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| Review Summary |
"Fred" is an undercover narcotics agent for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. As "Bob Arctor," he lives in a messy pad with a bunch of other druggies and buys Substance D (known on the street as "death") in quantities from his sometime girlfriend Donna. The authorities set up cameras and microphones on the premises so that "Fred" can conduct 24-hour surveillance on himself and his housemates. But Substance D steadily separates the two halves of his brain until his personality splits almost completely as he tries to figure out which of his roommates has been sabotaging his car and other equipment. As Dick has explained, this novel -- first published in 1977 and set in 1994 -- is an exploration of drug misuse and a tribute to friends who got lost along the way, but of course it touches on his favorite themes of the nature of identity and reality.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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A Scanner Darkly is a psychological drug thriller. Substance D is a highly addictive drug that slowly splits the human brain into two seperate idenities. When Fred, an undercover police agent is hooked on the drug, his alter-ego/cover story, Bob Arctor becomes a seemingly seperate character, and Fred is assigned to keep surveillance on himself.
Trent Dick, Resident Scholar
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| Detailed literary breakdown of A Scanner Darkly |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%
Tone of book
- depressing/sad
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Spying & Investigations
Yes
What is main char. doing?
- spying/espionage in enemy territorry
- unraveling a conspiracy
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- fighting a personal illness/handicap
- search for identity/new understanding
- mental illness/nutsophrenia
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
If enemy is a group...
- drug dealers
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- mentally ill
- deluded
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- none
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
- a moderate amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
How much dialogue?
- mostly dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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