UBIK by Philip K. Dick

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UBIK by Philip K. Dick

Pub: Gollancz. 224 page paperback. Price: Ł 6.99(UK). ISBN 1 85798 853 .

Check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk

Joe Chip is the chief psi-tester for a major prudence organisation run by Glen Runciter.

UBIK by Philip K. Dick When Joe witnesses his boss die as a result of a humanoid bomb on Luna he does everything in his power to get him to cold-pac fast and save his half-life.

However, Joe's return to Earth and the subsequent events raise questions of what actually happened on Luna.

Reality is changing for Joe Chip. The world is decaying and regressing around him. He has to find some answers before it's too late. Compounding his problem is the insistent reappearance of ‘dead’ Glen Runciter on all forms of media, including television, advertising the new wonder cure-all Ubik that Joe is unable to get hold of.

Philip K. Dick presents us with a world many will be familiar with through his other novels or recent big-screen interpretations. The dialogue is rich and the description of the environment is complex and tactile.

There are fridges that demand payment for milk and doors that only open for a fee. The gradual disintegration of the Joe's world is documented with a fine eye for detail and period.

You can never be quite sure where you are in ‘Ubik’ and it constantly addresses the question of ‘just what is reality anyway?’ It was written in the late 1960's but feels surprisingly modern with its paranoid futuristic visions.

This quality has been emphasised in film adaptations of other Philip K. Dick novels. It makes you consider that perhaps the ‘K’ is for Kafka. (It's Kindred by the way.)

I enjoyed ‘Ubik’ and I am on my third time now. I read it first as a teenager - that's how enduring it is. The best thing about this book is the realisation that there are at least forty more Philip K. Dick novels for you to discover.

‘Don't delay, dip in today. Use ‘Ubik’, the novel way to read. Not to be taken internally. Use with caution.’

Sue Davies

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