Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Stories

by Philip K. Dick

The stories within SECOND VARIETY were written between 1952 and 1955, while America was in the grip of McCarthyism.

The concerns of the time are reflected in stories such as Second Variety, which tells of an endless war fought by ever more cunning and sophisticated robots, or Imposter where a man accused of being an alien spy finds his whole identity called into question.

Using his marvellously varied, quirky and idiosyncratic style, Dick speaks up for ordinary people against militarism, paranoia and xenophobia.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, American, Short Story Collection

575 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 1987

About the author

Philip Kindred Dick was a prolific American science fiction author whose work has had a lasting impact on literature, cinema, and popular culture. Known for his imaginative narratives and profound philosophical themes, Dick explored the nature of reality, the boundaries of human identity, and the impact of technology and authoritarianism on society. His stories often blurred the line between the real and the artificial, challenging readers to question their perceptions and beliefs.

Raised in California, Dick began writing professionally in the early 1950s, publishing short stories in various science fiction magazines. He quickly developed a distinctive voice within the genre, marked by a fusion of science fiction concepts with deep existential and psychological inquiry. Over his career, he authored 44 novels and more than 100 short stories, many of which have become classics in the field.

Recurring themes in Dick's work include alternate realities, simulations, corporate and government control, mental illness, and the nature of consciousness. His protagonists are frequently everyday individuals—often paranoid, uncertain, or troubled—caught in surreal and often dangerous circumstances that force them to question their environment and themselves. Works such as Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly reflect his fascination with perception and altered states of consciousness, often drawing from his own experiences with mental health struggles and drug use.

One of Dick's most influential novels is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which served as the basis for Ridley Scott's iconic film Blade Runner. The novel deals with the distinction between humans and artificial beings and asks profound questions about empathy, identity, and what it means to be alive. Other adaptations of his work include Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle, each reflecting key elements of his storytelling—uncertain realities, oppressive systems, and the search for truth. These adaptations have introduced his complex ideas to audiences well beyond the traditional readership of science fiction.

In the 1970s, Dick underwent a series of visionary and mystical experiences that had a significant influence on his later writings. He described receiving profound knowledge from an external, possibly divine, source and documented these events extensively in what became known as The Exegesis, a massive and often fragmented journal. These experiences inspired his later novels, most notably the VALIS trilogy, which mixes autobiography, theology, and metaphysics in a narrative that defies conventional structure and genre boundaries.

Throughout his life, Dick faced financial instability, health issues, and periods of personal turmoil, yet he remained a dedicated and relentless writer. Despite limited commercial success during his lifetime, his reputation grew steadily, and he came to be regarded as one of the most original voices in speculative fiction. His work has been celebrated for its ability to fuse philosophical depth with gripping storytelling and has influenced not only science fiction writers but also philosophers, filmmakers, and futurists.

Dick's legacy continues to thrive in both literary and cinematic spheres. The themes he explored remain urgently relevant in the modern world, particularly as technology increasingly intersects with human identity and governance. The Philip K. Dick Award, named in his honor, is presented annually to distinguished works of science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. His writings have also inspired television series, academic studies, and countless homages across media.

Through his vivid imagination and unflinching inquiry into the nature of existence, Philip K. Dick redefined what science fiction could achieve. His wor

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Can Remember it for You Wholesale, the second volume of Philip K. Dick’s collected short stories, represents both a significant advance and a noticeable decline. The majority of these tales—the remarkable exception being the title story, written in 1965—were composed between August of ‘52 and April of ‘53, whereas the previous volume, The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford, contained work composed primarily in ‘51 (when Dick sold his first story) until the early months of ‘52. The tales of the second volume are on the whole better constructed, slicker and safer than the first. Dick was now a full time writer, striving—with limited success—to make a living, and he was obviously doing his best to write stories he could easily sell. The best stories in Brown Oxford are wilder, more characteristically Dickian, but Wholesale gives us a more polished Philip K. Dick, one who was learned who to succeed in the science fiction market place.

Fortunately for us, although Dick tried his best to be mainstream, he could never quite stop being Dick.
The stories here reveal, at one time or another, all of Dick’s central concerns: nuclear devastation, immortal robot weapons, the security state sacrificing freedom for order, alternate realities, unreliable mental constructs, temporal anomalies and paradoxes. Through it all, he speaks out courageously against racism, militarism, ideological hatred, and mindless nationalism, and does so with just enough classic Dickian paranoia to keep a sensitive reader awake and ever alert to his environment.

My favorites here? I like almost all of them, but offhand my favorite 9 out of the 27 stories—not necessarily the best—are: “The Cookie Lady,” “I Can Remember it For You Wholesale,” “Prominent Author,” “The World She Wanted,” “Project Earth,” “Martians Come in Clouds, “Imposter,” “Human Is” and “Adjustment Team.” Ask me tomorrow, though, and you might get a different list of stories.

[Arie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this is a book containing over 25 short stories - some related, some not; some great, and some not - I think the only way I can review this is story by story: 25 (even shorter) reviews. So, here goes:

The Cookie Lady
and
Beyond The Door
***
Roald Dahl-esque, only with less of the intricacy and finesse of Dahl's work. Nonetheless, these two stories were enjoyable, if more predictable than I would like. The dark humour that comes through in later works is readily apparent here.

Second Variety
***.5
This is where P.K.D is really in his element - war, and robots. The implications of this story still ring true, though the war in question has been over for some time now, and the double-twist at the end was both well-wrought and genuinely unexpected (for me, anyway). I will confess to finding the story a little dull in parts, but after reading later stories set in the future of this world, I appreciated the background given in Second Variety.

Jon's World
****
This really sums up many of my feelings towards the mental health industry. OH, it made me angry! This really was the intended reaction, I believe. Really deals with human selfishness and refusal to accept anything outside of our meagre understanding. Very good.

The Cosmic Poachers
****
Plot twist was a little obvious but darkly funny. Plays on humanity's greed, and that insistence that anything we don't understand or agree with is inherently "dumber" than us. This is definitely a recurring theme - Martians Come in Clouds is very similar, although far more heartbreaking (and dealing a little more strongly with racism).

Progeny
***.5
Really relevant to today, I think - kids don't get to be kids anymore, which is something I could rant about for the entirety of this review! I won't, other than to say that a world where games like bulrush are banned from school in case of injury, and climbing trees is forbidden, is not a world that will raise strong individuals and I cannot agree with that. Nether could P.K.D, apparently. This was written in response to his own upbringing, where doctors made parents feel guilty for showing their children affection. The "progeny" in this is the result of such a sterile upbringing. Not my favourite, but very good.

Some Kinds of Life
*****
THIS
Honestly, this should be compulsory reading in schools. No less relevant now than when it was written - possibly even more so. The futility of war and commercialism and everything is here - perfection. I can't stop raving about this story to everyone I know, I really can't!

The Commuter
****.5
Hilarious.

The World She Wanted
***
Not as strong as a lot of his other stories, although the premise is interesting. Again, nice little plot twist but a little bland for me. I could actually see this as a really interesting film though...

A Surface Raid
***.5
Same as above, only better plot twist and slightly stronger storyline. Also, this wouldn't work as a film!

Project: Earth
***.5

The Trouble With Bubbles
****
Very interesting, great twist at end (though I did see it coming), interesting visuals and plot.

Breakfast At Twilight
****
In the author's own words: There you are in your home, and the soldiers smash down the door and tell you you're in the middle of World War III. Something's gone wrong with time. I like to fiddle with the idea of basic categories of reality, such as space and time, breaking down. It's my love of chaos, I suppose. (1976)

A Present for Pat
**.5
A unique concept, very funny but turned a little silly at the end. Neither loved nor hated this, worth the read if you you want something more light and fluffy.

