⋙ Libro Radio Free Albemuth Philip K Dick 9780679781370 Books

Radio Free Albemuth Philip K Dick 9780679781370 Books

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Radio Free Albemuth Philip K Dick 9780679781370 Books

This book almost reads like a fantastic "swan song" from PKD, but I forget that, although posthumously published in 1985, it was actually written in 1976, and was the first book (pre-dating the so-called "VALIS Trilogy") to describe a lot of his own actual mystical experiences in February and March of 1974.

This book is amazingly good. I don't understand why it got such a bad review from the one writer cited and quoted on the wikipedia article for this novel. To me, it is probably the most mature and enjoyable of his books, rivaling "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer" in sheer novelistic skill; for anyone who says Philip K. Dick wrote hurried, choppy, novels of varying quality, they need to read this book! His characterizations, dialogue, arranging of plots and events, etc., are sheer genius. And of course it's amazing to realize (when you research Dick's mystical experiences) just how many of Nicholas Brady's--the novel's protagonist's--mystical experiences were actually Dick's! This novel really is beautiful in many ways, with wonderful passages (but that's common in Dick's work). In fact, the scene where Brady actually meets Valis / The Father, in the vision near the end, is probably the most beautiful passage in Dick's work that I ever read. It's also essentially a Christian book, and it's very encouraging for Christians to read Philip's praise and anticipation of Jesus's return, although Philip was never as dogmatic or biased as many Christians have been.

It IS a kind of dystopian novel, set in a slightly alternate, slightly worse post-World-War-II America (though I'd venture to suggest Dick was writing a lot of true-to-life happenings, since he himself went through the chaotic 1960s and the paranoid Cold War years). Much of it reads like Orwell's "1984". But whereas that novel got bleaker and darker, with a very dark and pessimistic conclusion, THIS novel reveals more and more hope and light--through the divine, supernatural figures of VALIS--as it goes on, so that although the realistic, disturbing conclusion arrives, at the same time there have been more and more beatific and benevolent cosmic revelations and visions revealed to Brady and the others.

I prefer this work to "VALIS", which was apparently the re-written version of this novel, and which seems to me to've obviously reflected a lot of Dick's turmoil, anger, and confusion surrounding his mystical experiences and life-events at the time, whereas this one has more positive resolution, clarity, and peace in trying to understand them.

For what it's worth, in my opinion there is not really a "VALIS Trilogy" at all. "The Divine Invasion" is another great novel from around this time, and so is "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer", but they hardly link up to either "VALIS" or even this novel at all--especially "TToTA". They are rather stand-alone books which do have some common, connecting threads. In fact, if I were ever to suggest there being a "trilogy" of these novels, I would suggest this novel, then "VALIS", then "The Divine Invasion", not "VALIS", "The Divine Invasion", and "The Transmigration..." which is the "official" "trilogy".

In summary, this is one of Dick's most mature, well-written, interesting, beautiful, poetic, moving, spiritual, (and, yes, Christian) novels.


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Radio Free Albemuth Philip K Dick 9780679781370 Books Reviews

A must read before you see the movie. There is odd coincidence that the written version builds slowly and climaxes late and swift. (The movie is the opposite.) It is essentially the same story as VALIS, but is a much more accessible read The cast of characters is re-shuffled in an alternate Dick universe; with variant backgrounds and differing goals.
Great copy, speedy delivery. One of my favorite PKD books -- more cogent than VALIS
A superbly told glimpse into a possible future replete with all the political intrigue we see all around us. A warning? A history lesson? Probably both.
RFA combines concepts from VALIS, The Divine Invasion, A Scanner Darkly, The Man in the High Castle, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. This is the rejected original version of VALIS, althouth I find that hard to understand after reading it since it's so brilliant and unique. It's arguably better than VALIS for the fact that it contains all of the same themes in the context of a better story. One of the strong points of this novel is the dialogue - there are some unforgettable conversations here between Phil and Nicholas, the two main characters. Two other memorable characters are a mysterious cancer patient named Sadassa Silva and an ex-preacher named Leon at the very end. This book gives you the perfect combination of Dick's religious cosmology and his political philosophy. In most of his books, one of these is prominent over the other, but RFA gives you the perfect blend. I also felt that this completed and complemented VALIS. In an amazing way (fitting of one theme in the book itself), it's a good thing that RFA was rejected by Dick's editors 30 years ago. It caused him to write two masterpieces about the same things, and now we get to read them both.

