New Year, New Genre

January 19, 2012

One day in late November, as I was checking in a stack of books at the library, I happened upon a collection of Philip K. Dick stories. I noticed it mainly because of the fluorescent colors on the cover, and as I recognized the author’s name. I put it on a shelf in the workroom for perusal at a later time. I did this with no particular enthusiasm; I perform this ritual at least once or twice in any given work day, with limited success. Frequently, I’ll set aside something I’ve heard is "really great." After opening it and venturing twenty or so pages in, I discover, yet again, that the book I’ve selected is not only not really great, but also it is not "really" anything one might hope for in a book: really clever, interesting, well-constructed, even palatable. 

And so, when my shift had ended and I had returned home, I picked up the Philip K. Dick book with no small amount of trepidation. Sure, I’d heard of the guy, and several people over the years had suggested his books to me—but he is, after all, a science fiction author. Almost all of the sci-fi books I’ve managed to struggle through have been about as much fun as reading an advanced math textbook. You know, the sort of book written in a code understood only by certain teenaged boys and the kind of adults who hang out in comic book stores indefinitely. It’s not so much that I detest science fiction stories; it’s just that I have seldom understood what it was that I was supposed to be reading about. They make me feel stupid. However, I had just the night before completely run out of books to read, so I glumly prepared myself for boredom or worse as I somewhat unwillingly opened the book. Imagine my delight, dear reader, when I found to my shock, awe, and amazement that each story that had been included in this tome was cleverly constructed, slyly humorous, and well-written. Each story was not only written in English and eminently readable, but also—gasp!—highly enjoyable!
 
Among Dick’s plethora of tales to choose, there is We Can Remember it for You Wholesale. This story inspired the 1980’s movie Total Recall and the long story The Minority Report, from whence was born the movie The Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. Dick’s stories are funny and twisted, and many times, they have surprise endings. This is science fiction written at the time when people believed technology would take us all into outer space and beyond by the end of the twentieth century. Dick tempers these high hopes, however, with his own brand of cynicism. In his many stories and books, humanity frequently ends up destroying itself or coming deliriously close to it. I hope that you’ll test the waters of an unfamiliar genre this new year, and that you’ll end up enjoying yourself as thoroughly as I have. 

Liz P.
Lone Jack Branch