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Volume II: Adjustment Team
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) was one of the seminal figures of 20th century science fiction. His many stories and novels, which include such classics as The Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , reflect a deeply personal world view, exploring the fragile, multifarious nature of reality itself and examining those elements that make us—or fail to make us—fully human. He did as much as anyone to demolish the artificial barrier between genre fiction and "literature," and the best of his work has earned a permanent place in American popular culture. Adjustment Team is the second installment of a uniform, five-volume edition of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick. This wide-ranging collection contains 26 stories and novellas from the extraordinarily productive years of 1952 and 1953, along with extensive story notes. Included here are "The Cookie Lady," an account of a young boy whose relationship with a lonely widow results in a bizarre act of transformation, Second Variety (filmed in 1995 as Screamers ), a novella that powerfully evokes a post-apocalyptic society overrun by all-too-human looking robots known as "Claws," and the title story, in which a small accident of timing leads real estate salesman Ed Fletcher to an unexpected confrontation with the malleable nature of a once familiar world. Like its predecessor, The King of the Elves , this new volume offers both an astonishing variety of narrative pleasures and a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of a major American artist.
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First published May 1, 1987
About the author
Philip K. Dick
1,549 books19.3k followersPhilip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. 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 Memorial Award for best novel of the year in 1974 for Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Philip K. Dick died on March 2, 1982, in Santa Ana, California, of heart failure following a stroke.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
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March 10, 2019
We Can Remember it for You Wholesale, the second volume of Philip K. Dick’s collected short stories, represents both a significant advance and a noticeable decline. The majority of these tales—the remarkable exception being the title story, written in 1965—were composed between August of ‘52 and April of ‘53, whereas the previous volume, The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford, contained work composed primarily in ‘51 (when Dick sold his first story) until the early months of ‘52. The tales of the second volume are on the whole better constructed, slicker and safer than the first. Dick was now a full time writer, striving—with limited success—to make a living, and he was obviously doing his best to write stories he could easily sell. The best stories in Brown Oxford are wilder, more characteristically Dickian, but Wholesale gives us a more polished Philip K. Dick, one who was learned who to succeed in the science fiction market place.
Fortunately for us, although Dick tried his best to be mainstream, he could never quite stop being Dick.
The stories here reveal, at one time or another, all of Dick’s central concerns: nuclear devastation, immortal robot weapons, the security state sacrificing freedom for order, alternate realities, unreliable mental constructs, temporal anomalies and paradoxes. Through it all, he speaks out courageously against racism, militarism, ideological hatred, and mindless nationalism, and does so with just enough classic Dickian paranoia to keep a sensitive reader awake and ever alert to his environment.
My favorites here? I like almost all of them, but offhand my favorite 9 out of the 27 stories—not necessarily the best—are: “The Cookie Lady,” “I Can Remember it For You Wholesale,” “Prominent Author,” “The World She Wanted,” “Project Earth,” “Martians Come in Clouds, “Imposter,” “Human Is” and “Adjustment Team.” Ask me tomorrow, though, and you might get a different list of stories.
May 9, 2021
"¿No pudiste percibir que era una máquina? ¿Hablaba como un ser humano? ¿Nunca lo sospechaste?
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."
(La Segunda Variedad)"
A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.
“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad.”
Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fría y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen estando muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.
Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos específicamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la ciencia ficción y el fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.
A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:
1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.
2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.
3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.
4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.
5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.
6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.
7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.
8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.
9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.
10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.
11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.
12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.
13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.
14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.
15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.
16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.
17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.
18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..
19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.
20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso
21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.
22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.
23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.
24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.
25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.
"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".
26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.
27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.
“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.
- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.
- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no.” ( James P. Crow).
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."
(La Segunda Variedad)"
A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.
“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad.”
Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fría y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen estando muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.
Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos específicamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la ciencia ficción y el fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.
A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:
1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.
2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.
3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.
4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.
5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.
6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.
7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.
8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.
9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.
10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.
11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.
12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.
13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.
14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.
15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.
16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.
17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.
18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..
19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.
20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso
21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.
22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.
23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.
24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.
25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.
"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".
26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.
27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.
“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.
- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.
- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no.” ( James P. Crow).
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
January 27, 2013
Because this is a book containing over 25 short stories - some related, some not; some great, and some not - I think the only way I can review this is story by story: 25 (even shorter) reviews. So, here goes:
The Cookie Lady
and
Beyond The Door
***
Roald Dahl-esque, only with less of the intricacy and finesse of Dahl's work. Nonetheless, these two stories were enjoyable, if more predictable than I would like. The dark humour that comes through in later works is readily apparent here.
Second Variety
***.5
This is where P.K.D is really in his element - war, and robots. The implications of this story still ring true, though the war in question has been over for some time now, and the double-twist at the end was both well-wrought and genuinely unexpected (for me, anyway). I will confess to finding the story a little dull in parts, but after reading later stories set in the future of this world, I appreciated the background given in Second Variety.
Jon's World
****
This really sums up many of my feelings towards the mental health industry. OH, it made me angry! This really was the intended reaction, I believe. Really deals with human selfishness and refusal to accept anything outside of our meagre understanding. Very good.
The Cosmic Poachers
****
Plot twist was a little obvious but darkly funny. Plays on humanity's greed, and that insistence that anything we don't understand or agree with is inherently "dumber" than us. This is definitely a recurring theme - Martians Come in Clouds is very similar, although far more heartbreaking (and dealing a little more strongly with racism).
Progeny
***.5
Really relevant to today, I think - kids don't get to be kids anymore, which is something I could rant about for the entirety of this review! I won't, other than to say that a world where games like bulrush are banned from school in case of injury, and climbing trees is forbidden, is not a world that will raise strong individuals and I cannot agree with that. Nether could P.K.D, apparently. This was written in response to his own upbringing, where doctors made parents feel guilty for showing their children affection. The "progeny" in this is the result of such a sterile upbringing. Not my favourite, but very good.
Some Kinds of Life
*****
THIS
Honestly, this should be compulsory reading in schools. No less relevant now than when it was written - possibly even more so. The futility of war and commercialism and everything is here - perfection. I can't stop raving about this story to everyone I know, I really can't!
The Commuter
****.5
Hilarious.
The World She Wanted
***
Not as strong as a lot of his other stories, although the premise is interesting. Again, nice little plot twist but a little bland for me. I could actually see this as a really interesting film though...
A Surface Raid
***.5
Same as above, only better plot twist and slightly stronger storyline. Also, this wouldn't work as a film!
Project: Earth
***.5
The Trouble With Bubbles
****
Very interesting, great twist at end (though I did see it coming), interesting visuals and plot.
Breakfast At Twilight
****
In the author's own words: There you are in your home, and the soldiers smash down the door and tell you you're in the middle of World War III. Something's gone wrong with time. I like to fiddle with the idea of basic categories of reality, such as space and time, breaking down. It's my love of chaos, I suppose. (1976)
A Present for Pat
**.5
A unique concept, very funny but turned a little silly at the end. Neither loved nor hated this, worth the read if you you want something more light and fluffy.
The Hood Maker
***
Of Withered Apples
***
The closest to a typical horror I've ever seen by P.K.D, interesting concept but I didn't think the story was up to his usual standard - there was something lacking.
Human Is
*****
By far my favourite - opens the debate of what makes a human, and in the end (here anyway) it comes down to kindness. Simply written, moving and the ending is really lovely.
Adjustment Team
****
Though the title isn't quite as "schnazzy" as "The Adjustment Bureau"(the Matt Damon film based on the story), Adjustment Team is a great little story, and you can definitely see why a film version was made. Creepy cool premise - the kind that has you looking twice around the place to make sure that everything seems as you left it.
The Impossible Planet
***
This one was interesting but I think it went over my head, just a little. I got the implications, but... No, didn't love it.
Impostor
***
James P. Crow
****.5
The anti-racist overtones are less overtones and more like clashing cymbals of obviousness, but the lack of subtlety in this respect doesn't detract in any way from the story. Subtlety isn't always needed in every aspect of writing, and the impact of the story is quite strong. The ending was nicely sinister too.
Planet for Transients
****
Small Town
****
Again, similar to Roald Dahl in tone and subject, nicely eerie.
Souvenir
***
Good concept (as usual) but I completely failed to understand the ending, or at least was unsure I understood it. Three stars only because I didn't quite get it. Judge for yourself.
Survey Team
*****
AND again, he writes another perfect story of human greed and wastefulness that is all the more terrifying for its future possible accuracy.
(Yes, I calculated the average of each of those ratings because I am a perfectionist and weird about numbers. Four stars is close enough to that average.)
The Cookie Lady
and
Beyond The Door
***
Roald Dahl-esque, only with less of the intricacy and finesse of Dahl's work. Nonetheless, these two stories were enjoyable, if more predictable than I would like. The dark humour that comes through in later works is readily apparent here.
Second Variety
***.5
This is where P.K.D is really in his element - war, and robots. The implications of this story still ring true, though the war in question has been over for some time now, and the double-twist at the end was both well-wrought and genuinely unexpected (for me, anyway). I will confess to finding the story a little dull in parts, but after reading later stories set in the future of this world, I appreciated the background given in Second Variety.
Jon's World
****
This really sums up many of my feelings towards the mental health industry. OH, it made me angry! This really was the intended reaction, I believe. Really deals with human selfishness and refusal to accept anything outside of our meagre understanding. Very good.
The Cosmic Poachers
****
Plot twist was a little obvious but darkly funny. Plays on humanity's greed, and that insistence that anything we don't understand or agree with is inherently "dumber" than us. This is definitely a recurring theme - Martians Come in Clouds is very similar, although far more heartbreaking (and dealing a little more strongly with racism).
Progeny
***.5
Really relevant to today, I think - kids don't get to be kids anymore, which is something I could rant about for the entirety of this review! I won't, other than to say that a world where games like bulrush are banned from school in case of injury, and climbing trees is forbidden, is not a world that will raise strong individuals and I cannot agree with that. Nether could P.K.D, apparently. This was written in response to his own upbringing, where doctors made parents feel guilty for showing their children affection. The "progeny" in this is the result of such a sterile upbringing. Not my favourite, but very good.
