I have just finished Valis. My ongoing review of the book has been previously entered. It was (how shall I say…) interesting in it’s archetypal-overarching LOST/audience connection.
*******************************end flash-forward***********************edit: March 18, 2008******
Addendum:
This literary reference was too"in your face" for me to pass up. Plus the Wiki and the J Woods comments have intrigued me. I just bought the book.
From the aforementioned resources the following themes recur:
I am slogging through Valis. So far, I can't recommend it.
It is dense to the point I can only read about 3 pages, then stop and think. Whereas, this is typically good, I don't know if it is the subject matter or the way its being presented, that makes me take pause. That is, the narrative is through the experiences and thoughts of an admittedly deranged or totally insane person. So it can be hard to follow.
Thus far, I have no insights that would be any better than that given by the Wiki or J Wood _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
I've had this one lying around as audiobook for a while, as I'm a huge fan of Philip K Dick.
I think I will start this book tomorrow, or after the weekend. Looking forward to it, even though jg had made me a little apprehensive. Hehe. _________________ Blame any typos, misunderstandings of the basic English language or weird humor on my Danishness.
So, just started it. And yes, it's quite heavy and difficult to follow. But so far, a great story. Will post more on this, as I finish it. _________________ Blame any typos, misunderstandings of the basic English language or weird humor on my Danishness.
So far:
1) I see that the idea of Australian Aboriginal dream time as being the only reality is perhaps understandable to me. That is, that time is an illusion, and that we in fact are living in all times at once. Thus, I can articulate what I think Dick is saying without truly understanding the concept. I can see this as pertinent to Desmond's "time-shudders".
2) We see an insane man watching and commenting on an insane "reality". I can't see this as a LOST connection. (I know there doesn't have to be a LOST connection for everything). _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
I'm only about a fifth of the way through this book, but so far this is the worst PKD I've ever read. I'll give it more chances, of course, but right now I'm not enjoyinbg it as much as I could have.
As for great books by PKD... Well, his most famous work must be "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", filmatised (is that a word?) as Blade Runner.
But I think PKD shines most brightly in his short story collections. Minority Report is the best (it's unavailable from the printer, but has classics such as Minotiry Report and We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (filmed as Total Recall). Great collection, and the first I got my greasy hands on), in my opinion, but purists may recommend you getting all five volumes of "The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick".
Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 _________________ Blame any typos, misunderstandings of the basic English language or weird humor on my Danishness.
Another "in your face" Valis reference. Sheesh...I'm about 1/2 through...it's painful. I finished "Island", I guess I can finish Valis. _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
I am struggling still…but maybe it will be worth while. If you want to read the only thing that has been interesting so far, then read below. The only other thing that I see as a possible “tie-in” is that the crazy main character may have to do with Hurley. If that is the case, then I’m now thinking Hurley is the key to LOST.
On page 139-149 (of 241) the characters are discussing a film entitled Valis. This was a rather bizarre film as described in the book.
• There is a struggle between an electronics genius/music producer and the President of the USA.
• The music producer has built a gigantic music mixer the size of a fortress. This machine uses laser beams to create music using the producer brain as a transducer.
• The President wants to kill the music producer
• The President has various minions and stealthy assassins at work for him.
• There is morphing of the music producer into the president then back again and then again at the end.
• There is a burned out drug using rock star mixed in too.
• There is a scene in which some military types are launching a missile to presumably destroy the VALIS (Vast Active Living Intelligence System) satellite. Then there is a detonation of some kind and the missile control complex is bathed in pink light. The missile launch goes awry and the President is informed that the satellite destruction plan was a failure.
The issues discussed are:
• Subliminal messages in the film.
• One of the characters wants to analyze the film frame by frame.
• Various background items of the film are the same or contain similar symbols/meaning.
• Certain symbols may have other unanticipated meanings, i.e. Christian fish=DNA helix.
• VALIS can control single humans or whole populations if it wants to. The whole USA cannot see that the music producer/genius has taken the place of the President in the last scene of the movie.
• A lady puts her husband back together because she can travel back in time.
• The music of the film conveys the message of the film.
• A montage in the film makes it apparent that the satellite is very old and its not given who put it into orbit (not the Russians)
• The satellite is never seen overtly, but it appears in pictures in the background, e.g. on a calendar, a child’s toy, once in the sky (a flash-cut), in a diagram the President was examining, it was run over by a taxi cab but most think the taxi ran over a beer can because it sounded like a beer can
• Is time real?
If you are reading this line…then congratulations. I would not have had the patience. But, I hope this is helpful or interesting. I’ll update you all everybody if anything else strikes me as pertinent. _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
The next minor, though somewhat interesting (nod to John Keeler) items:
The main characters are so intrigued with the movie (Valis) that they re-watch it looking for back ground clues then discuss possible meanings. Sound familiar?
The main main character is mentally ill (?Hurley?) and is named Fat (Horselover Fat...really, it is) _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
OK...now a married couple are introduced who are "Friends of God" or Gottesfreunde.
They are very old yet time does not exist for them.
I followed this rabbit trail to Meister Eckhart which led me to Matthew Fox (an Episcopal priest, formerly a Catholic priest, but got kicked out...basically. For real.)
So, now Valis has me following rabbit trails...I hope I find a rabbit hole. _________________ "Sensitivity?….WHO CARES"- jg
I have finished Valis. It was a struggle and I only persisted because of the LOST connection. Whereas I didn’t get any overt clues or insight per se, I did get an overarching view of the reality in which we live, and further, perhaps why LOST fascinates so many of us. Valis and LOST meld mythos, religion and science fiction into a story. Valis also throws in a heavy dose of madness or presumed madness to give a different view of “reality”.
Embedded in the LOST experience is our (the audience) constant searching for patterns and meaning. The characters of Valis are doing the same thing. So, the curious thing for me is that we (the LOST audience) bear a general similarity to the characters of Valis. I may further posit that the LOST audience mirrors humanity in general in its search for meaning and patterns in things.
So, I have followed many rabbit trails in trying to ferret out meanings in LOST. I have found many curious things. I have found many patterns that simply don’t exist. Thus, I can understand why people can believe in alien abductions or even Atlantis. There are some tantalizing unexplained things that upon which we will force a pattern. (btw, I've also just finished a great critical thinking book: How We Know What Isn't So by Gilovich. I will re-read this one)
The appendix of the book contains the Tractate (Exegesis) of one of the main characters. This is the formal outline/ravings (melding mythos-religious-scifi) of the main character. Within this lies many archetypal ideas and references that could certainly distract me (and bore you) for quite some time. I’m done….I hope…
(I hope I can resist the urge now to open a thread regarding LOST and Carl Jung archetypes.)
If anyone is really going to read the Valis, don’t read this spoiler:
Spoiler:
The narrator’s name is Phil (probably Philip K. Dick himself). The main character is Horselover Fat (a Greek and German translation of Philip Dick). They are somehow the same person in the story. You don’t find this out until near the end.
No doubt, you gave a review worthy of cliffs notes. Thank you. _________________ "I dust a bit...in addition, I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip."
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