The Hood Maker
***

Of Withered Apples
***
The closest to a typical horror I've ever seen by P.K.D, interesting concept but I didn't think the story was up to his usual standard - there was something lacking.

Human Is
*****
By far my favourite - opens the debate of what makes a human, and in the end (here anyway) it comes down to kindness. Simply written, moving and the ending is really lovely.

Adjustment Team
****
Though the title isn't quite as "schnazzy" as "The Adjustment Bureau"(the Matt Damon film based on the story), Adjustment Team is a great little story, and you can definitely see why a film version was made. Creepy cool premise - the kind that has you looking twice around the place to make sure that everything seems as you left it.

The Impossible Planet
***
This one was interesting but I think it went over my head, just a little. I got the implications, but... No, didn't love it.

Impostor
***

James P. Crow
****.5
The anti-racist overtones are less overtones and more like clashing cymbals of obviousness, but the lack of subtlety in this respect doesn't detract in any way from the story. Subtlety isn't always needed in every aspect of writing, and the impact of the story is quite strong. The ending was nicely sinister too.

Planet for Transients
****

Small Town
****
Again, similar to Roald Dahl in tone and subject, nicely eerie.

Souvenir
***
Good concept (as usual) but I completely failed to understand the ending, or at least was unsure I understood it. Three stars only because I didn't quite get it. Judge for yourself.

Survey Team
*****
AND again, he writes another perfect story of human greed and wastefulness that is all the more terrifying for its future possible accuracy.


(Yes, I calculated the average of each of those ratings because I am a perfectionist and weird about numbers. Four stars is close enough to that average.)

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este segundo volumen de los cuentos completos de Philip K. Dick mantiene la calidad que ya nos ofreció el primer libro. Se trata de 28 relatos escritos entre 1952 y 1953. Hay que reseñar que la edición de Martínez Roca no contiene el relato 'Podemos recordarlo por usted', y que sí incluye la edición de Minotauro. En este volumen ya se empieza a perfilar la que sería una de las grandes obsesiones de Dick, qué distingue al ser Humano, qué es lo que le caracteriza, y si podría confundirse con una máquina. Qué duda cabe que seguiré leyendo los magníficos relatos de Dick.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has mostly very good reviews here on GR. Mine is going to be more critical.

I think I would have given it 3.5 stars if not for the gender stereotypes and sexism. I understand that most of these stories were written in the golden area of the American housewife, and that gender roles were more rigid back then. But that does not automatically translate to the condescending depictions of women I found in the majority of these stories.

But let's come back to that.

The stories themselves were a mixed bag. Some were a bit boring. I were easily able to foresee the plot twist in most of them, and that does necessarily diminish the excitement. There were quite a lot that depicted a society torn to pieces by nuclear war - a bigger fear back in the fifties than today. I didn't much care for the war stories. I liked it better when I was presented with fantastical worlds than broken ones. And some of the stories did have truly interesting concepts, and a few were really exciting - page turners. A lot of them seem to underline how destructive human society is. The last story in the collection has a touching message about how important it is to take good care of our planet - a message more relevant today than ever before.

The characters are on the simple side, and a lot of them are called Ed, for some reason. But I guess these stories were not originally intended to be published as a collection, and as most of them are really short and focused on describing societies rather than individuals, so that naturally limits the depth it's possible to give a character.

Back to the depiction of women.

Women in these stories are either devoted mothers/girfriends, who obeys the orders given by the men in their lives, or mean bitches that scream at their husbands a lot. There is one strong, independent woman in this collection. Her name is Allison, and things do not end well for her. For the most part, the women are treated like children. They are described as vain, silly, stupid and they often have tantrums. They scream a lot, either out of fear or anger. If a man says to another man "nice little girl you've got there", he's talking about the other guy's wife/girlfriend, not his daughter.

The women are often described as having big eyes and lush hair. Oh, and let's not forget their full breasts. A woman who puts on - some sort of cape, I think - is described as fastening it over her shoulders and her breasts. Just to get the word breast in there one more time. The stories are clearly directed only at a straight, male audience.

One of the male protagonists reveals a secret to his wife. He is later scolded for it by another man, in this way:

"Your wife knows." The Old Man's face twisted angrily. "A woman. Of all the things to tell - "

And then there's Lori. A grown woman, who wants to take a walk before making dinner for her husband and his father. She has to beg them for permission before she can leave the house, and when she gets it, she is so happy! Oh, lucky you, Lori!

"Don't ask me, Steve. Just let me go. This is the last time." She writhed in agony. She clenched her fists. "Please!"
"All right. But it's going to snow. I don't see why you want to - "
Lori ran to get her coat from the closet. "I'll be back to fix dinner!" she shouted joyfully.

This scene depicts the relationship between parent and child, not between two equal adults who wants to share their lives with each other.

A while ago, I DNF-ed Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics on a somewhat related basis. What annoys me is that these two authors are trying to - and are recognized for - writing brand new, fantastic worlds or concepts, completely different societies - that in their maleness, whiteness and heteronormativity, are nothing different or new after all. And they don't seem to see it themselves. They can't really see, or see beyond, their own prejudices. When you are not in a marginalized position, it seems to be very easy to not recognize that there is a problem, a fundamental injustice, at all. Maybe this classifies as a pet peeve when I react so strongly to finding it in older books, but I couldn't let it go and it pretty much shaped my reading experience.

In some books, I can see past stuff like this. I like Poe, even though his ideal woman is a corpse - a beautiful, dead object. But then again, I can't stand Strindberg. He is a brilliant author, but he is also a complete misogynist.

I have read books from the 19th century, written by men, that depicts women a lot better and more positively than Dick and Calvino - books that describes them as thinking individuals. And most of the stories in this collection were not written that long before Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. PKD cannot be excused solely because of the time in which he wrote. He could have done a lot better than describing women as silly, helpless, hysterical and inferior.

I spite of all of this, I can see why other people might enjoy these stories much more than me, and if you like older sci-fi, go for it. It is interesting to see how the past pictured the future. Just - please - read it with a critical mind. That way, books that are racist, sexists etc. does good by developing our critical sense and promoting good discussions.

[Kansas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¿No pudiste percibir que era una máquina? ¿Hablaba como un ser humano? ¿Nunca lo sospechaste?
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."
(La Segunda Variedad)"

A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.

“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad.”

Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fría y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen estando muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.

Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos específicamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la ciencia ficción y el fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.

A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:

1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.

2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.

3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.

4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.

5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.

6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.

7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.

8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.

9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.

10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.

11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.

12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.

13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.

14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.

15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.

16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.

17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.

18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..

19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.

20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso

21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.

22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.

23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.

24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.

25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.

"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".

26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.

27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.

“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.
- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.
- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no.” ( James P. Crow).

https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...

[Tomislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five years after Philip K. Dick’s death in 1982, Underwood-Miller (US) published a definitive five-volume hardcover series containing a collection of all but three of his short stories, put into order of their receipt by Dick’s agent (not the same as order of publication). That year, Gollancz (UK) also published a trade paperback series of the same five volumes, but with retitled volumes 4 and 5. Unfortunately for the collector or completist, there are also other multi-volume series of his collected short stories, in other order, but with similar subtitles. If you are looking to complete the set, be sure to stick with the same series. If you are looking to read in order, I recommend the Gollancz series. To help you recognize those, here is a summary of The Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick, Gollancz Science Fiction, Orion Publishing Company, 1987.