Some Kinds of Life
*****
THIS
Honestly, this should be compulsory reading in schools. No less relevant now than when it was written - possibly even more so. The futility of war and commercialism and everything is here - perfection. I can't stop raving about this story to everyone I know, I really can't!
The Commuter
****.5
Hilarious.
The World She Wanted
***
Not as strong as a lot of his other stories, although the premise is interesting. Again, nice little plot twist but a little bland for me. I could actually see this as a really interesting film though...
A Surface Raid
***.5
Same as above, only better plot twist and slightly stronger storyline. Also, this wouldn't work as a film!
Project: Earth
***.5
The Trouble With Bubbles
****
Very interesting, great twist at end (though I did see it coming), interesting visuals and plot.
Breakfast At Twilight
****
In the author's own words: There you are in your home, and the soldiers smash down the door and tell you you're in the middle of World War III. Something's gone wrong with time. I like to fiddle with the idea of basic categories of reality, such as space and time, breaking down. It's my love of chaos, I suppose. (1976)
A Present for Pat
**.5
A unique concept, very funny but turned a little silly at the end. Neither loved nor hated this, worth the read if you you want something more light and fluffy.
The Hood Maker
***
Of Withered Apples
***
The closest to a typical horror I've ever seen by P.K.D, interesting concept but I didn't think the story was up to his usual standard - there was something lacking.
Human Is
*****
By far my favourite - opens the debate of what makes a human, and in the end (here anyway) it comes down to kindness. Simply written, moving and the ending is really lovely.
Adjustment Team
****
Though the title isn't quite as "schnazzy" as "The Adjustment Bureau"(the Matt Damon film based on the story), Adjustment Team is a great little story, and you can definitely see why a film version was made. Creepy cool premise - the kind that has you looking twice around the place to make sure that everything seems as you left it.
The Impossible Planet
***
This one was interesting but I think it went over my head, just a little. I got the implications, but... No, didn't love it.
Impostor
***
James P. Crow
****.5
The anti-racist overtones are less overtones and more like clashing cymbals of obviousness, but the lack of subtlety in this respect doesn't detract in any way from the story. Subtlety isn't always needed in every aspect of writing, and the impact of the story is quite strong. The ending was nicely sinister too.
Planet for Transients
****
Small Town
****
Again, similar to Roald Dahl in tone and subject, nicely eerie.
Souvenir
***
Good concept (as usual) but I completely failed to understand the ending, or at least was unsure I understood it. Three stars only because I didn't quite get it. Judge for yourself.
Survey Team
*****
AND again, he writes another perfect story of human greed and wastefulness that is all the more terrifying for its future possible accuracy.
(Yes, I calculated the average of each of those ratings because I am a perfectionist and weird about numbers. Four stars is close enough to that average.)
October 2, 2018
Este segundo volumen de los cuentos completos de Philip K. Dick mantiene la calidad que ya nos ofreció el primer libro. Se trata de 28 relatos escritos entre 1952 y 1953. Hay que reseñar que la edición de Martínez Roca no contiene el relato 'Podemos recordarlo por usted', y que sí incluye la edición de Minotauro. En este volumen ya se empieza a perfilar la que sería una de las grandes obsesiones de Dick, qué distingue al ser Humano, qué es lo que le caracteriza, y si podría confundirse con una máquina. Qué duda cabe que seguiré leyendo los magníficos relatos de Dick.
September 17, 2017
This book has mostly very good reviews here on GR. Mine is going to be more critical.
I think I would have given it 3.5 stars if not for the gender stereotypes and sexism. I understand that most of these stories were written in the golden area of the American housewife, and that gender roles were more rigid back then. But that does not automatically translate to the condescending depictions of women I found in the majority of these stories.
But let's come back to that.
The stories themselves were a mixed package. Some were a bit boring. I were easily able to foresee the plot twist in most of them, and that does necessarily diminish the excitement. There were quite a lot that depicted a society torn to pieces by nuclear war - a bigger fear back in the fifties than today. I didn't much care for the war stories. I liked it better when I was presented with fantastical worlds than broken ones. And some of the stories did have truly interesting concepts, and a few were really exciting - page turners. A lot of them seem to underline how destructive human society is. The last story in the collection has a touching message about how important it is to take good care of our planet - a message more relevant today than ever before.
The characters are on the simple side, and a lot of them are called Ed, for some reason. But I guess these stories were not originally intended to be published as a collection, and as most of them are really short and focused on describing societies rather than individuals, so that naturally limits the depth it's possible to give a character.
Back to the depiction of women.
Women in these stories are either devoted mothers/girfriends, who obeys the orders given by the men in their lives, or mean bitches that scream at their husbands a lot. There is one strong, independent woman in this collection. Her name is Allison, and things do not end well for her. For the most part, the women are treated like children. They are described as vain, silly, stupid and they often have tantrums. They scream a lot, either out of fear or anger. If a man says to another man "nice little girl you've got there", he's talking about the other guy's wife/girlfriend, not his daughter.
The women are often described as having big eyes and lush hair. Oh, and let's not forget their full breasts. A woman who puts on - some sort of cape, I think - is described as fastening it over her shoulders and her breasts. Just to get the word breast in there one more time. The stories are clearly directed only at a straight, male audience.
One of the male protagonists reveals a secret to his wife. He is later scolded for it by another man, in this way:
"Your wife knows." The Old Man's face twisted angrily. "A woman. Of all the things to tell - "
And then there's Lori. A grown woman, who wants to take a walk before making dinner for her husband and his father. She has to beg them for permission before she can leave the house, and when she gets it, she is so happy! Oh, lucky you, Lori!
"Don't ask me, Steve. Just let me go. This is the last time." She writhed in agony. She clenched her fists. "Please!"
"All right. But it's going to snow. I don't see why you want to - "
Lori ran to get her coat from the closet. "I'll be back to fix dinner!" she shouted joyfully.
This scene depicts the relationship between parent and child, not between two equal adults who wants to share their lives with each other.
A while ago, I DNF-ed Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics on a somewhat related basis. What annoys me is that these two authors are trying to - and are recognized for - writing brand new, fantastic worlds or concepts, completely different societies - that in their maleness, whiteness and heteronormativity, are nothing different or new after all. And they don't seem to see it themselves. They can't really see, or see beyond, their own prejudices. When you are not in a marginalized position, it seems to be very easy to not recognize that there is a problem, a fundamental injustice, at all. Maybe this classifies as a pet peeve when I react so strongly to finding it in older books, but I couldn't let it go and it pretty much shaped my reading experience.
In some books, I can see past stuff like this. I like Poe, even though his ideal woman is a corpse - a beautiful, dead object. But then again, I can't stand Strindberg. He is a brilliant author, but he is also a complete misogynist.
I have read books from the 19th century, written by men, that depicts women a lot better and more positively than Dick and Calvino - books that describes them as thinking individuals. And most of the stories in this collection were not written that long before Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. PKD cannot be excused solely because of the time in which he wrote. He could have done a lot better than describing women as silly, helpless, hysterical and inferior.
I spite of all of this, I can see why other people might enjoy these stories much more than me, and if you like older sci-fi, go for it. It is interesting to see how the past pictured the future. Just - please - read it with a critical mind. That way, books that are racist, sexists etc. does good by developing our critical sense and promoting good discussions.
I think I would have given it 3.5 stars if not for the gender stereotypes and sexism. I understand that most of these stories were written in the golden area of the American housewife, and that gender roles were more rigid back then. But that does not automatically translate to the condescending depictions of women I found in the majority of these stories.
But let's come back to that.
The stories themselves were a mixed package. Some were a bit boring. I were easily able to foresee the plot twist in most of them, and that does necessarily diminish the excitement. There were quite a lot that depicted a society torn to pieces by nuclear war - a bigger fear back in the fifties than today. I didn't much care for the war stories. I liked it better when I was presented with fantastical worlds than broken ones. And some of the stories did have truly interesting concepts, and a few were really exciting - page turners. A lot of them seem to underline how destructive human society is. The last story in the collection has a touching message about how important it is to take good care of our planet - a message more relevant today than ever before.
The characters are on the simple side, and a lot of them are called Ed, for some reason. But I guess these stories were not originally intended to be published as a collection, and as most of them are really short and focused on describing societies rather than individuals, so that naturally limits the depth it's possible to give a character.
Back to the depiction of women.
Women in these stories are either devoted mothers/girfriends, who obeys the orders given by the men in their lives, or mean bitches that scream at their husbands a lot. There is one strong, independent woman in this collection. Her name is Allison, and things do not end well for her. For the most part, the women are treated like children. They are described as vain, silly, stupid and they often have tantrums. They scream a lot, either out of fear or anger. If a man says to another man "nice little girl you've got there", he's talking about the other guy's wife/girlfriend, not his daughter.
The women are often described as having big eyes and lush hair. Oh, and let's not forget their full breasts. A woman who puts on - some sort of cape, I think - is described as fastening it over her shoulders and her breasts. Just to get the word breast in there one more time. The stories are clearly directed only at a straight, male audience.
One of the male protagonists reveals a secret to his wife. He is later scolded for it by another man, in this way:
"Your wife knows." The Old Man's face twisted angrily. "A woman. Of all the things to tell - "
And then there's Lori. A grown woman, who wants to take a walk before making dinner for her husband and his father. She has to beg them for permission before she can leave the house, and when she gets it, she is so happy! Oh, lucky you, Lori!
"Don't ask me, Steve. Just let me go. This is the last time." She writhed in agony. She clenched her fists. "Please!"
"All right. But it's going to snow. I don't see why you want to - "
Lori ran to get her coat from the closet. "I'll be back to fix dinner!" she shouted joyfully.
This scene depicts the relationship between parent and child, not between two equal adults who wants to share their lives with each other.
A while ago, I DNF-ed Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics on a somewhat related basis. What annoys me is that these two authors are trying to - and are recognized for - writing brand new, fantastic worlds or concepts, completely different societies - that in their maleness, whiteness and heteronormativity, are nothing different or new after all. And they don't seem to see it themselves. They can't really see, or see beyond, their own prejudices. When you are not in a marginalized position, it seems to be very easy to not recognize that there is a problem, a fundamental injustice, at all. Maybe this classifies as a pet peeve when I react so strongly to finding it in older books, but I couldn't let it go and it pretty much shaped my reading experience.
