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| '''''Ubik''''' is a ] by ], published in ] and considered to be one of his stranger works. While its distinction between real and unreal, obscured by the perception of the main character(s), is actually very common in his work, what sets this work apart is that this distinction is blurred in more than one way. | '''''Ubik''''' is a ] by ], published in ] and considered to be one of his stranger works. While its distinction between real and unreal, obscured by the perception of the main character(s), is actually very common in his work, what sets this work apart is that this distinction is blurred in more than one way. | ||
| The main theme of the book is that it must be figured out who is alive and who is dead - which is very difficult given the book's premise, that a dead person's consciousness can live on. | The main theme of the book is that after a catastrophic explosion on a moonbase, it must be figured out who is alive and who is dead - which is very difficult given the book's premise, that a dead person's consciousness can live on. The main difficulty, then, lies in resolving the false memories of the deceased (who are stored in special capsules to keep their consciousnesses from disintegrating) with the real memories of those who are still alive. | ||
| This setup is distorted by the presence of a group of people with a wide variety of ] powers, among whom a woman with the ability to change the past, and thereby, the present. As a result of that, the story itself has a tendency to jump from one timeline, or reality, to another one from one line to the next. This guarantees a very unsettling read. | This setup is further distorted by the presence of a group of people with a wide variety of ] powers, among whom a woman with the ability to change the past, and thereby, the present. As a result of that, the story itself has a tendency to jump from one timeline, or reality, to another one from one line to the next. This guarantees a very unsettling read. | ||
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Revision as of 21:32, 1 March 2005
Ubik is a novel by Philip K. Dick, published in 1969 and considered to be one of his stranger works. While its distinction between real and unreal, obscured by the perception of the main character(s), is actually very common in his work, what sets this work apart is that this distinction is blurred in more than one way.
The main theme of the book is that after a catastrophic explosion on a moonbase, it must be figured out who is alive and who is dead - which is very difficult given the book's premise, that a dead person's consciousness can live on. The main difficulty, then, lies in resolving the false memories of the deceased (who are stored in special capsules to keep their consciousnesses from disintegrating) with the real memories of those who are still alive.
This setup is further distorted by the presence of a group of people with a wide variety of psychic powers, among whom a woman with the ability to change the past, and thereby, the present. As a result of that, the story itself has a tendency to jump from one timeline, or reality, to another one from one line to the next. This guarantees a very unsettling read.
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