Tag: Philip K. Dick

The SFFaudio Podcast #195 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Polaris by H.P. Lovecraft

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #195 – Polaris by H.P. Lovecraft, read by Jim Moon. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (11 Minutes) followed by a discussion of it by Jesse, Tamahome, Jim Moon.

Talked about on today’s show:
The Philosopher (an amateur magazine), is this a Christmas story?, The Festival, Lord Dunsany, The Necronomicon, Lovecraft’s Christianity, religion vs. Tradition, Lovecraft’s relationship to his characters, WWI, eldritch gibbering, fainting fits, Lovecraft loved his snoozing, reincarnation vs. mind transfer, time travel, alternate realities?, neanderthal in North America?, what is the setting?, The Horror Of The Museum, The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, swamps vs. bogs vs. fens, “Eskimos” vs. “Inutos”, dishonorable dirty fighting, The Shadow Out Of Time, Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Tomb, it’s The Outsider in reverse, Atlantis, Athens, Lemuria, the Land of Lomar, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Hyperborea, King Kull, Mu, the Dream Lands, atavism, The Rats In The Walls, “a penchant for strange foods”, Jack London, Carl Jung, race memory, the evolutionary path, dishonorable yellow hordes, the yellow peril, “line up and die”, startings and endings, repeated phraseology, a dunsany-esque story, the Dunsany mode, Edgar Allan Poe, its like an extended prose poem, Silence: A Fable, Shadow: A Parable, Ligea is labyrinthine, “battered by adjectives”, The Highwayman by Lord Dunsany, poetic stories, accessible Dunsany stories, In The Fields We Live, “sinister, whimsical, and beautifully odd”, Victorian magazines, The King Of Elfland’s Daughter, C.S. Lewis, Michael Moorcock, world-building, a consistency of reality, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, lost epochs, “the wisdom of the Zobnarrian Fathers”, “bubble and blaspheme”, the alien outer gods, Lovecraft’s interest in astronomy, Charles Wain (aka the plow, aka the big dipper), mapping the skies, messages and impressions, Arcturus, Cassiopeia, Aldebaran, Philip K. Dick, “the world is alive”, a leering star, astrological time, if the seeing is good…, Lovecraft’s desire to be an astronomer, Lovecraft’s formal education.

Polaris by H.P. Lovecraft

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #194 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #194 – a complete and unabridged reading of Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick (21 minutes), followed by a discussion of it with Jesse, Tamahome, Jenny, and Julie Davis (who reads the story).

Talked about on today’s show:
The Cookie Lady by Philip K. Dick, like “weird historical stories we do”, The Wizard of Oz, strange wife character, double entendres, the ending, “we didn’t have trees like that”, maybe she needs a doctor, ‘scrumping‘, synesthesia, “I’m being eaten!”, tentacle anime?, I get thrown by silence, what does it all mean?, Out In The Garden by Philip K. Dick is related by Jesse, Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is told as well, “what the hell’s a theater dog?”, good novels and collections?, Selected Stories Of Philip K. Dick edited by Jonathan Lethem, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Martian Time-Slip, autism, Galactic Pot-Healer (Julie later reviewed it on Goodreads), Lovecraftian monster, Nick And The Glimmung is YA?, “I think we nailed this”, The Best Of Philip K. Dick (1978), Midrash is what we do, Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith |READ JULIE’S SFFAUDIO REVIEW|, the ladies are taking over church

Philip K. Dick's Of Withered Apples

Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick

Posted by Tamahome

The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick is PUBLIC DOMAIN

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio News

The Golden Man, a novelette by Philip K. Dick, is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

This was not previously known due to a falsification on a copyright renewal form (RE190631) that asserted the story was first published in 1955. It was actually published in 1954.

The Golden Man illustration by Frank Kelly Freas

Here is a |PDF| made from a scan of the original publication in IF Worlds Of Science Fiction. There is also an ETEXT version online.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Review of Total Recall by Philip K. Dick

Jenny

SFFaudio Review

Total Recall by Philip K. DickTotal Recall
By Philip K. Dick; Performed by Phil Gigante
1 CD – Approx. 1 Hour [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
ISBN: 978-1-4692-4898-1
Themes: / Science Fiction / Mars / telepathy / memory /

Publisher Summary:

Philip K. Dick’s classic short story tells the story of Douglas Quail, an unfulfilled bureaucrat who dreams of visiting Mars, but can’t afford the trip. Luckily, there is Rekal Incorporated, a company that lets everyday stiffs believe they’ve been on incredible adventures. The only problem is that when technicians attempt a memory implant of a spy mission to Mars, they find that real memories of just such a trip are already in Quail’s brain. Suddenly, Quail is running for his life from government agents, but his memories might make him more of a liability than he is worth.

