ASD has always given me the most trouble of any PKD story I've ever read. I'm not sure why either, because if you can follow the VALIS books or Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (2 of my faves by him), everything else he wrote should seem lucid and streamlined by comparison. I've read it twice, but right after the midpoint of the book, Phil's characteristic second-half lack of steam seemed worse than ever. (try The Unteleported Man for possibly the greatest example of this ever) I can remember Bob Arctor, Charles Freck (if Woody Harrelson isn't him, the casting person's a total reeree), Dick's ever present dark-haired girl, and the big secret of Substance D, but everything else is a scramble-suited blur. I have no idea how some people can talk about reading Phil Dick on drugs. Three Stigmata... man, that's the closest I think anyone's ever come to successfully describing the "am I down? am I still going? did I say that? how do I know I didn't? am i going to think like this forever? how do I know I'm not?" part of the negative drug experience. If I went near that book having necked anything stronger than a philly blunt, I think I'd probably go missing for weeks and eventually be found on the top shelf of my closet, praying in latin, surrounded by collections of fetishes made from fingernails.
I have no idea how some people can talk about reading Phil Dick on drugs. Three Stigmata... man, that's the closest I think anyone's ever come to successfully describing the "am I down? am I still going? did I say that? how do I know I didn't? am i going to think like this forever? how do I know I'm not?" part of the negative drug experience. If I went near that book having necked anything stronger than a philly blunt, I think I'd probably go missing for weeks and eventually be found on the top shelf of my closet, praying in latin, surrounded by collections of fetishes made from fingernails.
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