In some books, I can see past stuff like this. I like Poe, even though his ideal woman is a corpse - a beautiful, dead object. But then again, I can't stand Strindberg. He is a brilliant author, but he is also a complete misogynist.
I have read books from the 19th century, written by men, that depicts women a lot better and more positively than Dick and Calvino - books that describes them as thinking individuals. And most of the stories in this collection were not written that long before Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. PKD cannot be excused solely because of the time in which he wrote. He could have done a lot better than describing women as silly, helpless, hysterical and inferior.
I spite of all of this, I can see why other people might enjoy these stories much more than me, and if you like older sci-fi, go for it. It is interesting to see how the past pictured the future. Just - please - read it with a critical mind. That way, books that are racist, sexists etc. does good by developing our critical sense and promoting good discussions.
August 1, 2019
I cherry-picked stories out of this collection for a very simple reason. I had read most of the best ones from it already. :)
Interestingly enough, I got to revisit some snippets that later made it into some of his full novels in these previous incarnations. And far from being a chore or a let-down, a few of them enhanced my interest.
Like in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, one story got pretty hardcore into Mercer and Mercerism. I laughed aloud when I discovered that. Another encapsulated PKD's mystical experience in 1974, including the transposition of an ancient time with ours. Yet another made it into Divine Invasion, and another made it into Radio Free Albemuth.
Oddly enough, I got a lot out of these. They aren't one-to-one copy-overs and the differences are interesting to any scholar of PKD. Maybe not to anyone else, but *I* got a lot out of it. :) Added depth, maybe from PKD's deep fascination and some from the cross-overs between his real life and his revisits in his fiction.
The nature of pain and suffering, of being a jerk, of learning from past mistakes, and of transcendence, mainly.
Other than that, the other stories were quite good. I never need to fear PKD. If I need a good read, I can always come back. :)
Interestingly enough, I got to revisit some snippets that later made it into some of his full novels in these previous incarnations. And far from being a chore or a let-down, a few of them enhanced my interest.
Like in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, one story got pretty hardcore into Mercer and Mercerism. I laughed aloud when I discovered that. Another encapsulated PKD's mystical experience in 1974, including the transposition of an ancient time with ours. Yet another made it into Divine Invasion, and another made it into Radio Free Albemuth.
Oddly enough, I got a lot out of these. They aren't one-to-one copy-overs and the differences are interesting to any scholar of PKD. Maybe not to anyone else, but *I* got a lot out of it. :) Added depth, maybe from PKD's deep fascination and some from the cross-overs between his real life and his revisits in his fiction.
The nature of pain and suffering, of being a jerk, of learning from past mistakes, and of transcendence, mainly.
Other than that, the other stories were quite good. I never need to fear PKD. If I need a good read, I can always come back. :)
September 18, 2017
Este segundo volumen de cuentos completos de Philip K. Dick mantiene, en comparación con el primero, el nivel de los relatos pero les agrega un poco más de solidez y profundidad.
En general los temas que más se tratan son paranoia, realidad, holocausto nuclear, guerra, psicología, y la definición misma de ser humano, temas con los que el autor volvería en muchas de sus obras posteriores.
Si tengo que elegir mis cuentos preferidos de este volumen me quedo con: La segunda variedad, El problema con las burbujas, Un regalo para Pat y Humano es.
La Segunda variedad considero que es uno de los mejores relatos de ciencia ficción que he leído. En el futuro la Tierra ha sido destruida luego de la guerra entre Estados Unidos y Rusia. Los rusos pegaron primero con armas nucleares y comenzaron ganando, pero los estadounidenses diseñaron unos temibles robots para contraatacar. Estos robots evolucionaron y se volvieron peligrosos para ambos bandos. Junto con El equipo de Ajuste, este es uno de los cuentos más paranoicos que he leído hasta el momento del autor.
Un regalo para Pat es prácticamente un relato fantástico en tono de comedia. Un ejecutivo industrial se trae de un viaje intergaláctico un pequeño dios extraterrestre para regalárselo a su esposa Pat. La casi omnipotente criatura altera sus vidas ni bien llega. Parece un episodio de la serie Futurama.
Humano es aborda el tema de qué es ser un humano, una idea con la que PKD volvió cuando escribió ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?
Los cuentos The Commuter y Small Town ensayan un poco la idea de las realidades alternas y se podría decir que son conceptualmente iguales a El Hombre en el Castillo, novela por la que PKD ganaría el Premio Hugo en 1963.
En general los temas que más se tratan son paranoia, realidad, holocausto nuclear, guerra, psicología, y la definición misma de ser humano, temas con los que el autor volvería en muchas de sus obras posteriores.
Si tengo que elegir mis cuentos preferidos de este volumen me quedo con: La segunda variedad, El problema con las burbujas, Un regalo para Pat y Humano es.
La Segunda variedad considero que es uno de los mejores relatos de ciencia ficción que he leído. En el futuro la Tierra ha sido destruida luego de la guerra entre Estados Unidos y Rusia. Los rusos pegaron primero con armas nucleares y comenzaron ganando, pero los estadounidenses diseñaron unos temibles robots para contraatacar. Estos robots evolucionaron y se volvieron peligrosos para ambos bandos. Junto con El equipo de Ajuste, este es uno de los cuentos más paranoicos que he leído hasta el momento del autor.
Un regalo para Pat es prácticamente un relato fantástico en tono de comedia. Un ejecutivo industrial se trae de un viaje intergaláctico un pequeño dios extraterrestre para regalárselo a su esposa Pat. La casi omnipotente criatura altera sus vidas ni bien llega. Parece un episodio de la serie Futurama.
Humano es aborda el tema de qué es ser un humano, una idea con la que PKD volvió cuando escribió ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?
Los cuentos The Commuter y Small Town ensayan un poco la idea de las realidades alternas y se podría decir que son conceptualmente iguales a El Hombre en el Castillo, novela por la que PKD ganaría el Premio Hugo en 1963.
February 6, 2021
So strange* to read Dick doing straight-up golden age-y science fiction (& fantasy, too, occasionally!). Mind-blowing and engaging.
(*What makes it strange, I guess, is how not that very strange it all is - oh, but the seeds of future obsessions are all here, all very visible).
(*What makes it strange, I guess, is how not that very strange it all is - oh, but the seeds of future obsessions are all here, all very visible).
December 29, 2017
The Hood Maker: 4/5
The most fascinating aspect of PKD has been and remains in his talent to be relevant in his stories. In a short span of time, The Hood Maker establishes an alternate reality, the most obvious paths humans would take in such an eventuality - purely based on historical evidence and the inevitable rebellion that comes with it.
The Impossible Planet: 4/5
The story is less of a story but a probable distant future when Earth is a myth and lies in obscure legends and researchers spend resources trying to find this mythical place. A future where its well understood that evolution of human species took place in different parts of the universe and nowhere one place special. I must admit, it was a little bitter sweet to read this future story.
The Commuter: 3/5
This short story reminded me of Galactic pot healer, for some reason. The two are in no way similar content wise or in style but they both echo the necessity of belonging to a space and having our existence validated. Interestingly, the short story works much better given its tight boundaries where the commuter's existence is questioned, investigated and validated. The boundaries that we draw are often imaginary lines that's rarely inclusive. Does this piece of land with a name struggles along with the people it contains for identity?
Human Is: 4/5
There is something very similar by Bradbury that questions in the same lines as PKD does - what makes us human? Our physiology? Or whatever that gets broadly classified as humanity and yet very few exhibit that behavior? Compassion? Kindness? PKD's take on it is similar to that of Bradbury: its the expectation of a person of another, defines humanity to them. There is no broad brush strokes that paint humanity's picture. Its like peeking into a Kaleidoscope and trying to discern a pattern and try hard to understand why it looks to beautiful. In this short story, an alien being takes the form of a scientist whose ruthlessness is a matter of despair to his wife. The alien reads up literature and tries hard at being human. Isn't that sufficient?
The Adjustment Team: 4/5
There are no chances or fate but a network of intelligent operatives who control the way the world operates. They perform minor adjustments just to nudge the way people react, behave and perform actions that direct the course of the world. PKD exposes the plot and the background through dialogues and this tight three-act story goes to show how the world is intricately connected and what is the smallest and seemingly insignificant lever that has to be pulled to bring about a global change. This is probably the earliest implementation of chaos theory even before it was a thing.
This story has influenced the movie - The Adjustment Bureau.
The Cookie Lady: 2/5
Not really a fan of this line of story telling, or its supernatural content. An old woman lures children with cookies and takes their youth.
Beyond the door: 2/5
An oddity in this collection that has all signature Dick elements but comes off as a knock off. I didn't enjoy it much though the idea was interesting.
Second Variety: 3.5/5
War and Robots, Russians and moon base. PKD at his best exposing humanity in the middle of war that has become an everyday occurrence.
Jon's world: 3/5
Perhaps this was an early vision of Minority Report? The complicated topic of mental health inlaid within time travel science fiction amidst a war. Yeah.
The Cosmic Poachers: 3/5
The world runs on greed. Colonization in a nutshell.
Progeny: 3/5
A future where children are placed in custody of state and "protected" from parents. Children become future in absolute sense where the care and nuturing are
carried by robots and live in institutions.
Some kinds of life: 4/5
The commercialization of war - simplified and exploited at its root.
Martians come in clouds: 3/5
Similar to The Cosmic Poachers where greed runs the world.
The world she wanted: 2/5
The entire story seems to be a filler for the eventual plot twist. It reads quickly though the story is passable.
A surface raid:2/5
Kind of boring actually. The plot twist in the end makes the story for what it is and its a heavy burden to place on the twist rather than the story itself.
Project:Earth: 4/5
An interesting take on existentialism and search for a ground to call their "own".
The trouble with bubbles: 4/5
The horror that descends morally ambiguous decision is becoming a recurring theme in modern times.
