Hacker News Reader

Comment by Al-Khwarizmi | Hacker News Reader

Glad to see Ubik mentioned. While far from unknown, it typically takes a back seat to other works by Dick, and IMHO it's the absolute best. It is unsettling in a way comparable, although different, to Kafka.

View on HN

I'll have to disagree on this one. I'm a big Phillip K. Dick fan, and have read many of his works (though it's been a while), but I found Ubik to be a slog and didn't really enjoy it.

To anyone reading this - I'm not saying don't read it - it's a beloved book! I'm just saying, if you read it and don't enjoy it, keep in mind that you might be like me and enjoy his other stuff more.

I'm with you on this, I liked the ideas in Ubik, but I found it really hard to go through it compared to other Dick works, but of course everyone is different.

Agreed. Speaking of underrated works from cyberpunk authors, you may be interested in William Gibson's non-fiction essay collection Distrust That Particular Flavor. My hot take: I think Gibson's non-fiction is much stronger than his fiction.

EDIT: Ooh, that collection includes Disneyland with the Death Penalty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Pena...

> My hot take: I think Gibson's non-fiction is much stronger than his fiction.

Wow, that's spicy.

Will def check those out though.

Here's an even spicier take:

Although less prescient, Seveneves was a better read than Cryptonomicon.

Let's hope it is less prescient. If it isn't... global warming will be the least of our problems.

You shut your mouth! :-)

Actually, if you said the first 2/3 of Seveneves was a better read than Cryptonomicon, then maybe..

Reply on news.ycombinator.com