Volume 1 “Beyond Lies the Wub”, 1947, 1951-1952, Introduction by Roger Zelazny
Volume 2 “Second Variety” 1952-1953, Introduction by Norman Spinrad
Volume 3 “The Father-Thing” 1953-1954, Introduction by John Brunner
Volume 4 “Minority Report” 1954-1963, Introduction by James Tiptree, Jr.
(original Underwood-Miller title “The Days of Perky Pat”)
Volume 5 “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” 1963-1981, Introduction by Thomas M. Disch
(original Underwood-Miller title “The Little Black Box”)

This review is of Volume 2 of the Gollancz series, subtitled for “Second Variety”.

I’ve rated each story from 1 to 5, using the same guidelines as I do for novels on GR. The longer novellas have plots and characters to evaluate. But many of the short stories are not much more than what Norman Spinrad calls “one-punch gimmicks.” My ratings on those might hinge on my own surprise and the plausibility of the ending twist, which I try not to divulge for the sake of spoilers. Generally, I’m willing to give PKD a lot of leeway on aliens and robots and wacky speculations, but human behavior needs to be realistic.

This was an incredibly prolific period of PKD’s short-story writing career, with some of these being sent out within days of each other. A lot of the themes that appear later in his novels are in development here – alternate realities, male urban office workers who come home to wives who are superficial and betray them, the destruction of the Earth through nuclear war and robot weapons. My favorites were "Second Variety", "Adjustment Team" and "Planet for Transients". Here’s my mini-reviews of every story -

The Cookie Lady, written 8/27/1952, published in Fantasy Fiction, June 1953. An older woman has enticed a young boy to stop by her house of the way home from school with fresh cookies. After a visit she feels strangely rejuvenated. Rating 3/5.

Beyond the Door, written 8/29/1952, published in Fantastic Universe, January 1954. A young wife receives a gift of a cuckoo clock from her coarse husband. She begins to talk to the cuckoo bird, and it seems to alter its behavior in response. How much agency does this bird have? Rating 3/5.

Second Variety, written 10/3/1952, published in Space Science Fiction, May 1953. On a post-apocalyptic world battlefield between the US and Soviet Union, an autonomous weapon has been released. The weapon is designed to be self-producing, and self-designing – but with a defensive safeguard for use by the side that created it. The weapon evolves towards camouflaging itself as human. How do we know who is human and who is just a good simulation? This story was the inspiration for the 1995 film Screamers. Rating 5/5.

Jon’s World, written 10/21/52, published in Time to Come, edited by August Derleth, 1954 as “Jon”. This is a sequel to Second Variety, set in the dystopic future that has come about after that story. Two agents are setting out in a time machine to find the research documents that led to the artificial brains that enabled the self-evolving weapons. But they accidentally change history, in a sort of inversion of the outcome of Ray Bradbury’s 1952 story “A Sound of Thunder”. In this story, history is improved by the interference. Rating 4/5.

The Cosmic Poachers, written 10/22/52, published in Imagination July 1953 as “Burglar”. A Terran space ship watches an alien spaceship mine something mysterious from a star system, and decides to intercept it and raid their stores, to find out what is so valuable. But the aliens are doing something else. Rating 3/5.

Progeny, written 11/3/52, published in If November 1954. Ed Doyle hurries from backward Proxima to Earth in time for the birth of his son. Unlike Proxima, robots have extensively replaced humans on Earth. The idea of robots in the 1950s was not as we understand them today, but more like synthetic humans. Ed finds that since he went out to the frontier, every bit of parent interaction over 18 years has come to be considered undesirable. Rating 2/5.

Some Kinds of Life, written 11/3/53, published in Fantastic Universe Oct-Nov 1953, as “The Beleaguered, by Richard Phillips”. Earth conducts wars throughout the Solar System in order to obtain various exotic materials necessary for its expected standard of living. After the men die, they draft boys. After the boys die, they draft women. When the women die, who is left? It’s too implausible to think no one would object all the way to the end. Rating 2/5.

Martians Come In Clouds, written 11/5/52, published in Fantastic Universe Jun-Jul 1954, as “The Buggies”. Dried up old Martians are drifting to Earth, where they are methodically killed off upon discovery. A boy finds one, and it telepathically communicates with him. But no one will listen to him. Rating 3/5.

The Commuter, written 11/19/52, published in Amazing Aug-Sept 1953. There is an alternate world, where a community named Macon Heights was built along the route of a commuter train, and the implications of its existence is beginning to impinge on Bob Paine’s own. Rating 3/5.

The World She Wanted, written 11/24/52, published in Science Fiction Quarterly May 1953. There are as many alternate worlds as there are humans, and the purpose of each is to please that one individual. Larry Brewster is distressed to learn that he is just a player in the world of Allison, a woman he meets at the Wind-Up Club. Larry harbors resentment towards the ability of women to manipulate men for what they want, that could be revealing some of PKD’s own thinking. I have noticed this before in his writing. Rating 3/5.

A Surface Raid, written 12/2/52, published in Fantastic Universe July 1955. In a setting reminiscent of H.G. Wells The Time Machine, humans have speciated into surface-dwelling Saps and underground Technos. The story follows a young Techno who joins an unauthorized raid on the surface for purposes of kidnapping Saps to work in the factories. Rating 4/5.

Project: Earth, written 1/6/53, published in Imagination December 1953, as “One Who Stole”. Tommy and his friends spy on the creepy old neighbor guy who seems to be writing a report. Later, Tommy sneaks in the house and cannot resist stealing what he finds. In the aftermath, all of Mr. Billing’s plans for Earth are disrupted. Rating 3/5.

The Trouble with Bubbles, written 1/13/53, published in If September 1953, as “Plaything”. Because humanity has not reached other civilizations within our Solar System, we have pathologically developed “bubbles” in which we create our own alien worlds. I do not believe innate destructiveness is part of the human condition. Rating 2/5.

Breakfast at Twilight, written 1/17/53, published in Amazing July 1954. One morning, a normal American household is inexplicably transported to an apocalyptic future. Can they get back? Should they? The story is a typical PKD reality twist, but the ethical pondering goes beyond that. Rating 4/5.

A Present for Pat, written 1/17/53, published in Startling Stories January 1954. When Eric returns from a business trip to Ganymede, he brings back very strange gift for his wife. It is a god, with plans of its own. Rating 3/5.

The Hood Maker, written 1/26/53, published in Imagination June 1955, as “Immunity”. A radioactive disaster has resulted in humans with telepathic abilities, who have been recruited by the police. Now someone has developed a hood that shields thoughts from them, and this invention must be suppressed. Just the kind of concept that someone will want to work into a movie thriller, and then credit PKD. Although I don’t think this has happened yet. Rating 4/5.

Of Withered Apples, written 1/26/53, published in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy July 1954. A fantasy story about a young wife recently moved to rural Vermont, who is mysteriously called to an ancient apple tree on an abandoned farm. Rating 1/5.

Human Is, written 2/2/53, published in Startling Stories Winter 1955. Bill Herrick doesn’t want his nephew to come visit his wife while he is away on Rexor IV, and is generally a jerk. When he comes back a changed man, Jill suspects it is an alien posing as her husband. But she prefers the new husband. Rating 4/5.

Adjustment Team, 2/11/53, published in Orbit Science Fiction Sept-Oct 1954. Ed is supposed to be at the office, when the changeover is performed. But he is late, and witnesses the adjustment team actually making the changes to reality. The adjustment bureau must somehow manage him now. This story was the inspiration for the 2011 film The Adjustment Bureau. Rating 5/5.

The Impossible Planet, written 2/11/53, published in Imagination October 1953 as “Legend”. If someone asked to buy a ticket to a mythical planet, and offered to pay a huge sum of money, would you play her? What if the decoy planet you chose, happened to be the real thing? Rating 3/5.

Imposter, written 2/24/53, published in Astounding June 1953. To his surprise, Spence Olham is arrested as an alien invader. Could it actually be true without his own awareness? This story was the inspiration for the 2002 film Imposter. Rating 3/5.