Breakfast at twilight:4/5
What would one do if they found themselves in the middle of a war they don't remember starting. Is it possible to be completely out of chaos that unfolds in the world and live in oblique isolation?
A present for pat: 2/5
An underwhelming end to an interesting story line. Became boring midway.
Of withered apples: 3/5
PKD's brand of horror is generally interesting however this one didn't do justice to the expectations I had from this story and this author. Still decent though.
Imposter: 3/5
There is a familiar quality to this story though I've never read it before. The plot follows a pattern that I have come to associate with PKD, maybe that's why.
James P Crow: 4/5
PKD's response to racism.
Planet for Transients: 4/5
When natives reject the notion of engaging with seekers of new land, adventurers, sorrowfully accept that not every land can be inhabited as their own.
Small Town: 4/5
There is a similar Bradbury story similar to Small town. The ominous end to a rather benign start is extraordinary.
Souvenir: 3/5
Narration style is quite similar to a mix of A present for Pat and Project Earth. The ending didn't go the way I expected it to and that was subtly disappointing.
Survey Team: 5/5
With the state of things the way they are on this planet, humanity is incapable of withholding greed and the need to exploit, abuse and overextend than necessary. The only rational voice in the story is thwarted for the sake of progress. Wanting progress for progress sake - is this a human condition?
Prominent author: 3.5/5
There is a certain level of predictability in these short stories in the way they are concluded. PKD uses red herring quite often and a "shock" inducing plot twist at the very end of the story. This way the dramatic effect is left hanging and surprisingly has been quite satisfactory. The repetitiveness isn't exploitative because the elements that make the reveal have remained unique.
The most fascinating aspect of PKD has been and remains in his talent to be relevant in his stories. In a short span of time, The Hood Maker establishes an alternate reality, the most obvious paths humans would take in such an eventuality - purely based on historical evidence and the inevitable rebellion that comes with it.
The Impossible Planet: 4/5
The story is less of a story but a probable distant future when Earth is a myth and lies in obscure legends and researchers spend resources trying to find this mythical place. A future where its well understood that evolution of human species took place in different parts of the universe and nowhere one place special. I must admit, it was a little bitter sweet to read this future story.
The Commuter: 3/5
This short story reminded me of Galactic pot healer, for some reason. The two are in no way similar content wise or in style but they both echo the necessity of belonging to a space and having our existence validated. Interestingly, the short story works much better given its tight boundaries where the commuter's existence is questioned, investigated and validated. The boundaries that we draw are often imaginary lines that's rarely inclusive. Does this piece of land with a name struggles along with the people it contains for identity?
Human Is: 4/5
There is something very similar by Bradbury that questions in the same lines as PKD does - what makes us human? Our physiology? Or whatever that gets broadly classified as humanity and yet very few exhibit that behavior? Compassion? Kindness? PKD's take on it is similar to that of Bradbury: its the expectation of a person of another, defines humanity to them. There is no broad brush strokes that paint humanity's picture. Its like peeking into a Kaleidoscope and trying to discern a pattern and try hard to understand why it looks to beautiful. In this short story, an alien being takes the form of a scientist whose ruthlessness is a matter of despair to his wife. The alien reads up literature and tries hard at being human. Isn't that sufficient?
The Adjustment Team: 4/5
There are no chances or fate but a network of intelligent operatives who control the way the world operates. They perform minor adjustments just to nudge the way people react, behave and perform actions that direct the course of the world. PKD exposes the plot and the background through dialogues and this tight three-act story goes to show how the world is intricately connected and what is the smallest and seemingly insignificant lever that has to be pulled to bring about a global change. This is probably the earliest implementation of chaos theory even before it was a thing.
This story has influenced the movie - The Adjustment Bureau.
The Cookie Lady: 2/5
Not really a fan of this line of story telling, or its supernatural content. An old woman lures children with cookies and takes their youth.
Beyond the door: 2/5
An oddity in this collection that has all signature Dick elements but comes off as a knock off. I didn't enjoy it much though the idea was interesting.
Second Variety: 3.5/5
War and Robots, Russians and moon base. PKD at his best exposing humanity in the middle of war that has become an everyday occurrence.
Jon's world: 3/5
Perhaps this was an early vision of Minority Report? The complicated topic of mental health inlaid within time travel science fiction amidst a war. Yeah.
The Cosmic Poachers: 3/5
The world runs on greed. Colonization in a nutshell.
Progeny: 3/5
A future where children are placed in custody of state and "protected" from parents. Children become future in absolute sense where the care and nuturing are
carried by robots and live in institutions.
Some kinds of life: 4/5
The commercialization of war - simplified and exploited at its root.
Martians come in clouds: 3/5
Similar to The Cosmic Poachers where greed runs the world.
The world she wanted: 2/5
The entire story seems to be a filler for the eventual plot twist. It reads quickly though the story is passable.
A surface raid:2/5
Kind of boring actually. The plot twist in the end makes the story for what it is and its a heavy burden to place on the twist rather than the story itself.
Project:Earth: 4/5
An interesting take on existentialism and search for a ground to call their "own".
The trouble with bubbles: 4/5
The horror that descends morally ambiguous decision is becoming a recurring theme in modern times.
Breakfast at twilight:4/5
What would one do if they found themselves in the middle of a war they don't remember starting. Is it possible to be completely out of chaos that unfolds in the world and live in oblique isolation?
A present for pat: 2/5
An underwhelming end to an interesting story line. Became boring midway.
Of withered apples: 3/5
PKD's brand of horror is generally interesting however this one didn't do justice to the expectations I had from this story and this author. Still decent though.
Imposter: 3/5
There is a familiar quality to this story though I've never read it before. The plot follows a pattern that I have come to associate with PKD, maybe that's why.
James P Crow: 4/5
PKD's response to racism.
Planet for Transients: 4/5
When natives reject the notion of engaging with seekers of new land, adventurers, sorrowfully accept that not every land can be inhabited as their own.
Small Town: 4/5
There is a similar Bradbury story similar to Small town. The ominous end to a rather benign start is extraordinary.
Souvenir: 3/5
Narration style is quite similar to a mix of A present for Pat and Project Earth. The ending didn't go the way I expected it to and that was subtly disappointing.
Survey Team: 5/5
With the state of things the way they are on this planet, humanity is incapable of withholding greed and the need to exploit, abuse and overextend than necessary. The only rational voice in the story is thwarted for the sake of progress. Wanting progress for progress sake - is this a human condition?
Prominent author: 3.5/5
There is a certain level of predictability in these short stories in the way they are concluded. PKD uses red herring quite often and a "shock" inducing plot twist at the very end of the story. This way the dramatic effect is left hanging and surprisingly has been quite satisfactory. The repetitiveness isn't exploitative because the elements that make the reveal have remained unique.
December 6, 2013
-Más muestras de los trabajos cortos de Dick y probablemente más cercanas a su esencia.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. 27 relatos del autor, escritos entre 1952 y 1953, todos publicados previamente en diferentes revistas entre 1953 y 1954, y que tocan temas tan diferentes, entre otros, como viajes en el tiempo muy particulares desde diferentes puntos de partida y con diferentes desarrollos, la naturaleza humana y la falta de conciencia (o no) sobre la misma, relojes decorativos con mucha acritud, confusiones con los comportamientos alienígenas, los intentos de las máquinas para terminar con los humanos, invasiones y extinciones, momentos cercanos a la fábula de toda la vida aunque más siniestros, la difícil convivencia entre seres humanos y artificiales según evoluciona la sociedad y confusiones arqueológicas alienígenas.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. 27 relatos del autor, escritos entre 1952 y 1953, todos publicados previamente en diferentes revistas entre 1953 y 1954, y que tocan temas tan diferentes, entre otros, como viajes en el tiempo muy particulares desde diferentes puntos de partida y con diferentes desarrollos, la naturaleza humana y la falta de conciencia (o no) sobre la misma, relojes decorativos con mucha acritud, confusiones con los comportamientos alienígenas, los intentos de las máquinas para terminar con los humanos, invasiones y extinciones, momentos cercanos a la fábula de toda la vida aunque más siniestros, la difícil convivencia entre seres humanos y artificiales según evoluciona la sociedad y confusiones arqueológicas alienígenas.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
March 7, 2022
"¿No pudiste percibir que era una máquina? ¿Hablaba como un ser humano? ¿Nunca lo sospechaste?
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."
(La Segunda Variedad)"
A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.
“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad”.
Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fria y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen siendo muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.
Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos especificamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la cf y fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.
A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:
1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.
2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.
3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.
4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.
5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.
6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.
7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.
8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.
9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.
10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.
11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.
12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.
13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.
14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.
15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.
16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.
17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.
18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..
19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.
20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso
21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.
22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.
23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.
24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.
25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.
"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".
26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.
27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.
“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.
- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.
- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no” ( James P. Crow)
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."
(La Segunda Variedad)"
A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.
“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad”.
Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fria y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen siendo muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.
Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos especificamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la cf y fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.
A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:
1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.
2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.
3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.
4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.
5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.
6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.
7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.
8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.
9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.
10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.
11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.
12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.
13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.
14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.
15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.
16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.
17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.
18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..
19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.
20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso
21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.
22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.
23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.
24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.
25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.
"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".
26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.
27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.
“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.
- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.
- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no” ( James P. Crow)
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...
February 6, 2016
4,5/5
Bir PKD fanı olarak tarafsız puan vermek gerçekten çok zor benim için :). Hele ki piyasadaki 3 filmine hayat vermiş 3 öyküsünü okumak ayrı bir zevk verdi(Ki bunlardan sadece kitabın isminde olan Kader Ajanları'nın öyküsünü okuyacağımı bildiğimden, diğer iksi ile karşılaşmak baya süpriz oldu. Açıkçası kalan 3 kitapta hangi öyküleri olacak diye düşünüyorum; ağır topları buraya koymuşlar :P )
Bu arada bahsettiğim öyküler
Kader Ajanları-The Adjustment Bureau(2011)
İkinci Tür-Screamers(1995)
Sahtekar-Impostor(2001)
Bunlar harici tabiki de sevdiklerim oldu;
James P. Crow, Kozmik Avcılar hatırlayabildiklerim. PKD tarzını seven, ona boğulmak isteyen biriyseniz kaçmaz.
