Valis (S.F. Masterworks) (Paperback)

Central to the book are the deaths of two women (Sherri & Gloria) and their impact upon the author, who suffers a breakdown as personal tragedies mount up. Page after page is dedicated to theological and/or philosophical theories, many created by the Dick himself, and are uniquely tailored to his personal circumstances. Other theories would appear to be virtually cut and pasted from copies of the author's Britannicas. Dick uses creating these theories as a form of 'catharsis'(as he states in the book) to help make sense of why such troubling things happen to him. That is my simplified perspective anyway.

At best, there are certain passages that have a wonderful, visionary quality. This is especially apparent when Dick describes his visitation from God(or Valis/St. Sophia/'zebra'); dreams he has had; or the Lamptons' motion picture (also titled) VALIS. At worst, some of the pages dealing with complex theories are mildly boring.

You'll probably find this rewarding if your familiar with Dick's work, if not A SCANNER DARKLY or THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, may be a better bet.

I suggest if you have started reading it and have given up,stick with it! It is a truly rewarding book and I would recommend it to anyone who is fairly open-minded and who has ever questioned life,and why we are here.

Happy reading!

I read this many years ago having borrowed the entire Valis trilogy from a friend thinking - "Philip K. Dick, yeah, he writes science fiction, therefore this must be science fiction". It is, no doubt about it, but it's quite unlike any other sci-fi I've read. The first time I read this, it was an effort and for the most part I didn't enjoy it much. I didn't really think that it was sci-fi then, and felt cheated.
Then I got to the last few chapters and it all began to gell for me. The exegesis which is liberally littered throughout the main body of the novel was re-printed at the end, and it all made sense to me there, when it hadn't in the piecemeal form.
Subsequently reading about PKD and the problems he faced from 1974 onwards just makes this book even more special. Once you realise that it's semi-autobiographical it almost becomes something different. This actually prompted me to read Valis again, and this time it completely blew me away.
I've read it again since that, and I think it was the most enjoyable yet. The only problem(??) then was having to continue on to read the Divine Invasion and the Transmigration of Timothy Archer, which complete the trilogy.

It's not a good place to start if you've not read PKD before, but it is one of his best (IMO). His dark wit shines through at times, and so do the moments of dark depression. It comes across to me as a work of love, and also a catharsis. Valis was certainly something that obsessed PKD for many years. I understand why, I almost find myself looking for signs of Valis sometimes, especially after a particularly unlikely coincidence or synchronous event.

All that said I'd just like to re-iterate that this is not a conventional sci-fi novel. It can be read on many different levels, but be prepared to jump into the deep end of the philosophical pool. Otherwise, stay down the shallow end and read Harry Potter or Dr. Who novels instead.