This was one of the most satisfying and important reads of my life. Everyone should experience it - especially those with an affection for metaphysics - but even if you don't, this will open up your mind.
This is relevant for the current political era.
This was an early version of Dick's masterpiece VALIS. It is a very different novel and a very good one in its own right, full of the same metaphysical issues but not as directly autobiographical as VALIS. It is set in an alternate universe in which a certain Ferris F. Fremont (a thinly disguised Richard Nixon) is president. Nixon's paranoia about domestic "enemies" becomes Fremont's all-out campaign against a supposed conspiracy called Aramchek. To crack down on this enemy, an insidious secret police organization called FAP (Friends of the American People) is set up. Nicholas Brady, an alter ego for Dick himself, is the target for FAP harassment, and learns that the conspiracy is real. Aramchek is the satellite that is beaming information to several thousand highly aware individuals around the world, forming a "collective brain." Radio Free Albemuth is cast in a more straightforward science-fictional mode than the unconventional VALIS. But on its own merits, it is an absorbing novel that is the best possible introduction to the material and preoccupations of Dick's later years.
This book almost reads like a fantastic "swan song" from PKD, but I forget that, although posthumously published in 1985, it was actually written in 1976, and was the first book (pre-dating the so-called "VALIS Trilogy") to describe a lot of his own actual mystical experiences in February and March of 1974.

This book is amazingly good. I don't understand why it got such a bad review from the one writer cited and quoted on the wikipedia article for this novel. To me, it is probably the most mature and enjoyable of his books, rivaling "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer" in sheer novelistic skill; for anyone who says Philip K. Dick wrote hurried, choppy, novels of varying quality, they need to read this book! His characterizations, dialogue, arranging of plots and events, etc., are sheer genius. And of course it's amazing to realize (when you research Dick's mystical experiences) just how many of Nicholas Brady's--the novel's protagonist's--mystical experiences were actually Dick's! This novel really is beautiful in many ways, with wonderful passages (but that's common in Dick's work). In fact, the scene where Brady actually meets Valis / The Father, in the vision near the end, is probably the most beautiful passage in Dick's work that I ever read. It's also essentially a Christian book, and it's very encouraging for Christians to read Philip's praise and anticipation of Jesus's return, although Philip was never as dogmatic or biased as many Christians have been.

It IS a kind of dystopian novel, set in a slightly alternate, slightly worse post-World-War-II America (though I'd venture to suggest Dick was writing a lot of true-to-life happenings, since he himself went through the chaotic 1960s and the paranoid Cold War years). Much of it reads like Orwell's "1984". But whereas that novel got bleaker and darker, with a very dark and pessimistic conclusion, THIS novel reveals more and more hope and light--through the divine, supernatural figures of VALIS--as it goes on, so that although the realistic, disturbing conclusion arrives, at the same time there have been more and more beatific and benevolent cosmic revelations and visions revealed to Brady and the others.

I prefer this work to "VALIS", which was apparently the re-written version of this novel, and which seems to me to've obviously reflected a lot of Dick's turmoil, anger, and confusion surrounding his mystical experiences and life-events at the time, whereas this one has more positive resolution, clarity, and peace in trying to understand them.

For what it's worth, in my opinion there is not really a "VALIS Trilogy" at all. "The Divine Invasion" is another great novel from around this time, and so is "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer", but they hardly link up to either "VALIS" or even this novel at all--especially "TToTA". They are rather stand-alone books which do have some common, connecting threads. In fact, if I were ever to suggest there being a "trilogy" of these novels, I would suggest this novel, then "VALIS", then "The Divine Invasion", not "VALIS", "The Divine Invasion", and "The Transmigration..." which is the "official" "trilogy".

In summary, this is one of Dick's most mature, well-written, interesting, beautiful, poetic, moving, spiritual, (and, yes, Christian) novels.