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The Minority Report: 18 Classic Stories (The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick #4)
The popular sci fi author's classic short story, "The Minority Report"--now a major motion picture starring Tom Cruise and produced by Dreamworks--takes place in a future world where scientists predict criminal behavior before it happens. This volume features the title story plus 17 others.
soft cover, 380 pages
Published
May 1st 2002
by Citadel Press
(first published 1987)
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4.0 to 4.5 stars. Five really good stories are included in this collection. Please note that I listened to the audio version of this collection and I am not postive that all of the stories listed below are contained in the print version.
1. The Minority Report: An excellent story that has some significant differences from the movies version (which I also thought was very good)
2. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Almost completely different in tone and content than th...more
1. The Minority Report: An excellent story that has some significant differences from the movies version (which I also thought was very good)
2. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Almost completely different in tone and content than th...more
Jerry Dazzlepants
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi,
utopia-dystopia,
robots,
time-travel,
thriller,
apocalypse,
artificial-intelligence,
aliens
You don't need to know a whole bunch (or anything at all) about the amazing worlds that Phillip K Dick has created in his mind, and as long as you can keep an open mind, you can immerse yourself in this fantasy future right off the bat. You don't need to know about Archimedes to follow the story of the (always) male protagonist, and the backstory of the character or plausibility of this future doesn't hinder his storytelling. Each tale is filled with twists and turns, and it's a total pageturner...more
Let me tell you what I'm hung up on. This "Mendelian Law" thing. Driving me nuts. Because I know Dick's got to have known better than to present it the way he did. So I keep wondering why, what the twist is, but I don't see one.
The more I think about it, the more I sinkingly feel that he really thought that's how Mendel's laws work. I'm not even getting into the parental units. I'm just talking about their four kids in its 1-2-1 pattern. As if, if you have four kids ...more
The more I think about it, the more I sinkingly feel that he really thought that's how Mendel's laws work. I'm not even getting into the parental units. I'm just talking about their four kids in its 1-2-1 pattern. As if, if you have four kids ...more
I'm a dickhead, because I am giving this book a lukewarm review when I couldn't even get through it. And it's a book of SHORT STORIES. What's wrong with me? I know Philip K. Dick is supposed to be amazing, one of those science fiction writers it's "okay" to like. I have overheard several coffee shop conversations proceeding thusly:
"I know, it's kind of embarrassing, but...I have a weakness for science fiction. "
"Oh, really? Hahaha, that's so funny. You're CR...more
"I know, it's kind of embarrassing, but...I have a weakness for science fiction. "
"Oh, really? Hahaha, that's so funny. You're CR...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Like the other two Philip Dick novels I read over the weekend Minority Report was quick, mostly entertaining, and not terribly interested in filling all the technicalities associated with developing stories dealing with characters knowing the future and acting on it. However, Philip's literary shot at the subject brings up unique perspectives on the - you thought that I thought that you thought but you failed to remember to never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!- theme best e...more
I had read a little bit of science fiction before reading this collection of stories, but nothing had prepared me for how devastating they were. They say Philip K Dick was paranoid in real life; this paranoia runs through all his works, giving us these masterpieces. The first two stories in the collection, Autofac and Service Call set the chilling tone. Both are stories of humanity losing control. You think that the stories couldn't possibly get better, but they do, again and again. What sort of...more
I recently discovered Quantum of Solace - short stories by Ian Flemming and now Minaority Report by Philip K. Dick.
I like the fast reads of these short story collections . . . many of which are developed into full-blown movies.
Obviously Minority Report was made into a movie by the same title.
But I've discoverd that several of Philip Dick's other stories were as well:
"We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which became the movie "Total Recall."
"Paycheck," made...more
I like the fast reads of these short story collections . . . many of which are developed into full-blown movies.
Obviously Minority Report was made into a movie by the same title.
But I've discoverd that several of Philip Dick's other stories were as well:
"We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which became the movie "Total Recall."
