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Book Review of Voices from the Street

Voices from the Street
Helpful Score: 1


If you're interested in reading this book because you're intending to read all of Philip K. Dick's novels, then I recommend that you do so. If this is going to be your first book by him, I recommend that you read some of his other work, otherwise you might never want to after reading this.

Voices From the Street is one of Dick's earliest works and was just recently published for the first time. Maybe that explains why I found this book to be so terrible. It is not too often that I have to actually force myself to finish a book, as was the case with this one.

All the characters are one-dimensional with almost no personality, the dialogue is forced, and much of the interaction between characters seems random and unexplained. Nothing new or remotely interesting happens until about the last 50 pages. The story is just very bland and full of cliche conceptions. It's difficult to enjoy a book when one is unable to stay engaged with the story and feel empathetic toward characters.

The 'voices from the street' might be warning one against the banality of the masses, but I think what they're really warning against is the reading of this book.