I finally saw A Scanner Darkly last week and was mightily disappointed at how lame it was. Although, just like the book, it’s saved by it’s ending.

Philip K. Dick has been floating around in my head recently. What with Elliot putting The Man in the High Castle on his favorites list, me having it on my wish list, getting Ubik for Christmas, and seeing Scanner Darkly this week.

For more Dick, click. And click. And kinda click.

Amongst all his craziness there is always hope…

“The power of spurious realities battering at us today—these deliberately manufactured fakes never penetrate to the heart of true human beings. I watch the children watching TV and at first I am afraid of what they are being taught, and then I realize, They can’t be corrupted or destroyed. They watch, they listen, they understand, and, then, where and when it is necessary, they reject. There is something enormously powerful in a child’s ability to withstand the fraudulent. A child has the clearest eye, the steadiest hand. The hucksters, the promoters, are appealing for the allegiance of these small people in vain. True, the cereal companies may be able to market huge quantities of junk breakfasts; the hamburger and hot dog chains may sell endless numbers of unreal fast-food items to the children, but the deep heart beats firmly, unreached and unreasoned with. A child of today can detect a lie quicker than the wisest adult of two decades ago. When I want to know what is true, I ask my children. They do not ask me; I turn to them.”
How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later by Philip K. Dick, 1978

While it’s the insane ideas that attract me, I think it’s the hope that has kept me.