"Paycheck," made...more
Inspired ideas from a dark and paranoid imagination just oozes from his writing. So far there seem to be some recurring themes; people caught up in an authoritarian government and that government is ought to get them. Or a desire to get to the wild frontier of another planet and the notion that technology is a tool that will be used against us. What would the paranoic Philip K. Dick make of the internet had he lived to see it? Or the invasive security checks we endure? Or Googe Earth?
...more
...more
This guy was so visionary on many levels, I don't want to write anything negative. I don't always love the genre of science fiction, and I find the sci-fi short story especially iffy. Some of these stories are really fantastic: I enjoyed reading them - didn't want to put them down and completely understood that Hollywood could keep making movies out of his body of work for years to come. I found this book in the used paperbacks at the library for fifty cents, with the rationale that I had nev...more
Obviously, a very sweet context. But here's an instance concerning Philip k. Dick where the movie actually improves upon the original idea. I think. It's been like ten years since I've seen the movie, but I remember particularly enjoying it. Regardless, at a scant 54 pages, the story presents a flurry of ideas without really fleshing anything out. The gritty world is only half realized; flashed over just as casual as a character looking out of their piloted air craft. I don't know the history be...more
There's a lot of interesting ideas floating around in this collection. Minority Report, obviously, was a story I was familiar with due to the film, Explorers We might have been my favorite story from this collection, it's very traditional sci-fi, but I thought it was charming with a fun twist. Other stories that stand out are Oh, To be a Blobel! for it's strange O. Henry feel, The Unreconstructed M for it's genre mixing and The Mold of Yancy for being uncomfortably prophetic. The more I read fro...more
A really great collection. Although lots of science fiction from that era starts feeling outdated and awkward, it is not at all difficult to transpose the main points and deeper issues to things occurring now. Part of the strength, I think, has to do with Dick's facility with dialog (both expressed and internal) and that rather than being overly concerned with technologies, the stories more often revolve around the impacts of those technology on humanity, and those concerns remain even as tech...more
Modboy
rated it
I'm a fan of Philip Dick. He's a man of many ideas and provides a ton of insight into our world. He's also great at describing the common man going about his everyday routine and falling into extraordinary situations. That being said I often think some of his novels should have been cut-down and edited--perhaps made into short-stories. He isn't a pretty writer. I don't come to him to be wowed by word choice or simile. Some of the short stories in this collection are great and only one, whi...more
I really enjoyed this book and the different stories in it. It was very interesting to see how one writer envisioned the future (or some type of it) in the immediate aftermath of WWII and the advent of nuclear warfare and the communist scare. Some of the stories were a little silly, but others really made you think. I especially enjoyed the story "The Mold of Yancy," about molding people in the image of a pop culture icon. In all, I found the book a lot of fun and it was quick reading....more
There are quite a few short stories in here. I made it a little more than halfway through and lost interest... then I had to turn it back into the library. it's less confusing to read one at a time and let them sink in a little. I think most of these stories were originally printed individually in sci-fi magazines.
This was my intro to Philip K Dick and his clever and shockingly possible dreams of the future. Even if you are not much into sci-fi (I must admit that I am very muc...more
This was my intro to Philip K Dick and his clever and shockingly possible dreams of the future. Even if you are not much into sci-fi (I must admit that I am very muc...more
Rory
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
die-hards who don't mind crap dialog
Shelves:
gave-up-on,
short-stories
I got this just to read "Minority Report." I'd never read any Dick, plus I remember being really fascinated by the movie, even if Tom Cruise was in it. Well...yeah, the story ("pre-cog" mutants can tell the future and allow law enforcement to arrest people BEFORE they commit crimes) is full of makes-ya-think-don't-it stuff. But the writing is atrocious--not just dated but hackneyed, repetitive, dull and unbelievable. The second time a wife was described only by her measuremen...more
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A decent collection.It's interesting to see how the original Minority Report short story is very different from the movie. Second Variety (filmed as Screamers) and We Can Remember it for You Wholesale (filmed as Total Recall) are outstanding selections. However I've read some more obscure PKD short stories that are as good,if not better than some of the other stories featured here.
Nathanael
added it
I enjoy Sci Fi to an extent. I'm a big Philip K. Dick fan as well, and I can't figure out how they were able to make so many movies based off of his short stories.