Kendime not: PKD'nin öykülerinde dikkat ettiğim kadarıyla kadınlar pek fazla ana karakter pozisyonunda olmuyorlar. Hikayelerinde eşi eve döndüğünde hep evde olan ve ev işleri yapan kadın klişesi var. Bu konuyu irdelemek isterim benim gibi düşüneneler var mı diye(google gel bakalım).
Bir PKD fanı olarak tarafsız puan vermek gerçekten çok zor benim için :). Hele ki piyasadaki 3 filmine hayat vermiş 3 öyküsünü okumak ayrı bir zevk verdi(Ki bunlardan sadece kitabın isminde olan Kader Ajanları'nın öyküsünü okuyacağımı bildiğimden, diğer iksi ile karşılaşmak baya süpriz oldu. Açıkçası kalan 3 kitapta hangi öyküleri olacak diye düşünüyorum; ağır topları buraya koymuşlar :P )
Bu arada bahsettiğim öyküler
Kader Ajanları-The Adjustment Bureau(2011)
İkinci Tür-Screamers(1995)
Sahtekar-Impostor(2001)
Bunlar harici tabiki de sevdiklerim oldu;
James P. Crow, Kozmik Avcılar hatırlayabildiklerim. PKD tarzını seven, ona boğulmak isteyen biriyseniz kaçmaz.
Kendime not: PKD'nin öykülerinde dikkat ettiğim kadarıyla kadınlar pek fazla ana karakter pozisyonunda olmuyorlar. Hikayelerinde eşi eve döndüğünde hep evde olan ve ev işleri yapan kadın klişesi var. Bu konuyu irdelemek isterim benim gibi düşüneneler var mı diye(google gel bakalım).
February 8, 2019
Nothing better than keeping a collection of Philip K. Dick stories by your bedside and slowly working through them. It's not that they were literary masterpieces, nor were they all top class stories, but there were enough gems here to keep me mining through to the end.
August 14, 2008
4.0 stars. A superb collection of Dick stories. Full review following re-read.
August 22, 2018
Lo cierto es que sólo me he leído el cuento "La Segunda Variedad" porque lo tenía en una lista de lectura, pero es sin duda una joyita.
Es muy cortito, pero es alucinante como engancha desde el primer momento. Lo he leído tensionada y con ansias porque necesitaba saber más y más.
Si bien el género de la ciencia-ficción no me atrae nada, cuando una historia es una buena historia, no hay género que lo impida.
Y no cuento más, porque hay que disfrutarlo... ¡Garras!
Es muy cortito, pero es alucinante como engancha desde el primer momento. Lo he leído tensionada y con ansias porque necesitaba saber más y más.
Si bien el género de la ciencia-ficción no me atrae nada, cuando una historia es una buena historia, no hay género que lo impida.
Y no cuento más, porque hay que disfrutarlo... ¡Garras!
August 8, 2015
The Best Variety
Recently I came up on a fact that many of renowned and beloved movies are actually based on stories/novels by the same person named Philip K Dick. So after visiting some thrift stores I got this wonderful 2nd Vol of Mr Dick's Collected Short Stories. Needless to say he is as awesome as I had imagined him to be!
The book contains a few fantasy horror stories along with the mouthful of science-fiction. After going through some stories that I will remember for a long time I can clearly state somethings -
~ Mr Dick writes pure pure sci-fi wrapped around fantastic characterizations.
~ He induces bone chilling horror with heart stopping pauses.
~ Sometime there lies more in what he doesn't say. He just gives such an empty space and let the horror fill the space on its own through realization. (This is my favorite!)
~ Fantasy is not his original element; Sci-fi it is!
The best of this volume for me are Second Variety, The Cosmic Poachers, The Impossible Planet, Breakfast at Twilight!
I am gonna read more Dick's for sure because it feels like I have just opened a new Pandora's box!
Recently I came up on a fact that many of renowned and beloved movies are actually based on stories/novels by the same person named Philip K Dick. So after visiting some thrift stores I got this wonderful 2nd Vol of Mr Dick's Collected Short Stories. Needless to say he is as awesome as I had imagined him to be!
The book contains a few fantasy horror stories along with the mouthful of science-fiction. After going through some stories that I will remember for a long time I can clearly state somethings -
~ Mr Dick writes pure pure sci-fi wrapped around fantastic characterizations.
~ He induces bone chilling horror with heart stopping pauses.
~ Sometime there lies more in what he doesn't say. He just gives such an empty space and let the horror fill the space on its own through realization. (This is my favorite!)
~ Fantasy is not his original element; Sci-fi it is!
The best of this volume for me are Second Variety, The Cosmic Poachers, The Impossible Planet, Breakfast at Twilight!
I am gonna read more Dick's for sure because it feels like I have just opened a new Pandora's box!
February 10, 2019
PKD - one of the most inventive SF authors ever and a prolific writer of novels and short stories. Unfortunately some of these stories have become predictable because since they were written the ideas have been recycled too many times. Others are unintentionally amusing as 1950s gender roles survive unchanged several centuries into the future - but people will say the equivalent about much contemporary SF in 70 years from now, too. Although some of the stories are conventional (e.g. consequences of nuclear war) Dick, like Bradbury, also wrote a different kind of SF from most of his contemporaries. Not interested in pulp adventure stories or stories that turn on some application of science, Dick instead starts to question identity and reality. These themes began in this volume (1950s) and came to dominate later. Of course, this is a new viewpoint on the age-old question of what it is to be human? An angle that also was adopted and developed into a staple SF theme by those who came after.
Which is all to say PKD was a pioneer in many ways and I should read more.
Which is all to say PKD was a pioneer in many ways and I should read more.
November 5, 2020
*Recuerdos al por mayor 4 estrellas / 27-04-2020
*La Viejecita de las galletas 4 estrellas / 21-05-2020
*Detrás de la puerta 4 estrellas / 04-11-2020
*La Viejecita de las galletas 4 estrellas / 21-05-2020
*Detrás de la puerta 4 estrellas / 04-11-2020
March 15, 2017
Pretend for instance that everyone thinks I'm just some guy on Goodreads who likes having all his book/reading information/conversations recorded and observed by a giant corporation that kills bookstores in the real world. And maybe he's in the middle of writing a review about short stories by this sci-fi writer Philip K Dick. So, you're reading along after he (the average guy you think I am) is done writing it, but meanwhile encoded within these 26 letters he's re-arranged for your temporary diversion is a cipher from Ganymede. And when your brain reads this cipher it unlocks some sort of uber-neurotransmitter within your cerebral cortex to which I'm not at a clearance level to read. The faintest of electrical impulses begin to emit from your head, travel across space, and are digitized in an enormous database my kind are using to fabricate a kind of simulated backup for human civilization. One that will be necessary for the rebuilding. But the thing is, the current writer of this review you are reading is not really aware of any of this. He thinks he's just an ordinary guy on Goodreads and not some character in a Philip K Dick story. And you still think you're just another Goodreads user reading some innocent review...
---------------------------------------------
From the Intro by Norman Spinrad:
---------------------------------------------
Favorite Stories Out of the 27 in this Collection:
- "The Trouble with Bubbles"
- "A Present for Pat"
- "Project: Earth"
- "Progeny"
- "James P. Crow"
- "Small Town"
- "Cosmic Poachers"
- "Prominent Author"
- "Some Kinds of Life"
---------------------------------------------
Word I Learned While Reading This Book:
caritas
---------------------------------------------
From the Intro by Norman Spinrad:
"... what these stories juxtapose against these large scale political evils [McCarthyism, militarism, xenophobia, general 1950s Cold War fun... ] are not equally large scale political virtues but the intimate small scale human and spiritual virtues of modest heroism, caritas, and most of all the empathy, that, in the end, is finally what distinguishes the human from the machine, the spiritual from the mechanical, authentic being from even the most cunningly crafted pseudo-life."
---------------------------------------------
Favorite Stories Out of the 27 in this Collection:
- "The Trouble with Bubbles"
- "A Present for Pat"
- "Project: Earth"
- "Progeny"
- "James P. Crow"
- "Small Town"
- "Cosmic Poachers"
- "Prominent Author"
- "Some Kinds of Life"
---------------------------------------------
Word I Learned While Reading This Book:
caritas
September 14, 2015
Daha 50'li yıllarda bilimkurgunun hemen her türlü kalıbını yaratan/kullanan müthiş dehadan bahsediyoruz burada. K. Dick. Onun yazdığı ne varsa zaten muhteşem.
Yine bu kitaptaki birçok öykü de günümüzdeki sayısız bk eserinin çıkış noktası, esin kaynağı. Hal böyle olunca yüzde minik müstehzi bir gülümseme bâki kalıyor okuma sürecinde. 60 yıldan yaşlı olan bu öykülerin hepsi hâlâ güncel ve içinde yaşadığımız dünyaya birebir uyarlanabiliyor. Hepsi.
O yüzden PKD ölümsüzdür, PKD peygamberdir.
Kalan üç cilt de umarım tez zamanda -ve biraz daha özenli bir editörlük çalışmasıyla- yayınlanır. Ha bir de, ilk kitapta olduğu gibi, yine, birinci hamur kâğıt faciası var.
Yine bu kitaptaki birçok öykü de günümüzdeki sayısız bk eserinin çıkış noktası, esin kaynağı. Hal böyle olunca yüzde minik müstehzi bir gülümseme bâki kalıyor okuma sürecinde. 60 yıldan yaşlı olan bu öykülerin hepsi hâlâ güncel ve içinde yaşadığımız dünyaya birebir uyarlanabiliyor. Hepsi.
O yüzden PKD ölümsüzdür, PKD peygamberdir.
Kalan üç cilt de umarım tez zamanda -ve biraz daha özenli bir editörlük çalışmasıyla- yayınlanır. Ha bir de, ilk kitapta olduğu gibi, yine, birinci hamur kâğıt faciası var.
April 4, 2020
Volume 2 of Dick's collected shorts contains 27 sci-fi stories. A post apocalyptic Earth features in many, as does Earth's comeuppance, in addition to reads with robot and/or war themes. Mostly written in the 1950s, these are the stuff that Dick churned out to eke out a living from the pulp magazine industry. 5 out of 12.
