Ubik
Ratings247
Average rating4
Este livro foi parar as minhas mãos sem saber muito bem como, li a descrição e achei interessante, mas nunca na vida ía achar que o livro é tão bom só pela descrição. Como foi a minha primeira leitura do Philip K. Dick toda a permissa do livro surpeende-me imenso, mas sendo que já vi outros livros dele apercebi-me que a temática do “o que é real o que é na minha cabeça” é bastante comum nos livros dele.
Eu acho que é daqueles livros que não deviam ter muita coisa a dizer na sua descrição, e desse modo também não vou explicar muito. Só sei que vale imensa a pena ler este livro se gostam de fantasia e ficção científica. E especialmente quem nunca leu Phillip K. Dick.
I liked Ubik by PKD. But again, it seemed like it barely got started before it was already over. Not only that, like so many books, it gave no closure. I guess Ubik is a metaphor for God (it's everywhere and fixes everything!) but as a guy reading a book I like to see a story take full arc and come to a close.
The book starts out interestingly enough - with Joe Chip and G.G. Ashwood finding a new “intertial” - someone who can negate the effects of a “psi” with powers like they've never seen. Seems like a great start to an epic adventure! But as you progress through the book, the girl they find is mostly quiet, and instead the story turns to the characters being trapped in a fantasy world that exists because of (what I assume to be) a psi boy who was killed and put into half-life prematurely. Some super villian.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the ride while I was taking it. I was just as anxious to turn the page as I have been in any story, wondering what it all meant and what the clues would lead to next. But by the end I was disappointed in both the main antagonist and the non-closure of the storyline.
List of unresolved plot points:
- What is the “rebirth” that Ella Runciter is going through?
- Why did Pat claim to be working for Hollis? If it was Jory pretending to be Pat, why did he claim to be working for Hollis?
- How can Jory “eat” minds and further sustain his own life? A lot of WTF here - what could this mean?
- If we can forever sustain ourselves in coldpac and also continue to speak with others in coldpac, why aren't they putting live people in coldpac instead of focusing on “almost dead” people?
- Why is 1939 the “FINAL DATE” that we can go back to? If we're in 1992 and Jory is in his teens shouldnt the earliest date be sometime around 1975?
- Why is everyone on Goodreads eating up Phillip K Dick? These Dick-lovers are insatiable! I've only tried Dick one other time, but it was paired with Isaac Asimov, so I'm not sure if it was the Dick or the 'sac that I was enjoying in that hardcopy.
I can't pretend I kept everything straight as I was reading this, but I still enjoyed it.
In a way I'm conflicted about this book.
PKD is one of my all-time favorites and I've always enjoyed his work, but I feel like there is a wide range of PKD books that can at times feel very different. But at their core, most PKD books share the same basic truths; the first portion of the book is where he establishes an interesting world, characters and sets rules. The third and final portion is where all of those rules are broken, sometimes incrementally until they've been shattered.
Sure, that doesn't account for 100% of his books, but for a large portion of them it works. For Ubik it is dead on. The problem with Ubik is that the entire second act is just kind of there. It makes sense that it is like that because there is a mystery unraveling in Ubik and the characters need to exist within the confined set of rules that have been established for this world. The problem is that the stuff that happens in there isn't that interesting.
There are definitely moments that are captivating, but by-and-large I found myself putting this book down a lot, which considering it being a rather quick read, is kind of a bummer. The beginning established such an interesting world and characters, as PKD is prone to doing, but then watching some of them lament around it wasn't nearly as fun as it seemed it would be.
That being said, the four stars is because that beginning was just so strong and the last third was enough to wash the dull middle section away almost completely. Dick likes to play with perception and concepts of isolation, alienation and existence in general. Ubik is no different in this regard and wraps itself up in the exact fashion that you'd want from Philip K. Dick.
What a fun little read. I can see why everyone enjoys Philip K. Dick, this story was imaginative, fun, and entertaining. I highly recommend it!
