Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick

Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick
read: 2013

A lot of themes run through Philip K. Dick's work. Below is something of a reference for his Selected Stories collection:

Dick as horror writer / There is a secret, hidden world happening parallel with our world that we aren't even aware of: "King of the Elves," "Imposter," "Roog," "Adjustment Team," "Upon the Dull Earth," "Precious Artifact," "A Game of Unchance," "Faith of Our Fathers," "Rautavaara's Case"

Characters don't know what reality is: "Imposter," "Precious Artifact," "The Electric Ant," "The Exit Door Leads In," "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon"

Fatalism / Destiny: "The Minority Report," "A Little Something For Us Tempunauts," "Paycheck"

Memory / Manipulation of memory: "Paycheck," "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," "The Electric Ant," "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon"

Humanity creating things (especially robots) that it can no longer control: "Second Variety," "Autofac"

The Spy Who Loved Me

The Spy Who Loved Me
by Ian Fleming
read: 2013

The Spy Who Loved Me is unique among James Bond novels, written in first-person from the perspective of a young woman thrown into an unfortunate situation - which, of course, Bond rescues her from - with Bond almost a minor character in the story, first appearing more than halfway through. The story of heroine Vivenne Michel is interesting, but suffers from Fleming's misogynistic world view. Viv's best memories and regrets all have to do with her past relationships with men, and she can only be saved emotionally by encountering a Real Man - James Bond, of course - who treats her like a Real Man should. Fleming tried something different here, but it's not as successful as the standard Bond formula.

Ubik

   
Ubik
by Philip K. Dick
read: 2011
Time 100 Novels

After surviving an explosion, the characters in Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik find themselves dealing with an unknown threat disintegrating them one-by-one, and a world that seems to be crumbling around them. Or maybe they didn't survive the explosion at all? Dick is considered a science fiction writer, but I think he's as much a horror writer. Dick's brand of horror is insidious. Obviously we know there's no Freddy Krueger and there aren't zombies running around. But when Dick asks, "How do you know that reality actually exists and this isn't just in your head?," it's a horrifying sentiment that's more difficult to dismiss.

The Man In the High Castle

   
The Man In the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
read: 2013
Guardian 1000 Novels, Hugo Award

Fatalism is a theme that runs through quite a bit of Philip K. Dick's work. "Minority Report" and "A Little Something For Us Tempunauts" are two examples. In the former, the protagonist creates a police branch that can prevent crimes before they happen by foretelling the future, and in the latter time travelers get stuck re-living the same stretch of time over and over. Both situations imply an overarching fate that people are trapped in.

The same device is present in The Man In the High Castle, an alternate-history fiction where the Axis won World War II. Several of the characters employ the I Ching to help guide their actions and predict the success they will have in their ventures. World views are often expressed in terms of inevitability of outcomes; for example, the Germans are described as hastening humanity towards its inevitable destruction. Towards the end, the book almost breaks the fourth wall (through the introduction of a "fictional" book-within-a-book where the Allies won WWII), and the narrative hand of Dick himself adds a level of fatalism over the entire novel.

The Man Who Loved Children

  
The Man Who Loved Children
by Christina Stead
read: 2013
Time 100 Novels, Guardian 1000 Novels

This was tough to read. It was long, and it was painful. The Pollit family was almost entirely unsympathetic, and every moment of humanity was followed by two of selfishness, ignorance, or even cruelty. At first these foibles were humorous, but things became so unpleasant that after a while that it wasn't funny any more. It's not a bad book, but the dysfunction was so relentless that I really had to grind through it.

Thunderball

Thunderball
by Ian Fleming
read: 2013

I was going to write that Thunderball seemed to be the point where Fleming was consciously writing for the big screen ... but according to Wikipedia the screenplay actually came first for this one. Makes sense.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

 
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
by Muriel Spark
read: 2013
Time 100 Novels, Modern Library #76, Guardian 1000 Novels

A short, odd novel that's funny and deeply tragic at the same time. I don't fully understand the betrayal that leads to Miss Jean Brodie's ultimately downfall. Was Sandy jealous of Brodie's personal charisma? Was it a necessary step to break free of her influence?