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‘Really excellent entertainment’
Daily Telegraph
‘An elusive and incomparable artist’
Ursula LeGuin
‘My literary hero’
Fay Weldon
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One of the genuine visionaries that North American literature has produced. (L.A.WEEKLY )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the finest of Dick's 1960s works, "Palmer Eldritch" is a book brimful of superb ideas. Some are bitingly satirical (future colonists will relieve the excruciating boredom of their lives by entering the ideal world of Ken and Barbie analogue Perky Pat, making dolls and doll accessories the most prized items in the solar system). Some are sad (humans undergo a cosmetic process to accelerate their evolution, but sometimes the process goes awry). And some are just plain terrifying, particularly those ideas surrounding the evil messiah Palmer Eldritch, who returns from Proxima Centauri with a divine sacrament that just might grant eternal life.
Unlikely ever to be filmed, (though John Lennon and Timothy Leary reputedly tried to secure the rights), and unlikely to appeal to hardcore sci-fi fans on account of its playful treatment of religious themes, "Stigmata" is nonetheless a brilliant, thoughtful novel about the slippery nature of reality and the untrustworthiness of those who claim to be experts on the subject. The fact that it's so often overlooked is understandable, but for those who can be bothered it will more than reward your patience.
Unlikely ever to be filmed, (though John Lennon and Timothy Leary reputedly tried to secure the rights), and unlikely to appeal to hardcore sci-fi fans on account of its playful treatment of religious themes, "Stigmata" is nonetheless a brilliant, thoughtful novel about the slippery nature of reality and the untrustworthiness of those who claim to be experts on the subject. The fact that it's so often overlooked is understandable, but for those who can be bothered it will more than reward your patience.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"In the overcrowded world and cramped space colonies of the late 21st century, tedium can be endured through the use of the drug Can-D, which enables the user to inhabit a shared illusory world. When industrialist Palmer Eldritch returns from an interstellar trip, he brings with him a new drug, Chew-Z, which is far more potent than Can-D, but threatens to plunge the world into a permanent state of drugged illusion controlled by the mysterious Eldritch."
-- from the back cover
Written in 1964 and published the following year, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (Philip K Dick's sixteenth published novel), deals with a number of the themes that dominate his work (pre-cognition, the nature of reality, drugs etc..). As with all PKD's works this novel is packed with ideas that make you marvel at his imagination but also (if you are of a philosophical turn of mind) bring you to question and consider the themes he raises for yourself. PKD also creates characters that I at least find believable. As Ursula Le Guin has said "There are no heroes in Dick's books, but there are heroics. One is reminded of Dickens: what counts is the honesty, constancy, kindness and patience of ordinary people." PKD's characters always strike me as in some way authentic.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.
"I am afraid of that book [The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch]; it deals with absolute evil, and I wrote it during a great crisis in my religious beliefs. I decided to write a novel dealing with absolute evil as personified in the form of a "human." When the galleys came from Doubleday I couldn't correct them because I could not bear to read the text, and this is still true."
-- Philip K Dick
"The worlds through which Philip Dick's characters move are subject to cancellation or revision without notice. Reality is approximately as dependable as a politician's promise."
--Roger Zelazny in Philip Dick: Electric Shepherd (1975), Bruce Gillespie, ed.
If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would also recommend the novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?: The novel which became 'Blade Runner' (S.F. Masterworks)
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (S.F. Masterworks)
That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections:
Beyond Lies The Wub: Volume One Of The Collected Short Stories
Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Short Stories
The Father-Thing: Volume Three Of The Collected Short Stories
Minority Report: Volume Four Of The Collected Short Stories
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Volume Five of The Collected Short Stories
-- from the back cover
Written in 1964 and published the following year, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (Philip K Dick's sixteenth published novel), deals with a number of the themes that dominate his work (pre-cognition, the nature of reality, drugs etc..). As with all PKD's works this novel is packed with ideas that make you marvel at his imagination but also (if you are of a philosophical turn of mind) bring you to question and consider the themes he raises for yourself. PKD also creates characters that I at least find believable. As Ursula Le Guin has said "There are no heroes in Dick's books, but there are heroics. One is reminded of Dickens: what counts is the honesty, constancy, kindness and patience of ordinary people." PKD's characters always strike me as in some way authentic.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.
"I am afraid of that book [The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch]; it deals with absolute evil, and I wrote it during a great crisis in my religious beliefs. I decided to write a novel dealing with absolute evil as personified in the form of a "human." When the galleys came from Doubleday I couldn't correct them because I could not bear to read the text, and this is still true."
-- Philip K Dick
"The worlds through which Philip Dick's characters move are subject to cancellation or revision without notice. Reality is approximately as dependable as a politician's promise."
--Roger Zelazny in Philip Dick: Electric Shepherd (1975), Bruce Gillespie, ed.
If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would also recommend the novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?: The novel which became 'Blade Runner' (S.F. Masterworks)
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (S.F. Masterworks)
That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections:
Beyond Lies The Wub: Volume One Of The Collected Short Stories
Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Short Stories
The Father-Thing: Volume Three Of The Collected Short Stories
Minority Report: Volume Four Of The Collected Short Stories
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Volume Five of The Collected Short Stories
23 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Stigmata deals with a number of Dick's themes: identidy, what is reality, drugs. I read this book a couple of years ago, and I bought it for about 80 pence in a second hand book stall. It was one of the best investments I've ever made. The pages that deal with the Perky Pat playsets are particularly memorable , revealing Dick to be a thoughtful , witty writer.
In a nutshell, buy it, borrow it , steal it...just do what you have to do to read it
In a nutshell, buy it, borrow it , steal it...just do what you have to do to read it
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good book, marred by lousy Kindle version
Unfortunately the experience of reading this book was marred by the formatting of the ebook. Most significantly, spaces between paragraphs are always the same, so there are no... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pablo Florian
standard fare?
This was my first Dick book and I was surprised to find it no where near the hype. There are nicely amusing ideas, but apart from the basic idea of some extragalactic trying to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Spacebo
cross between inception and matrix
Good book with interesting concepts, but found the characters wooden, infact Leo and Barney were almost indistinguishable. Overall a good book and would recommend to sf lovers
Published 1 month ago by A. Webber
Questioning reality four decades before Inception
I just finished reading this wonderful masterpiece, and as with so many other of Philip K. Dick's novels it left me both enlightened and confused, happy and sad, courageous and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by The Electronic Listener
The best of philosophical Sci-Fi
If you like a bit of existential doubt to pop into your life every now and then, read this book.
Published 9 months ago by Katherine
Multi-Layered and Rich in Content
Firstly, this book is easy to pick up and read. Some reviewers suggest that you should try other works first, but I don't see why this should be the case. Read more
Published 11 months ago by sunsoul
Complex
This is one of those books that deserves a very thoughful review. Phillip's books are often some of the more complex in Science Fiction with numerous twists and turns. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Christian
pleasingly odd
excellant read from start to finish, usual twisted alagorical madness from Mr Dick, he was on a trip for this one me thinks. well worth the time spent... Read more
Published 20 months ago by digi-mech
Seriously confusing
Maybe this represents post modern or something as all of the characters in the book can just be classed as greedy suffering from avarice. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Paul M
Confusing with 2D characters
This is the first Philip K Dick book I've read, and as a sci-fi fan I expected to enjoy it. The narrative was difficult to follow, which demonstrated the warped effect of the drug... Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by Mini Ninja
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