Because he is a great writer, he is able to take us on his personal journey to madness, and that's where Horselover Fat comes in. Dick, the author, is apparently losing it a little from his religious experience and the novel tracks his progress from sanity to insanity and back again. While the character of Dick represents himself trying to decide if his experience is real or not. Dick that believes wholeheartedly in his religious experience. I think Horselover Fat represents the side of Philip K. His son survived thanks to the operation, which Dick attributed to the 'intervention' of VALIS. During the examination doctors discovered an inguinal hernia, which would have killed the child if an operation was not quickly performed. The doctor eventually complied, despite the fact that there were no apparent symptoms. Routine checkups on the child had shown no trouble or illness however, Dick insisted that thorough tests be run to ensure his son's health. As well as to blur the lines between science fiction, religion, and autobiography.Īt one point, Dick claimed to be in a state of enthousiasmos with VALIS, where he was informed his infant son was in danger of perishing from an unnamed malady. The character of Horselover Fat allowed Dick to explore himself and his own thoughts on his recent 'religious' experience. Valis and his related novels are a culmination of a life-time of combining high sci-fi with surrealism. One of the interesting things about Valis and some of Dick's later writings was that it was hard to tell where his literary reality ended and our reality began. So as to the question as to whether Horselover is a literary device or a person suffering from Multiple personality disorder, I would say the answer is probably both. Dick is brought to his senses by his meeting with the second coming of Valis, who he believes temporarily heals his mental problems. I am Horselover Fat, and I am writing this in the third person to gain much-needed objectivity. Dick fan, a novel that Roberto Bolaño called 'more disturbing than any novel by Carson McCullers.' By the end, like Dick himself, you will be left wondering what is real, what is fiction, and just what the price is for divine inspiration. At a very early part in the novel Philip K. VALIS is essential listening for any true Philip K.

VALIS by Philip K. Dick