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cc_bopopulous's review against another edition
4.0
The last 1/4 of the book moved it from 2 stars to 4. A great PKD book for sure.
ih8navyseals's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
ben_s_18's review against another edition
2.0
I understand why this book is considered a classic. It’s take on the reality of hard drugs and their users is brutal and real and very personal for PKD. That being said, I did not like it. There isn’t (and the author says as much in the final pages) really a point to the book. “No moral. Only consequences”. For anyone who is/was involved with drugs this book might resonate, but not for me.
belogrudovaite's review against another edition
4.0
Dark and twisted, as the book spirals downward the enjoynment rises.
modestyblaise's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know how to rate this book. I mostly hated it as I was reading it but somehow I liked the ending and then the author's note, made me cry.
His note opened by saying, "this has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did".
While I don't enjoy reading about drug addiction and paranoia and the descent into madness, perhaps it is of some worth.
His note opened by saying, "this has been a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did".
While I don't enjoy reading about drug addiction and paranoia and the descent into madness, perhaps it is of some worth.
mark_b's review against another edition
3.75
A Scanner Darkly concerns a few months in the life of Bob Arctor, a drug addict and police informant. It’s set in Southern California in 1994. The story was published in 1977, and it reads very 1970s. Scanner isn’t long, but it drags a bit, mostly with the tedious drug-addled doings of Bob and his similarly drug-using and drug-dealing friends. An author’s note at the end provides some context, which caused me to rate Scanner a little higher. Though Scanner is tagged as science fiction, there’s little SF there. Dystopian, yes. The current meth and fentanyl crisis in the US makes the drug use in Scanner tame in comparison. I think many readers will find some of the plot elements dated; still worth reading.
abpandersen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sammilynnebob's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sarahrigg's review against another edition
5.0
I read this as an audiobook read by Paul Giamatti. Let me say that again: Paul-freaking-Giamatti. It was a genius casting choice - he is the PERFECT reader for this whacked out psychadelic trip of a book. The writing style is very conventional, at least for the first half of the book, but it gets weirder and weirder as the main character's mind disintegrates under the influence of "Substance D" or "Death" - a designer drug. He's living a double life as a narc and as a druggie, and his life starts to unravel when he can't keep the parts of his life separate anymore. I loved this audiobook so much.