Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The preserving machine and other stories, by Philip K Dick ISBN: 0-575-00562-9 Publisher: Gollancz Pub. Date: 1971 Format: Unknown Binding |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: a fine collection of early Philip K. Dick short stories...
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent collection of PKD's short stories
Comment: PKD is more known for his novels than his short stories.
This is a shame, since he was a superb, indeed prophetic,
short-story writer (the same applies to his novels). There
are, unfortunately, two omissions in this collection. One is his little-known, but creepy-crawly SF/horror story, "The Father-Thing," which made it into Anthony Boucher's wonderful collection, _A Treasury of Great Science Fiction. The other is is "The King of the Elves," which is about, well, the
king of the elves. Still, this is a very good collection,
one that all PKD fans should own.
Rating: 4
Summary: GOOD COLLECTION OF PKD SHORT STORIES
Comment: 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.
 |
Title: Valis by Philip K. Dick ISBN: 0679734465 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 July, 1991 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
