Book Review: Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick

Overall: 3/4 Stars

I have not read very many of Philip K. Dick's books (3 of them) but I am quite familiar with who Philip K. Dick was. I know all about his methamphetamine addictions and his writings while on them, I know all about his religious visions and those correspondences with VALIS, and I honestly would pay practically anything to read the Exegesis, his eight thousand page journal that details his multitude of religious experiences and visions.

This book, which was only published posthumously and was originally the first draft of the book that became VALIS. I read the book in about six or seven hours, and I have to say, for a short book (214 Pages) it is extremely complex and interesting and in some cases downright hard to understand.

It takes place in three parts, the first and third being narrated in first person by Philip K. Dick himself as he observes and talks to his friend Nicholas, who basically experiences everything that Philip K. Dick himself experienced. Every religious vision, every prophetic occurence, everything that PKD went through, Nicholas goes through. The middle part is perhaps the most interesting of the whole book, because it is told from Nicholas' point of view, and has to do with his involvement with a satellite overhead known as VALIS A. This satellite gives him these visions and these pieces of information that lead him to discover his purpose within a corporation known as Aramcham.

Throughout the book there is a multitude of religious imagery and allegory, and in fact the story of Nicholas as a whole is really a lot like the story of Jesus, showing how knowledgeable PKD really was about Christianity. Anyways, the book also offers what I believe is a completely interesting and unique science fiction views of humans extraterrestial origins and alien contacts and their role in shaping what has now become human religion. For instance, it shows that these aliens, who were really the forerunners to humans, were once all together with humans. Then, when the humans did something (I can't remember exactly what), they were seperated from the aliens in much the same way that Adam and Eve and all of humanity were seperated from God.

My only complaint with this book is that sometimes it is extremely hard to understand. Especially when Nicholas converses with VALIS himself, where most of the religious aspects and philosophical elements are discussed. That can get a little tough to understand, but eventually I can pretty much guarantee that you will understand it and understand both the religious elements and the plot elements perfectly, and when you do, you'll realize that this is a near perfect novel.