The first appearance of Philip K. Dick’s “Total Recall” was under the title “ We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” originally published in 1966 for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as well as numerous short fiction anthologies. The current title owes the name to the movie adaptations (similar to 1982’s “Blade Runner”) which have help catapult the author from obscurity into a virtual household name. 2012 featured a new film version of “Total Recall,” and Brilliance Audio has also released among many other previously unavailable Philip K. Dick audiobooks a newly recorded version of the short story under the more familiar title.

The 26-page story is narrated by Audie Award winning narrator Phil Gigante and clocks in on one disc at just shy of one hour. Even though a short story, the narration is superbly done and I especially liked the attention given to little things for an example the telepathic voices heard in protagonist Douglas Quail’s head. For those not familiar with the story, the plot centers around the business REKAL which offers for a discounted fee false memories of adventures planted in their customers brains, often superior to the memories that of an actual excursion. The price includes token memorabilia and the wiping out of any knowledge that the trip was in fact a purchased and pre-packaged false memory. (So much so, that if customers suspect that their trip was in fact purchased at REKAL, they can return for a full discount of their fee.)

For those familiar from the plot of the original movie, only about the first half of the short story is used as a basis to launch the film into a detailed Martian secret agent thriller. The plot of Philip K. Dick’s story actually never leaves Earth, although the Martian journey is referred to as a key element. Instead, the story focuses on continued interaction with REKAL and a surprising further development that will be new to those who are only familiar to the story from the movie versions. (I’ve not seen the latest movie adaptation but it appears to follow the original movie closely more so and deviate even further from the short story.) Whether already a fan of the movies and story or not, the new audiobook offers a fresh and worthwhile take on one of Philip K Dick’s classic tales of science fiction.

Review by Dan VK

The SFFaudio Podcast #191 – READALONG: The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick

Podcast

The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick
The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #191 – Jesse, Tamahome, and Jenny talk about the Brilliance Audio audiobook, The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick.

Talked about on today’s podcast:
Racy?, 1950s, hermaphrodites, relativism is mandated by the government, reverse Nazism, the Wikipedia entry for relativism, relativism as a tool against disbelief, L. Ron Hubbard, The Way To Happiness, communism, “good explorations”, Doug Cussick, political correctness, the opposite of communism?, China, Chinese communism, WWII, “Hitler was a precog”, escape your fate by embracing your fate, seeing into the future after your death, the devolution of a mind in a dead brain, a molluscular and mineral afterlife, grab bag of ideas, giant alien jellyfish, Brilliance Audio, pollen?, spores?, polyps?, planula!, Floyd Jones (is he the hero?), the Venus babies, the people in the Womb, seven mutants in a warehouse in San Fransisco, artificial animals, Venusian wallpaper?, hot and moist, The Truman Show, people have to get off of Earth, the Moon as the 51st state, King Newt running the Moon, pantropy, tropism, genetic modification, Nexus by Ramez Naam, More Than Human by Ramez Naam, Kim Stanley Robinson, More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, the ending, Jones as the new Jesus, contempt for the audience, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, kids getting off on power, suicide, Hitler’s death, “how could a precog be wrong?”, future knowledge of your own knowledge, its very confusing, is Cussick the main character?, rebellion by shoplifting, sexism, WWIII, “asparagus sucks!”, women as litmus paper, she always held the majority opinion, visiting a racist elderly relative, “No grandma! That’s wrong!”, irony, the nameless character has a fascinating story, why don’t we get a sense of the masses, paralleling the rise of Hitler, lebensraum, interesting scenes interspersed with less interesting scenes, domestic scenes vs. organizational scenes, Tyler’s story, the Venus children, paranoia, Shell Game by Philip K. Dick, redundant exists, The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, Counter Clock World, We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, The Zap Gun, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner, Robert Downey Jr., A Scanner Darkly, The Man In The High Castle, alternate history, most people who live in SF universes don’t read SF, a BBC adaptation of The Man In The High Castle, an epic story about a guy who makes jewelry, Terry Gilliam, Anthony Boucher, “a hasty and disappointing effort”, perk up vs. zone out, civil war or aliens?, a golden land of opportunity and adventure (and slime).

ACE - The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick

Damon Knight on The World Jones Made

ACE Double - The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick

Sphere - The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick

Geheimproject Venus by Philip K. Dick

The World Jones Made by Philip K. Dick - Paperback Cover Art

Posted by Jesse Willis

Of Withered Apples by Philip K. Dick

Jesse Willis

SFFaudio Online Audio

Philip K. Dick's Of Withered Apples

We’re planning a podcast discussion of this solid Philip K. Dick fantasy short story. Julie Davis agreed to read it for us and here it is. Thanks Julie!

Of Withered Apples by Philip K. DickOf Withered Apples
By Philip K. Dick; Read by Julie Davis
1 |MP3| – Approx. 21 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Provider: Julie Davis
Provided: August 27, 2012
A young farm wife goes off scrumping, but her husband and father-in-law stay home. First published in Cosmos Science Fiction And Fantasy, July 1954.

And here’s the |PDF| version.

Posted by Jesse Willis