Best story by Philip K. Dick also is my favorite movie based of said book; the book was called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and the movie that was based off the book is Blade Runner, best sci-fi movie evar!
Best story by Philip K. Dick also is my favorite movie based of said book; the book was called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and the movie that was based off the book is Blade Runner, best sci-fi movie evar!
This is an interesting collection of short stories. It's always interesting to read old sci-fi. In some respects, Mr. Dick could see well beyond our years, but in others, couldn't see at all past his own.
Ignoring the strange anachronisms (e.g., an AI-robot which can so successfully frame a man for murder that even he might believe it, in the same story with a supercomputer connected to a nation-wide database of every person, and all their characteristics, which stores its data on pun...more
Ignoring the strange anachronisms (e.g., an AI-robot which can so successfully frame a man for murder that even he might believe it, in the same story with a supercomputer connected to a nation-wide database of every person, and all their characteristics, which stores its data on pun...more
Philip K. Dick was writing about pre-cogs and all these other machines he envisioned during the 50s and 60s during the nuclear threat. His imagination spawned all these machines that would be generated in some cases after the nuclear war. Most impressive was his prre-=cog theory. My director at work made a comment to a co-worker that I can predict the future like a pre-cog.
Suicide, drugs and Androids in almost every story. More entertaining than Martian Time Slip. I usually find it hard to read a book of short stories but I couldn't put this down. I think I may be slightly addicted to his strange worlds. There were one or two stories that I didn't like so much but The Second Type amongst others more than made up for it.
More solid short stories by Philip K. Dick. If you like short stories and science fiction, you'd probably want to give him a try. Philip Dick's major themes are a bit less prominent in these stories, but I'm a sucker for references to the Bay Area, and one of the stories even mentions my hometown, Piedmont! (It's in the middle of and surrounded by Oakland, CA.)
Philip Dick's stories often involve people trying to figure out what is real and what is not, and who is human and who is no...more
Philip Dick's stories often involve people trying to figure out what is real and what is not, and who is human and who is no...more
Only read the Minority Report. There are a few places where there seem to be a few gaps in the stories. Having learnt that Philip K. Dick was a junkie and often used to write his novels in a matter of days, his writing style suddenly makes more sense.
The movie was better.
The movie was better.
this is a book of his earlier short stories. some of them are pretty good, others just alright. i've never read him before and i suspect he's better to read in a collection of lots of authors - i found reading him all at once to be pretty repetitive. i guess if you are familiar with him and other stories coming out in the 50's and 60's it might be cool to see his progression of ideas, and how he'd keep trying a certain theme to get it right. i guess i was hoping for a little more evolution i...more
Though not quite what I was expecting, (Dick's short stories have a tendency to underwhelm me) I like this a lot. The plot of "The Minority Report" differs considerably from the screenplay version, however, and the discrepancies are...interesting.
The stories may be out dated technologically, but they still carry thought provoking themes that are timeless. Many of the stories revolve around what may occur after a nuclear disaster as well as too much government control.
autofac - 3/5 a little odd story about people trying to break automated factories by making them war against one another.
service call - 3/5 a nice story about a swibble and the possible visitor from the future.
captive market - 3/5 an excellent wee story about a women selling goods.
the mold of yancy - 3/5
the minority report - 4/5 very good short story
recall mechanism - 4/5 very short story that reminded me of Eye In the Sky or Ubik exce...more
service call - 3/5 a nice story about a swibble and the possible visitor from the future.
captive market - 3/5 an excellent wee story about a women selling goods.
the mold of yancy - 3/5
the minority report - 4/5 very good short story
recall mechanism - 4/5 very short story that reminded me of Eye In the Sky or Ubik exce...more
I didn't like the Minority Report I found it to be dull, predicable and quite boring. Atleast as a short story. I think if it was a full novel it would of been a lot better to read. Just wasn't really my cup of tea.
I love the story concept and the way it is written. It's a quick read though, I would have liked some more in depth detail and character development. But for what it is, I think it's a great story.
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| Minority Report | 3 | 40 | Dec 29, 2011 05:16am |
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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