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菲利普·K·迪克：江湖骗子中的先知（1975）
Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)
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导读
这篇是斯坦尼斯瓦夫·莱姆 1975 年发表于《Science Fiction Studies》的评论文章，题为《菲利普·K·迪克：江湖骗子中的远见者》。莱姆在文中把迪克从科幻写作中的庸常/空谈之辈中区分出来，讨论其作品为何值得严肃对待。它是较早从文学批评角度肯定迪克地位的重要文本之一。
为什么经久不衰：因为它由一位顶级科幻作家较早而有力地论证了 PKD 的严肃文学价值，至今仍是理解迪克为何被视为“远见者”的经典批评入口。
HN 评论精选
按时间顺序读短篇全集，能清楚看到 PKD 从并不出色的起点持续进化。
我最近买了 Folio Society 出版的 P.K. 迪克《短篇全集》大盒装。故事按时间顺序排列，出乎意料地有趣，因为能追踪迪克作为作家的演变。最早发表的故事按任何标准都不算好，但他逐渐打磨出最终标志其作品的概念和氛围。作为一个涉猎过科幻写作的人，看到 PKD 卑微的起点被坦露，像是一种安慰。他从未停止精进自己的技艺。
pavlov查看英文原文
I recently bought P. K. Dick’s “Complete Short Stories” published by Folio Society as a big box set. The stories are in chronological order, which is surprisingly interesting because you get to trace Dick’s evolution as a writer. The first published stories are not very good by any standard, but he keeps gradually honing in on the concepts and atmospheres that eventually mark his work. As someone who has dabbled in SF writing, it feels like a consolation to see PKD’s humble beginnings laid bare. He never gave up on evolving his craft.
《解经集》冗长重复，却与 PKD 小说反复推演可能解释的思维一致，对相关读者极具吸引力。
对哲学、宗教、科幻或精神挣扎感兴趣的人，我强烈推荐那本 900 多页、读起来很费劲的《菲利普·K·迪克解经集》。小提醒：我近十年前读了导言，还没开始正文就觉得无聊；几年前我又拿起它，跳过导言直接读内容，结果同时被吸引并震撼。也许只是与我个人经历巧合，但感觉很像某天我脑中的想法，第二天就在读到的书页上出现。它有点重复，因为 PKD 本质上是在对可能的解释反复迭代，每次只做轻微改动，不过你若读过他的小说，就已经知道这一点了！
jimmygrapes查看英文原文
For anybody interested in philosophy, religion, science fiction, or mental struggles, I highly recommend the 900+ page slog that is The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick. Mild warning: I read the introduction close to a decade ago and got bored before I even started the book itself. I picked it up again a few years ago and skipped to the actual content and was simultaneously hooked and blown away. Maybe it was just coincidence with my personal journey, but it felt a lot like the thoughts I had one day were found on the pages I read the next day. It is a little repetitive, because PKD is essentially iterating over possible explanations with slight changes each iteration, but if you've read any of his fiction you already know that! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exegesis_of_Philip_K._Dick
PKD 本人对《银翼杀手》片段极度兴奋，认为它革新了科幻的可能性，甚至说自己的创作因之得到完成。
迪克第一次在电视上看到《银翼杀手》片段时非常兴奋。1981 年 10 月，他写信给制片人说：这确实不是科幻，也不是奇幻，而是“未来主义”；《银翼杀手》的影响将席卷公众和创作者，乃至整个科幻领域。它并非逃避主义，而是粗粝、细节丰富、真实得令人信服的“超级写实”，看完后连自己日常的现实都显得苍白。他认为制片方创造了一种前所未有的图形艺术表达，将革新人们对科幻是什么、能成为什么的认知。迪克还说，他没想到自己的作品或想法能被提升到如此惊人的维度，并称自己的生活和创作因《银翼杀手》而得到证明和完成。
bumbledraven查看英文原文
Dick was thrilled with his first glimpse of Blade runner on TV. In October 1981, he wrote to the producers [1]: I came to the conclusion that this indeed is not science fiction; it is not fantasy; it is exactly what Harrison said: futurism. The impact of BLADE RUNNER is simply going to be overwhelming, both on the public and on creative people -- and, I believe, _on science fiction as a field._ … Nothing that we have done, individually or collectively, matches BLADE RUNNER. This is not escapism; it is super realism, so gritty and detailed and authentic and goddam convincing that, well, after the segment I found my normal present-day "reality" pallid by comparison. What I am saying is that all of you collectively may have created a unique new form of graphic, artistic expression, never before seen. And, I think, BLADE RUNNER is going to revolutionize our conceptions of what science fiction is and, more, _can_ be. … As for my own role in the BLADE RUNNER project, I can only say that I did not know that a work of mine or a set of ideas of mine could be escalated into such stunning dimensions. My life and creative work are justified and completed by BLADE RUNNER. Thank you...and it is going to be one hell of a commercial success. It will prove invincible. [1] Philip K. Dick official website, http://web.archive.org/web/20121015191334/http://philipkdick.com/new_letters-laddcompany.html
评论借莱姆对侦探小说与《罪与罚》的区分，强调艺术处理无法量化或算法化的终极问题，在混乱时代更显重要。
我觉得包括文学在内的艺术，其根本重要性在公众意识中已被大大削弱。人们把艺术当娱乐（用莱姆的例子说，是克里斯蒂而非陀思妥耶夫斯基），并纳闷它们为何重要、为何值得研究——尤其是有挑战性的作品！但看看莱姆的视角：心智正常的人不会在侦探小说里寻找关于犯罪的心理学真相；想找这种真相的人会转向《罪与罚》。……康拉德把文学崇高描述为向可见宇宙呈现“最高种类的真理”。对我而言，艺术处理最难的问题：无法量化、无法用算法解决，甚至无法用机器学习无限的想象力解决；那些我们常常找不到正确问题的问题。尽管技术进步，周围世界似乎仍弯入无意义的混乱与冲突，从和平繁荣到战争——但奇怪的是并没有敌人威胁我们。我发现艺术越来越有话对我说。
forapurpose查看英文原文
I feel the essential importance of the arts, including literature, has been greatly diminished in the public's consciousness. People look on them as entertainment (Christie not Dostoevsky, using Lem's examples) and wonder why they matter at all, why they should be studied - especially the challenging stuff! But look at Lem's perspective: No one in his right mind seeks the psychological truth about crime in detective stories. Whoever seeks such truth will turn rather to Crime and Punishment. ... Joseph Conrad's elevated description of literature as rendering "the highest kind of truth to the visible universe" To me the arts deal with the hardest questions, the ones that cannot be quantified, solved with an algorithm, or even with the infinite imagined powers of ML; the ones for which we often can't find the right questions. Despite all our technological advancements, the world around us seems to bend into pointless chaos and conflict, from peace and prosperity to war - but bizarrely with no enemy threatening us. I find the arts have more and more to say to me.
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