I… feel very confused by this book. Other than H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, I am not all that well-versed in old sci-fi. However I figured that I would be equipped to tackle this book as I am a long-time sci-fi fan. After reading it I have to come to the conclusion that I wasn’t as this book was straight-up too vague for me. Ubik feels like a book that uses its plot to ask grandiose questions without really giving a strong answer to any of them. I think this can be done well but between the writing and the odd characters and things never making sense I never felt like I had a good enough grasp on the situation at hand to think about the questions the book ponders. It throws you from one mystery to the next, giving you no time to ground yourself before another surprise shows up. And yet in spite of all of that I can’t say this book didn’t entertain me. It’s a weird ride that left me firmly befuddled but a ride I ultimately enjoyed.
Amazing.
I've been a fan of Dick's for a long time (ever since a university professor of mine used him to explain what Gnosticism is), and it seems like this short novel manages to sum up all of Dick's attitudes toward religion and spirituality in one nice little 200-page package. It's as much a parable of Gnosticism as it is anything else, but there's some nice visuals along the way as well. Time keeps regressing for our main character Joe Chip - he starts off in the futuristic world of 1992, but after surviving an explosion on the lunar colony, he finds himself and the world around him gradually sliding back in time to 1939. As he's traveling, however, two additional mysteries present themselves - Joe has to discover why his friend and colleague Runciter, who dies in the lunar explosion, is sending him messages, and also the secret of Ubik, a substance that seems to have been around since forever but which no one seems to understand.
Throughout the book, Dick breaks some of what are considered basic rules for how a novel should be structured, but he does it in such an artful way that it leaves you feeling unsettled, rather than disappointed.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed the Matrix films (or their spiritual predecessor, Morrison's Invisibles series).
I read this after joining the Verge book club and being impressed with their choices. This fitted right into my schedule, coming in at just over 7 hours long.
I haven't read much science fiction, and no Philip K. Dick at all, so I came into this with the no real expectations.
It was highly entertaining and didn't require as much concentration as denser books, such as Foucault's Pendulum to name but one other book club choice! I was able to listen to this whilst wandering around Glasgow after getting my iPhone handset replaced and waiting for the next train out of Central. In fact, that environment actually enhanced the story as I was listening to it. For me, a bustling city is kinda surreal and the story is the same.
Watching the Verge's podcast about the book, I noted, along with panel member Laura June, that I had not paid any attention to the clothing that was described, which is interesting given that the clothing is so ridiculous!
I kept thinking that I knew what was going to happen, but that's the red herrings and misdirection of the book I suppose.
Was I satisfied with the ending?
I'd have to say that I was. I love open-ended books that make you think and stay with you after you've finished them. I have a strong feeling that I'll read this again sometime.
This book employs a literary technique that annoys me. I believe the proper term for it is ‘unreliable witness.' It is frustrating to read a story, and eventually learn that the narrator / author has been lying to the reader about what is real. About the only redeeming part of this book, in my opinion, was the imagination shown by the author, writing in 1969 - and imagining how things would change by 1992.
Siempre he sido fan de la ciencia ficción dura, mucha ciencia, menos ficción. Pero “Ubik” se ha encargado de darme un golpe en la cara.
Una sociedad en la que el Sistema cobra por todo, un peculiar modelo de Sociedad, con unos mutantes de poderes psíquicos, unos anti-mutantes que anulan a los anteriores y unas cámaras mortuorias en donde los muertos permanecen vivos, son los ingredientes que conforman ésta mezcla casi psicodélica que se emparenta muy de cerca con lo mejor de Alfred Bester.
El protagonista es un analista psíquico quién descubre a una psíquica única capaz de alterar el curso del tiempo. Nuestro analista trabaja para una compañía que maneja a un vasto grupo de psíquicos, compañía que tiene un rival, rival que provoca un atentado en la Luna, matando a su dueño.
Desde ahí el desarrollo de la historia es vertiginoso, casi sin pausas, con sucesos que parecen sacados de un viaje en ácido, con un protagonista cada vez más confundido y un mundo que se transforma y que retrocede en el tiempo.
Decir más sería arruinar la sorpresa.
Disfruten.
