P. K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly: overrated?

[oustemnow]

Hey, all SF fans of DU:

I've been a PK Dick fan for some time, and in the last year have been positively devouring his stuff. I heard that A Scanner Darkly is the next book tapped for the Hollywood treatment, so I picked it up to read next.

I'm about 120 pages into it, and so far am not terribly impressed. It's an interesting idea, but weighed down with way too much dialogue, I feel.

Can anyone tell me, without spoilers, whether there is a payoff in finishing this novel? And, any thoughts on how they will present this (specifically, the "invisibility suit") on the big screen, without reverting to cheesy-ass special effects?

[Sannum]

1. I love the book...

I am waiting for the movie. It will be animated over film like "Waking Life".

You can see the trailer on Yahoo.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/ascannerdarkly.html

[oustemnow]

2. Shit; the trailer failed to load for me

but thanks for the info. Can you tell me, will it be live-action interspersed with animated sequences?

And, why is Keanu Reeves, possibly the worst actor of our time, always attached to these awesome, mind-altering projects? Wasn't Johnny Pneumonic also based on Dick?

Of couse, I have no problem with Winona being involved (I imagine she is the Donna character). And, of course, Woody Harrelson is apropos, as he has well-documented experiences with mind-altering substances.

[Sannum]

3. Apparently, it will be all animated.

The trailer is at iFilm as well, so hopefully you can find a working version somewhere.

Keanu is horrible in everything, but since Downey and Ryder are talented, I hope that distracts from his wooden performance. I actually know someone in Austin who worked on the film who said that Downey is the best part of the movie. The casting is perfect.

[Rick Myers]

7. Johnny Harmonic was a William Gibson story

At one point, Terry Gilliam was planning on doing "A Scanner Darkly," but it died when TriStar wouldn't cough up development money...

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

8. Johnny *Mnemonic* was based on a story by William Gibson.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie, though I agree with the critics that it was pretty lame. The short story, which takes place in the same world as Gibson's "Neuromancer" books, is a very interesting read.

[oustemnow]

10. okay, okay, I definitely screwed up the spelling

and, yes, I checked IMDB in the period following that post, and realized that it was a Gibson story. Thought it was a great concept, as it was something I'd thought of years ago as a concept for a story. Of course, I was probably not alone in that idea.

Thanks for the clarification and additional info though.

[Taverner]

4. Rate it as a whole, then get back to me

The end kind of sums it up - and its very chilling once you see it from the perspective given at the end.

However, his best book for me is UBIK or Flow My Tears. Both are just perfect novels.

[oustemnow]

5. UBIK was awesome!

Definitely one of his best examples of combining sci-fi ideas and general commentary on the human condition. Right up there with Three Stigmata...

I have been reading so much of him lately, that my biggest fear is running out of stuff of his to read. (Though I guess at that point I can move on to Sturgeon.) Although, I tried to read the final trilogy, which has proved to be a little too dense for me, so maybe once I have read the rest of his stuff, I can conquer that.

Thanks, in the meantime, for giving me incentive to finish A Scanner Darkly.

[Taverner]

6. Actually he never finished the final trilogy

Valis and Divine Invasion were the only two that he wrote. Many assume Timothy Archer was part of that trilogy, but in fact it wasn't. Radio Free Albemuth was actually the first draft of Valis, that got completely rewritten.

The final book was supposed to be The Owl or something like that. Not much was written except tons of notes in his Exigis (sp?)

[oustemnow]

9. Hmm, interesting

Because I ended up reading, just because of availability, Timothy Acrher first, and got through it/appreciated it it fine. After hearing that it was supposedly the third book of a trilogy, I thought, hmm, I'd better start at the beginning and picked up Valis and The Divine Invasion. Tried to read Valis over the summer, and it just proved too dense for me. I heard that he had pretty much gone nuts from the speed by the time of Valis, etc.

[mr blur]

11. It IS worth finishing

First read it in my early 20s and I cried at the end.
Love the bit with the guy and the bike - better not day any more in case...