Ubik is Mind-Warping and You Should Read It
I’m definitely a sci-fi fan, but this is the first book I’ve read by Philip K. Dick. When a few people recommended Ubik, I decided to check it out. At ~230 pages, it is a pretty quick read. Skip “Thoughts/Philosophies/WTF is going on??!” if you don’t want spoilers.
TL;DR mind == blown.
Quick who is who
If you haven’t read the book, the basic idea is that Glenn Runciter owns Runciter Associates, a psychic agency that protects other organizations from bad psychics. It is like a futuristic cyber-security organization. Ray Hollis is in charge of the bad psis, and Runciter is suspicious that Hollis is planning an attack. Ella is Runciter’s dead wife that’s in the half-life. When a person is dying, if you act quickly to freeze them, you can preserve some of their life and communicate with them. Runciter still talks to his wife, but her life is decaying and communication is becoming weak as her half-life draws to an end.
The only other two main characters important to know are Joe Chip and Pat Conley. Joe Chip is the protagonist and works for Runciter. Pat Conley is a new recruit with highly unusual mental talents.
Why I loved Ubik
The half-life system seems eerie from the start. Other half-dead people can override and intervene in the half-existing lives of others, as Jorie does. Runciter’s wife says she has had strange, vivid dreams. Dreams versus reality, and similarly life versus death, are lasting themes throughout the book.
At first, I was confused as to why it was taking so long to get through the post-explosion state. I expected there to be something else happening, some other event to be the main part of the story. I thought we would learn more about Ray Hollis’s scheme to destroy Glenn Runciter’s psis.
What I love about Ubik is that you think you are about to get to the main part of the book the whole time, but you are actually already in it. There is nothing else. In most books, you end up finding out the complete story — who did what, how so-and-so’s superpowers were used to trick everyone — but here, you don’t ever learn …. anything, really. Ubik questions our perception of reality and time. It reminds me of a lot of simulation theories. Whose perception of reality is the “truth”? And who is in control?
Philp K. Dick mindforks the reader by leading them to think that there will be a love interest and that the characters’ relationships will evolve and develop into something more significant. But they don’t. In the end, you are left with a lot of questions — in a good way.
Thoughts/Philosophies/WTF is going on??!
Who is in the half-life?
Runciter’s wife seems well aware that she has died and is in the half-life. So if everyone else is, why don’t they? One interesting thing about the “who is in the half-life” scenario is that Joe sees Runciter’s wife, but, as far as we know, Runciter never sees his wife himself. And we know she is in the half-life…right?
Did the group or Runciter die? or both?
Joe Chip saw Runciter die, but Joe knows something is wrong with his world. Time is propelling backward, and Runciter is somehow communicating through various mediums. Another possibility is that they are too far away from each other in the moratorium.
In hindsight, it seems weird that Runciter went to Luna with the whole crew. And he trusted the new girl, Pat Conley, with the insane time-warping talent, to come with them. When I was reading this, though, it didn’t seem that weird to me. But when Runciter is re-explaining what happened, it definitely does. It makes everything more confusing. I feel like life is like that sometimes too; sometimes hindsight is 2020.
But Runciter seems to have it all thought out until Joe questions him. How did he get there, why can Joe see Runciter in the room? It feels like we are missing a God aspect here. Someone else seems to be making the rules, while the characters play the part.
I mean…… did the explosion even happen?
What part does Pat Conley play?
Maybe she was reckless with her talents, causing them to be thrown into some other dimension. Maybe she is a bad guy, but maybe she is good. In the end, is she even an important part of the story, or are we focusing on the wrong thing?
What is the deal with Ubik?
Joe does everything at first BUT gets Ubik, the special spray that will make Joe stop aging. What I think is funny about Ubik is that people really search for “Ubik” today. People will do anything to stop the aging process. It’s the elixir of life. Joe probably doesn’t want to live forever in the half-life, but maybe he wants to help the next generation of half-lifers survive. So, just like life, what is the point of the half-life? To live for a future generation, to pass knowledge on, to fight against evil? Why should Joe care if other people get stuck in the half-life like he is? It doesn’t seem terribly fun.
What is good/bad? what is the point being made here?
The book makes a distinction between good and evil, with Jorie being evil. Joe needs to protect others from Jorie by sharing the Ubik with them. Do God/the Devil play a part in the unnatural half-life?
Conclusion
Ubik leaves the reader with more questions than answers, but this is why I think it is a great read. You are free to interpret/question the book however you want. Philip K. Dick makes questions the reader's views on the concept of reality and death. If we had the technology to allow for this half-life state, would you do it? I’m not sure that I would.
