Talk:Valis (novel)

VALIS: "LOW LITERARY IMPORTANCE"!?

Uh...what? How did this novel get rated as "low" on the "importance scale"? For that matter, why is there EVEN AN IMPORTANCE SCALE IN THE FIRST PLACE? Strikes me as NPOV because, I mean, c'mon, "importance" is relatively subjective. Let me say this: Is Philip K. Dick important as an author, or just of mild importance? He's influenced modern science fiction, right? William Gibson, the Bladerunner movie...He's got a prestigious award named after him, the "Philip K. Dick" award. If anyone asks me to cite WHY Philip K. Dick himself is important to modern literature, I'm done with Wikipedia. So, given that it is my belief that Dick is important to science fiction, shouldn't any of his work be more closely scrutinized on the "importance scale"? I mean, I'm sure we're all more worried about the cultural significance of, say, someone like Chris Crocker or Kevin Fedderline, but look at the VALIS entry from Philip K. Dick's biography on Wikipedia:

"VALIS, (1980) is perhaps Dick’s most postmodern and autobiographical novel, examining his own unexplained experiences (see above). It may also be considered his most academically studied work, and was adapted as an opera by Tod Machover.[14] VALIS was voted Philip K. Dick‘s best novel at the website philipkdickfans.com.[15]." And yet this same encyclopedia has decided to rank (judge) this novel as being of "low importance". There's a grand inconsistency here.

If I sound bitter, it's because I am. Wikipedia lately seems bogged down by unnecessary rules and off-kilter decisions made by editors who clearly have various agendas. Look at what happened because senior admin (or whatever they're called here) MONGO didn't like the entry on Encyclopedia Dramatica, because they had insulted him (The ED article was deleted). It's things like this that cause me to rapidly lose respect for Wikipedia. Zebraic 22:33, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Unfinished Trilogy

If there are three books, and all of them are available, doesn't that imply that it is a completed trilogy? Or is it that of the three books listed as the VALIS trilogy one of them is not a true part of the trilogy?

James P. Blaylock

Where does James P. Blaylock appear in the book? Or rather, what character is influenced by him? --Viriditas | Talk 10:05, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Merge from Black Iron Prison

There was recently an AfD on Black Iron Prison (Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Black Iron Prison), which reached a consensus to merge that article into this one. I usually perform such merges myself, but I thought that in this instance I ought to leave it up to someone more familiar with the subject at hand. --bainer (talk) 01:25, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

• I have read VALIS many many (at least 20) times and would be happy to do a section. IMHO, VALIS actually contains within it a number of complex subjects that need thier own page. Of course, an easy way to do this would be through redirects, but a number of concepts in VALIS, such as the Black Iron Prison have gained wider common usage by people unfamiliar with the book..

--Infernal.magnet 16:03, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

• The BIP is an important gnostic concept and though it was originated by PKD it would be a shame if it is should be without its own article. Whether you believe in the VALIS or not the reality of BIP is very present and percievable.

--85.226.208.85 07:32, 22 July 2006 (UTC)Vallentin 09:43, 20 July 2006

• This should definitely be merged. - Rainwarrior 20:13, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I did the merge. I put it in the section called "Philosophical and cultural references" but really have no idea where it should go. I have no clue what the book is about, and the Plot summary section doesn't have anything in it. I don't understand the relationship between VALIS, Exegesis and the Tractates. I don't know what the Black Iron Prison is or whether it's meant to be literal or metaphorical. The quote from Dick makes no sense, except the last sentence makes it sound like the Parable of the cave. Please, someone clarify this for naive people like me who haven't read the book! Tocharianne 03:51, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Most people will simply dismiss Dick's ravings as symptoms of mental illness, perhaps temporal lobe epilepsy or schizophrenia, and leave it at that. Beyond that judgement, or in spite of it, lies a very deep rabbit hole, and it is not accessible to everyone without having something to compare it to in the first place. So, in order to understand what Dick is saying, you must first understand yourself. And yes, it is the allegory of the cave. —Viriditas | Talk 04:48, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Complex Metaphysical Concepts in VALIS

This is just a small list of concepts that I think could do with greater explaination.