James P. Crow, written 3/17/53, published in Planet Stories May 1954. A man has developed a time-window that allows him to see into the past and the future, and thus pass the tests designed to keep humans in subservience to robots. In spite of the story’s in-your-face title, it does not make a very close parallel between race issues and human/robot relations. Rating 2/5.

Planet for Transients, written 3/23/53, published in Fantastic Universe Oct-Nov 1953 as “The Itinerants”. On an post-apocalyptic Earth ravaged by radioactive mutation, an “original” man seeks others of his now rare kind. Do humans still deserve the Earth? Parts of this story were adapted by PKD and Roger Zelazny’s 1976 novel Deus Irae. Rating 5/5.

Small Town, written 3/23/53, published in Amazing May 1954 as “Engineer”. Rating x/5. An ineffectual man finds agency in his model railroad, while his wife fools around with another man. Rating 2/5.

Souvenir, written 3/26/53, published in Fantastic Universe Oct 1954. After centuries of searching, someone finally finds Williamson’s World. But they don’t want to sign up with the galactic human civilization that can tolerate no outsiders. Rating 3/5.

Survey Team, written 4/3/53, published in Fantastic Universe May 1954. A team of humans scout out Mars as a last resort for human survival after 30 years of nuclear holocaust on Earth. What they learn about the Martians changes everything. I was impressed with the sense of futility expressed, which takes this story beyond just a typical PKD reality twist. Rating 4/5.

Prominent Author, written 4/20/53, published in If May 1954. As a favor from his employer, a man is allowed to use a teleportation system for his personal commute. But his interaction with the tiny human beings he meets during transit, results in huge consequences. An amazing idea, but it doesn’t stand up to much thought. Rating 3/5.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cherry-picked stories out of this collection for a very simple reason. I had read most of the best ones from it already. :)

Interestingly enough, I got to revisit some snippets that later made it into some of his full novels in these previous incarnations. And far from being a chore or a let-down, a few of them enhanced my interest.

Like in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, one story got pretty hardcore into Mercer and Mercerism. I laughed aloud when I discovered that. Another encapsulated PKD's mystical experience in 1974, including the transposition of an ancient time with ours. Yet another made it into Divine Invasion, and another made it into Radio Free Albemuth.

Oddly enough, I got a lot out of these. They aren't one-to-one copy-overs and the differences are interesting to any scholar of PKD. Maybe not to anyone else, but *I* got a lot out of it. :) Added depth, maybe from PKD's deep fascination and some from the cross-overs between his real life and his revisits in his fiction.

The nature of pain and suffering, of being a jerk, of learning from past mistakes, and of transcendence, mainly.

Other than that, the other stories were quite good. I never need to fear PKD. If I need a good read, I can always come back. :)

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as I expected, PKD's great imagination is brimming to the tilt here, in this collection of stories (first time reading his shorter fiction, and although this is volume II I think it doesn't really matter which order one would read them). All stories are different and unique and I can see why a few of them formed the basis for the movies they would become. I'm convinced already, just like I was with J.G. Ballard, that PKD is just as much an accomplished writer of shorter fiction as he is a novelist. The only downside here, is that I was really looking forward to Kuato! (Total Recall), but sadly the deformed mutant human was the brainchild of David Cronenberg, who worked on the script, and doesn't feature in PKD's title story on which it's based. (If only Cronenberg got to direct, who wanted it darker and psychologically deeper than Verhoeven's film). I was just as impressed with the social issues explored in this collection as I was with PKD's striking future worlds. I will certainly be reading another volume at some point.

[Alejandro De Luca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este segundo volumen de cuentos completos de Philip K. Dick mantiene, en comparación con el primero, el nivel de los relatos pero les agrega un poco más de solidez y profundidad.

En general los temas que más se tratan son paranoia, realidad, holocausto nuclear, guerra, psicología, y la definición misma de ser humano, temas con los que el autor volvería en muchas de sus obras posteriores.

Si tengo que elegir mis cuentos preferidos de este volumen me quedo con: La segunda variedad, El problema con las burbujas, Un regalo para Pat y Humano es.

La Segunda variedad considero que es uno de los mejores relatos de ciencia ficción que he leído. En el futuro la Tierra ha sido destruida luego de la guerra entre Estados Unidos y Rusia. Los rusos pegaron primero con armas nucleares y comenzaron ganando, pero los estadounidenses diseñaron unos temibles robots para contraatacar. Estos robots evolucionaron y se volvieron peligrosos para ambos bandos. Junto con El equipo de Ajuste, este es uno de los cuentos más paranoicos que he leído hasta el momento del autor.

Un regalo para Pat es prácticamente un relato fantástico en tono de comedia. Un ejecutivo industrial se trae de un viaje intergaláctico un pequeño dios extraterrestre para regalárselo a su esposa Pat. La casi omnipotente criatura altera sus vidas ni bien llega. Parece un episodio de la serie Futurama.

Humano es aborda el tema de qué es ser un humano, una idea con la que PKD volvió cuando escribió ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?

Los cuentos The Commuter y Small Town ensayan un poco la idea de las realidades alternas y se podría decir que son conceptualmente iguales a El Hombre en el Castillo, novela por la que PKD ganaría el Premio Hugo en 1963.

[Mattia Ravasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So strange* to read Dick doing straight-up golden age-y science fiction (& fantasy, too, occasionally!). Mind-blowing and engaging.

(*What makes it strange, I guess, is how not that very strange it all is - oh, but the seeds of future obsessions are all here, all very visible).

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hood Maker: 4/5
The most fascinating aspect of PKD has been and remains in his talent to be relevant in his stories. In a short span of time, The Hood Maker establishes an alternate reality, the most obvious paths humans would take in such an eventuality - purely based on historical evidence and the inevitable rebellion that comes with it.

The Impossible Planet: 4/5
The story is less of a story but a probable distant future when Earth is a myth and lies in obscure legends and researchers spend resources trying to find this mythical place. A future where its well understood that evolution of human species took place in different parts of the universe and nowhere one place special. I must admit, it was a little bitter sweet to read this future story.

The Commuter: 3/5
This short story reminded me of Galactic pot healer, for some reason. The two are in no way similar content wise or in style but they both echo the necessity of belonging to a space and having our existence validated. Interestingly, the short story works much better given its tight boundaries where the commuter's existence is questioned, investigated and validated. The boundaries that we draw are often imaginary lines that's rarely inclusive. Does this piece of land with a name struggles along with the people it contains for identity?

Human Is: 4/5
There is something very similar by Bradbury that questions in the same lines as PKD does - what makes us human? Our physiology? Or whatever that gets broadly classified as humanity and yet very few exhibit that behavior? Compassion? Kindness? PKD's take on it is similar to that of Bradbury: its the expectation of a person of another, defines humanity to them. There is no broad brush strokes that paint humanity's picture. Its like peeking into a Kaleidoscope and trying to discern a pattern and try hard to understand why it looks to beautiful. In this short story, an alien being takes the form of a scientist whose ruthlessness is a matter of despair to his wife. The alien reads up literature and tries hard at being human. Isn't that sufficient?

The Adjustment Team: 4/5
There are no chances or fate but a network of intelligent operatives who control the way the world operates. They perform minor adjustments just to nudge the way people react, behave and perform actions that direct the course of the world. PKD exposes the plot and the background through dialogues and this tight three-act story goes to show how the world is intricately connected and what is the smallest and seemingly insignificant lever that has to be pulled to bring about a global change. This is probably the earliest implementation of chaos theory even before it was a thing.
This story has influenced the movie - The Adjustment Bureau.

The Cookie Lady: 2/5
Not really a fan of this line of story telling, or its supernatural content. An old woman lures children with cookies and takes their youth.

