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Total Recall
The inspiration for the Columbia Pictures film Total Recall, directed by Len Wiseman and starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel. This ebook only edition of Philip K. Dick’s classic short story tells the story of Douglas Quail, an unfulfilled bureaucrat who dreams of visiting Mars, but can't afford the trip. Luckily, there is Rekal Incorporated, a company...more
ebook, Film Tie-in, 29 pages
Published
July 2012
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 1966)
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Nov 28, 2012
Eric
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of science fiction
I read this in preparation of watching the film remake, and the reality is that only two or three scenes of either movie could be taken from this story's pages. However, the fact that these thirty-or-so pages could inspire not one, but two sprawling science-fiction movies says a lot for Philip K. Dick's imagination, even if the movies did miss the mark at points. But, that goes without say, as Dick has also had Blade Runner, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly adapted from his works. Back to th...more
The motherload of PKD stories and novels has been released over the past year, as observed on SFF Audio's new releases podcasts.
I decided to take a quick listen to Total Recall, which is actually the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which was then adapted into the movie Total Recall. The story itself hasn't changed, so I'm not sure why they renamed it for this release, except for name recognition.
Phil Gigante does a great job as narrator, making the interesting decision of po...more
I decided to take a quick listen to Total Recall, which is actually the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which was then adapted into the movie Total Recall. The story itself hasn't changed, so I'm not sure why they renamed it for this release, except for name recognition.
Phil Gigante does a great job as narrator, making the interesting decision of po...more
2 likes · like · see review
view all 5 comments
Total Recall, like many of Philip K. Dick’s works, is sci-fi heavy and thought provoking. It takes place sometime in the future (view spoiler) The movie, which is both inspired and named after this book, Total Recall, is surprisingly more intricate and complex than the book.
WHY:
I chose this book because of its author, Philip K. Dick, who had written other books that I had enjoyed, n...more
With the recent remake of the
Total Recall
movie, I've seen several Philip K. Dick eBook special deals. I'd never actually read any of his works despite the fact that several of them have been made into blockbuster films that I've enjoyed (i.e.
Blade Runner
,
The Minority Report
,
Paycheck
, etc.). I was in a class in college that read The Man in the High Castle, but I dropped the class before we got to it, so I have a trade paperback edition sitting unread on my shelf (among many I intend to r...more
Having seen both versions of the movie based on this story, I finally got around to reading it. I was a bit surprised by a couple things. Well, three things, but one of them was less important. First, I was surprised at how short a short story it was, it's only about 10 pages. The second surprise was how little of the plot of either version of the movie, especially the similarities between the two, was actually in the story. In the story there's a guy who's bored with his mundane life... good so...more
May 31, 2011
Jason
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Sci fi fans, Philip K. Dick fans
I have wanted to read some of Philip K. Dick’s work for a long time. I am a big fan of Blade Runner, and also Total Recall and Minority Report. I’ve read about the man, and I understand Hollywood puts its own twists on things, but I wanted to read the real material.
I wanted to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but We Can Remember It for You Wholesale kind of jumped out at me first and I decided to give it a whirl.
Summary
Douglas Quail lives the boring life of a clerk. He dreams about goi...more
I wanted to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but We Can Remember It for You Wholesale kind of jumped out at me first and I decided to give it a whirl.
Summary
Douglas Quail lives the boring life of a clerk. He dreams about goi...more
See, this is the problem when you see a movie based on a book before you read the book that the movie is based on. Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of my favorite movies, and it makes itself known in my daily life. When my niece was a newborn, her resemblance to Kuato was more than a little disturbing (she's much more beautiful now--thank heaven), and at my work we have a very loud ventilation system which sometimes kicks off. When that happens I always think of that scene in T...more
Having not seen (either version of) Total Recall - yet - this was an interesting look into what is obviously a Hollywood source of ideas.
Unfortunately, it isn't much more than that. Phillip K. Dick runs this story with a breathtaking pace, which ultimately doesn't leave anything but the idea itself.