• VALIS Actually happened. Many of the events written about in the book actually happened to Phillip K. Dick, such as being hit by a beam from 'space' and discovering his son's rare, but deadly medical condition. Much of the book is devoted to him trying to rationalise these experiences without going insane.

• Reincarnation Dick was a christian, and as such did not believe in reincarnation, but many of the things he describes make much more sense looked at from that angle. For instance, his speaking of ancient languages and the phenomena of living two lives seperate in time, yet superimposed.

• Gnosticism Although Dick was seemingly very into Gnosticism, his christian prejudices lead him to ignore a great many central gnostic concepts, such as re-incarnation, in favour of an obscure variation of Valentinian gnosticism which allowed him to keep many of his deeply held beliefs. It is quite possible that without this complex manouvering he would have gone insane.

• Black Iron Prison The true horror of the Black Iron Prison, from a gnostic point of view, is that it cannot be escaped by death, because it is actually, responsible for the phenomena of reincarnation. Thus, most humans are trapped on earth, recycled into body after body, repeating the same patterns over and over. There are tentative comments about this in VALIS (need reference) but IMHO, Dick shied away from the implications because of the effect it would have had on his sanity.

• VALIS Is supposedly a part of the benevolent deity, or Logos that has infiltrated this world, which is run by the malevolent deity, or Demiurge. This is a concept very old to gnosticism, usually expressed in the idea of the Sophia, who is the lowest emanation Logos and is usually credited with being responsible for creating the instability in the Pleroma which created the demiurge. The demiurge thinks it is alone and as such has gone insane, thus creating the world we see around us. VALIS is normally invisible, but will occassionally reveal itself to certain humans and alter thier perception of reality. The concept of something like VALIS goes back to the gnostics, who believed that the benevolent deity was attempting to free them from the prison of reincarnation. However, people could only be freed if first they were able to actually see the prison itself. Of course, the psychological effects of being shown such things on a rational person include amazement, mania, denial, messianic complex, amnesia and many other behaviours typically associated with religious dementia, but which many be equally caused by someone attempting to come to terms with an Outside Context Problem.

• VALIS is always seen by Dick as being wholly a force for good, however, I think this point deserves close scrutiny, especially given it's similarity to the gnostic concept of Sophia. Sophia traditionally brings enlightenment, but often at great personal cost. For instance, in the "Hypostasis of the Archons", it was Sophia who told Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of knowledge, regardless of the consequences that it would have on them. VALIS shows the truth (gnosis) but as the end of the book adequately illustrates, it does not hang around to help those who have been touched deal with the aftermath. One could argue that this kind of shock treatment is infact very dangerous to the human involved and that if VALIS were truly benign, it would help those it has touched to integrate thier experience, instead of leaving them to quietly lose thier mind.

Thus, it could be said that enlightenment by VALIS is an intensly bittersweet experience. Although Dick was shown many incredible things, these things also tormented him for the rest of his life as he tried to make what he had experienced fit within his pre-existing belief structure.

• Ok, I'll have to get some references, but that's basically it I think..

--Infernal.magnet 16:25, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Point one. "VALIS" actually happened needs a citation. Characterizing Dick as Christian may be premature. If I were to label him I'd call him a Gnostic, not a Christian in the modern sense. Many "Early Christians" are what we now call Gnostic. As to Reincarnation Dick and Horselover Fat both broached the subject as a somewhat different form of revisiting past lives. The idea put forth in numerous chapters being that all time periods merge and that the past self never dies. In fact most of what is stated here is opinion based on a very personal view of the book. e.g. it is not in my opinion (I know, I know) an objective analysis. William (Bill) Bean 15:40, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

