gbrunoro

Your interpretation of Gordon's response as a confirmation of an obsession is interesting. I believe, however, that the underlying reason is different: a bad day is not enough to make you go crazy. This is why I argue that Batman and Joker are already unhinged from the start, and that a bad day was merely the trigger for everything (in this regard, the absolutely normal characterization of Joker before he goes mad is truly splendid). In contrast, Gordon remains clear-headed and, despite the bad day, does not become unhinged. Your reading would imply that, in the end, we are all unhinged (which is quite plausible, don't get me wrong): I prefer to think of Batman and Joker as the anomalies, the two sides of the same coin, and that Gordon represents rationality instead.

Even though I know I'm considered a heretic, I believe this comic features the definitive Batman and also the definitive Alan Moore. A small polemical note: the underlying idea of the Joker fails because Gordon, despite everything, remains sane. A bad day isn’t enough to turn the healthiest man in the world into a lunatic: Batman and Joker have become lunatics not because they both had a bad day, but because it was written in their destiny. They were already lunatics; they would have become so regardless. This is the non-difference between Batman and Joker, who indeed laugh together at the same delirious joke from the Joker.

Fundamental text and still unsurpassed. Unfortunately, at the time it was even prophetic.

A book and a saga that have always intrigued me but I have never found the time to read.

@psychopompe
I believe that few writers in the 20th century have influenced the collective imagination of other artists as much as Dick has. Perhaps only Proust, Joyce, Bukowski, Gunter Grass, and a few others, including Dick. The issue related to his style largely stems from the enormous amount of writings (being a penniless author, Dick was forced to write as much as possible to avoid starving) and often also from his confused state of mind. That said, the central corpus of Dick's works (I think of Ubik, the Valis Trilogy, The Man in the High Castle, and If You Think This World is Bad, among a few other titles) is more than sufficient to place him among the giants.
As for the translation, I completely agree with you, but we must resign ourselves to knowing 90% of the world's writers only in translation: it's impossible for us to know all the languages of all times. I can't read A Thousand and One Nights in the original language, but I can recognize that I’m facing a masterpiece. The same goes for most of the literature produced throughout human history.
Regarding philosophy, you are probably right, as I just threw it in there myself: Dick's thoughts are certainly more like prompts than strictly philosophical reflections, but in some of his works (I think of If You Think This World is Bad), it's truly remarkable.

"I am alive, you are dead." Ubik is, quite simply, a masterpiece. Talking about science fiction when dealing with Dick is utterly reductive: here we are faced with a great of literature of all time (and most likely also of philosophy). Excellent review.

Three and a half for the film and the review. A really great film, very Italian, very human, very sincere. Full of limitations, but sometimes that's precisely what makes it beautiful.

I know this bootleg well, but it doesn’t have the outstanding audio quality as described. The concert, however, is very good. It’s a shame that during the Born Again tour, Gillan had a terrible series of throat issues (not to mention that he practically didn’t know any of the lyrics to the songs on the setlist, to the point that he would lower himself pretending to headbang in order to read the lyrics from the big book he had hidden behind the monitor!). Let’s say it was an album and a tour that “started off badly,” even if the album remains a small masterpiece and there were great moments during the tour (as this bootleg attests).

@Lelecava1978
I fully agree, in fact my examples were taken somewhat at random. The Squallor remain unbeatable in their pure nonsense, even though their pieces were filled with all kinds of quotes (especially musical ones). There could be a book written about the Squallor (and I’m surprised that one hasn't been written yet).

@PV(EQUAL)NRT
good job, puccetone, good job, you really got it all!