Of course, it is a both fascinating and interesting idea in terms of potential. A clerk lives a boring life, but has this desire to go to Mars and constantly daydreams about it. He visits a company t...more
Unfortunately, it isn't much more than that. Phillip K. Dick runs this story with a breathtaking pace, which ultimately doesn't leave anything but the idea itself.
Of course, it is a both fascinating and interesting idea in terms of potential. A clerk lives a boring life, but has this desire to go to Mars and constantly daydreams about it. He visits a company t...more
Aug 03, 2012
Megan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2012,
summer-reads-2012
I read this story because I vowed that I would every piece of literature that inspired a movie that I plan on seeing this year. My friend wants me to see the new Total Recall movie with him, so I gave this short story a whirl.
I liked it mostly because of the odd ending. It made me laugh out of a mixture of the absurdity and irony of it. That's always a plus in my book.
Other than the ending, I found the concept intriguing and terrifying. Another plus. However, I felt that a lot could have been ad...more
I liked it mostly because of the odd ending. It made me laugh out of a mixture of the absurdity and irony of it. That's always a plus in my book.
Other than the ending, I found the concept intriguing and terrifying. Another plus. However, I felt that a lot could have been ad...more
3.5 stars
The problem with rating any collection of short stories is that often each short story will differ in quality. Not every story will be breathtaking or reach into the reader's soul and appeal to them on a personal as well as a literary level. There are exceptions (Chekhov i particular comes to mind) however this volume (originally We Can Remember It For You Wholesale) follows the general trend of having several brilliant stories close to the beginning and middle and fading towards the en...more
13 likes · like · see review
This is the short story that has been twice turned into movies named "Total Recall." I saw the first version of the movie in 1990 when it first came out, and the second in August 2012 the weekend of its release. Seeing both movies sparked a desire to read the book that started it all, just to see how faithfully the movies captured the book. Well, neither movie had much to do with the book - in fact, rather than saying "From a story by Phillip K. Dick" they should say, "Suggested by a story by Ph...more
A Reality Course
“Total Recall” or “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” a short story by Philip K. Dick, challenges you to separate the story-true from the story-false. Douglas Quail wants to go to Mars; his wife thinks he’s obsessed; since he’s a clerk with no plausible way to go, he settles for a simulated trip, which can be embedded in his memory—or so the story begins. It develops into something quite different. The fantastic and the story-real merge. Why does the author go to these length...more
“Total Recall” or “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” a short story by Philip K. Dick, challenges you to separate the story-true from the story-false. Douglas Quail wants to go to Mars; his wife thinks he’s obsessed; since he’s a clerk with no plausible way to go, he settles for a simulated trip, which can be embedded in his memory—or so the story begins. It develops into something quite different. The fantastic and the story-real merge. Why does the author go to these length...more
Cool book. I've read a few Philip K. Dick books now, and I've noticed some similarities between the protagonists. In The Minority Report, he works in precrime and is accused of a crime, in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, he is a robot bounty hunter who may be a robot and in We Can Remember it for You Wholesale, he is a guy who wishes he was a secret agent and going to Mars and pays to get fake memories of being a secret agent and going to Mars, and it turns out that he was a secret agent w...more
So, I kind of feel like I'm cheating 'cause this is not long enough to be a book at all. It's a short story -it lasts about half an hour in the audio book version, which is what I audio-read- but well, this is what it is.
I enjoyed the story well enough. The main character is not a douche bag for once, which is kind of surprising as all of PKD's characters I've read so far are kind of assholes, and the twists of the story are pretty fun. The idea of having memories of experiences you can't affor...more
I enjoyed the story well enough. The main character is not a douche bag for once, which is kind of surprising as all of PKD's characters I've read so far are kind of assholes, and the twists of the story are pretty fun. The idea of having memories of experiences you can't affor...more
This story is actually called, 'We Can Remember it For You Wholesale'. I've already read it, but wanted to read it a second time.
Douglas Quail can't stop thinking about Mars, but he can't afford to go. That's why he decides to visit Rekal, Incorporated. A place that can give you false memories.
Problem is, when they're about to do the memory implant they find out that Quail has already been to Mars--on a mission. And as soon as he remembers, government agents track him down...