inguinal hernias as the exegesis of noumon

Dick claims to have had an urgent message that his infant son was in danger despite no symptoms. The child on careful examination had an inguinal hernia which supposedly if not operated on immediately would have killed the child. This is false. Inguinal hernias exist in varying degree from a tiny bulge to a full-blown 'strangulated' hernia which causes severe pain and vomiting and other symptoms and indeed necessitates immediate operation. However, most other forms of inguinal hernia do not require immediate operation, especially if causing no symptoms. An elective operation may be planned later to correct the hernia. A hernia is the protrusion of an organ from within the receptacle that normally contains it and in the case of an inguinal hernia usually means a part of the bowel has decided to come down the inguinal canal that normally transmits the spermatic cord and related structures between scrotum and abdominal cavity. As I said, this can be the merest bulge of bowel through a small hole (non-urgetn and causing no symptoms) or a whole loop of bowel which then twists and blocks (strangulates) and need urgent operation. So Dick was wrong. (mad-MD)

+ The condition existed whether the threat was imminent or not. Perhaps Zebra was indicating that there could have been complications that developed in the future if it was left untreated. Partial inaccuracy is not the same as complete incorrectness. (JC, July 2007)

Problems with the Article

These are opinions.

First, I don't think it's quite fair to characterize Dick's use of a fictional character to stand in for himself "this can all be viewed by the reader as a form of mental illness." True this "could" be viewed as mental illness. It could just as readily be viewed as a method of self-analysis that allows for a form of objectivity. In fact this is pointed out by Dick himself, as narrator, early in the book.

Second, in the Exegesis section it is stated that Dick claimed that VALIS...'the Earth satellite used "pink laser beams" to project thoughts into his head.' In truth it was the fictional character Horselover Fat who makes this claim. Almost all the sections of this article that attribute specific thoughts to P.K.D. are in fact in error because it was the character Horselover Fat who made these claims. See the first paragraph for an explanation regarding objectivity.

Yes, I know Dick wrote the book. But because he created a character to speak to these "observations" the use of that character should be respected in this analysis/article. After all Dick had a clear reason for using a fictional character. That reason, to provide Dick with some objectivity, should be respected.

Third, this play-list is flawed. Philip K. Dick is the narrator, Horselover Fat is the protagonist, not the narrator.

Fourth, though critics claim that this is not a work of fiction due to the apparent parallels to Dick's own life, my personal opinion is that this is indeed a work of fiction. This is largely due to the fact that the movie, VALIS, described in the book bears little (or no) similarity to the movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth" cited as the movie that inspired the fictional movie "VALIS" described in the book.

I know this is nit-picky, but the substance of this work of fiction is lost in this article due to an over-abundance of speculation. William (Bill) Bean 15:06, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

+ Re: "Second" and "Third": At the beginning of the book, Dick explicitly states that he is Horselover Fat, but that he uses this other character for narrative purposes. Throughout the book, Dick slips and refers to this character in the first person instead of as Horselover Fat, and then corrects himself. At first, it's more frequent than later in the book, where it gradually subsides until the meeting with Sophia where Dick/Horselover is "cured" and Horselover disappears, leaving only Dick himself. After Sophia's death, he fractures again. Further, any biographical or autobiographical reading about Dick's life will illuminate that this work -- specifically the details of Dick's madness/encounter with God/VALIS/Zebra/whatever -- is at least a partially factual account. (JC, July 2007)

+ Re: "Fourth": While you're correct in that this is indeed a work of fiction (in addition to VALIS bearing no resemblance to Man Who Fell to Earth, Mother Goose -- the character who is supposedly David Bowie -- never had a daughter who was extremely mentally mature and then died, nor did Brian Eno die from radiation exposure, nor did [countless other differences]), I think the best description could be "semi-fictional semi-autobiography", meaning that it's _based_ on a factual account of many aspects of Dick's life during 2-3-74, but fictional elements have been added for dramatic effect. (JC, July 2007)