Valis
By Philip k. Dick
Rating: 4.75/5
Genres: Science fiction, suspense, thriller, good vs evil, theology, mental illness, insanity, novel plot, 2021-read, reviewed.
Just like living things have an 'aura' around them with which some could guess their health/well being, books also seem to have a kind of aura around them. If it's a book written by Philip k Dick, one can be assured that it has some element of surprise, novelty, drugs, madness and a promise of a fun ride.
Valis is a pleasure to read.I ran through the pages with my eyes glued to my kindle. I couldn't put this book down. Philip Dick is one of the very established authors in the genre of science fiction but for the first 20-30 percent of the book , I wondered if he diverged into a memoir. Yet, his writing is so hilarious that on the one hand I was telling myself 'what a poor fellow this Horselover Fat( an alter ego of Philip, the narrator) is' and on the other hand laughing my head off at everything that's happening to him. Then he brings out his real canons - including not just artificial intelligence but also making that AI a replica of God! Would we believe if God is AI? If all the saviors that have come before have been versions of it? Philip has an uniquely developed creative imagination to conceive and create this world of rational irrationality.
Horselover Fat is an alter ego of Philip who is a science fiction writer. His friend Gloria kills herself and pushes him deep into throes of helplessness, nihilism and madness. His friends Philip(his same/sane part of the person), David(extremely pious), Kevin(extremely cynic) are convinced of his losing touch with reality when in 1974 , he starts claiming that information from outside is beamed into his head through a flash of pink light. He keeps a journal ( which he calls exegesis) and writes a lot of gibberish - about an empire from 2000 years back which has not ended, about humans who from that time are still alive and trying to infiltrate the minds of humans of current times etc. All these are brushed aside as ramblings of an unstable person. He sees visions which don't make much sense and resolves to make a tour of the world in search of a 'savior' who's born to save the world. While this is going on, Kevin one day takes them out to a movie called 'Valis'. Most of the experiences or entries by Fat in his journal are confirmed in the movie and the friends track down the actors and director of the movie. What happens next? Is horselover really insane or was it an invasion by an extraterrestrial being? How is this AI form claiming itself to be the savior? -- it's an intriguing and novel read.
There was no dull moment in this whole story - even if it is dealing in aspects like theology, god,satan,good evil etc. I think it's the writing and imaginative prowess of the author. But few questions nevertheless remained in my head - how is it that Horselover and Philip are identified as two people if they are indeed the same person? How does Fat go off on a trip round the world while Philip stays behind waiting for the arrival of St.Sophia?
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