Customer Reviews

Preserving Machine and Other Stories

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Although mostly known for his novels, Philip K. Dick also had a pretty impressive pile of short stories. This collection contains 15 of them: The Preserving Machine, War Game, Upon the Dull Earth, Roog, War Veteran, Top Stand-By Job, Beyond Lies the Wub, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Captive Market, If There Were No Benny Cemoli, Retreat Syndrome, The Crawlers, Oh To Be a Blobel!, What the Dead Men Say, and Pay for the Printer.

For those of you who don't know, the story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" is the story that the movie Total Recall is based on. Personally, I think it is much better than the story the book is named after. But another very interesting story in here is the possibly prophetic "What the Dead Men Say". It is an eerie mix of Ubik and VALIS. A cryogenically frozen man is believed to be sending messages from space, tying up all forms of communication. That particular story was written in 1964, several years before PKD's strange experiences with forces beyond earth.

There are at least five other stories in here that I particularly enjoyed. Needless to say, every PKD fan owes it to themselves to read this collection at least once.

This contains a handful of early short stories. Though most people are probably familiar with PKD's longer works, PKD is really into his own in the short story field. I find that he is much more able to hold my attention in a short story. In addition, I believe that the 'literary' style of writing that many critics claim is lacking in PKD's novels is indeed present in his short stories. Contains 'We Can Remember It For You Wholesale,' and 'The Preserving Machine,' two exceptional short stories in the science fiction genre--indeed, in any genre.

While no longer in print 'The Preserving Machine and Other Stories' by Philip K. Dick is worth seeking out. Originally printed around 1970, it contains about a dozen of the author's better short stories from early in his career (early 1950s to mid-1960s). The author has pumped out many dozens of short stories and novels, ranging from very good to truly incomprehensible, and modern short story collections of his work are very uneven. However since this collection was compiled during the author's prime I suspect its quality was assured by the author himself.

It is hard to choose which story is best. But they all take place on Earth in the near or distant future. Of course there is a smattering of time travel and alien occupation. Yet for myself, not a loyal fan of science fiction, I found them to be intriguing rather than too far fetched. One particular story involving people being thrust into the mind's of others, thus exposing hidden prejudices and distorted views of reality, is simply brilliant.

Bottom line: a must for all Philip K. Dick collections. Excellent.