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[Unpopular Question] Why is Ubik so popular ? (jlai.lu)

submitted 2 weeks ago by ElCanut@jlai.lu to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

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So there's a question I've been having for a while now: Why is Ubki, from Philip K Dick so popular ? I've read it, and was pretty disappointed. The scenario starts pretty well, but becomes very obvious amongst the rest of the book, there's little no to connection between the scenes, everything seems to have no relation, the final characters (Ella and Joe) are barely introduced, the resolution (Ubki's provenance) is barely explained, ...

Overall, I feel like I've read a really good scenario idea from a great author, but it feels like a missed opportunity; I’m left feeling unsatisfied.

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[–] ElCanut@jlai.lu 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I get that taste has a lot to do with it, but usually when I read one of the SF "classic", even though I don't like it I can see what other people like in it. Ubik is really one of the first where I didn't understand this. I just read an article saying that what I consider a lack of connections between the different part of the story is in fact a writing effect, to make readers have a "dreamy feeling" while reading the book. I hadn't considered it that way, and was looking to analysis like this, I'm not trying to tell people my taste is better, just wanted to have their input on the book

[–] sxan@midwest.social 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

And it's pretty typical of Dick. He often wrote surreal stuff.

I get what you were asking; I just don't know how to answer the question. Mind-bending, byzantine stories are a matter of taste, just as gritty grimdark is.

The first time I read Ubik, I was younger and the plot device hadn't yet been endlessly copied in other books; it wasn't obvious to me what was going on, and I enjoyed the voyage of discovery, and the novelty of the style. It sounds like you figured it out early, and that reduced your enjoyment of it. You can only experience that once, though, and now when I re-read it knowing how it ends, and what's happening, I can still recall how great it was the first time, and that makes up for the spoiler effect.

[–] ElCanut@jlai.lu 4 points 2 weeks ago

I think I understand a bit better now, thanks for your interesting comments !