FW: Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy Tales

[David Morris]

Most SciFi authors are remembered more for their ideas than their
writing.  PKD is a stand-out mostly because of his pervasive
questioning of reality itself, not surprising for a schizophrenic.
But that he could harness his mental illness into some cohesive
scenarios was his achievement, IMO.

David Morris

On Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis at verizon.net> wrote:
> JA>  How many dickheaded "serious" writers were contemporaneous to P K DicK?
>
> I'll stay away from the morass of "genre vs. 'serious'", but just to
> register a contrarian view: I've been re-shelving my library and -- somewhat
> to my surprise -- found no fewer than 17 Dick paperbacks from the 60s and
> early 70s, when I was gulping SF indiscriminately. He didn't loom that large
> in my memories, and frankly I'm puzzled by the ascent of his reputation over
> the last 10-15 years, culminating in the Library of America volume.
>
> it seems to me that what has happened is mostly the zeitgeist (e.g. Blade
> Runner) becoming more receptive to his habitual themes of identity,
> simulation, and overload of the "kipple" of pop/marketing culture -- and
> thus anointing him as prescient. Another factor might be his drug use and
> mental illness: Misunderstood Artists With Demons are always in demand, as
> long as we don't have to deal with them in person
>
> IMO it has to be that, because when I skimmed a few of those paperbacks, his
> writing was as I remembered: workmanlike at best,  more often just clunky.
> Outside of the atypically good Man in the High Castle,  I'm hard put to
> remember a character or line of narrative or thought. So put me down as JDGI
> -- just doesn't get it.
>