Customer Reviews

Dr. Pak's Preschool

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The story is very interesting and quite good. I don't have much to add to what the previous reviewer has said, except that the story is included in the collection "Otherness" which would be much better value for the money.

"Dr. Pak's Preschool" is a fascinating short story that raises interesting questions about the relationship between technology and humanity, but it's doubtful that many readers will consider this tiny book a good value. The story focuses on a young Japanese couple: Reiko and her husband Tetsuo. Tetsuo is smart, ambitious, and believes in the synthesis of Eastern traditions and modern Western methods. This has gained him some small reputation as a rebel, for which he sometimes overcompensates by being ultra-conservative. Reiko herself is a very modern Japanese woman, and longs for the respect and independence that Western girls have, but mainly she just wants to be included in Tetsuo's life, even as he seems to grow ever more distant. This changes only superficially with Reiko's pregnancy. In an effort to give his child the best possible start in life, Tetsuo involves Reiko in a high-tech experiment in pre-natal instruction, with astounding results. Reiko overcomes her own misgivings for her husband's sake, until she discovers the terrible price her son may have to pay for his intellect. The conflict focuses on modernism vs. tradition, technology vs. spirituality, and the needs of the individual vs. the pressures of society. Brin cleverly sets his story in Japan, even at the risk of alienating his Western readers, in order to heighten these conflicts. There's a good deal of suspense as Reiko tries to understand exactly what's happening to the women who participate in this experiment, but it's a shame that the answers Brin gives us are so outrageous. Believable as the first half of the book is, the second half seems pretty ridiculous, and badly undercuts any serious message this story might have hoped to convey. While this really isn't a bad story, the method of publication is very poorly thought out. The story is published all by itself as Short Story Paperback #45, running just over 40 pages and selling for $1.95, which is quite reasonable for a book, but pretty steep for just a single story. Readers might be better advised to spend their hard-earned dollars on a paperback version of one of Brin's many fine novels, any of which can be counted on to provide many hours of entertainment for perhaps three times the price.