Collection of short stories. Published 2002.I have read a lot of historical-based fiction over the last few months and most of this has been hard work. Fun, but not easy. With this in mind, I needed to give myself a brief holiday and look into some classic sci-fi. I have been bouncing a few sci-fi ideas around in my head for a while now, so I was looking forward to wading through this popular collection of Philip K. Dick's shorts as a source of inspiration. What I found was a writer rife with challenging questions of humanity and identity, but not so solid on plot structure.
Minority Report and We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (movie adaptation: Total Recall) are, as expected, the stand out stories. Both exploring 'what-if?' ideas from which a person defines himself, Minority Report explores predeterminism (what if you are given forwarning that you will murder someone you've not yet met?) whilst memory is the subject of the latter (what if your memory was artificial? When it unravels, who do you become?).
In some cases - with particular reference to What The Dead Men Say - his lack of plot delivery might be considered a strength. The ambigiuous, unexpected lack of closure of What The Dead Men Say reeks of authorly laziness, yet can be closely compared to his famous novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? Plot and characters supposedly continue in their miserably uncertain indentities with questions unanswered and no neat resolution. As a writer, I admire the strength of conviction, as a reader, this can be frustrating.
Even though the science and plot twists have both forgivably dated, I was still left with a minor sense of awe that didn't require the usual 'put-yourself-in-their-era' sort of appreciation. Dick definitely belongs to the real school of Sci-Fi that makes you think, and I believe I have learned a thing or two about exploring a concept within a character.
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