Beyond the door: 2/5
An oddity in this collection that has all signature Dick elements but comes off as a knock off. I didn't enjoy it much though the idea was interesting.

Second Variety: 3.5/5
War and Robots, Russians and moon base. PKD at his best exposing humanity in the middle of war that has become an everyday occurrence.

Jon's world: 3/5
Perhaps this was an early vision of Minority Report? The complicated topic of mental health inlaid within time travel science fiction amidst a war. Yeah.

The Cosmic Poachers: 3/5
The world runs on greed. Colonization in a nutshell.

Progeny: 3/5
A future where children are placed in custody of state and "protected" from parents. Children become future in absolute sense where the care and nuturing are
carried by robots and live in institutions.

Some kinds of life: 4/5
The commercialization of war - simplified and exploited at its root.

Martians come in clouds: 3/5
Similar to The Cosmic Poachers where greed runs the world.

The world she wanted: 2/5
The entire story seems to be a filler for the eventual plot twist. It reads quickly though the story is passable.

A surface raid:2/5
Kind of boring actually. The plot twist in the end makes the story for what it is and its a heavy burden to place on the twist rather than the story itself.

Project:Earth: 4/5
An interesting take on existentialism and search for a ground to call their "own".

The trouble with bubbles: 4/5
The horror that descends morally ambiguous decision is becoming a recurring theme in modern times.

Breakfast at twilight:4/5
What would one do if they found themselves in the middle of a war they don't remember starting. Is it possible to be completely out of chaos that unfolds in the world and live in oblique isolation?

A present for pat: 2/5
An underwhelming end to an interesting story line. Became boring midway.

Of withered apples: 3/5
PKD's brand of horror is generally interesting however this one didn't do justice to the expectations I had from this story and this author. Still decent though.

Imposter: 3/5
There is a familiar quality to this story though I've never read it before. The plot follows a pattern that I have come to associate with PKD, maybe that's why.

James P Crow: 4/5
PKD's response to racism.

Planet for Transients: 4/5
When natives reject the notion of engaging with seekers of new land, adventurers, sorrowfully accept that not every land can be inhabited as their own.

Small Town: 4/5
There is a similar Bradbury story similar to Small town. The ominous end to a rather benign start is extraordinary.

Souvenir: 3/5
Narration style is quite similar to a mix of A present for Pat and Project Earth. The ending didn't go the way I expected it to and that was subtly disappointing.

Survey Team: 5/5
With the state of things the way they are on this planet, humanity is incapable of withholding greed and the need to exploit, abuse and overextend than necessary. The only rational voice in the story is thwarted for the sake of progress. Wanting progress for progress sake - is this a human condition?

Prominent author: 3.5/5
There is a certain level of predictability in these short stories in the way they are concluded. PKD uses red herring quite often and a "shock" inducing plot twist at the very end of the story. This way the dramatic effect is left hanging and surprisingly has been quite satisfactory. The repetitiveness isn't exploitative because the elements that make the reveal have remained unique.

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Más muestras de los trabajos cortos de Dick y probablemente más cercanas a su esencia.-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. 27 relatos del autor, escritos entre 1952 y 1953, todos publicados previamente en diferentes revistas entre 1953 y 1954, y que tocan temas tan diferentes, entre otros, como viajes en el tiempo muy particulares desde diferentes puntos de partida y con diferentes desarrollos, la naturaleza humana y la falta de conciencia (o no) sobre la misma, relojes decorativos con mucha acritud, confusiones con los comportamientos alienígenas, los intentos de las máquinas para terminar con los humanos, invasiones y extinciones, momentos cercanos a la fábula de toda la vida aunque más siniestros, la difícil convivencia entre seres humanos y artificiales según evoluciona la sociedad y confusiones arqueológicas alienígenas.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 stars. A superb collection of Dick stories. Full review following re-read.

[Kansas · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¿No pudiste percibir que era una máquina? ¿Hablaba como un ser humano? ¿Nunca lo sospechaste?
- Es extraño, esas máquinas son tan parecidas a las personas que pueden engañarte. Casi vivas."

(La Segunda Variedad)"

A lo largo de su prolífica carrera, Philip K. Dick escribió 122 cuentos y tengo que admitir que de este autor casi que me gustan/interesan más sus cuentos que sus novelas, ya que lo veo más como un gran constructor de universos, un visionario de lo que nos iba a venir más que un sólido narrador de historias largas, por lo que sus novelas algunas funcionan irregularmente por muy magistrales que sean, sin embargo es en sus cuentos donde yo veo al auténtico, al esencial PKD. La mayoría de estos cuentos fueron escritos para revistas de cf: Cosmos Science Fiction, Orbit Science Fiction, Planet Stories etc, pero ha sido la editorial Subterranean Press la que ha ido compilando todos estos cuentos en cinco volúmenes ordenados cronológicamente, y aquí en España nos ha llegado gracias a Ediciones Minotauro. Este segundo volúmen que nos ocupa contiene 27 cuentos escritos entre 1952 y 1953.

“Existen muchos mundo, Larry. Todo tipo de mundos. Millones y millones. Tantos como personas. Cada persona posee su propio mundo, Larry, su mundo particular. Un mundo que existe para ella, para su felicidad”.

Algunos de estos cuentos son mejores que otros, pero todos reflejan una visión de nuestro mundo muy diferente a lo que se venía viendo en el género de la ciencia ficción hasta aquel momento porque PKD era un maestro a la hora de reflexionar sobre la naturaleza del ser humano, y hasta qué punto la realidad que vivíamos era tal cual, o producto de nuestra mente. Para hablar de estos temas casi existenciales PKD llena sus relatos con mundos apocalípticos con la Tierra en plena descomposición debido precisamente al ser humano, extraterrestres que se camuflan entre nosotros, exploraciones interplanetarias y robots casi más humanos que los mismos humanos. PKD explora a través de estos temas la América en la que vivía en aquella época, el racismo, la guerra fria y la contaminación nuclear, como vemos, temas que siguen siendo muy candentes hoy en día. Leyendo sus relatos vemos mucha clase media americana, mucha urbanización al más puro estilo Mad Men/John Cheever pero bajo esta superficie, este autor nos estaba hablando de la angustia vital de los tiempos que se estaban viviendo en América.

Y antes de detenerme en los cuentos especificamente, tengo que hacer hincapié una vez más en lo mucho que hizo este autor por terminar con los prejuicios y el encasillamiento al que se veía abocado el género de la cf y fantástico y acercarlo a la literatura “seria”.

A continuación haré un pequeño esbozo de los cuentos:

1 La Viejecita de las Galletas: Un cuento de vampiros, sencillo y al grano. Es un cuento de los inicios de PKD, 1952, aunque todavía no se ve el autor que sería luego, es puramente fantástico. El final es estupendo. Parece uno de esos cuentos de hadas, solo que en vez de bruja, hay vampira.

2. Detrás de la Puerta: La desintegración de un matrimonio que está en sus horas más bajas, los celos y la desconfianza de la pareja salen a relucir cuando el marido le regala un reloj de cuco a ella. El reloj es un destestabilizador que colma un vaso que estaba lleno. Un cuento con una violencia soterrada.

3, La Segunda Variedad: Un cuento de ciencia ficción puro y duro, y no solo eso, sino que se aborda el tema al que luego volvería una y otra vez PKD: lás maquinas cada vez más humanas, tanto, que se confunden y algunas de ellas incluso más humanas que los mismos humanos. Aquí no llega a las lágrimas del androide, pero ya apunta maneras. Un cuento creo que esencial en la obra de este autor.