June 20, 2016
Bu hikayeleri okurken insan mest oluyor. Devamını beklemekteyiz.
May 23, 2018
The Adventure Continues
This second volume of a five-book collection of Philip K. Dick’s short stories gives us stories that were published from 1953 to 1955, a time when Dick still wrote a lot of shorter fiction. As with the first volume, I was so impressed with most of the stories that I could not resist writing individual reviews for every single one of them instead of dealing with them … ahem … wholesale.
There are action-centred science fiction stories here, like Second Variety, but also more philosophical tales like The Trouble with Bubbles or Planet for Transients. Some of the stories included also seem to be dealing with one and the same problem from a different angle: For example, the already-mentioned Planet for Transients can be seen as a more optimistic, or conciliatory counterpart of the rather grim Survey Team. Both of these stories can be read in connection with Martians Come in Clouds, where aliens do not come as conquerors but as refugees.
Not very surprisingly, Dick’s stories of this era bear witness to McCarthyism – e.g. Impostor and Second Variety - as well as to the threat of nuclear war – esp. Breakfast at Twilight, which is a very haunting story. Apart from that, however, this collection also includes some very surprising non-science fiction stories, not all of which are as well-written as the brilliant Of Withered Apples.
Luckily, there are still three volumes of Dick’s short stories to go, and if the stories to come remain as interesting and rewarding as those of the first two volumes, I’ll try and give my tuppence on each of them. This author’s stories are great, great fun writing about.
This second volume of a five-book collection of Philip K. Dick’s short stories gives us stories that were published from 1953 to 1955, a time when Dick still wrote a lot of shorter fiction. As with the first volume, I was so impressed with most of the stories that I could not resist writing individual reviews for every single one of them instead of dealing with them … ahem … wholesale.
There are action-centred science fiction stories here, like Second Variety, but also more philosophical tales like The Trouble with Bubbles or Planet for Transients. Some of the stories included also seem to be dealing with one and the same problem from a different angle: For example, the already-mentioned Planet for Transients can be seen as a more optimistic, or conciliatory counterpart of the rather grim Survey Team. Both of these stories can be read in connection with Martians Come in Clouds, where aliens do not come as conquerors but as refugees.
Not very surprisingly, Dick’s stories of this era bear witness to McCarthyism – e.g. Impostor and Second Variety - as well as to the threat of nuclear war – esp. Breakfast at Twilight, which is a very haunting story. Apart from that, however, this collection also includes some very surprising non-science fiction stories, not all of which are as well-written as the brilliant Of Withered Apples.
Luckily, there are still three volumes of Dick’s short stories to go, and if the stories to come remain as interesting and rewarding as those of the first two volumes, I’ll try and give my tuppence on each of them. This author’s stories are great, great fun writing about.
September 21, 2019
This is the first collection of Dick's short fiction I've read, and I mainly chose this volume because it contains the titular Second Variety, which formed the basis for the utterly delectable b-movie Screamers.. and I have to say I am bowled over. I am so impressed by the variety in stories, and how interesting the individual story ideas are.
That said, not every story idea is then turned into an actual good story, but most of them certainly are, with a whole host of real gems (including Second Variety, I'm pleased to say!).
Can't wait to read the other volumes.
The Cookie Lady - 4 stars
Beyond The Door - 3 stars
Second Variety - 5 stars
Jon's World - 3.5 stars
The Cosmic Poachers - 3 stars
Progeny - 5 stars
Some Kinds Of Life - 3.5 stars
Martians Come In Clouds - 4 stars
The Commuter - 5 stars
The World She Wanted - 3.5 stars
A Surface Raid - 3 stars
Project: Earth - 4 stars
The Trouble With Bubbles - 3 stars
Breakfast At Twilight - 3 stars
A Present For Pat - 3 stars
The Hood Maker - 4 stars
Of Withered Apples - 2.5 stars
Human Is - 4 stars
Adjustment Team - 4 stars
The Impossible Planet - 4 stars
Imposter - 4 stars
James P. Crow - 3 stars
Planet For Transients - 4 stars
Small Town - 3 stars
Souvenir - 4 stars
Survey Team - 4 stars
Prominent Author - 4 stars
That said, not every story idea is then turned into an actual good story, but most of them certainly are, with a whole host of real gems (including Second Variety, I'm pleased to say!).
Can't wait to read the other volumes.
The Cookie Lady - 4 stars
Beyond The Door - 3 stars
Second Variety - 5 stars
Jon's World - 3.5 stars
The Cosmic Poachers - 3 stars
Progeny - 5 stars
Some Kinds Of Life - 3.5 stars
Martians Come In Clouds - 4 stars
The Commuter - 5 stars
The World She Wanted - 3.5 stars
A Surface Raid - 3 stars
Project: Earth - 4 stars
The Trouble With Bubbles - 3 stars
Breakfast At Twilight - 3 stars
A Present For Pat - 3 stars
The Hood Maker - 4 stars
Of Withered Apples - 2.5 stars
Human Is - 4 stars
Adjustment Team - 4 stars
The Impossible Planet - 4 stars
Imposter - 4 stars
James P. Crow - 3 stars
Planet For Transients - 4 stars
Small Town - 3 stars
Souvenir - 4 stars
Survey Team - 4 stars
Prominent Author - 4 stars
August 4, 2011
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Philip K. Dick wrote 121 short stories over his career, mostly for science fiction magazines. Subterranean Press has been collecting them in chronological order over several volumes. The first volume, The King of the Elves, contained 22 stories spanning the years 1947-1952. This second volume, Adjustment Team, covers the years 1952-1953 and includes 27 stories with notes that make up approximately 488 pages.
Many of these stories use themes that were common in 1950s SF shorts — space exploration, the cold war, racism, xenophobia, and the fear of atomic war and radiation. Like the stories of Ray Bradbury and other popular writers of the time, Dick’s stories are full of spaceships, aliens, Soviets, cigarettes, bad marriages, a disdain for 1950s psychology, and high-heeled housewives in aprons. You’ll also notice other favorite themes of Philip K. Dick: what’s behind reality, playing God through world-building, a vision of a post-robopocalyptic ash-covered Earth, and what it means to be human.
Most of the stories in this volume were new to me and I enjoyed all but one or two of them. My favorites were:
* Second Variety — A frighteningly realistic-feeling robopocalypse. This haunting story was the basis for the movie Screamers (1995) and one of the best in the collection.
* Jon’s World — A fascinating idea about parallel universes and a criticism of the practice of lobotomy.
* Some Kinds of Life — One of several anti-war stories in this collection. This one asks what we’re really fighting for.
* The Commuter — Two different realities seem to be colliding. This is a common theme for PKD, and one he does really well.
* A Surface Raid — One of several stories which imagine a post-war Earth covered in ash with a few remaining humans living underground. All of these ash-Earth stories are terrific. And scary.
* Project: Earth — Another common theme for PKD: Who is God?
* The Trouble with Bubbles — “World-building is the ultimate art form.” Another story about gods.
* Human Is — A wonderful look at what it means to be human. I saw the ending twist coming, but this was still one of my favorite stories.
* Adjustment Team — The basis for the movie The Adjustment Bureau (2010), this is one of several entertaining looks at a possible “back-end” of reality.
* The Impossible Planet — Another post-apocalyptic cautionary tale which starts with a chuckle and ends with a chill. A beautiful story — one of the best in the collection.
* Impostor — Another robot story, and the basis of the film Impostor (2002).
* Survey Team — This tale about the destruction of Earth has an interesting suggestion about where we came from.
* Prominent Author — This is another story with a common PKD theme, but I won’t mention which one, so as not to spoil the surprise ending. This is one of the few whose ending I didn’t see coming and which I would actually consider “mind-bending.”
Well, that’s a lot of favorites, I guess, but I had a hard time narrowing them down because this collection has so many great stories. Many felt dated and I could anticipate the ending of most of them, but that’s because I have, in 2011, the benefit of 60 more years of science fiction literature at my back than Dick’s first readers did. Even so, I loved this collection.
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume Two: Adjustment Team (1952-1953) is an absolute must-have volume for any serious PKD fan, but it’s also a great place to start for anyone who wants to become better acquainted with the work of this prolific and highly esteemed science fiction writer.
Philip K. Dick wrote 121 short stories over his career, mostly for science fiction magazines. Subterranean Press has been collecting them in chronological order over several volumes. The first volume, The King of the Elves, contained 22 stories spanning the years 1947-1952. This second volume, Adjustment Team, covers the years 1952-1953 and includes 27 stories with notes that make up approximately 488 pages.
Many of these stories use themes that were common in 1950s SF shorts — space exploration, the cold war, racism, xenophobia, and the fear of atomic war and radiation. Like the stories of Ray Bradbury and other popular writers of the time, Dick’s stories are full of spaceships, aliens, Soviets, cigarettes, bad marriages, a disdain for 1950s psychology, and high-heeled housewives in aprons. You’ll also notice other favorite themes of Philip K. Dick: what’s behind reality, playing God through world-building, a vision of a post-robopocalyptic ash-covered Earth, and what it means to be human.
Most of the stories in this volume were new to me and I enjoyed all but one or two of them. My favorites were:
* Second Variety — A frighteningly realistic-feeling robopocalypse. This haunting story was the basis for the movie Screamers (1995) and one of the best in the collection.
* Jon’s World — A fascinating idea about parallel universes and a criticism of the practice of lobotomy.
* Some Kinds of Life — One of several anti-war stories in this collection. This one asks what we’re really fighting for.
* The Commuter — Two different realities seem to be colliding. This is a common theme for PKD, and one he does really well.
* A Surface Raid — One of several stories which imagine a post-war Earth covered in ash with a few remaining humans living underground. All of these ash-Earth stories are terrific. And scary.
* Project: Earth — Another common theme for PKD: Who is God?
* The Trouble with Bubbles — “World-building is the ultimate art form.” Another story about gods.
* Human Is — A wonderful look at what it means to be human. I saw the ending twist coming, but this was still one of my favorite stories.
