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A review by tits_mcgee
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick, Thomas M. Disch
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Science fiction at its finest, this collection takes you on a paranoia filled journey covering topics such as control, reality, war, identity, empathy, prejudice, authenticity, religion, all of the classic Dick themes tied up nicely in what amounts to one big philosophy fueled cynically prescient portrait of humanity.
Among my favourite stories in this collection is The Little Black Box, a story about the popular new religion "Mercerism", an empathy focussed religion looking to replace Zen Buddhism, the major components of this short story were later included in Dick's highly acclaimed 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?'. Its fun to see the seeds of this idea through the more focussed lens of a short story, where themes of religion suppression and the human desire to connect are centre stage.
In Retreat Syndrome, Dick uses one of my favourite of his literary devices: the unreliable narrator, and because it is a Dick story it is further enhanced with a reality warped, borderline fit of psychosis. Dick is the master of creating paranoid fiction, and he uses his protagonist John Cupertino's memory of killing his wife to play with our brains and turn them into mush.
One that caused a lot of controversy is The Pre Persons, a story highlighting Dick's views on abortion; while I don't agree with the statement made by this short story, it was written with a hauntingly dystopian charisma that I absolutely loved. This is one of those stories that needn't have been adapted into a full novel, brevity works well with such a hard hitting statement, and Dick always manages to create broader worlds without the need to describe them.
I could go on about this short story collection for ages, but I'll just leave it with this:
Read this book; Dick's mind is one of the most unique minds ever to have existed, and I'm thankful he used it for writing, you're seriously missing out if you've never read his work.
Among my favourite stories in this collection is The Little Black Box, a story about the popular new religion "Mercerism", an empathy focussed religion looking to replace Zen Buddhism, the major components of this short story were later included in Dick's highly acclaimed 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?'. Its fun to see the seeds of this idea through the more focussed lens of a short story, where themes of religion suppression and the human desire to connect are centre stage.
In Retreat Syndrome, Dick uses one of my favourite of his literary devices: the unreliable narrator, and because it is a Dick story it is further enhanced with a reality warped, borderline fit of psychosis. Dick is the master of creating paranoid fiction, and he uses his protagonist John Cupertino's memory of killing his wife to play with our brains and turn them into mush.
One that caused a lot of controversy is The Pre Persons, a story highlighting Dick's views on abortion; while I don't agree with the statement made by this short story, it was written with a hauntingly dystopian charisma that I absolutely loved. This is one of those stories that needn't have been adapted into a full novel, brevity works well with such a hard hitting statement, and Dick always manages to create broader worlds without the need to describe them.
I could go on about this short story collection for ages, but I'll just leave it with this:
Read this book; Dick's mind is one of the most unique minds ever to have existed, and I'm thankful he used it for writing, you're seriously missing out if you've never read his work.