Customer Reviews

The Eye of The Sibyl and Other Classic Stories (The Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick, Vol. 5)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This volume has many of the stories from the out-of-print Ballantine "Best of Phil Dick." While his earlier work is more literate, his later style in stories/novels became much looser, but just as enjoyable. The themes here, like his novel "Do androids dream," are more mind-blowing and less reliant on finding a new twist on an old sci-fi theme. "Faith of our fathers," and "I hope I shall arrive soon"(probably the inspiration for movies "Open your eyes/Vanilla sky") are the most powerful, thoughtful and fun stories (how the heck does he do it?!) but may not resonate with gadget-oriented, non-psychological readers. Nevertheless, this is an indispensible book, and like "Do androids dream," my choice when giving a Phil Dick book to friends.

In this final volume of the Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, we get a chance to read the short stories he wrote from the late 1960s to his death. For those who were accustomed to the imaginative and off-beat work of the first four volumes, this last book may be a bit jarring: as Dick's life got stranger, so did his stories. Even in the genre of the strange that is science fiction, stranger is not automatically better.

Some of the stories in this collection are every bit as good as the ones in the other books. Tales such as "The Pre-Persons," "Your Appointment Will Be Yesterday" and "The Electric Ant" are among his better stories. There are also stories that would eventually become novels like Counter-Clock World, Dr. Bloodmoney and The Divine Invasion. Then there are the previously unpublished works...which are strictly for PKD completists; there is good reason these were not published.

His later short stories, like his later novels (Valis, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer) are often permeated with the theological and hallucinogenic qualities that also dominated Dick's life. These later stories are dominated more by ideas than by good writing; compare the title story to the similarly themed Waterspider in Volume 4 and you'll see the earlier story is far better.

Overall this book rates a weak four stars, although the whole set rates a full five stars. Even if a bit disappointing compared with the previous books, this still has enough quality to be well worth reading.

I concur with the review already posted. This is not Dick's best work. Having read the collected works out of order, I was shocked to go from #1 to #5 and see the difference. #1 blinded me with it's brilliance, #5 stunned me with it's contrived, inane stores. There is a reason many of them had remained unpublished.

As a hard core fan, I am glad I read this volume, and enjoyed a few stories, such as "The Little Black Box", "Precious Artifact" and "The Alien Mind".

It is not that surprising to witness how this collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick is the least appreciated, since his later novels also tend to be greeted by varied reactions. But this volume is at least as good as the preceding four, and maybe even better. Here we find Dick less concerned with traditional forms, and perhaps more inclined than ever before to explore the issues that really interested him; many revolve around religion and theology. The stories were published from the mid-1960s to the 1980s, and reflect the thematic preoccupations of Dick's longer works from each period. The breadth of the tales is considerable, as the stories vary from deceptively light satire (The War With the Fnools, The Day Mr. Computer...) to politico-religious tensions (The Little Black Box, Faith of our Fathers), testimonies (The Eye of the Sibyl, Rautavaara's Case) and solitary soul-searching (The Electric Ant), often spanning all of these approaches in a single story. This collection might not be the best entry point in Dick's work, but a fair accessment of that work's relevance would not be possible without this essential book.

Those two stories make it worth the price of admission. There are other, great stories included too.

Not every story in this volume is excellent, but they are all good at they very least, and several (I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, Strange Memories of Death, and others) are among Dick's best. Honestly speaking, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon is something that you should own in some form or another, so if you can't find it elsewhere, get this book. The whole thing is worth owning, but that amazing story is unmissable.

This is one of the five volume series printed by Citadel Press.

The five volumes collect every short story Philip K. Dick published (and a few that are published for the first time) in chronological order. This means that the first book has some of the most ground-breaking SF you'll ever read and the last book has some of the most tripped-out drug-induced hallucinations you'll ever skip over. As a set, these five books are some of the best buys in science fiction--you get well over 100 stories and close to 2,000 pages of some of the best SF ever created. The range is amazing as well, and the ideas are so thought-provoking that it's not uncommon to see Dick's ideas picked up in other books or movies. You also get Dick's notes on the stories--many provide some fascinating insight to the stories they cover. The notes tend to taper off in the later volumes, possibly because even Dick himself couldn't explain a lot of what he wrote in the 70's and 80's.

Here are some highlights from this volume:

(Sadly, there are few highlights from this volume because of the rather poor quality of the stories. Only hardcore PKD fans should read this volume--there is very little original work and the stories themselves are all rather disturbing in their insight into Dick's mind of the 1970's)

"The Eye of the Sibyl" -- Here we see Dick in his drug-induced best (or worst). PKD of the past issues a warning from Roman times of the fall of the US.

"The Story to End All Stories For Harlan Ellison's Anthology Dangerous Visions" -- It's always fun to read a story that's shorter than its title. No more than a description of a story that Dick could have made interesting.

"The Day Mr. Computer Fell Out of its Tree" -- The story of a world-controlling computer gone crazy is actually a chilling look into Dick's suicidal mind.

These last stories of Phil Dick are really quite good overall. His vision becomes more dark, but the stories contain even more complexities, subtleties, and ambiguities than his earlier work. Although more challenging to the reader, they are ultimately as rewarding, if not more, than the stories in Vol 1-4 in this series. I suspect some readers are put off if the story doesn't have just one simple (yet brilliant) twist by the end. I've just reread all five volumes in order and Volume 5's stories seemed a logical progression of Dick's increasing pessimistic vison of the future of manking. The quality of writing may not be consistent through the entire volume, but there are enough great stories to make it worthwhile to read this last volume of the collection. It is worth your time to read this book (if you can find it).

Philip K. Dick appeals to me because his work is quirky, surreal, and Dark. This volume has stories that fulfill all three of those aspects. Almost all of Dick's later works include self-identity and identity issues that twist the stories and reshape the characters. These stories cut across his career, but many of these stories emerge as identity-focused as well. Good stuff from a master of fiction.

About half-way through the stories right now. The stories are just okay for PKD, but better than your average writer. Enjoyed earlier collections more.