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sarah_joy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
woolfardis's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of PKD short stories that were the inspiration for episodes of the television programme Electric Dreams. Some were true to the original whilst others had only mere snippets of them, often changing dramatically to bring them up to date and more inclusive.
Actually quite a decent collection of his stories, though one feels the need to stress that PKD expertise is not needed here. Enjoyment is available for sci-fi fans, for PKD fans and for short story fans. It's a good collection but by no means exhaustive nor the best available.
Best read in conjunction with the Channel 4 series. To be admired certainly and to have thoughts provoked definitely.
Exhibit Piece, 3 stars: A reasonable short story about a futuristic 22nd century man who curates a 20th century exhibit of American life. Good exploration on the fringes but mostly a bit meh.
Cannot even remember the adaptation even remotely... *looks it up in Electric Dreams* Oh yeah. The lesbian VR experience. Very modern, Channel 4. Well done.
Full review here.
The Commuter, 3 Stars: The adaptation was preferable, because of Timothy Spall and a deeper exploration of the concept of an encroaching dimension town, but still a good little story.
Full review here.
The Impossible Planet, 4 stars: A great short story and a really good adaptation. Feelings abound, a nice look on human greed and kindness, and the retrospect nostalgia for an earth none of us experienced but still lust for.
Full review here.
The Hanging Stranger, 4 stars: The short story is a wonderfully well-written story, well-paced and atmostpheric to the point of making hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The characters are fairly 2D but to be expected in a short story.
The adaptation... It had the same kind of theme but the pure shock of seeing a hanging dead body was completely missed and didn't quite have the same atmosphere.
Full review here.
Sales Pitch, 3 stars: 'Crazy Diamond', the adaptation, is not too far removed, but the (real) ending (that Dick wanted) to this story is a bad thing to miss out on.
Both give you a great sense of futility over the over-consumption of everything.
Full review here.
The Father-thing, 1 star: Really disliked this story and wasn't particularly interested in the adaptation neither. Can't put my finger on the reasons for disliking either. Just didn't speak to me. It felt jolted, was rather boring and the voices of the characters all melded together in to one big fat pile of nope.
Full review here.
The Hood Maker, 3 Stars: The adaptation had more depth, but I preferred the storyline and outcome of the original short story. The ideas were rather mesmerising in both, however. But there seemed a sympathy toward the Teeps in the adaptation that was not there in the story, which changes the entire feeling of the story itself.
Full review here.
Foster You're Dead, 3 Stars: Much, much, MUCH preferred the original short story than the adaptation. I was waiting for the dystopian, crunching-tech feeling you get from PKD stories but it never came. The adaptation was updated to modern audiences with modern tech, sure. And feministised, sure. But it just didn't have the all-crushing soul of the original.
Full review here.
Human Is, 2 stars: The story itself was written poorly and I really disliked it, though the plot and ideas were rather sublime. The adaptation was infinitely superior, except the change of names. I find that exceedingly unnecessary but can't quite put my finger on why I think that. Some modernisation crap presumably. Mixed together, the story and the adaptation, and this is a very good concept with great ideas. Attending alone they're a bit meh.
Full review here.
Autofac, 3 Stars: The story itself I found meh, without really knowing why. The adaptation I found rather fun, and I enjoyed Juno Temple and found her marvellous (the rest, meh) but separately they both lacked enjoyment for me. Put together, I think, they would have been rather grand.
Full review here.
Actually quite a decent collection of his stories, though one feels the need to stress that PKD expertise is not needed here. Enjoyment is available for sci-fi fans, for PKD fans and for short story fans. It's a good collection but by no means exhaustive nor the best available.
Best read in conjunction with the Channel 4 series. To be admired certainly and to have thoughts provoked definitely.
Exhibit Piece, 3 stars: A reasonable short story about a futuristic 22nd century man who curates a 20th century exhibit of American life. Good exploration on the fringes but mostly a bit meh.
Cannot even remember the adaptation even remotely... *looks it up in Electric Dreams* Oh yeah. The lesbian VR experience. Very modern, Channel 4. Well done.
Full review here.
The Commuter, 3 Stars: The adaptation was preferable, because of Timothy Spall and a deeper exploration of the concept of an encroaching dimension town, but still a good little story.
Full review here.
The Impossible Planet, 4 stars: A great short story and a really good adaptation. Feelings abound, a nice look on human greed and kindness, and the retrospect nostalgia for an earth none of us experienced but still lust for.
Full review here.
The Hanging Stranger, 4 stars: The short story is a wonderfully well-written story, well-paced and atmostpheric to the point of making hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The characters are fairly 2D but to be expected in a short story.
The adaptation... It had the same kind of theme but the pure shock of seeing a hanging dead body was completely missed and didn't quite have the same atmosphere.
Full review here.
Sales Pitch, 3 stars: 'Crazy Diamond', the adaptation, is not too far removed, but the (real) ending (that Dick wanted) to this story is a bad thing to miss out on.
Both give you a great sense of futility over the over-consumption of everything.
Full review here.
The Father-thing, 1 star: Really disliked this story and wasn't particularly interested in the adaptation neither. Can't put my finger on the reasons for disliking either. Just didn't speak to me. It felt jolted, was rather boring and the voices of the characters all melded together in to one big fat pile of nope.
Full review here.
