En 2054, grâce à l'Agence gouvernementale Précrime, le monde est devenu plus sûr : les criminels son arrêtés et jugés avant d'avoir commis leur forfait. Mais un jour, John Anderton, un agent de Précrime, se retrouve accusé du futur meurtre d'un homme qu'il n'a même jamais rencontré. Pour prouver son innocence, il devra mettre la main sur le rapport minoritaire... Toutes deux adaptées au cinéma, respectivement par Steven Spielberg sous le titre Minority Report, et par Paul Verhoeven sous le titre Total Recall, ces nouvelles nous plongent dans l'univers de l'un des écrivains de science-fiction les plus talentueux du XXᵉ siècle.
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 work continues to challenge and inspire, offering timeless insights into the human condition a
J'ai voulu tester cette lecture en VO, n'ayant jamais lu cet auteur, je n'ai donc pas de point de comparaison, toujours est-il que le niveau de langue est tout à fait accessible en VO, même pour une petite lectrice VO comme moi. La première nouvelle est Minority Report dont je connaissais l'histoire par l'adaptation ciné avec Tom Cruise, qui on peut le dire est assez bien adapté, même si le Commissaire Anderton est plutôt éloigné physiquement de l'auteur, du moins, je ne me le suis pas du tout représenté comme ça. Dans cette nouvelle, beaucoup d'adverbes, un rythme plus rapide et parfois des enchaînements d'actions assez surprenants. Quand les futurs multiples se croisent, il n'est pas bon de jouer avec le feu. La seconde nouvelle (We can remember it for you wholesale) a également été adapté en film intitulé Total Recall. N'ayant pas vu cette adaptation, je n'ai néanmoins pas été perdu et j'ai même trouvé cette dernière nouvelle bien plus fluide à lire que la première. Les imbrications de souvenirs sur souvenirs sont assez intenses à suivre mais c'est assez clair pourtant. Effacement, rembobinage, surimpression de mémoire humaine, comme s'il s'agissait de celle d'une unité informatique, à ce compte là on ne sait plus sur quelle planète on a été ou non. de quoi s'énerver un brin. Une très bonne première approche de cet auteur, monument de la SF dont j'irai lire avec plaisir d'autres nouvelles, genre où je le trouve très efficace.
Philip K. Dick was clearly a master of the high concept.
In the two stories presented here, "Minority Report" and "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," he spins the reader's head in circles with a series of bizarre but thought-provoking ideas.
What if criminals could be arrested for crimes . . . they hadn't yet committed? What drawbacks might there be with such a system?
If you had the chance to put false memories in your own head that were so convincing you actually thought they were real . . . what memories would you put there? In other words, what if you could live your deepest fantasies through false memories? Would it matter that they weren't real memories, if you never realized their falsehood?
Once you adjust to PKD's twisted imagination, there's a great deal to chew on here. Enough for an essay or several essays. And these are just two of his most famous short stories (which have been adapted for film and TV more than once, and for good reason).
I'll be thinking about these stories for a while . . .
"He awoke--and wanted Mars." To someone steeped in C.S. Lewis's concept of "Joy," these five words form quite a remarkable sentence, on several levels.
It is a totalitarian system that justifies the radical idea that by doing prevention we get rid of potential criminals. It shows a certain social determinism. Prophylactic and drastic measures while there wasn’t any acting out. Omnipotent computers and no human creatures above the power of changing decision of humans.
I really appreciate the very original idea. But the story is also very anxiety-provoking.
This justice system no longer judges murderers, but innocent people because they have not taken action yet. This system only condemns violent thoughts. I think we ourselves would be doomed by this system because we have all experienced feelings or had these kinds of thoughts at some point in our lives. It is a system that ignores free will. Philip K. Dick gives meaning to the human. To his will, to his thought which is not always linear, binary. I am glad that our minds can evolve, we can have a dazzling spirit. It also reminds me of the Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess that we can’t control human behaviour, we can’t really change the profound nature of human beings. Nature always wins. Any system, however powerful, is infallible.
Les deux récits rassemblés dans ce recueil sont de longueur et d’intérêt assez différents. “We can remember it for you wholesale” souffre des défauts habituels des nouvelles trop courtes pour bien traiter un sujet trop vaste, en l’occurrence celui des pièges de la mémoire. Je trouve donc cette histoire plutôt décevante. « Minority report” est plus intéressant car l’auteur prend davantage le temps de développer le vertige qui peut prendre celui qui dispose de données supposées certaines au sujet de l’avenir, mais qui peuvent être radicalement modifiées par leur connaissance préalable. On entre ainsi dans des scénarios d’une théorie des jeux dévoyée à l’issue finalement très incertaine. En revanche, cette longue nouvelle ne prend pas le temps de développer les autres implications de cette situation : les présumés coupable arrêtés préventivement le sont-ils à tort? Aurait-il été plutôt possible de les détourner du crimes prévu ? La pérennité du système doit-il prévaloir sur son équité et sur les libertés individuelles ? Quel équilibre entre sécurité et liberté ? Que penser du sort des précogs ? Etc Philip K Dick ne fait qu’effleurer ces thèmes.
I just went through two very different histories were I can sense Philip's paranoia, what a trip was "We can remember it for you wholesale"! Paranoia and imagination sometimes are powerful driving forces, God deliver us from such dangerous futures (I'm grateful that when I read it I had not seen the film adaptation). "Minority report" differs a lot from the movie, which is one of my all time favorites, here the enviroment isn't developed so much so I was very pleased to find a different story and characters.
I definetely recommend this translation to French, as a spanish native speaker the contrast between English and French was really helpful, the translator's style was really helpful, it shows a very different approach to tell these two stories.