4. El Mundo De Jon: Secuela del cuento anterior "La Segunda Variedad", donde PKD sigue explorando las consecuencias de las inteligencias artificiales si usadas para fines pacíficos o para gobernar el mundo. Todo esto aderezado con viajes en el tiempo. Mundos posibles de un visionario.

5. Los Cazadores Cósmicos: Puede que este cuento sea una reflexión sobre el daño que ha hecho el colonialismo sobre los pueblos invadidos. Aquí son los terrícolas los que saquean de los adharanos una especie de diamantes que brillan y se los llevan a la Tierra. Otro cuento con final impactante.

6. Progenie: Que voy a contar de este relato, que me sigue entusiasmando en mi segunda lectura, porque aquí PKD de alguna forma habla de la deshumanización y del aislamiento visto a través de la educación de un niño, llevado a la última consecuencia pq es cf, claro. Cuando Ed se encuentra con su hijo tras años separados, en esos 90 minutos que comparten, su hijo parece más viejo (mentalmente) que él. Genial.

7. Algunas Clases De Vida: Un cuento sobre la obsesión por las guerras q ha tenido la humanidad solo para mantener un status quo económico. Aqui PK. aborda también nuestra obsesión por el consumismo. A pesar de ser un relato de 1952 sigue siendo muy actual.

8. Los Marcianos Llegan En Oleadas: Un nuevo cuento que bajo una premisa muy sencillita y básica, nos habla de nuestras angustias, de cuando no entendemos o no queremos entender algo, nos da por destruírlo, humillarlo y patearlo. No sé si aqui PKD pretendía hacer una reflexión sobre el racismo o sobre la guerra fría que se avecinaba, pero está clarísimo que es un relato desolador sobre la esencia del ser humano.

9. El Abonado: Un cuento sobre un pueblo que aparece y desaparece entre una nube cerca de una estación de tren. Es un cuento que me ha hecho recordar el viaje en tren de Chihiro, un viaje en una especie de limbo, en medio de ninguna parte.

10: El Mundo Que Ella Quería: La capacidad de crear mundos alternativos a tu antojo, quizás sea de las primeras historias donde PKD explore este concepto, solo que si vives en un mundo creado por tí, llegará el momento en que esto explote. Un buen cuento.

11. Una Incursión en la Superficie: Por muy reguleros que sean algunos de los cuentos de PKD, llegas al final y te deja impactado, Aqui este autor explora los diferentes puntos de vista; la primera parte de la historia el lector se relaja pensando que la cosa es de una forma, y al final, woowww, incluso es un cuento de terror. La verdad es que todos estos cuentos son un disfrute.

12. Proyecto: Tierra. Un experimento para crear humanos, o los humanos como cobayas. Es uno de los cuentos que menos me han gustado.

13. La problemática de las burbujas: Otro cuento irregular que no me ha transmitido nada. Un cuento sobre la construcción de mundos simulados a través de Mundomania, una empresa que se dedica a recrearlos.

14. Desayuno en el crepúsculo: Un cuento genial sobre verte sumergido de pronto en una pesadilla. Un viaje en el tiempo donde una familia de la noche a la mañana se encuentra viviendo en un mundo de pesadilla, distópico y totalitario.

15. Un regalo para Pat: Uno de esos pocos cuentos dónde PKD aborda una historia con una cierta vis cómica. Eric se trae de ´Ganimedes un pequeño dios, una especie de criatura con superpoderes. Lo primero que hace es convertir a la esposa de Eric en estatua de piedra y de ahí en adelante un estropicio tras otro. No es el mejor cuento de PKD pero es divertido.

16. El Fabricante de Capuchas: No me ha entusiasmado aunque quizás lo debería releer una vez que acabe esta antología, porque andaba yo un tanto dispersa, y digo lo de releerlo porque este cuento va sobre telépatas, uno de los temas que luego desarrollaría una y otra vez PKD. La telepatía y la forma de controlar a la sociedad mediante la lectura de sus pensamientos.

17. Sobre Manzanas Marchítas: Lori vive en una granja con su marido y su padre, que realmente pasan de ella así que ella sale furtivamente de su casa para encontrarse con alguien, solo que ese alguien no es humano. Un cuento interesante.

18. Humano Es: Uno de los mejores cuentos de PKD, que establece una vez más ese concepto que gira una y otra vez en sus historias: no tienes que ser humano, para ser más empático, cálido y receptivo que los mismos humanos, llaménse inteligencias artificiales o aliens. No es tanto lo biológico lo que le interesa a PKD, sino el alma o el concepto moral del individuo. Muy entretenido..

19. Equipo De Ajuste: El sistema que lo controla todo, burócratas que son cómo un Gran Hermano. Entiendo lo que quería expresar aquí PKD, pero no me ha llegado.

20. El Planeta Imposible: uno de esos cuentos que hacen a PKD grande donde ya habla de un planeta Tierra devastado por los conflictos militares y por la degradación ecológica. El final es maravilloso

21. El Impostor: El mismo PKD confiesa que ésta fue su primera historia acerca de lo que luego se convertiría en su leitmotif ¿qué es humano? ¿soy consciente de estar programado para ser humano? Un buen cuento, al que cuando lo leí la primera vez le dí menos puntuación, sin embargo, ahora me ha encantado.

22. James P. Crow: Un mundo dominado por los robots, donde los humanos son meramente esclavos suyos. En este mundo, James P. Crow es el único humano capaz de competir con los robots. Buenísimo cuento donde parece ser que PKD habla sobre el racismo en los Estados Unidos, todavía vigente mucho después de los tiempos de la esclavitud.

23. Planeta De Paso: Transcurre muchos años después de una guerra nuclear, donde el rastro humano casi ha desaparecido sobre la superficie de la tierra y los pocos humanos que han sobrevivido, lo hacen viviendo bajo tierra en una mina. Trent sale a la superficie a la búsqueda de algún signo de vida con su bombona de oxigeno..., un cuento de aventuras sobre un mundo postapocalíptico.

24. La Maqueta: Como la mayoría de los cuentos de PKD, éste también tiene un final de estos de giro inesperado y casi terrorifico. Verne Haskel ocupa su tiempo libre creando una maqueta del pueblo donde vive, todo esto para combatir la monotonía y rutina de su vida, y esta maqueta de alguna forma se va convirtiendo en el sentido de su vida frente al aburrimiento y al odio que siente por la vida real. Muy bueno.

25. Un Recuerdo: Este es un cuento que me ha parecido poético, de nuevo el tema de los humanos devastando la Tierra.

"- ¿Qué es un recuerdo?
- Bueno, es algo que te recuerda un lugar diferente. Algo que no existe donde tú vives, ya sabes".

26. Equipo de Exploración: De nuevo el tema de la Tierra destruida y un grupo de humanos a la búsqueda de un planeta adecuado para emigrar. Un tema que vuelve una y otra vez a las historias de este escritor y cuya visión de este futuro, parece cada vez más cercano. Algunas de estas historias escritas en 1952 y 1953 asustan por lo actuales en lo que se han ido convirtiendo.

27. Autor, Autor: Un cuento con un ligero tono satírico que no me ha hecho mucha gracia, no he conectado. Henry Ellis que trabaja para una gran compañia es elegido para testear un vehículo de la compañía: consumismo y clase media que convierten el trabajo en una forma de vida, y sin embargo, la insatisfacción es cada vez mayor. Me ha recordado a la insatisfacción e infelicidad cheeveriana.


“- Un ser humano no es igual a un robot- declaró Crow, con una leve sonrisa.

- ¿Qué está diciendo- se indignó L-87t- ¿Acaso no es usted la prueba viviente? Fíjese en las puntuaciones de su Lista. Perfectas. Ni un fallo. Dentro de dos semanas accederá al nivel uno. Lo más alto.