* Adjustment Team — The basis for the movie The Adjustment Bureau (2010), this is one of several entertaining looks at a possible “back-end” of reality.
* The Impossible Planet — Another post-apocalyptic cautionary tale which starts with a chuckle and ends with a chill. A beautiful story — one of the best in the collection.
* Impostor — Another robot story, and the basis of the film Impostor (2002).
* Survey Team — This tale about the destruction of Earth has an interesting suggestion about where we came from.
* Prominent Author — This is another story with a common PKD theme, but I won’t mention which one, so as not to spoil the surprise ending. This is one of the few whose ending I didn’t see coming and which I would actually consider “mind-bending.”
Well, that’s a lot of favorites, I guess, but I had a hard time narrowing them down because this collection has so many great stories. Many felt dated and I could anticipate the ending of most of them, but that’s because I have, in 2011, the benefit of 60 more years of science fiction literature at my back than Dick’s first readers did. Even so, I loved this collection.
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume Two: Adjustment Team (1952-1953) is an absolute must-have volume for any serious PKD fan, but it’s also a great place to start for anyone who wants to become better acquainted with the work of this prolific and highly esteemed science fiction writer.
February 21, 2013
After reading the final part of this five volume set of his chronologically ordered short stories, I fancies dipping into some of his earlier stories this time and so plumbed for volume two.
That these are from his early days as a writer, when he was churning out stories for the magazines by the dozen, is quite apparent . Many of the themes we commonly associate with Dick are to be found in here, often his first experiments with them, so they are of interest for that reason alone if nothing else. But these stories are very obviously written under the early days of the cold war and the prospect of nuclear annihilation is very much on the author's mind.
Many of the stories felt somewhat heavy handed and I could often see the twist a mile off but there were a few gems in here too. "Second Variety" and it's follow up "Jon's World" were both excellent. In a desperate attempt to avoid defeat at the hands of the Soviet Union in a third world war, the American's develop "Claws"; lethal, self replicating and deadly killing robots fuelled only by the desire to wipe out life. In "The Commuter" and "Small Town" we see Dick playing with the idea of shifting realities. In "Adjustment Team" the protagonist stumbles upon a secret benevolent organisation that is behind the scenes attempting to direct the course of human history. And in "The Impostor", we see Dick's first use of "replicants" and exploring the theme of how much one can rely on one's own memories.
All pretty much enjoyable to read but you would leave quite a few out if you were making a best of collection.
That these are from his early days as a writer, when he was churning out stories for the magazines by the dozen, is quite apparent . Many of the themes we commonly associate with Dick are to be found in here, often his first experiments with them, so they are of interest for that reason alone if nothing else. But these stories are very obviously written under the early days of the cold war and the prospect of nuclear annihilation is very much on the author's mind.
Many of the stories felt somewhat heavy handed and I could often see the twist a mile off but there were a few gems in here too. "Second Variety" and it's follow up "Jon's World" were both excellent. In a desperate attempt to avoid defeat at the hands of the Soviet Union in a third world war, the American's develop "Claws"; lethal, self replicating and deadly killing robots fuelled only by the desire to wipe out life. In "The Commuter" and "Small Town" we see Dick playing with the idea of shifting realities. In "Adjustment Team" the protagonist stumbles upon a secret benevolent organisation that is behind the scenes attempting to direct the course of human history. And in "The Impostor", we see Dick's first use of "replicants" and exploring the theme of how much one can rely on one's own memories.
All pretty much enjoyable to read but you would leave quite a few out if you were making a best of collection.
May 5, 2013
I read this after watching Total Recall for the umpteenth time and realizing that I hadn't ever actually read the short story upon which it was based, written by one of my favorite authors. Philip K. Dick is a master of messing with your head in a story. I have to say, after finishing the story, my first thoughts were, "Ha! That was awesome." And it was. Really.
All I can say about it is, don't expect it to be long, don't expect it to take the same direction as Total Recall, just take it as it comes. Its a great finish. :)
All I can say about it is, don't expect it to be long, don't expect it to take the same direction as Total Recall, just take it as it comes. Its a great finish. :)
February 26, 2020
The second volume of this new edition of the collected stories of Philip K. Dick contains some 26 stories from the early period of his career. Written in 1952 and 1953, they represent an astonishing outpouring of talent.
This kind of productivity was by no means unique for scriveners of the period. Writers working for the last of the pulps and newly burgeoning digest fiction magazines, especially those mired in low-end markets, had to produce at a frantic pace if they hoped to earn even a marginal living at their craft. The alternative was to keep a day job and write in stolen moments, the quiet hour before dawn while the rest of the household slept, the interval between dinner and bedtime, weekend days when the author's contemporaries were playing with their children or carousing with their fellows. Still, the young Philip K. Dick seemed to be in every science fiction magazine you could pick up.
As far as I know, Dick became a full-time writer fairly early on. To exacerbate the stresses he thus faced, he was frequently slotted to the low-end, penny-a-word markets, most often Imagination or Fantastic Universe, magazines that subsisted largely on the leavings of their higher-paying competitors. Of the stories in the present volume, there is one originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, at that time one of the highest-paying and most prestigious markets in the field (the others being Galaxy and Fantasy and Science Fiction).
Two of the stories in the book were published in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy or Orbit Science Fiction, a pair of magazines phonied up by Dick's literary agent, Scott Meredith. Disguised to look like independent publications, these two magazines were actually created by the Meredith agency to provide last-ditch markets for otherwise unmarketable stories by Meredith clients.
The rest of the stories were scattered among such marginal markets as If, Science Fiction Quarterly, and Fantasy Fiction. One also appeared in Planet Stories. An anomaly, Planet was the most sensational of science fiction pulps, featuring lurid cover paintings of tentacled aliens harassing buxom spacewomen, yet carrying stories by a remarkable array of authors including Alfred Coppel, Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, and Leigh Brackett.
It's hard to understand Dick's relegation to bottom-rung magazines. Perhaps -- it's only my guess -- it was because he was so much his own man, even in those early days. Anthony Boucher, Dick's early mentor and sponsor, commented that Dick's stories were "exactly suited to the editorial tastes and needs of (any) particular publication: the editors of Whizzing Star Patrol and of the Quaint Quality Quarterly are in complete agreement upon Mr. Dick as a singularly satisfactory contributor."
Well, maybe so but maybe not. Maybe Dick appeared so often in Fantastic Universe and Imagination because the editors with higher budgets -- John Campbell, Horace Gold, Boucher himself -- were more demanding in their choice of stories. It wasn't exactly a matter of quality, but of theme and world-view. Dick was already developing his unique way of seeing things and dealing with reality.
Donald A. Wollheim, a canny editor best known for his work at Ace Books and then at his own company, DAW, told me about dealing with Dick early in his career. "He showed me his mainstream novels," Wollheim said, "and I told him to stick to science fiction because his science fiction was distinctive and his mainstream fiction was not."
Being distinctive cuts both ways.
Or maybe the anonymous desk-man at the Meredith agency was just being lazy. He could send Dick's stories to low-end markets where a sale was virtually guaranteed rather than to higher-end magazines where the competition was stiffer.
Many of the stories Dick wrote in the 1950s deal with war. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union -- and their respective satellites, surrogates, and client states -- pervaded American political and cultural life to a remarkable degree. Certainly one of the most effective short stories Dick ever wrote, "Second Variety," takes place on the automated battlefield of the future. The world has been largely destroyed, covered with gray ash and dark, rolling clouds, while killer robots relentlessly hunt down the few remaining survivors.
Some of the stories in this book are slight and formulaic. When Dick tried for a boffo ending he tended to telegraph his punch, leaving the reader with a discouraged sigh as he waits for the obvious and inevitable pay-off. An example is "Prominent Author" (If: Worlds of Science Fiction, May 1954). A clever and involving story in many ways, but anybody who can't see the "surprise" ending coming a mile off has been sleeping under a rock since the days of Johannes Gutenberg.
In other stories one finds a surprising bow to unexpected sources. The following quote has hints of Lovecraft:
In the box was a small, motionless figure, perhaps ten inches high. Its tiny claw-like hands were pressed against its scaly breast. Its insect face was twisted in a scowl of anger -- mixed with cynical lust. Instead of legs it rested on a nest of tentacles. The lower portion of its face dissolved into a complex beak, mandibles of some hard substance. There was an odor to it, as of manure and stale beer. It appeared to be bisexual.... Its name was Tinokuknoi Arevulopapo.
Sounds like H.P. Lovecraft, doesn't it? Something out of "The Call of Cthulhu" or "The Dunwich Horror." But in fact it's from Phil Dick's opus "A Present for Pat," originally published in Startling Stories for January, 1954.
In sum, the stories in this book are very much worth reading. Each of them has at least some redeeming value, and the best of them are still valid and powerful narratives, not merely relics of the Cold War or of the author's earliest efforts.
On the other hand -- and I'm sorry to end on a down note -- the book is poorly edited. As in the previous volume, no editor is listed on the contents page, although several members of the author's family are listed as copyright claimants. Credits are also given to biographer Gregg Rickman and scholar-fan Paul Williams for ordering the stories. But the story notes are spotty and one important story, "We Can Remember it for you Wholesale," is listed in the story notes but does not appear in the book.
Bad scholarship, sloppy editing, irresponsible publishing. But overlook these and just read the stories. They're worth the effort, and one hopes that the promised three volumes yet to come will be produced with more care.
This kind of productivity was by no means unique for scriveners of the period. Writers working for the last of the pulps and newly burgeoning digest fiction magazines, especially those mired in low-end markets, had to produce at a frantic pace if they hoped to earn even a marginal living at their craft. The alternative was to keep a day job and write in stolen moments, the quiet hour before dawn while the rest of the household slept, the interval between dinner and bedtime, weekend days when the author's contemporaries were playing with their children or carousing with their fellows. Still, the young Philip K. Dick seemed to be in every science fiction magazine you could pick up.