This is an entertai...more
Douglas Quail can't stop thinking about Mars, but he can't afford to go. That's why he decides to visit Rekal, Incorporated. A place that can give you false memories.
Problem is, when they're about to do the memory implant they find out that Quail has already been to Mars--on a mission. And as soon as he remembers, government agents track him down...
This is an entertai...more
A collection of short stories, first published together as "We can remember it for you wholesale" in 1987, and reprinted with a new cover (but printed with the same manky old plates) in 2012 to correspond with the film that butchered the title story.
The stories covered are the most coherent of the authors short stories, before drugs took him totally off into lala world. The title story is ruined for me by the controversy over whether it was an implanted memory or real, when the proper “Governat...more
The stories covered are the most coherent of the authors short stories, before drugs took him totally off into lala world. The title story is ruined for me by the controversy over whether it was an implanted memory or real, when the proper “Governat...more
Jul 27, 2012
Melissa
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Melissa by:
Stephen Wiseheart
Shelves:
adult
This is the short story on which Total Recall is based. I had seen the movie first, which I really like. I have to say, though, that the movie and the story are really different. The basic premise of a man who wants a memory of a trip to Mars, that he thinks he never took but really did, is the same. However, there is a fantastic plot twist at the end of the story that didn't make it into the movie and I think the story is so much better for it. I can only hope that the story's ending makes it i...more
Jul 06, 2011
Jimmy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jimmy by:
Summer Course
So I got this shortstory in my Course Compendium for my Summer Course at University. I begun reading it and thought "Hey! Arnold was in this one! Total Recall, yey!" And read with enthusiasm to find out how big a difference there is between Movie and Book.
There... is a big difference!
I won't spoil anything, it's about a guy who want's to go to Mars as a secret Agent, but can't afford it in his lifetime so he goes to a place where they will give him the memory of doing this. It doesn't work, he's...more
There... is a big difference!
I won't spoil anything, it's about a guy who want's to go to Mars as a secret Agent, but can't afford it in his lifetime so he goes to a place where they will give him the memory of doing this. It doesn't work, he's...more
I recently read this because I was attempting to read the book before seeing the movie, (I ended up reading this after I saw the movie). It is nothing like the movies that were made from it. The beginnings are the same a bit but the rest is not. I think there is a more powerful story in the book something about wanting what you already have an not knowing it. In the movie, it's more a question of is Arnold/Colin insane.
The writing is good, tho the end result of the story is a bit far fetched. T...more
The writing is good, tho the end result of the story is a bit far fetched. T...more
I picked this up because of the Total Recall remake. Based on the way people are talking about the movies, it seemed like the remake was more true to the story. Wow is that not even remotely accurate. This is an excellent short story, and as long as you do not think about either of the movies in any way, you will appreciate the massive irony of the story as a whole and the ending.
Philip K. Dick had a massive sense of irony, and this is an excellent demonstration of how that plays out in Doug's l...more
Philip K. Dick had a massive sense of irony, and this is an excellent demonstration of how that plays out in Doug's l...more
Aug 19, 2012
Mark
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-fictions,
in-possessions
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale is actually a short story published in The Philip K. Dick Reader, a collection of science fiction stories by Philip K. Dick. The The Philip K. Dick Reader itself was first published by Citadel Twilight in 1997. Many of the stories contained had originally appeared in magazines.
For readers who - think that they - are unfamiliar with We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, let me tell you that it was already adapted into movies, TWICE! Namely, "Total Recall". Ho...more
For readers who - think that they - are unfamiliar with We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, let me tell you that it was already adapted into movies, TWICE! Namely, "Total Recall". Ho...more
I have never seen either of the movie adaptions of this story, but with the new one coming out I decided to do the 99 cent download on my kindle.
I've never read a story by Phillip K. Dick that I didn't like, and this one didn't disappoint.
The premise is super interesting, and the story is very fun. My favorite line from the whole story was: "anything you think may be held against you." I wish the plot were more fleshed out, I think this would be a great novel. But that's my only complaint. I rea...more
I've never read a story by Phillip K. Dick that I didn't like, and this one didn't disappoint.