The Hood Maker, 3 Stars: The adaptation had more depth, but I preferred the storyline and outcome of the original short story. The ideas were rather mesmerising in both, however. But there seemed a sympathy toward the Teeps in the adaptation that was not there in the story, which changes the entire feeling of the story itself.
Full review here.
Foster You're Dead, 3 Stars: Much, much, MUCH preferred the original short story than the adaptation. I was waiting for the dystopian, crunching-tech feeling you get from PKD stories but it never came. The adaptation was updated to modern audiences with modern tech, sure. And feministised, sure. But it just didn't have the all-crushing soul of the original.
Full review here.
Human Is, 2 stars: The story itself was written poorly and I really disliked it, though the plot and ideas were rather sublime. The adaptation was infinitely superior, except the change of names. I find that exceedingly unnecessary but can't quite put my finger on why I think that. Some modernisation crap presumably. Mixed together, the story and the adaptation, and this is a very good concept with great ideas. Attending alone they're a bit meh.
Full review here.
Autofac, 3 Stars: The story itself I found meh, without really knowing why. The adaptation I found rather fun, and I enjoyed Juno Temple and found her marvellous (the rest, meh) but separately they both lacked enjoyment for me. Put together, I think, they would have been rather grand.
Full review here.
martymowo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
The stories are all excellent and I feel like reading them has been very worthwhile. I wish there were more but this set has prepared me for reading more Philip K Dick books from here. The ideas and concepts are interesting and still relevant today. Each story is a little creepy and unsettling yet thoroughly entertaining.
Ps: Introductions by screenwriters in this edition (Audible Audio) are pretty useless if you just want the book and have no interest in the TV series. Recommended skipping them.
Ps: Introductions by screenwriters in this edition (Audible Audio) are pretty useless if you just want the book and have no interest in the TV series. Recommended skipping them.
alessandrajj's review against another edition
3.0
Não sei se fui com muita expectativa por ser um livro do K . Dick, mas não curti muito :/ Só gostei de verdade de um dos contos, todos os outros achei meio meh. Bem diferente do Realidades Adaptadas.
topperfalkon's review
4.0
A collection of PKD's short stories. Some of them are excellent, and some I found less interesting. The thing that resonates through the volume, however, is PKD's ability to focus on themes rather than environment or technology, giving some of the better stories in the collection an almost timeless quality. All the stories are set in relatively indistinct time periods and focus on aspects of the human condition, rather than stumble into the trap of some science fiction by obsessing over technology.
curlybooknerd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kingadrienne's review against another edition
4.0
There’s no good reason for this book to have taken me so long. Short stories a though, tend to grip me only for a short time and then I take a while to return. These are really good. Not entirely unpredictability but still somehow they shake you up.
bex77's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed some of the short stories more than others, but they were all very well written. I found most of them disconcerting on some level
lsmith36's review
4.0
Exhibit Piece-4/5, I liked the dreamlike quality of this story. It was fun trying to decide what felt real and what didn't. The ending is one of those tongue in cheek, the grass is always greener lessons, but the experience of the story overall was enjoyable.
The Commuter-4/5, This one was another trippy reality one. I liked it more than the first story, but I liked reading them back to back because I feel like they have similar themes.
The Impossible Planet-5/5, this was probably one of my favorites. A bit heavy handed in the ending like with Exhibit Piece, but I thought it was an ironic story. The visuals it conjured were wonderful.
The Hanging Stranger-4/5, a bit of a spooky thriller! I really enjoyed this one too, especially how it looped back in on itself.
Sales Pitch-5/5, the ending to this one was both hilarious and terrifying. I once again go back to the idea that all advertisements should be banned.
The Father-Thing-4/5, also a bit of a spooky one. I liked that the children were the main protagonists here. It reminds me of some folklore that I've read at some point. It feels like a story I would be told around a campfire with the narrator holding a flashlight under their chin.
The Hood Maker-2/5, overall the concept was interesting, but I wasn't all to interested in the execution.
Foster, You're Dead-3/5, this one was interesting to read, but compared to some of the other stories in this collection it just doesn't stick out to me as much.
Human Is-5/5, one of my favorites. It's one of those "good for her" genre of stories that I love so much.
Autofac-1/5, this one was just very boring to me and felt way too long.
The Commuter-4/5, This one was another trippy reality one. I liked it more than the first story, but I liked reading them back to back because I feel like they have similar themes.
The Impossible Planet-5/5, this was probably one of my favorites. A bit heavy handed in the ending like with Exhibit Piece, but I thought it was an ironic story. The visuals it conjured were wonderful.
The Hanging Stranger-4/5, a bit of a spooky thriller! I really enjoyed this one too, especially how it looped back in on itself.
Sales Pitch-5/5, the ending to this one was both hilarious and terrifying. I once again go back to the idea that all advertisements should be banned.
The Father-Thing-4/5, also a bit of a spooky one. I liked that the children were the main protagonists here. It reminds me of some folklore that I've read at some point. It feels like a story I would be told around a campfire with the narrator holding a flashlight under their chin.
The Hood Maker-2/5, overall the concept was interesting, but I wasn't all to interested in the execution.
Foster, You're Dead-3/5, this one was interesting to read, but compared to some of the other stories in this collection it just doesn't stick out to me as much.
Human Is-5/5, one of my favorites. It's one of those "good for her" genre of stories that I love so much.
Autofac-1/5, this one was just very boring to me and felt way too long.