The Divine Madness of Philip K. Dick
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Widely recognized as one of the most imaginative writers of the 20th century, Philip K. Dick helped to shape science fiction into the popular genre it is today. His stories, renowned for their sophisticated philosophical themes and startling portrayals of simulated realities, inspired numerous television and film adaptations, including the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner.
Dick's personal life took on an otherwordly quality when, in 1974, he famously had a series of bizarre visions. According to Dick, a pink light beamed psychic information into his brain, awakening memories of a past life as an ancient Christian revolutionary and granting him contact with time-traveling extraterrestrials. He witnessed scenes from ancient Rome superimposed over his California neighborhood, and warned local police he was a dangerous machine programmed to self-destruct. After the visions faded, Philip K. Dick spent the rest of his life trying to fathom the meaning of what he called his "divine madness." Was it schizophrenia? Or a genuine religious experience?
In The Divine Madness of Philip K. Dick, clinical psychologist Kyle Arnold probes the fascinating mystery of Dick's heart and mind, and shows readers how early traumas opened Dick to profound spiritual experiences while also predisposing him toward drug dependency and violence. Disputing the myth that Dick had schizophrenia, Arnold contends that Dick's well-known paranoia was caused by his addiction to speed. Despite Dick's paranoia, his divine madness was not a sign of mental illness, but a powerful spiritual experience conveyed in the images of science fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Psychologist Arnold tries to do many things at once in this "psychobiography" of SF author Philip K. Dick. He accomplishes some, but falls short on others. Arnold analyzes key events and patterns in his subject's life, using Dick's stories to illustrate the points he makes about the author's mental state at the time they were written. Dick's "origin story" begins with the death of his twin sister, Jane, in infancy, and continues with his mother's resentment of Dick for surviving. Arnold argues that the many traumas Dick experienced, beginning with parental neglect, contributed to his drug addictions, five troubled marriages, and breaks with reality, notably the visions he referred to collectively as "2-3-74." Refuting the diagnosis most commonly ascribed to Dick schizophrenia Arnold describes the author's mental illnesses one by one, including anorexia, paranoia, severe anxiety, vivid hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, and violent outbursts followed by amnesia. This unique take on a beloved writer has its flaws for example, the passages connecting Dick's life to his fiction can feel like an afterthought but its repetitive quality ultimately feels apt, capturing the cyclical nature of addiction and mental illness.
