? If it was Jory pretending to be Pat, why did he claim to be working for Hollis?
- How can Jory “eat” minds and further sustain his own life? A lot of WTF here - what could this mean?
- If we can forever sustain ourselves in coldpac and also continue to speak with others in coldpac, why aren't they putting live people in coldpac instead of focusing on “almost dead” people?
- Why is 1939 the “FINAL DATE” that we can go back to? If we're in 1992 and Jory is in his teens shouldnt the earliest date be sometime around 1975?
- Why is everyone on Goodreads eating up Phillip K Dick? These Dick-lovers are insatiable! I've only tried Dick one other time, but it was paired with Isaac Asimov, so I'm not sure if it was the Dick or the 'sac that I was enjoying in that hardcopy.

Ubik. A (well-written?) review by Rob, but only when used as directed.This won't be a long review as the book wasn't that long, so I'm foregoing my usual format. I haven't read a lot by [a:Philip K. Dick 4764 Philip K. Dick http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]. Mostly a lot of short stories that movies have been adapted from.Ubik came across my radar when Amazon was running an e-book sale on various PKD works. It was recommended as one of his better stories.I came into it knowing nothing about it. I don't think I had even read the blurb. It started slow, but picked up steam as it went along. It was a 3 at the start and pushing into 4 range by the end, but since it was only so-so at the start I stuck with 3.I feel like this is a book where the less you know about it going in, the better it is. I will say there is some usual of his tropes: pre-cognition, telekinesis, and time travel. Sort of. You'll see.It's a quick read at only about 200 pages, and worth checking out if you can borrow it, or pick it up on the cheap like I did.