The premise is super interesting, and the story is very fun. My favorite line from the whole story was: "anything you think may be held against you." I wish the plot were more fleshed out, I think this would be a great novel. But that's my only complaint. I rea...more
Wow! 20 pages that inspired two movies pretty much says it all about PKD doesn't it? I went into this book having seen both movies and I really wanted to see the short story that started it all. It was fast paced and I felt that it really draws you in. If you start reading this book thinking that you will get either one of the movies you will be sadly mistaken. While the core elements are the same others are only found in the movies. PKD created a wonderful story that was able to be built upon b...more
This is dystopian short story at its finest! And what's creepy is... I think... I'm recalling already having known what happens... have I visited Rekall?? Seriously I'm creeped out in a thrilled way. I may have read this in grade school.
In the preface to my edition, Philip K. Dick writes about the paranoia humans feel because of the age-old fear of predators, and that these stories of the future are really of the past. The question of whether it's worth it to "fulfill" your desires by essentiall...more
In the preface to my edition, Philip K. Dick writes about the paranoia humans feel because of the age-old fear of predators, and that these stories of the future are really of the past. The question of whether it's worth it to "fulfill" your desires by essentiall...more
That book is a good books that contains some short storys that are great are others that are good but not more. Thta why i only give it four stars, some of them really deserve a five stars, but other deserve more like a three point five or a four stars. But anyway for my first read of this author, i find it very interesting for the amateur of scifi and some of the story are of must read for them like minority report and the one that serve to make the total recall movie, both two good movie by th...more
The short story by Phili K. Dick was just that. Short, with a small conflict, and interesting implications. Douglas Quail wants to be more than just a simple worker. He wants to be a spy. Turns out he is a spy, and he killed the leader of Mars for the Interpol Police. For his own safety, and the safety of the Earth, Quail can't be allowed to remember this.
Read more and add your own commentary at R. J. Spindle
Read more and add your own commentary at R. J. Spindle
A decent read. It only cost 99 cents on Amazon, so it was well worth that price just to read the inspiration for two films, one good (1990) and one bad (2012). Dick always seemed a little too stuck in the goofy sci-fi pulp style of the 30s and 40s to be taken seriously as a writer, at least to me. But I know he has a fanatic following that thinks Dick is God. Not me. I find that the movies based on his work are better than the works themselves.
My full review is on my blog: http://thedeludedboy.b...more
My full review is on my blog: http://thedeludedboy.b...more
Now reading the review for the "new" Total Recall, that says the film is not trying to faithful to the book. I search for this story to read "again".
The short story could be found online via some library. It is scan to be viewed format, not e and no real. Weird.
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cavitch...
OK. The first part is like the movie. But ....
Spoiler alert
The reason is so different. I like it. Still, I don't think the short story could turn into a movie without changing it.
The short story could be found online via some library. It is scan to be viewed format, not e and no real. Weird.
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~cavitch...
OK. The first part is like the movie. But ....
Spoiler alert
The reason is so different. I like it. Still, I don't think the short story could turn into a movie without changing it.
Too short
With the remake of the Schwarzenegger film coming soon to cinemas, and with the blurb saying it's supposed to be closer to the book than the film I wanted to check out the original short story.
An enjoyable short story, that sees the main antagonist, Douglas Quail, obsessed with going to Mars and booking into Rekall Incorporated to have memories of a trip to Mars implanted, but things go awry.
Worth picking up for a quick read, it is a short story after all, and to read the origins of the films.
An enjoyable short story, that sees the main antagonist, Douglas Quail, obsessed with going to Mars and booking into Rekall Incorporated to have memories of a trip to Mars implanted, but things go awry.
Worth picking up for a quick read, it is a short story after all, and to read the origins of the films.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books2Movies Club: July 2012 - Total Recall | 15 | 79 | Nov 12, 2012 11:16pm |
Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. He briefly attended the University of California, but dropped out before completing any classes. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memo...more
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“So you want to have gone to Mars. Very good.”
—
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