As far as I know, Dick became a full-time writer fairly early on. To exacerbate the stresses he thus faced, he was frequently slotted to the low-end, penny-a-word markets, most often Imagination or Fantastic Universe, magazines that subsisted largely on the leavings of their higher-paying competitors. Of the stories in the present volume, there is one originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, at that time one of the highest-paying and most prestigious markets in the field (the others being Galaxy and Fantasy and Science Fiction).
Two of the stories in the book were published in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy or Orbit Science Fiction, a pair of magazines phonied up by Dick's literary agent, Scott Meredith. Disguised to look like independent publications, these two magazines were actually created by the Meredith agency to provide last-ditch markets for otherwise unmarketable stories by Meredith clients.
The rest of the stories were scattered among such marginal markets as If, Science Fiction Quarterly, and Fantasy Fiction. One also appeared in Planet Stories. An anomaly, Planet was the most sensational of science fiction pulps, featuring lurid cover paintings of tentacled aliens harassing buxom spacewomen, yet carrying stories by a remarkable array of authors including Alfred Coppel, Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, and Leigh Brackett.
It's hard to understand Dick's relegation to bottom-rung magazines. Perhaps -- it's only my guess -- it was because he was so much his own man, even in those early days. Anthony Boucher, Dick's early mentor and sponsor, commented that Dick's stories were "exactly suited to the editorial tastes and needs of (any) particular publication: the editors of Whizzing Star Patrol and of the Quaint Quality Quarterly are in complete agreement upon Mr. Dick as a singularly satisfactory contributor."
Well, maybe so but maybe not. Maybe Dick appeared so often in Fantastic Universe and Imagination because the editors with higher budgets -- John Campbell, Horace Gold, Boucher himself -- were more demanding in their choice of stories. It wasn't exactly a matter of quality, but of theme and world-view. Dick was already developing his unique way of seeing things and dealing with reality.
Donald A. Wollheim, a canny editor best known for his work at Ace Books and then at his own company, DAW, told me about dealing with Dick early in his career. "He showed me his mainstream novels," Wollheim said, "and I told him to stick to science fiction because his science fiction was distinctive and his mainstream fiction was not."
Being distinctive cuts both ways.
Or maybe the anonymous desk-man at the Meredith agency was just being lazy. He could send Dick's stories to low-end markets where a sale was virtually guaranteed rather than to higher-end magazines where the competition was stiffer.
Many of the stories Dick wrote in the 1950s deal with war. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union -- and their respective satellites, surrogates, and client states -- pervaded American political and cultural life to a remarkable degree. Certainly one of the most effective short stories Dick ever wrote, "Second Variety," takes place on the automated battlefield of the future. The world has been largely destroyed, covered with gray ash and dark, rolling clouds, while killer robots relentlessly hunt down the few remaining survivors.
Some of the stories in this book are slight and formulaic. When Dick tried for a boffo ending he tended to telegraph his punch, leaving the reader with a discouraged sigh as he waits for the obvious and inevitable pay-off. An example is "Prominent Author" (If: Worlds of Science Fiction, May 1954). A clever and involving story in many ways, but anybody who can't see the "surprise" ending coming a mile off has been sleeping under a rock since the days of Johannes Gutenberg.
In other stories one finds a surprising bow to unexpected sources. The following quote has hints of Lovecraft:
In the box was a small, motionless figure, perhaps ten inches high. Its tiny claw-like hands were pressed against its scaly breast. Its insect face was twisted in a scowl of anger -- mixed with cynical lust. Instead of legs it rested on a nest of tentacles. The lower portion of its face dissolved into a complex beak, mandibles of some hard substance. There was an odor to it, as of manure and stale beer. It appeared to be bisexual.... Its name was Tinokuknoi Arevulopapo.
Sounds like H.P. Lovecraft, doesn't it? Something out of "The Call of Cthulhu" or "The Dunwich Horror." But in fact it's from Phil Dick's opus "A Present for Pat," originally published in Startling Stories for January, 1954.
In sum, the stories in this book are very much worth reading. Each of them has at least some redeeming value, and the best of them are still valid and powerful narratives, not merely relics of the Cold War or of the author's earliest efforts.
On the other hand -- and I'm sorry to end on a down note -- the book is poorly edited. As in the previous volume, no editor is listed on the contents page, although several members of the author's family are listed as copyright claimants. Credits are also given to biographer Gregg Rickman and scholar-fan Paul Williams for ordering the stories. But the story notes are spotty and one important story, "We Can Remember it for you Wholesale," is listed in the story notes but does not appear in the book.
Bad scholarship, sloppy editing, irresponsible publishing. But overlook these and just read the stories. They're worth the effort, and one hopes that the promised three volumes yet to come will be produced with more care.
April 16, 2023
Igual que con el volumen anterior, los cuentos son tremendamente interesantes y habrían sido excelentes novelas si se hubieran extendido un poco más. Qué gran imaginación tenía este autor.
January 17, 2010
Enter the Mind of a Genius. Enter the Mind, Maybe, of a Prophet. But Let’s Hope Not.
This collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick are great, thought provoking, funny, and some really frightening.
This collection is definitely darker then the first collection in this series. With stories such as the ‘Second Variety’: A dead world of endless ash and slag because of some nuclear war, nevertheless with a few Americans and Russians alive, still fighting it out. But they don’t need to worry about each other. Artificial intelligence variations are being developed, by other artificial intelligence, and the top forms look just like humans. Varity one and three have been identified. But what about variety two? This story will definitely give you some spine chills.
The story ‘Progeny’ introduces new psychological development techniques for raising children. These techniques involve taking human parents completely out of the equation:
'Naturally, robots could do the best job. Robots train him scientifically, according to a rational technique. Not according to emotional whim. Robots didn’t get angry. Robots didn’t nag and whine. They didn’t spank a child or yell at him. They didn’t give conflicting orders. They didn’t quarrel among themselves or use the child for their own ends. And there could be no Oedipus Complex, with only robots around.
No complexes at all. It had been discovered long ago that neurosis could be traced to childhood training. To the way parents brought up the child. The inhibitions he was taught, the manners, the lessons, the punishments, the rewards. Neuroses, complexes, warped developments, all stemmed from the subjective relationship existing between the child and the parent. If perhaps the parent could be eliminated as a factor ...'
The human father in this story is upset about not being able to raise his son and only getting the occasional visit. But does the child care?
Then there is the story ‘James P. Crow’, where humans are inferior to Robots. But there are still a few things that humans are exceptional at:
'Humans made good entertainers. That was one area the robots couldn’t compete in. Human beings painted and wrote and danced and sang and acted for the amusement of robots. They cooked better, too, but robots didn’t eat. Human beings had their place. They were understood and wanted: as body servants, entertainers, clerks, gardeners, construction workers, repairmen, odd-jobbers and factory workers.
But when it came to something like civic control coordinator or traffic supervisor for the usone tapes that fed energy into the planet’s twelve hydro-systems –'
In this story humans would be allowed to have jobs Robots have, if they can pass the ‘Lists’ – exams created by the Robots, that they also use to see which Robot gets a certain Job. A slight problem is that no human has ever passed a List. They’re not smart enough. However there is one man. He passed his Lists 10 years ago. And now he’s up to Class Two. The Robots are worried and are trying to hush it up. But the news is spreading and more and more humans are finding out about this super human that goes by the name of James P. Crow. And if this human gets to Class One then he will sit on the Council and help rule the planet. But is it better to have Robots in control or Humans? What happened last time humans ran the planet?
All the stories in this collection will make you think, and give you some good entertainment too. Some of them are anti-human, quite frightening and a bit disturbing. If Philip K Dick is a prophet, let’s hope he gets those ones wrong.
This collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick are great, thought provoking, funny, and some really frightening.
This collection is definitely darker then the first collection in this series. With stories such as the ‘Second Variety’: A dead world of endless ash and slag because of some nuclear war, nevertheless with a few Americans and Russians alive, still fighting it out. But they don’t need to worry about each other. Artificial intelligence variations are being developed, by other artificial intelligence, and the top forms look just like humans. Varity one and three have been identified. But what about variety two? This story will definitely give you some spine chills.
The story ‘Progeny’ introduces new psychological development techniques for raising children. These techniques involve taking human parents completely out of the equation:
'Naturally, robots could do the best job. Robots train him scientifically, according to a rational technique. Not according to emotional whim. Robots didn’t get angry. Robots didn’t nag and whine. They didn’t spank a child or yell at him. They didn’t give conflicting orders. They didn’t quarrel among themselves or use the child for their own ends. And there could be no Oedipus Complex, with only robots around.
No complexes at all. It had been discovered long ago that neurosis could be traced to childhood training. To the way parents brought up the child. The inhibitions he was taught, the manners, the lessons, the punishments, the rewards. Neuroses, complexes, warped developments, all stemmed from the subjective relationship existing between the child and the parent. If perhaps the parent could be eliminated as a factor ...'
The human father in this story is upset about not being able to raise his son and only getting the occasional visit. But does the child care?
Then there is the story ‘James P. Crow’, where humans are inferior to Robots. But there are still a few things that humans are exceptional at:
'Humans made good entertainers. That was one area the robots couldn’t compete in. Human beings painted and wrote and danced and sang and acted for the amusement of robots. They cooked better, too, but robots didn’t eat. Human beings had their place. They were understood and wanted: as body servants, entertainers, clerks, gardeners, construction workers, repairmen, odd-jobbers and factory workers.
But when it came to something like civic control coordinator or traffic supervisor for the usone tapes that fed energy into the planet’s twelve hydro-systems –'
In this story humans would be allowed to have jobs Robots have, if they can pass the ‘Lists’ – exams created by the Robots, that they also use to see which Robot gets a certain Job. A slight problem is that no human has ever passed a List. They’re not smart enough. However there is one man. He passed his Lists 10 years ago. And now he’s up to Class Two. The Robots are worried and are trying to hush it up. But the news is spreading and more and more humans are finding out about this super human that goes by the name of James P. Crow. And if this human gets to Class One then he will sit on the Council and help rule the planet. But is it better to have Robots in control or Humans? What happened last time humans ran the planet?
All the stories in this collection will make you think, and give you some good entertainment too. Some of them are anti-human, quite frightening and a bit disturbing. If Philip K Dick is a prophet, let’s hope he gets those ones wrong.
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