Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Ubik

I love reading good stories. Stories that are so captivating that it just sucks you into whatever world the author has in mind and so compelling that  you just want to keep turning the page to find out what comes next, despite having to be at work in a couple of hours time. 'You just can't put the book down' kinda thing...
...or rather can't switch the book off.

For me, one such book is Ubik. I was googling 'The Adjustment Bureau' trying to decide which movie to  watch a few weeks back and from wiki, one link led to another before eventually ending with this book. I got the soft copy and what a read!

Unfortunately thanks to excessive googling for reviews, I started already knowing how the surprise twists will play out later in the book (DAMN!!!). In spite of this, I still was hooked to every single word. And I don't generally read science fiction but I enjoyed this one, literally not putting down my phone till I've finished it in the wee hours of the morning.

The beginning may be a bit of a turn off with all the jargons and futuristic (despite the story being set in 1992, but hey its written in the 1960s) technology like 'cold pac', 'protophasonic flow' and 'homeopape' but yes you do have to invest some time absorbing this for the story to be rewarding. Kinda like Inception, where you learn about the 'architects', 'dreamers' and 'limbo' and how the story revolves around those basic ideas.

There are some news about this book being made into a movie in the near future as have many of the author's other works - Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau to name a few. Sadly it was only after his death that his works gained much recognition and he struggled with financial difficulties throughout his life. Some may say he didn't know how to market his genius. I think he was way ahead of his time.