- Lo siento -Crow agitó la cabeza – Un ser humano no es igual a un robot, de la misma forma que no es igual a un horno, o a un motor diesel, o a un quitanieves. Hay muchas cosas que los humanos no pueden hacer. Seamos realistas...(…) Los humanos somos completamente diferentes de los robots. Los humanos sabemos cantar, interpretar, escribir obras de teatro, cuentos, óperas, pintar, diseñar decorados, jardines botánicos, edificios, cocinar platos deliciosos, hacer el amor, garrapatear poemas en los menús…, y los robots no” ( James P. Crow)

https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2021...

[Ali Berk Çetinbudaklar · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5

Bir PKD fanı olarak tarafsız puan vermek gerçekten çok zor benim için :). Hele ki piyasadaki 3 filmine hayat vermiş 3 öyküsünü okumak ayrı bir zevk verdi(Ki bunlardan sadece kitabın isminde olan Kader Ajanları'nın öyküsünü okuyacağımı bildiğimden, diğer iksi ile karşılaşmak baya süpriz oldu. Açıkçası kalan 3 kitapta hangi öyküleri olacak diye düşünüyorum; ağır topları buraya koymuşlar :P )

Bu arada bahsettiğim öyküler

Kader Ajanları-The Adjustment Bureau(2011)
İkinci Tür-Screamers(1995)
Sahtekar-Impostor(2001)

Bunlar harici tabiki de sevdiklerim oldu;

James P. Crow, Kozmik Avcılar hatırlayabildiklerim. PKD tarzını seven, ona boğulmak isteyen biriyseniz kaçmaz.

Kendime not: PKD'nin öykülerinde dikkat ettiğim kadarıyla kadınlar pek fazla ana karakter pozisyonunda olmuyorlar. Hikayelerinde eşi eve döndüğünde hep evde olan ve ev işleri yapan kadın klişesi var. Bu konuyu irdelemek isterim benim gibi düşüneneler var mı diye(google gel bakalım).

[Paul Ataua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing better than keeping a collection of Philip K. Dick stories by your bedside and slowly working through them. It's not that they were literary masterpieces, nor were they all top class stories, but there were enough gems here to keep me mining through to the end.

[Juraj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, the only story that stood out was Some Kinds of Life because it was a satire of "forever wars" decades before Vietnam when this type of thinking got into zeitgeist.
Otherwise the book is full of stories on the same few topics - nuclear war, robots, destroyed Earth called Terra, time travel. Mix and match ad nauseam.
The titular story Second Variety could've been another stand out if it wasn't for the ending which was so dumb that I thought Dick was feigning the character's ignorance in order for him to defeat the enemy in some unguarded moment. But no, it was an obvious twist from miles away that completely destroyed the short story for me.

[María Ángeles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo cierto es que sólo me he leído el cuento "La Segunda Variedad" porque lo tenía en una lista de lectura, pero es sin duda una joyita.
Es muy cortito, pero es alucinante como engancha desde el primer momento. Lo he leído tensionada y con ansias porque necesitaba saber más y más.
Si bien el género de la ciencia-ficción no me atrae nada, cuando una historia es una buena historia, no hay género que lo impida.
Y no cuento más, porque hay que disfrutarlo... ¡Garras!

[Aracne Mileto · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Recuerdos al por mayor 4 estrellas / 27-04-2020
*La Viejecita de las galletas 4 estrellas / 21-05-2020
*Detrás de la puerta 4 estrellas / 04-11-2020

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first collection of Dick's short fiction I've read, and I mainly chose this volume because it contains the titular Second Variety, which formed the basis for the utterly delectable b-movie Screamers.. and I have to say I am bowled over. I am so impressed by the variety in stories, and how interesting the individual story ideas are.

That said, not every story idea is then turned into an actual good story, but most of them certainly are, with a whole host of real gems (including Second Variety, I'm pleased to say!).

Can't wait to read the other volumes.

The Cookie Lady - 4 stars
Beyond The Door - 3 stars
Second Variety - 5 stars
Jon's World - 3.5 stars
The Cosmic Poachers - 3 stars
Progeny - 5 stars
Some Kinds Of Life - 3.5 stars
Martians Come In Clouds - 4 stars
The Commuter - 5 stars
The World She Wanted - 3.5 stars
A Surface Raid - 3 stars
Project: Earth - 4 stars
The Trouble With Bubbles - 3 stars
Breakfast At Twilight - 3 stars
A Present For Pat - 3 stars
The Hood Maker - 4 stars
Of Withered Apples - 2.5 stars
Human Is - 4 stars
Adjustment Team - 4 stars
The Impossible Planet - 4 stars
Imposter - 4 stars
James P. Crow - 3 stars
Planet For Transients - 4 stars
Small Town - 3 stars
Souvenir - 4 stars
Survey Team - 4 stars
Prominent Author - 4 stars

[Titas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best Variety
Recently I came up on a fact that many of renowned and beloved movies are actually based on stories/novels by the same person named Philip K Dick. So after visiting some thrift stores I got this wonderful 2nd Vol of Mr Dick's Collected Short Stories. Needless to say he is as awesome as I had imagined him to be!

The book contains a few fantasy horror stories along with the mouthful of science-fiction. After going through some stories that I will remember for a long time I can clearly state somethings -

~ Mr Dick writes pure pure sci-fi wrapped around fantastic characterizations.
~ He induces bone chilling horror with heart stopping pauses.
~ Sometime there lies more in what he doesn't say. He just gives such an empty space and let the horror fill the space on its own through realization. (This is my favorite!)
~ Fantasy is not his original element; Sci-fi it is!

The best of this volume for me are Second Variety, The Cosmic Poachers, The Impossible Planet, Breakfast at Twilight!

I am gonna read more Dick's for sure because it feels like I have just opened a new Pandora's box!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

PKD - one of the most inventive SF authors ever and a prolific writer of novels and short stories. Unfortunately some of these stories have become predictable because since they were written the ideas have been recycled too many times. Others are unintentionally amusing as 1950s gender roles survive unchanged several centuries into the future - but people will say the equivalent about much contemporary SF in 70 years from now, too. Although some of the stories are conventional (e.g. consequences of nuclear war) Dick, like Bradbury, also wrote a different kind of SF from most of his contemporaries. Not interested in pulp adventure stories or stories that turn on some application of science, Dick instead starts to question identity and reality. These themes began in this volume (1950s) and came to dominate later. Of course, this is a new viewpoint on the age-old question of what it is to be human? An angle that also was adopted and developed into a staple SF theme by those who came after.

Which is all to say PKD was a pioneer in many ways and I should read more.

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Volume 2 of Dick's collected shorts contains 27 sci-fi stories. A post apocalyptic Earth features in many, as does Earth's comeuppance, in addition to reads with robot and/or war themes. Mostly written in the 1950s, these are the stuff that Dick churned out to eke out a living from the pulp magazine industry. 5 out of 12.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretend for instance that everyone thinks I'm just some guy on Goodreads who likes having all his book/reading information/conversations recorded and observed by a giant corporation that kills bookstores in the real world. And maybe he's in the middle of writing a review about short stories by this sci-fi writer Philip K Dick. So, you're reading along after he (the average guy you think I am) is done writing it, but meanwhile encoded within these 26 letters he's re-arranged for your temporary diversion is a cipher from Ganymede. And when your brain reads this cipher it unlocks some sort of uber-neurotransmitter within your cerebral cortex to which I'm not at a clearance level to read. The faintest of electrical impulses begin to emit from your head, travel across space, and are digitized in an enormous database my kind are using to fabricate a kind of simulated backup for human civilization. One that will be necessary for the rebuilding. But the thing is, the current writer of this review you are reading is not really aware of any of this. He thinks he's just an ordinary guy on Goodreads and not some character in a Philip K Dick story. And you still think you're just another Goodreads user reading some innocent review...

