Common Denominator: PDK

Alas, I cannot speak from the "literary front lines" of PDK as I have not read Androids nor Scanner, but have seen both film interpretations (Blade Runner and linklater's). If I ever get around to reading PDK amidst the hundreds of other books on the to-read list, I think I'll like Scanner the best, it was written almost 10 years later, maybe his writing craft more honed, but I didn't realize how PDK owns (or net speack pwns!) the book-to-sci-fi-film area. He wrote minority report, too? So that's scanner, minority, blade runner, total recall, paycheck-- pretty big sci-fi selection. Sure, asimov set in motion the robot movies, but that's only really "one big movie" (just a bunch of remakes, bicentennial man and i,robot some of the most recent). PKD spawned Totally unique films from his books.

Total Recall and Blade Runner are some of THE most epic film sci-fi renditions (save 2001). I loved all those movies, and gravitated to all of them, but only just now discovered that the common vein between total recall, blade, scanner, paycheck, and yes, even screamers was PKD. I've seen all of those movied and loved all of them and only just realized the common denominator is PDK. far out! That's like doing problems over and over and then abstracting out to see a larger, framework formula. cool!

And talk about prolific. Prolific is an understatement for this guy. 121 published short stories and dozens of published books, nine of which were turned into Sci-Fi movies!!! Who else has done that? What other writer has achieved that much book to film coverage? Dickens? Not really, his works get clumped in that 18th century pile of the same flicks. It's shocking at how unique all of PKD's works are. Almost like multiple authors (or a multiple-brained single author) wrote the wide-ranging complex variety of works!

It's amazing how differently we watch movies versus read books. For example, with movies I'm doing NLP, watching the actors not the characters, reading body language. Actors cannot be ambassadors of the story because they have their own filtrations and perceptive distortions. Only when I read fiction do I actually learn the character names and get immersed in the plot! How can an actor accurately perceive my perspective of reality based on his or her own experiences. Moreso, the directly influences the audience with already a strong frame. By the time you watch the movie, there's so little room for interpretation and creating your own frame, you can't even breath! Books have MUCH more space for you to play to exert your own frame, of interpration. Then there are those who have such a strong frame, even a book feels confining, those people need a blank page. We call them authors. Authors, those who use their frame to create, beyond persuade or influence, actually create! But we can all live as authors of our homes or health or faith or "personal religion" or profession. Designing from our own frame, our own perceptive reality establishes indelible personal freedom! For that reason alone, I have written so much (5 books, 3 blogs, 1 monthly column-thingy) already!

Some more of those simulacrum illusion-over-reality references:
Linklater -- Scanner Darkly, Waking Life
PKD -- Paycheck, Scanner Darkly,
Wachowski -- The Matrix
Baudrillard -- the map is not the territory
Donnie Darko
The Illusionist
The Machinist -- severe denial causes hallucinations

Some Examples that "come close" and are still fascinating
H2G2 -- doesn't warp reality just exists IN a warped reality!
Gattaca, was control not illusion
The Usual Suspects was manipulation and deceit and seduction but not reality-distortion
Pedro Calderon de la Barca -- Life is but a dream

Great Duality Books and FilmsBlogger: Validate Your Life: Intention Exchange - Edit Post "Common Denominator: PDK"

1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson -- RLS's classic epic masterpiece; a strange elixer-potion-tonic transforms a respectable, calculated man into a wild doppleganger of evil
1. Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde
   
2. A Scanner Darkly, Phillip K. Dick -- two competing cerebral hemispheres "forget" each is leading a different life.
1. Fred Agent & Bob Arcter
   
3. The Machinist -- sever denial causes hallucinations
1. Trevor Reznik &Ivan
   
4. Fight Club -- schizophrenic man leads "two lives"
1. The Narrator & Tyler Durden
   
5. The Double, Fyodor Dostoevsky
   
1. Golyadkin Sr. & Golyadkin Jr.
   
6. The Number 23
1. The Protagonist and Book Author
   
7. ljlkj
8. ljk
   

In all of these examples, although both identities are from the same split-person, the second identity represents the nascent, intimidating, "abusive", usurping, "bad", typically sinister half (ex. Hyde, Durden, Goyadkin Jr. etc.)
-- John