Reviews

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 4: The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick

bertwagner's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

mia756's review against another edition

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adventurous funny fast-paced

4.0

calbowen's review against another edition

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4.0

So, collection of five stories.
Minority Report - Saw the film, now read the book. I see the glimmer of ideas in the short story, and I think that the film brought so much good to this story overall.

We Remember it for you wholesale - I had always felt that this movie was odd, and good for a few laughs. The story is much more serious and becomes more about Cover Your A** than the movie. Book is better on this one.

Paycheck - Not a Ben Affleck fan - nor Uma Thurman, so this movie had alot going right with it for me to enjoy it at all. The story is much shorter, and more weird. I think that the film did this one justice.

Second Version - This is my kind of story. One that had me from start to finish - I could see them doing this into a film, but as is, great story and nice ending twist, (though, I figured it to end that way).

The Eyes Have It - Strange little short SHORT tale. It is all about semantics on this one.

apoulsonfriesen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

daja57's review against another edition

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3.0

Not a novel, as I thought it was, but a collection of short stories, named after the first. I read many more novels, and I write them, so I think I understand the form. The constraints of a short story means that they are inevitably more about the plot and less about the characters. In addition, PKD is writing science fiction, so there is considerable emphasis on the concept. Given these parameters, I am sure he is a master of his genre. But I didn't find his work particularly enthralling.

Minority Report
The future police use three "precog idiots" to predict the future so that they can arrest and sentence those who will commit crimes. Sometimes the precogs disagree so the police use the majority verdict. Then the chief of police discovers that the precogs are predicting that he will kill a General so he goes on the run.
Imposter
Is Olham Olham or is he a robot booby-trapped with a bomb who has been engineered nopt onlt to resemble Olham but to think that he is Olham?
Second Variety
The UN are winning the post-nuclear war against the Russians because they have invented the 'claws': autonomous robots who trick their way in among soldiers and then cut them to pieces. But suppose these robots are beginning to evolve, designing themselves into new varieties?
War Game
The toy manufacturers of Ganymede are creating toys designed to subvert terran defences so the terrans have to test each toy before it is sold in the shops.
What the Dead Men Say
When millionaire businessman Louis Sarapis dies he can't be resurrected into half-life ... but then messages arrive from deep space seeking to get his protege elected President.
Oh, to be a Blobell
Munster is a human-blob hybrid who has children with another hybrid and has kids. According to Mendel's genetics, one is pure human, one pure blob and two hybrids. Munster's wife wants to be a human but, for tax reasons, he wants to be a blob.
The Electric Ant
Poole discovers he isn't a human but a robot who thinks he is a human. Discovering that his perceptions are governed by a reel of punched tape, he experiments by covering some of the holes, making new holes, and cutting the tape. These causes his perceptions to dramatically alter. Or is he actually altering reality? Solipsists beware.
Faith of our Fathers
In a quasi-Maoist totalitarian society, with significant echoes of 1984, humble government servant Chien is invited to meet the Absolute Benefactor. But is he being fed hallucinogenic substances by the government or by the rebels and what will the Leader be like when he encounters him?
We can remember it for you wholeslae
Quail wants to go to Mars but he can't afford it. So he buys a memory implant so he can remember having been to Mars. But as the technicians implant it they discover that he already has memories of having been to Mars ... which have been erased ...
As you can see, many of these stories involve how we can tell what is true and what is false, whether we are awake or asleep, dreaming of being awake.

glaws's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

chelseaj91's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

4.0

The stories were interesting. Just enough of a world building to get you invested but the ends frequently left you wondering. I can see where current sci-fi stories could draw inspiration from these stories (honestly, several of them would be perfect Twilight Zone episodes).

I didn't like all the stories but most kept me interested.

I think my favorites from this collection were:
  • The Minority Report: While I did like the movie and I liked the way they changed various things for the movie, I also liked the fact that the story focused a little more on the question of "well are we sure it would still happen if they knew?" 
  • Explorers We: Wasn't exactly a favorite but this was one that kind of went to the heartstrings a little more and felt maybe bittersweet? You've got that group of explorers that thinks they're coming home and then it's revealed what happened and it seems like they're just stuck in a loop. I actually would have liked this one to be a little longer so they could have expanded on what happened after the initial launch and like how long this had been going on for and everything.
  • Novelty Act: The reveal on the first-lady was surprising but not. Then the memory wipe thing was interesting and it makes you wonder.
  •  Orpheus with Clay Feet: Nothing like being told you're someone's anti-muse. But it would be intriguing to see who Slade does manage to uninspire and how that could change various parts of history. 

vortimer's review against another edition

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3.0

As you might expect from a volume of PKD's collected short stories, a mixed bag. Minority Report and To Be A Blobel are the stand outs.

cartoonrowdy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

micksland's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The Minority Report: 4 stars
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale: 3 stars
Paycheck: 3 stars
Second Variety: 4 stars
The Eyes Have It: 4 stars

___

“The Minority Report” is a good story that was adapted into an incredible film. It’s actually one of the rare cases in which the movie was better; the film is faithful to the source material while further developing the ideas here. Still very much worth reading.

“We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” was later developed into “Total Recall” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s a fun story hampered by an incredibly dumb ending.

“Paycheck” was a fun science fiction action feature, but not very memorable.

“Second Variety” was my favorite story of the collection. It’s a great example of Cold War fiction that still resonates today. The ending is very predictable, but I loved the setting and premise.

“The Eyes Have It” is more of an extended pub than a serious piece of literature, but I still enjoyed it.

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My major criticism of the collection is the absolute lack of any competent female character. Every single woman is either a sex worker, a pair of breasts for the male protagonist to ogle, a shrew, or a villain. I’m not surprised given that the author was divorced five times, but it’s still disappointing.