Title: Ubik by Philip K. Dick
Publication Year: 1969
Plot: Glen Runciter is dead. Or is everybody else? Someone died in an explosion orchestrated by Runciter’s business competitors. And, indeed, it’s the kingly Runciter whose funeral is scheduled in Des Moines. But in the meantime, his mourning employees are receiving bewildering — and sometimes scatological — messages from their boss. And the world around them is warping in ways that suggest that their own time is running out. Or already has.
Miscellaneous: In 1998, PlayStation made an Ubik video game. Dick also wrote a screenplay in the ’70s. There have been 3 unsuccessful attempts to produce a film
The first question that the discussion leader brought up was this: would you rather have a loved one die abruptly and cleanly, or linger around and slowly decay and fade away? This question was sparked by the “half-life” aspect of the novel, where people are recalled from a death-like state and spoken to, even if it’s not 100% of who they were when they were fully alive. There were some mixed responses, but it seems like most people wanted the most time with their loved ones and friends, so maybe half-life wouldn’t be that bad? There is a fascination with talking to the dead and not as much as talking to the living. Death prevents learning. Everyone wonders what happens to them after they pass, as well as wonder about what happens to their family.
The quote he brought up was a good one–it’s on page 86. It talks about the “simple warmth” of humanity they once had and how it could return, hinting that it’s gone. Readers said today’s self-absorption is killing social and emotional aspects of life and culture, that perhaps that “simple warmth” has retreated or faded from our everyday life. Dick saw a world where technology gets in the way of that.
One fascinating sentiment came from the discussion leader. He said something along the lines of “I feel more private in prison…there are more cameras on the outside.” Dick’s universe in Ubik is hyper-paranoid, a world where there are psychics, anti-psychics, and precogs. The world is ruled by secrets and information, and who has the powers to control those streams. We talked about that idea of privacy in prison vs. out of prison. Outside, there are cameras everywhere, you leave digital footprints and your data is tracked. Inside, there’s cameras, yes, but people aren’t constantly monitoring everything you do. You don’t leave data behind. It’s an interesting perspective that gave me pause.
Every chapter opens up with an ad copy of Ubik, the mysterious and ubiquitous product that apparently does everything. What’s the purpose of this? What is Ubik? One reader compared it to being the ultimate “as-seen-on-TV” product that can do anything. Then we got into a discussion where we mentioned Ubik is corollary to God. Whether it’s breakfast, a spray, or anything else, it’s the cure-all, or salvation. One reader said it’s the spray form of it is a form of communion. God speaks in mysterious and mystical ways, just like Ubik has many forms. Why not let salvation come in many forms? It’s everywhere and speaks differently to people, just like faith and God. It’s almost like people’s faith in Ubik is what’s important, not the product itself.
Why does the novel regress back to 1939? We talked a lot about this notion. In 1939, Dick was 11 years old. It’s a world he would have remembered and could describe. It’s also a world before WWII, when the world had not gone through the horrors of war. Huxley wrote Brave New World in the 30s, but saw a similar trajectory of our world and technology: the 30s were unhindered by tech in a large way, perhaps more ideal to flourish as humans. 1939 was a deliberate choice, and Dick was 30 years removed from that by the time he wrote this novel. His readers aged 40 and up would remember that time as well.
Lastly, we’ve got to talk about the ending. We decided that it is an unsolvable puzzle, and that’s very intentional. The characters are dead, in half-life, alive, dreaming or something else. It doesn’t matter too much. There is no satisfactory ending. Perhaps it’s Dick’s way of commenting on our “reality.” You can never really be sure what the nature of existence is. We can’t be sure of anything.
Here’s some writing from Lee Braver on Ubik as postmodern Gnosticism.
Next week we’ll be reading Stories of Your Life And Others by Ted Chiang.
Until next time,
E.
If you’d like to purchase Ubik, you can do so here: