- The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch: A Nebula-Nominated Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Classic of Reality, Illusion, and God on Mars

What is reality? Do hallucinatuons ever end? Am I writing this review for real or did Iinjest a reality altering drug some 100s of lifetimes ago and dreamed you up to read my review?

This was a simultaneously interesting and hard to finish book. I respect the author, frankly, because of the movie version of Blade Runner, and I read the novel it was based upon, which to date is my only Philip K. Dick novel before this current review. <br/>* I will go ahead and mention, also, that my review contains enough information that if one wants to be completely unaware of what the book is about, be warned of big picture spoilers. * <br/>There were a couple of things that really worked for me with the book. Mainly, the fact that it was first published in 1965. Some of the concepts posited in the novel are scarily accurate with a loose interpretation. Mainly, the existence of a virtual life and its power over the average user. Secondly, I really liked the description of Palmer Eldritch (isn't that the freakin' COOLEST name ever?!), which appealed to the illustrator in me enough that I am thinking of creating an image based on the character. More on that to come, if it develops:-) Back to the novel, the religious aspect, and idea of a virtual world becoming an ersatz religious experience was interesting as well. My gripe with the novel was that it was just nebulous enough that I more than once had to re-read passages, and I can honestly say some parts are completely unmemorable. Perhaps its me, so I am giving it a four star review based on my respect for Blade Runner and the fact that this guy came up with the idea originally. Yeah, I play favorites on occasion. What can you do?

This is at once, for me at least, the best book written by Philip K. Dick. Though I haven't read all of his books or short stories yet, this is a really fascinating book that will stand out above the others. I will have to read it again and again. And, like it's protagonists, looking for meaning that is both universal as well as highly personal. Fascinating read.

I know that many readers found this book mind-blowing and interesting. I really liked "Man in the High Castle" and some of his other works. "Clans of the Alphane Moon " was a real hoot. However, like many of his other novels this one left me feeling schizophrenic. I had no feelings for any of the characters and the "plot" didn't seem to make a lot of sense. It jumped from a mystery pot-boiler to an alternate reality blowout. I didn't feel that there was much (if any) resolution to the situations the characters were dealing with. I know that Mr. Dick was deeply searching for meaning and the nature of reality, and this book explores some of his angst on those issues. Some of the ideas from Eldritch carry over into "Martian Time Slip", but I feel they are better presented there. If you enjoy getting your brain spun around, then you'll probably like this book. I like reading science fiction with realistic characters and a definite plot with a resolution. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch was just not my cup of tea.

Dick is renowned for his strangely compelling stories, but this is certainly one of his strangest. Set in a future that takes elements of 1950s cocktail-party morals and "Minority Report" Minority Report [Blu-ray] precognition, mingled with a global-warming meltdown expected a scant 50 years in the future; Palmer Eldritch then takes a nose-dive into the 1960s’ to find salvation and damnation in an alien mushroom.Barney Mayerson is a fashion pre-cog, working for Leo Bulero, the head of “Perky Pat Layouts.” Perky Pat and her “boyfriend” Walt are dolls whose materialistic lifestyle is supported by fashionable miniatures of cars, stereo systems, furniture, clothing, and everything desirable to the teeming millions who live on Earth.The problem is, there are too many people on Earth to allow everyone to have this abundance for real, so random people are “drafted” to become colonists on Mars. There, they use the illegal drug Can-D to become, temporarily, Perky Pat or her boyfriend. The quality of this experience (the only escape available to the colonists) is believed to be dependent on the up-to-date fashion of the miniature layouts they create for their Pat and Walt dolls.Belief is an important factor in this equation—in fact, religions have grown up around the drug experiences of the colonists. Some believe that the Can-D “translation,” the apparent entry of the women into Pat, and the men into Walt, actually takes them to an Earth before the time when it was suicide to be outside in the unshaded noontime sun, or to a less-than-eternal Heaven. Some liken the taking of Can-D to the wine and wafer of communion; the men commune together in the persona of Walt, the women in Pat. A few cynics believe neither, but welcome the easing of restrictions. After all, it’s Pat’s body that joins with Walt’s, so it can hardly be adultery, right?The acquisitive, free-love society that has ruined Earth is thus miniaturized on Mars. The other requisite element in this scheme, the drug Can-D, is also manufactured by P-P Layouts (quietly, as contraband), and sold at top dollar to the colonists. Colonial authorities look the other way, because without the drugs, colonies quickly descend into cabin fever, then flash over into murder and mayhem.As the story begins, Palmer Eldritch, legendary explorer to Proxima Centauri, has returned to the Solar System, bringing with him a new drug, an alien fungus marketed as “Chew-Z.” Unlike Can-D, Chew-Z needs no layout. And its translation brings the user into a world that seems really eternal, Heavenly—complete with an audience with God. The only problem is, sooner or later God, and all the other characters everyone encounters in the Chew-Z universe, take on a distinct resemblance to Palmer Eldritch.When Barney Mayerson is drafted to Mars, he plans to take the new drug along with a toxin supplied by P-P Layouts, then sue Eldritch to convince the authorities that this new drug is worse than Can-D. As a pre-cog, though, he knows that his boss, Leo, will be charged with killing Palmer Eldritch in the near future. And neither Barney nor Leo realize that, once you’ve taken Chew-Z, Palmer Eldritch resides in your mind.The tone of the story is psychedelic, with confusing chronology and a distorted sense of wonder and awe. Elements that seem to be important to the tale as it begins are abandoned, without apology, when something newer comes along. Earth’s ecological disaster is implied, but never explored; the aliens of Proxima are discussed once, then dropped. Can-D religions are sketched in the barest terms sufficient to contrast them with the Chew-Z experience.In the end, "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" feels something like a drug trip; one is left with the sense of having had a revelation, but its details are lost in the haze.This is one Dick novel that will never be made into a movie. I hope.

This is a very good novel by Dick. It is overly long however. A good third could have been eliminated without doing harm. I am not a SCI FI fan. Most SCI FI is formula plagued. Dick is different.

Estoy en un curso de Ciencia ficción y es un autor base de dicha corriente.

I think a lot of Thing have been written About this novel. What fascinated me where the drug names. As german i needed sometime to understand it. Chew-Z means choose it or choose me. Can-D is just candy. In the 60th this was also a Name for LSD. So it is alone this word puzzle which makes this novel as something Special and really a must read it. There are some Motives which we know from movies made out of novels or in other movies just like star wars. I mean the heat up of our planet where we cannot stay in the sun at noon because it is too hot and therefore dangerous. We know These from the last 3 sommers where it was very hot and we had a draught. The characters of the Story are some type of simple. Beautiful Girls and men which are a Little bit insecure. These are our own experiences which we all know. The Author really speaks to us from such a Long past. Very Interesting and a Little bit like Curt Vonnegut.. Read it i can really recommend this.

Very old school . Trippy . Boring at times .. would rate it average in today’s age of very intricate sci fi writings .

Great book and nice edition. If you are a big fan of psychological sci-fi this is a book for you. It is a little more psychedelic than other Philip K. Dick books so be prepared to be a little bit lost some times.