Ubik. A (well-written?) review by Rob, but only when used as directed.This won't be a long review as the book wasn't that long, so I'm foregoing my usual format. I haven't read a lot by [a:Philip K. Dick 4764 Philip K. Dick http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]. Mostly a lot of short stories that movies have been adapted from.Ubik came across my radar when Amazon was running an e-book sale on various PKD works. It was recommended as one of his better stories.I came into it knowing nothing about it. I don't think I had even read the blurb. It started slow, but picked up steam as it went along. It was a 3 at the start and pushing into 4 range by the end, but since it was only so-so at the start I stuck with 3.I feel like this is a book where the less you know about it going in, the better it is. I will say there is some usual of his tropes: pre-cognition, telekinesis, and time travel. Sort of. You'll see.It's a quick read at only about 200 pages, and worth checking out if you can borrow it, or pick it up on the cheap like I did.
Arguable PKD's most iconic work, and definitely one of his strangest. In a far future humans are colonising the Moon and developing strong psychic abilities. Companies are employing psychics to sit in a room and do industrial espionage from a distance. One company sends a team of them to the Moon for such purpose but there is an explosion and not everyone survives.
Second story strand: People who are almost dead can be put into cryo-sleep and kept alive. They can be temporarily brought out of sleep for conversations through a psychic medium. But these sessions shorten the ultimate storage time possible for the person.
Put these two strands together. Some of those sent to the moon have died and are in cryo-sleep.
Everyone tries to get on with their lives, but strange things keep happening. It seems time is running backwards and everything is inexplicably old. And then Ubik appears in advertising. It's the universal fixit. One spray and everything is good again. But what is in the can and where do you get it?
PKD puts together a narrative that has the reader questioning 'who is alive and who is in cryo-sleep?' And does it even matter? After all, PKD's ability to blend the reality of human consciousness with weird alternatives is never ending.
Actualización 01/02/2021:
Ahora, varios libros de PKD después, puedo mantener firme mi opinión: esto sigue siendo lo mejor que he leído del autor. Es una maldita obra maestra. Ya necesitaba regresar a algo bueno para variar.
Encontré este maravilloso arte conceptual en ArtStation.com, creado por Fei Zhou:
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Ha sido una historia distinta a las que estoy acostumbrado a leer, me ha gustado mucho el tema metafísico que propone Dick en esta novela. Al terminar el libro realmente no estás seguro de nada, me he quedado con la duda de saber quién estaba muerto realmente... si es que alguien lo estuvo alguna vez.
Mi spiace dirlo, ma dei libri fin qui letti di Dick questo mi sembra uno dei meno interessanti.
Intendiamoci, bella trama, bella storia, ma mancano quelle incursioni nella psicologia umana, quelle digressioni nell'io che tanto mi hanno fatto amare altri suoi classici come “Le tre stimmate...” o “ma gli androidi...”, “Scorrete lacrime...” per non parlare della “Svastica sul Sole”.
Insomma, Ubik al confronto ne esce come un bel libro di fantascienza, ma tutto li. I suoi capolavori sono, IMHO, altri.
Amen.
In a future with mind-reading-espionage and anti-psychics counter-businesses, this starts out as a more typical scifi corporate thriller, in a nonetheless intriguing future where capitalism rules and simple household machines are coin-operated. But then a bomb explodes, and slowly reality seems to crumble. We're in a dream-like world, and usually I find this rather frustrating, when narrative control and in-world-physics seems to slip away together, but Dick does a good job at being as rigid and descriptive and so manages to keep you grounded. And even when it all turned out to be a "oh actually, they are all dead and living in a virtual after-life of sorts" reveal, I didn't mind, even though I usually hate these turns. I think it was setup well.Deserving of being a classic. [b:The Lathe of Heaven 59924 The Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le Guin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433084322l/59924.SX50.jpg 425872] is a good spiritual cousin I'd say.
Wonderful book, unsettling science fiction. My first PKD experience, excited to delve into more of his works!
Short Review: This is really a 3.5 star book. Philip K Dick write weird and wonderful stories that are usually baffling. This is one that it is hard to describe without being full of spoilers. So my full review on my blog has all the spoilers. But here I will just say that this seems to be about the nature of reality and how can you ever know what is really going on. Lev Grossman described it as a horror story in the book description, but that seems completely wrong to me. It is a thriller in the sense that there is action and you don't know what it going on most of the book, but not horror.
http://bookwi.se/ubik-philip-k-dick/
Ubik è un romanzo dello scrittore statunitense Philip K. Dick pubblicato nel 1969. Ubik è considerato uno dei migliori romanzi di Dick, nel quale la sua classica tecnica di dissoluzione della trama e dei personaggi è mescolata con una fantasia irresistibile e da una dose generosa di umorismo nero; Philip K. Dick scrisse nel 1974 anche una sceneggiatura per un film che doveva essere tratto dal suo romanzo ma che non fu mai realizzato e il libro che ho letto contiene anche questa.
Il romanzo venne pubblicato negli Stati Uniti al culmine dell'ondata psichedelica, e per lungo tempo è stato ritenuto il prodotto delle esperienze dello scrittore californiano con l'LSD. In realtà Dick provò per una sola volta l'acido, e per quanto alcune scene del romanzo nascano dalle visioni avute in quell'occasione, il libro è prevalentemente costruito dalla fantasia di Dick, alimentata per lo più dalle anfetamine.
La trama è più o meno questa: nel futuro lo spionaggio commerciale è diventato una guerra combattuta con tutte le armi, anche con i poteri paranormali. Telepati, telecinetici, si sforzano di carpire i segreti delle grandi aziende multinazionali. E siccome per ogni offesa si studia una difesa, ecco che per neutralizzare le spie dotate di poteri paranormali si attivano agenzie di neutralizzazione. Una di queste è diretta dall'uomo d'affari Glen Runciter, e per lui lavora il protagonista del romanzo, Joe Chip, un tecnico che intrattiene con Runciter un rapporto di amicizia. Runciter è anche aiutato dalla moglie Ella, deceduta da tempo, ma tenuta in animazione sospesa (la cosiddetta semi-vita) in un moratorium. Runciter e Chip, più una pattuglia di inerziali si trovano a doversi recare sulla Luna per affari, e scoprono troppo tardi di essere stati attirati in un attentato dinamitardo, con il quale Hollis, il proprietario della più importante agenzie di spie psi, intende eliminare il suo più grande avversario. Dopo l'esplosione l'unico morto risulta essere Runciter, e Chip con gli inerziali organizza il contrattacco. Ma presto qualcosa di strano comincia a succedere. Gli oggetti regrediscono: i videotelefoni si trasformano in vecchi telefoni in bachelite, i moderni razzi diventano aerei a elica, le automobili tornano agli anni trenta. Tutto ritorna a un tempo precedente, e una serie di enigmatiche tracce e indizi conducono verso la città di Des Moines.
L'atmosfera allucinatoria e folle del romanzo deriva appunto dall'interferenza di due piani di realtà, uno dei quali in continua trasformazione.
La prima cosa che ho pensato quando ho finito il romanzo è stata “io e Dick, non andiamo d'accordo”, la seconda “l'unico romanzo Dickiano che mi è piaciuto è stato l'uomo nell'alto castello” e l'ultimo “ringrazio Dick per aver scritto un libro (per me) mediocre come gli androidi sognano pecore elettriche? che è diventato il film culto Blade Runner”. Questo romanzo, che a detta di molti, è il suo migliore, mi ha entusiasmato pochissimo e anche se ho apprezzato l'idea che sta dietro alla storia, non mi ha mai reso attivamente partecipe nella lettura, che soprattutto nelle prime parti è stata uno sforzo continuo per andare avanti e portarla a termine.
In effetti continuo a ripetermi che un libro del genere dovrebbe piacermi a priori, perché richiama quasi tutte quelle idee che io considero geniali ed entusiasmanti per un fantastico libro di fantascienza, eppure qualcosa non è andato come doveva e io rimango qui a non capire perché un libro che sulla carta e nelle premesse poteva essere uno dei miei libri preferiti, si è trasformato in un pantano da cui ho fatto fatica ad uscire.
Incompreso.
I liked this science fiction novel of the past intruding into the present. I especially liked the scene where Joe sees an early twentieth-century elevator instead of the modern one that should be there.