Except that there is. Which is why critics give reasons for their evaluations. Otherwise, we’d just cheer and boo.

The scenarios he creates and the ideas he explores are fascinating, oftentimes philosophical and theological. He can create highly compelling, sympathetic characters — Bob Arctor in Scanner Darkly being one of the best — and his books express a deep humaneness, the sort that I associate with many of Orwell’s works…

I could never make a case for the objective goodness of anything, given that I don’t think goodness is an objective quality. At best, one can give one’s reasons for liking something and point to a certain consensus among judges who are widely perceived as being qualified to judge. We do this with wine, and food, and…

I understand that you do not like his writing, but that is not the same as its being bad. And given the high esteem in which Dick is held by many very capable writers — Ursula K. LeGuin to take just one example — I’d err on the side of thinking he’s just not to my taste, rather than try to make some case as to his…

Haven’t seen Killjoys.

I completely disagree. Vehemently. And part of the problem is that you misinterpret his aim, which is decidedly *not* world-building. Nor is it to provide traditional narrative. So you are criticizing him for things he has no interest in doing, and one of the most important rules of criticism is to engage an artist…

I am going to keep watching it and certainly might change my opinion, if what you say comes to pass.

That presumes that the series (Man in the High Castle) is doing the same thing as the book, just more fleshed out. I don’t think that’s the case. The show is doing essentially what the book “Fatherland” was trying to do. But the book is not really doing that at all — it’s much more in line with themes that Dick…

Yeah, I actually thought Dark Matter was better.

Completely disagree, as do the people who give out the Hugo Award, which Man in the High Castle won.

Can’t agree with you, on Planet of the Apes, but to each his own.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why people don’t simply produce original content, rather than inferior remakes of brilliant source material. This series is a padded, bloated, inferior rendition of Philip K. Dick’s masterpiece. Ditto for Westworld and the original Crichton picture. Ditto for House of Cards. …

I hate to tell you, but I’m not “right wing.”

Of course not.

So I take it you are very upset about Akira Kurosawa’s use of Japanese actors in his Shakespeare adaptations.

You are absolutely right, but don’t hold your breath waiting for this crowd to grasp it.

Really? I don’t get it at all. In fact, the entire outrage over “appropriation” is a lot of nonsense. Unless you want to start suggesting that people in Asia are guilty of “appropriating” every time they wear Western clothes or imitate Western pop music.

I’m looking forward to the article in which Ms. Elderkin expresses her concern about Akira Kurosawa’s “appropriation” of Shakespeare and replacement of his Caucasian characters with Asian ones.

What’s both hilarious and pitiful is that this will be far superior to the actual DC franchise movies, and especially, the wretched Batman vs. Superman. 

I think it’s one of the best superhero movies ever made.