A Scanner Darkly
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. (I Corinthians 13:12)
A Scanner Darkly is, in my opinion, one of Philip Dick's best novels. It is also one of his saddest and most personal. Written late in his career in 1977, it deals with the ravages of drug abuse faced by him and his friends.
On its surface, it's a piece of cop/drug fiction with a quintessentially Dick twist. The protagonist is a narcotics officer who goes undercover to bust Bob Arctor, a dealer and user of the highly addictive drug Substance D. Prolonged use of the drug causes a form of split personality disorder. The police officer assumes the identity of Bob Arctor, and over time, as he lives in Arctor's drug world and indulges in Substance D, he loses his sense of self and ultimately ends up narcing on himself without realizing it.
However, over the course of the novel, the science fictional, psychological, and cop/drug genre elements fade into the background of what is essentially a tragedy about those who experiment with drugs and the consequences of their choices.
Director Richard Linklater is currently shooting a film version of A Scanner Darkly based on his own adapted screenplay. And he has lined up an all-star cast: Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, and Rory Cochrane.
This is obviously not the first time that one of Dick's stories has reached the big screen with an all-star cast; he is the most adapted science fiction author in the history of film, with Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise, among others, starring in his films. And I have certainly enjoyed some of these past projects. However, no film adaptation of Dick's work has quite captured the spirit of his fiction. For example, they have tended to pass over the religious and philosophical elements. They have also missed out on his humor and compassion.
Thus I was happy to see this write-up over at the official Philip K Dick site by Dick's two daughters, Laura and Isa, praising Linklater for capturing the spirit of the original novel. It certainly sounds like a top-flight project.
I don't know what the expected release date is, but I can't wait to see it.
[Thanks to Jason Koornick, editor of the Philip K Dick Fans site, for the heads up.]
Postscript: The title of the novel is a science fiction twist on the famous quote from the King James translation of St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, "For now we see through a glass, darkly."
However, the King James version does not provide a very good translation of the original Greek. The word translated as "glass" (esoptron) should be translated as "mirror" -- which better highlights the problem of self-knowledge that St. Paul and Dick have in mind.
11:46:21 PM 
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