A Scanner Darkly (BOOK)

A Scanner Darkly is a SCI-FI novel written by Philip K. Dick, who has established himself as a renowned sci-fi author along with others such as Isaac Asimov.

The plot goes something like this: Fred is an undercover agent who is trying to find the source of an illegal drug called Substance D. Bob Arctor is a Substance D addict, but he is really Fred undercover. However, it gets confusing as a story since you don't really know when Fred knows he's Bob Arctor, or when Bob Arctor knows he is Fred. It appears that he knows his double role at the beginning of the story, but by the end it is finally made apparent that Fred doesn't know he was Bob Arctor at all. This is due to Substance D splitting the brain into two distinct entities.

The plot progression, if there's any, is almost non-existent. The whole story is basically four druggies talking nonsense and driving around Southern California being spaced out. There are a couple of memorable scenes, but other than that, it's hard to find a real plot.

The ending was good, although I expected it right before it happened.

Overall, it's a decent book, but I found it hard what to figure out what point of view the author was trying to give the reader. It's hard to understand the situation when you don't know the characters' identities.

Worth Reading? You can skip it.