Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick
Narrated by Keir Dullea
Read in August 2013
Once again I find myself loving and hating PKD’s writing. He created and imagined very intriguing stories and ideas. I just don’t always agree with his buried (sometimes not so subtly) political ramblings. I liked the title story, but not nearly as well as I liked the movie (even with Cruise starring in it). I should have waited and read the story first, I suppose.
I found the gem in this collection to be the one called “Second Variety.” I wanted more, much more, from that dimension. I did think the protagonist was a bit slow on the uptake, though, as I thought the actions of the undercover antagonists to be obvious and telegraphed (pardon the pun).
The following are my very brief thoughts on each of the short stories included in this audiobook anthology:
The Minority Report (3 stars) A bit of a let down, especially since I watched the movie before reading the book. I’m beginning to think that PKD had great ideas but wasn’t the best at fleshing them out.
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (3.5 stars) I liked this one quite a bit. I’ve seen both Total Recall movies and I still liked the story (and the first movie).
Paycheck (2.5 stars) I did not care for this story, especially the ending.
Second Variety (4 stars) Reminded me a bit of Skynet from Terminator, but without the time travel subplot.
The Eyes Have It (2.5 stars) Very short and probably reads better than listening to it.
Note on the narrator: I did not realize while listening to this audiobook anthology that the narrator was none other than the actor who portrayed David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey! I guess since that movie lacks in dialog (barring the iconic “Good morning, Dave” from HAL) and the fact that I was not even in the first grade when that movie was released, but still. I’ve watched that movie many, many times. Just goes to show me that my photographic memory doesn’t help much with my audio one.
GR Status Updates Made While Listening:
| 08/12 | marked as: | currently-reading | ||
| 08/12 | 1.0% | |||
| 08/14 | 15.0% | “Off to a slow start with this one. Quite different from the movie (obviously) but still interesting.” | ||
| 08/18 | 27.0% | “Minority Report was shorter and less interesting than I hoped.” | ||
| 08/20 | 38.0% | “Liking this second story quite a bit. Basis for movies Total Recall” | ||
| 08/22 | 68.0% | “On “Paycheck” ~ Meh. Disintegrated into a political diatribe/rant and a call to revolution that stumbled to an ending.” | ||
| 08/24 | 98.0% | “Second Variety reminded me of Terminator without time travel. one of the better stories in this anthology.” | ||
| 08/24 | 100.0% | |||
| 08/24 | marked as: | read | ||
