Substance mort - The Library of the Uncommons

Conbini reviewed A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

Review of 'A Scanner Darkly' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

a weird far-out trip.....

short plot description: set in a near futture california we follow the story mostly from the perspective of Agent Fred, a law enforcement officer working in narcotics. When we meet him he is working undercover under the name "Bob Arctor", living in his house with some drug addicts and trying to break into the ranks of "Substance D"-dealers. Somewhere along the way he himself has become addicted and is having trouble distinguishing between his two identities and what's real and what are delusions. Things get even more confused for Fred/Bob when his superior (who doesn't know his second identity) assigns him to spy on himself.....

my thoughts: very intense and personal novel by PKD. In this books he explores themes of drug use and abuse, the construction of reality and the relationship between police-criminal (amongst others). Told from the inside of the characters it felt like …

indutny reviewed A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

What does the scanner see

5 stars

Content warning Contains some information on the plot and some thoughts about it.

On a surface layer "Scanner Darkly" is about the police state through the eyes of a paranoid junkie. Suspicion mixed up with delusion, true and broken friendship, and heavy drug use. However, further into the book and beneath the surface lies the question of a relationship between the god (if any) and man. Building upon St. Paul's "for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." Philip K. Dick seems to ask a question: if we do see the god darkly through the glass, does the god see us the same way? If there's no way to know whether you see only the worst in people, could it help to look into morally (and perhaps visually) inverted mirror? Watching his friends and himself Bob Arctor asks that, and wonders if it is someone's obligation to "at least mark their sad comings and goings" "so they’ll be remembered." The answer to this is certainly not present in the book, but sometimes a good question is much better to have and for that I'd recommend reading "Scanner Darkly".