Book of the Week

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick

Recommended by Joachim Sciamma

Although the adjective ‘Dickensian’ has to be awarded to a different famous novelist, the name ‘Philip K. Dick’ immediately evokes images of great dystopian fiction. 

For a genre that contains such diverse quality literature as Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451, prospective readers might reasonably wonder why they should place this novel at the top of their reading lists. I believe that the answer lies in the difference between each of these great fictional worlds. A Scanner Darkly does not depict the struggle of the human spirit under an impossibly oppressive and all-powerful regime, rather it tells the tale of a world much like ours, to the point that a reader may at times reasonably wonder whether science fiction is the correct genre at all. Beyond the yet to exist technological advancement of the scramble suit, not much now separates our world from Dick’s dystopia. Even his fictional drug “Substance D” or “Death” seems perhaps outdated, given that our reality has managed to concoct far more potent and dangerous substances.

Andrew Archer's illustration of the novel's recurring theme of separation from oneself (Folio Society)

What, then, is the merit of this particular dystopian world? I would argue that in depicting a version of America with a government that is unable to control its populace, Dick far more effectively explores the choices of people with relative free will under various difficult circumstances. Dystopias with all-powerful regimes are all very well, but they follow a standard arc that is difficult to escape: revelation, rebellion, discovery, and readjustment. This arc leaves little room for a diverse exploration of character and motivation beyond a propagandist appeal against communism. By giving his reader multiple options for how one can exist in his fictional state, with a selection method far closer to our own, governed by wealth and privilege rather than explicit selection, Dick demonstrates how even with relative freedom, our independent choices create our personal dystopias.

The novel’s focus on drug use also makes it seem ahead of its time. For a novel published in 1977, arguably the height of the war on drugs, it is surprising that Dick creates an at times appealing image of “Substance D”. Readers empathise with users, and non-users seem to be hypocritical, naive people willfully rejecting the truth of their world. Dick does not demonise drug use, rather he masterfully demonstrates both the ideal and the horrible in his reality. His novel does not function as a classic school-led drug awareness assembly, claiming not to aim to demonise or use scare tactics but eventually doing exactly that: his genius lies rather in his ability to demonstrate exactly why millions of educated, informed people begin using drugs despite being warned not to. Dick does not vilify them for this choice, or even call them incorrect, rather he leaves this choice to the reader. This is one of the crucial differences between Huxley’s fiction and Dick’s: Dick does not tell his reader what to think of his imaginary substance. Rather, he informs and leaves the judgement to the reader.