---------------------------------------------
From the Intro by Norman Spinrad:

"... what these stories juxtapose against these large scale political evils [McCarthyism, militarism, xenophobia, general 1950s Cold War fun... ] are not equally large scale political virtues but the intimate small scale human and spiritual virtues of modest heroism, caritas, and most of all the empathy, that, in the end, is finally what distinguishes the human from the machine, the spiritual from the mechanical, authentic being from even the most cunningly crafted pseudo-life."

---------------------------------------------
Favorite Stories Out of the 27 in this Collection:
- "The Trouble with Bubbles"
- "A Present for Pat"
- "Project: Earth"
- "Progeny"
- "James P. Crow"
- "Small Town"
- "Cosmic Poachers"
- "Prominent Author"
- "Some Kinds of Life"
---------------------------------------------
Word I Learned While Reading This Book:
caritas

[Ümit Mutlu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daha 50'li yıllarda bilimkurgunun hemen her türlü kalıbını yaratan/kullanan müthiş dehadan bahsediyoruz burada. K. Dick. Onun yazdığı ne varsa zaten muhteşem.

Yine bu kitaptaki birçok öykü de günümüzdeki sayısız bk eserinin çıkış noktası, esin kaynağı. Hal böyle olunca yüzde minik müstehzi bir gülümseme bâki kalıyor okuma sürecinde. 60 yıldan yaşlı olan bu öykülerin hepsi hâlâ güncel ve içinde yaşadığımız dünyaya birebir uyarlanabiliyor. Hepsi.

O yüzden PKD ölümsüzdür, PKD peygamberdir.

Kalan üç cilt de umarım tez zamanda -ve biraz daha özenli bir editörlük çalışmasıyla- yayınlanır. Ha bir de, ilk kitapta olduğu gibi, yine, birinci hamur kâğıt faciası var.

[oguz kaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu hikayeleri okurken insan mest oluyor. Devamını beklemekteyiz.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Adventure Continues

This second volume of a five-book collection of Philip K. Dick’s short stories gives us stories that were published from 1953 to 1955, a time when Dick still wrote a lot of shorter fiction. As with the first volume, I was so impressed with most of the stories that I could not resist writing individual reviews for every single one of them instead of dealing with them … ahem … wholesale.

There are action-centred science fiction stories here, like Second Variety, but also more philosophical tales like The Trouble with Bubbles or Planet for Transients. Some of the stories included also seem to be dealing with one and the same problem from a different angle: For example, the already-mentioned Planet for Transients can be seen as a more optimistic, or conciliatory counterpart of the rather grim Survey Team. Both of these stories can be read in connection with Martians Come in Clouds, where aliens do not come as conquerors but as refugees.

Not very surprisingly, Dick’s stories of this era bear witness to McCarthyism – e.g. Impostor and Second Variety - as well as to the threat of nuclear war – esp. Breakfast at Twilight, which is a very haunting story. Apart from that, however, this collection also includes some very surprising non-science fiction stories, not all of which are as well-written as the brilliant Of Withered Apples.

Luckily, there are still three volumes of Dick’s short stories to go, and if the stories to come remain as interesting and rewarding as those of the first two volumes, I’ll try and give my tuppence on each of them. This author’s stories are great, great fun writing about.

[Spike · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE COOKIE LADY: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐
BEYOND THE DOOR: ⭐⭐⭐
PROMINENT AUTHOR: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
WE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
JON'S WORLD: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
THE COSMIC POACHERS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PROGENY: ⭐⭐⭐
SOME KINDS OF LIFE: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
MARTIANS COME IN CLOUDS: ⭐⭐⭐
THE COMMUTER: ⭐⭐
THE WORLD SHE WANTED: ⭐⭐
A SURFACE RAID: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
PROJECT: EARTH: ⭐⭐⭐
THE TROUBLE WITH BUBBLES: ⭐⭐⭐
BREAKFAST AT TWILIGHT: ⭐⭐⭐
A PRESENT FOR PAT: ⭐⭐
THE HOOD MAKER: ⭐⭐⭐
OF WITHERED APPLES: ⭐⭐
HUMAN IS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ADJUSTMENT TEAM: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET: ⭐⭐⭐
IMPOSTER: ⭐⭐⭐
JAMES P. CROW: ⭐⭐⭐
PLANET FOR TRANSIENTS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SMALL TOWN: ⭐⭐⭐
SOUVENIR: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SURVEY TEAM: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Cristofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after watching Total Recall for the umpteenth time and realizing that I hadn't ever actually read the short story upon which it was based, written by one of my favorite authors. Philip K. Dick is a master of messing with your head in a story. I have to say, after finishing the story, my first thoughts were, "Ha! That was awesome." And it was. Really.

All I can say about it is, don't expect it to be long, don't expect it to take the same direction as Total Recall, just take it as it comes. Its a great finish. :)

[Sean Gainford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enter the Mind of a Genius. Enter the Mind, Maybe, of a Prophet. But Let’s Hope Not.


This collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick are great, thought provoking, funny, and some really frightening.

This collection is definitely darker then the first collection in this series. With stories such as the ‘Second Variety’: A dead world of endless ash and slag because of some nuclear war, nevertheless with a few Americans and Russians alive, still fighting it out. But they don’t need to worry about each other. Artificial intelligence variations are being developed, by other artificial intelligence, and the top forms look just like humans. Varity one and three have been identified. But what about variety two? This story will definitely give you some spine chills.

The story ‘Progeny’ introduces new psychological development techniques for raising children. These techniques involve taking human parents completely out of the equation:


'Naturally, robots could do the best job. Robots train him scientifically, according to a rational technique. Not according to emotional whim. Robots didn’t get angry. Robots didn’t nag and whine. They didn’t spank a child or yell at him. They didn’t give conflicting orders. They didn’t quarrel among themselves or use the child for their own ends. And there could be no Oedipus Complex, with only robots around.

No complexes at all. It had been discovered long ago that neurosis could be traced to childhood training. To the way parents brought up the child. The inhibitions he was taught, the manners, the lessons, the punishments, the rewards. Neuroses, complexes, warped developments, all stemmed from the subjective relationship existing between the child and the parent. If perhaps the parent could be eliminated as a factor ...'


The human father in this story is upset about not being able to raise his son and only getting the occasional visit. But does the child care?

Then there is the story ‘James P. Crow’, where humans are inferior to Robots. But there are still a few things that humans are exceptional at:


'Humans made good entertainers. That was one area the robots couldn’t compete in. Human beings painted and wrote and danced and sang and acted for the amusement of robots. They cooked better, too, but robots didn’t eat. Human beings had their place. They were understood and wanted: as body servants, entertainers, clerks, gardeners, construction workers, repairmen, odd-jobbers and factory workers.

But when it came to something like civic control coordinator or traffic supervisor for the usone tapes that fed energy into the planet’s twelve hydro-systems –'


In this story humans would be allowed to have jobs Robots have, if they can pass the ‘Lists’ – exams created by the Robots, that they also use to see which Robot gets a certain Job. A slight problem is that no human has ever passed a List. They’re not smart enough. However there is one man. He passed his Lists 10 years ago. And now he’s up to Class Two. The Robots are worried and are trying to hush it up. But the news is spreading and more and more humans are finding out about this super human that goes by the name of James P. Crow. And if this human gets to Class One then he will sit on the Council and help rule the planet. But is it better to have Robots in control or Humans? What happened last time humans ran the planet?

All the stories in this collection will make you think, and give you some good entertainment too. Some of them are anti-human, quite frightening and a bit disturbing. If Philip K Dick is a prophet, let’s hope he gets those ones wrong.