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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I had a nearly-complete lengthy review here (complete with exegesis!) before my browser crashed. Bummer. Perhaps some day I will re-create it. However, the SHORT VERSION goes something like this:
To someone unfamiliar with the life-and-times of Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch may come off as a bit of an opportunistic, unsophisticated, and perhaps even vulgar nexus of psychedelia and Judeo-Christian ontology (esp. w/r/t/ transubstantiation). For those folks, I recommend reading [a:Emmanuel Carrère|184425|Emmanuel Carrère|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1307566507p2/184425.jpg]'s [b:I Am Alive and You Are Dead: The Strange Life and Times of Philip K. Dick|22593|I Am Alive and You Are Dead The Strange Life and Times of Philip K. Dick|Emmanuel Carrère|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312053865s/22593.jpg|330633].
To the rest of you, my usual disclaimer vis-à-vis PKD: it gets four stars not because of the writing (q.v., the wooden characters, the purple prose) but because of the relentless and raging sea of ideas, cloyingly familiar and yet horrifyingly alien.
Lastly: was that sex scene between Mayerson and Anne Hawthorne not just the most awkward thing you've ever read? Kind of gave me the creeps, to be quite honest.
To someone unfamiliar with the life-and-times of Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch may come off as a bit of an opportunistic, unsophisticated, and perhaps even vulgar nexus of psychedelia and Judeo-Christian ontology (esp. w/r/t/ transubstantiation). For those folks, I recommend reading [a:Emmanuel Carrère|184425|Emmanuel Carrère|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1307566507p2/184425.jpg]'s [b:I Am Alive and You Are Dead: The Strange Life and Times of Philip K. Dick|22593|I Am Alive and You Are Dead The Strange Life and Times of Philip K. Dick|Emmanuel Carrère|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312053865s/22593.jpg|330633].
To the rest of you, my usual disclaimer vis-à-vis PKD: it gets four stars not because of the writing (q.v., the wooden characters, the purple prose) but because of the relentless and raging sea of ideas, cloyingly familiar and yet horrifyingly alien.
Lastly: was that sex scene between Mayerson and Anne Hawthorne not just the most awkward thing you've ever read? Kind of gave me the creeps, to be quite honest.
A delightful exploration of playing with perception and escaping from the drudgery of life. I felt disoriented like the characters towards the end and that was a good thing. Definitely a book to read and reflect on just what happened.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed a lot of the concepts in this book but the story itself is a little slow. The expedited evolution on Earth to deal with global warming was interesting and the alien "invasion" concept was one that I had had not seen before. CHEW-Z and CAN-D are also an interesting take on hallucinogenics and how they interact with humanity, bot h in good and bad ways.
This was enjoyable in the way that Philip K. Dick is generally enjoyable, but by three-quarters of the way through I was tired of getting beaten over the head with the whole "what is/isn't reality" shtick, even if it was effectively accomplished. Like many a science-fiction novel (but unlike the best of them), The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is high on ideas and low on characters -- which made it hard to stay emotionally invested and left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied at the end.
The Three Stigmata is clearly a PKD novel, it contains everything you would expect from him. Interesting plot? Yes. Interesting twists? Definitely. Drugs? Do you even need to ask? The story revolves around them of course.
While the book contains all of his normal PKD stereotypes, it still is composed into a great story. No matter what it seems all his books never fail to be entertaining and The Three Stigmata is one of the top ones I've read by him as well.
You will come out of this book trying to figure out what was real and what was drug induced, it will keep you thinking on what is truly happening. The characters you follow are all interesting characters, they may not be the best people but they keep you interested in them.
The Three Stigmata gets a solid 4/5 for me, it was entertaining from start to finish, hard to not recommend this book when it comes to PKD.
While the book contains all of his normal PKD stereotypes, it still is composed into a great story. No matter what it seems all his books never fail to be entertaining and The Three Stigmata is one of the top ones I've read by him as well.
You will come out of this book trying to figure out what was real and what was drug induced, it will keep you thinking on what is truly happening. The characters you follow are all interesting characters, they may not be the best people but they keep you interested in them.
The Three Stigmata gets a solid 4/5 for me, it was entertaining from start to finish, hard to not recommend this book when it comes to PKD.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
sad
The basic prose and mostly flat characters are perfectly serviceable in light of the multitude of interesting ideas and questions posed, such as uncertainty in reality, what forms identity, drugs as a religious experience, defining mortality, government control, gnosticism and free will.
Starting clear-cut, the narrative descends into a sort of fever dream nightmare with the third act making me question my own understanding of what was real within the story, eventually tapering out to an appropriately nebulous ending.
Starting clear-cut, the narrative descends into a sort of fever dream nightmare with the third act making me question my own understanding of what was real within the story, eventually tapering out to an appropriately nebulous ending.