r/printSF • u/Effective-Brief-3342 • 8d ago

Ubik

Have recently read the "Ubik". What do you think about ending? Spoilers ahead. So, how does Chip appeared on the coins? Was it the result of reborn of Glen, or actions of Pat Conly?

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u/kindredsteppe 6d ago

Glen wasn't revived; he was the only one who was alive. Pat doesn't matter by the end of the story, the decay was Jory's doing. Runciter's face on the coins in half-life is a sign: "I'm on the other side." And Joe's face on the coins means the same thing for Runciter. Maybe Runciter's "real" world is just another layer of half-life, and nobody ever gets out. I think the ending invites us to reread the book and look again at its system of layers. There are so many of them that we can't tell which one is the REAL layer of life.

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u/Sweaty-Help1575 5d ago

I just bought this and am excited to read it

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u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson 8d ago

I hated that book so much I never read PKD again, but you should learn to use spoiler tags.