The best of Philip K. Dick Book

Very early on in my quest to read and review all the PKD shorts that got turned into Electric Dreams episodes I came across a quite predictable roadblock. Starting with the third story already there's just no Goodreads entry.

Since I read a few of them as part of this anthology I figured I just update this review as I go.

So, reading this out of order:


Foster, du bist tot (OT: Foster, you're dead) (1955 / pp. 131 - 158 / read on Apr 26, 2019)

This 1955 PKD short tells the story of Bob Foster who refuses to buy a bomb shelter or financially contribute to the government's nuclear war preparations, because he doesn't believe in the imminent threat of war. He suspects the government and the companies to create an atmosphere of fear to sell products and keep the economy afloat.

His stance makes his son Mike an outsider, though. He's not allowed to use the school's bomb shelter in case of emergency and he gets lampooned by the other kids, because his dad is not in line with social conventions.

Peer-pressure is also getting to Bob's wife, since the whole neighborhood owns bomb shelters and the Fosters don't.

Ultimately Bob has to give in, because he wants his family to feel safe.

"You know, this game has one real advantage over selling people cars and TV sets. With something like this we have to buy. It isn't a luxury, something big and flashy to impress the neighbours, something we could do without. If we don't buy this we die. They always said the way to sell something was create anxiety in people. Create a sense of insecurity - tell them they smell bad or look funny. But this makes a joke out of deodorant and hair oil. You can't escape this. If you don't buy, they'll kill you. The perfect sales-pitch. Buy or die - new slogan."

By buying the newest model he now puts pressure onto his neighbors to upgrade. But it won't be enough for any of them. Because subsequently new weapons are developed and sold, which in turn creates the need for another upgrade of the bomb shelters. When does it ever stop?

"They're always improving weapons, Bob. Last week it was those grain-impregnation flakes. This week it's bore-pellets. You don't expect them to stop the wheels of progress because you finally broke down and bought a shelter, do you?"

And so it goes.

Unfortunately, the story was a little too straightforward, its messages too much on the nose for me to really get much enjoyment out of it.

It had me thinking, though, about uncontrolled consumerism vs. the need for technological advancements. But without ever challenging me as a reader while I was actually reading it.

So, even though this was devoid of surprises and ultimately felt somewhat flat in its execution, I still got something out of it and it wasn't like reading it was painful or something. No, it was fairly easy, in fact. That's a 2.5 for me.


The Electric Dreams episode „Safe and Sound" takes the basic premise of Dick's story - a company that creates the need for its own products by way of creating a fearful environment for the consumers - and modernizes the ingredients. Instead of bomb shelters we get a high tech bracelet that functions as a kind of personal assistant, but is mainly a monitoring technology to ensure the safety of the collective. Cold War anxiety is replaced by fear of terrorism.

The showmakers add another layer to the story with the question of security vs. privacy, which PKD could have explored with his short story, but for some reason didn't. Even though the surveillance state has always been one of his favorite themes.

The TV episode tells its story in a more nuanced way and with an actual line of suspense, which the source material completely lacked. It looks great, is enthralling and has a likable main actor in Annalise Basso. It also gets to the topic of privacy in a technologically advanced world, at a time when we are already surrounded by convenient products that happen to be pretty convenient for spying on us, too.

Great fun and more than a little scary. My favorite episode so far.

The PKD short story: 2.5/5
The Electric Dreams episode: 9/10




Das Vater-Ding (OT: The Father-Thing) (1954 / pp. 159 - 174 / read on Oct 11, 2019)

Reasonably entertaining short story about an alien life form taking over the body of 8-year-old Charlie's father.

Charlie's mother does not believe him when he tells her about it and so he recruits a couple of boys from the neighborhood, and together they try to bring the father-thing down.

I fail to see the deeper meaning that the book description here on Goodreads is trying to make out. It is a pretty short, relatively simple and slightly creepy story. It was entertaining enough, but really nothing remarkable.

The Electric Dreams episode very much stays true to the source material. But it adds one pretty important thing by establishing a good father/son relationship before the transformation happens.
The addition of music and also of some more possessed people further enhances the experience.

Once again I liked the tv episode better. But neither one ranks amongst my favorites.

The PKD short story: 2.5/5
The Electric Dreams episode: 6/10




Autofac (1955 / pp. 201 - 235 / read on Feb 15, 2019)

The 1955 Philip K. Dick short story which the Electric Dreams episode Autofac, starring Juno Temple, was based upon.

In a post-apocalyptic world automated factories have taken over production of all goods, which they deliver automatically to the surviving humans.

The survivors want to take over production themselves again, as they get delivered goods they don't deem necessary and also resources are running low as the factories just keep producing and producing and producing.

They try to get in contact with the autofac by filing a complaint about a delivery of milk. The autofac delivery bot wants them to fill out a form. But instead of choosing one of the default answers they tell it the milk had been pizzled. Which puzzles the autofac bot.

The autofac sends a unit to discuss the matter of the pizzled milk. And the humans try to convince it that autofacs aren't necessary anymore and they can produce all goods themselves. But the autofac bot outsmarts them and so they proceed with more drastic measures to stop the automated production.

This story can be read as a parable on consumerism and unnecessary, if not to say outright stupid, bureaucracy. Though PKD leaves it mostly to the reader to decide what's the actual point of the story.

Unfortunately the characters are very flat, there isn't much atmosphere and the autofac units seem a little dated by now. Though one has to consider this was written 64 years ago.

I have to say I didn't enjoy this story much and think the, unsurprisingly, more modern Electric Dreams episode works a lot better. The two stories differ in many aspects, but especially in how they end. I loved the twist at the end of the TV episode, while I think the ending of the short story wasn't bad.

Overall, in my opinion, not one of his better works.

The PKD short story: 1.5/5
The Electric Dreams episode: 7/10




Was menschlich ist (OT: Human is) (1955 / pp. 236 - 252 / read on Feb 15, 2019)

A simple but fun story.

Jill Hendricks is married to a toxicologist. He's developing toxic substances for the military. And he's a total douchebag. He's treating his wife very badly. And, honestly, everyone else as well. He's clearly written to be hated by the reader immediately. And Dick succeeds in that.

One day Mr. Douche has to go on a business related trip to the planet Rexnor IV and he returns a changed man.

What happened on Rexor IV? Not only Jill wants to know, but authorities as well.

I can't say much more for spoilery reasons. But the outcome was fun. It was also very predictable. Like the whole story, really. Which is the main reason I can't give it a 4 star rating, even though I really enjoyed it.

The Electric Dreams episode for once isn't too different from the source material. But they changed the ending and a few details here and there. Unfortunately one of those details turned out to be crucial for the motivation of one of the main characters. And in my opinion this underminded the whole story. It just didn't make much sense in the end.
Very unfortunate, because both leads (Essie Davis and Bryan Cranston) were great and the episode was entertaining until I realised they wouldn't resolve the problems they created for themselves by changing parts of the original story.

The PKD short story: 3.5/5
The Electric Dreams episode: 5/10





Other stories read (not part of this anthology):

Exhibit Piece (1954 / Electric Dreams episode: Real Life)

Sales Pitch (1954 / Electric Dreams episode: Crazy Diamond)

The Hood Maker (1955 / Electric Dreams episode: The Hood Maker)

The Impossible Planet (1953 / Electric Dreams episode: Impossible Planet)