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Total Recall
The inspiration for the upcoming film Total Recall, starring Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale, and directed by Len Wiseman. This ebook-only edition of 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. Originally published as "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale."
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1966
About the author
Philip K. Dick
1,577 books20.4k followersPhilip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel of the year in 1974 for Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. Philip K. Dick died on March 2, 1982, in Santa Ana, California, of heart failure following a stroke.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
In addition to 44 published novels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, ten of his stories have been adapted into popular films since his death, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, and The Adjustment Bureau. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the one hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 597 reviews
June 6, 2020
Bigger Commitments
The only thing that can substitute satisfactorily for a life-fantasy is a bigger life-fantasy, one which includes but exceeds the lesser narrative. Keep telling taller and taller tales about yourself and you end up with... well, theology, the biggest story that one can tell. This is the basis of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God, developed by St. Anselm, the 11th century Archbishop of Canterbury. What Anselm didn’t get, Dick does, namely that what the Argument proves is not God, but the infinite power of the human imagination to conceive even that which does not exist. Dick also knows that this power is redemptive whether or not anyone else recognizes it. It is our salvation. All this and more in 29 pages.
The only thing that can substitute satisfactorily for a life-fantasy is a bigger life-fantasy, one which includes but exceeds the lesser narrative. Keep telling taller and taller tales about yourself and you end up with... well, theology, the biggest story that one can tell. This is the basis of the Ontological Argument for the existence of God, developed by St. Anselm, the 11th century Archbishop of Canterbury. What Anselm didn’t get, Dick does, namely that what the Argument proves is not God, but the infinite power of the human imagination to conceive even that which does not exist. Dick also knows that this power is redemptive whether or not anyone else recognizes it. It is our salvation. All this and more in 29 pages.
March 29, 2018
3.5 stars. The other night I dug up copies of two classic Philip K. Dick short stories that were later the basis for a couple of blockbuster movies, this one and Minority Report. "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" is better known as the movie Total Recall and, like Minority Report, the movie and the original story have only a nodding acquaintance with each other.
Douglas Quail is a boring man with a low-grade, boring job and a contemptuous wife who criticizes him daily. He has a dream: to go to Mars and see the "wonderful craters with every kind of plant-life growing deep down in them," lol (it's a 1966 story, okay?).
His wife seems oddly disturbed by the idea and tries to dissuade him, but Quail thinks he's found a way to have his unaffordable dream: He visits Rekal, Incorporated to purchase a fake memory that will be implanted in his mind, entirely realistic and indistinguishable from actual memories. If anything, the fake memories are better! And while he's at it, he orders a module that also makes him a secret agent for Interplan. But when the Rekal technicians put him under, there's a surprise in store for everyone involved ...
It's an action-packed, highly creative story, especially for its time. I just wasn't really into the twist at the ending, but it's definitely a change from the movie! I would say this story is more fun than deep. I found a free online copy here.
Douglas Quail is a boring man with a low-grade, boring job and a contemptuous wife who criticizes him daily. He has a dream: to go to Mars and see the "wonderful craters with every kind of plant-life growing deep down in them," lol (it's a 1966 story, okay?).
His wife seems oddly disturbed by the idea and tries to dissuade him, but Quail thinks he's found a way to have his unaffordable dream: He visits Rekal, Incorporated to purchase a fake memory that will be implanted in his mind, entirely realistic and indistinguishable from actual memories. If anything, the fake memories are better! And while he's at it, he orders a module that also makes him a secret agent for Interplan. But when the Rekal technicians put him under, there's a surprise in store for everyone involved ...
It's an action-packed, highly creative story, especially for its time. I just wasn't really into the twist at the ending, but it's definitely a change from the movie! I would say this story is more fun than deep. I found a free online copy here.
March 7, 2020
First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (1966), “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” is one of Philip K. Dick’s richest and most complex short stories,
philosophically more nuanced than the two films adapted from it (both entitled Total Recall, 1990 and 2012).
The protagonist Douglas Quail first appears as a “Walter Mitty” type, an average man hectored by a bad-tempered wife and dissatisfied with his boring job. Longing to travel to Mars, and wishing he were a secret agent, Quail visits the office of the company REKAL which offers to implant a counter-factual memory which he will treasure forever. He begins to undergo the procedure, but then a problem arises: it turns out Douglas Quail—although some of his memories have been erased—really has been to Mars, really has been a secret agent after all.
Great plot for a movie, yes? As far as it goes. And this is the only part of the plot that either movie version used.
But the original short story is cleverer, more subversive than this. Without going into details, beyond this typical adventure fantasy (similar to those found in the brain of the teenage boy or the the frustrated middle-aged man), there is another, more primitive fantasy rooted in Douglas Quail’s psyche, something almost too dumb for the most exploitative pulp science fiction. Yet it is here that the key to Quail’s character and destiny is to be found. And perhaps the fate of the world, and of mankind.
This is a classic piece of science fiction, recommended to readers of all genres.
March 20, 2019
اولین داستانی که از فیلیپ کی دیک خوندم و بسیار راضی هستم
یه علمی تخیلی جذاب و نسبتا پیچیده که بعضی وقتها باید چندبار یه جمله یا صفحه رو بخونید تا متوجه بشید
هیچکدوم از فیلمهاش رو هم ندیده بودم و هیچ ایده ای نداشتم که قضیه از چه قراره
خلاصه که ارزش خوندن داره
---------
ده هزار تومن برای یه کتاب 70 صفحه ای که سال 96 چاپ شده خیلی عجیب غریبه!
صفحه بندی کتاب هم طوریه که چهار طرف متن کلی جای خالی هست و کاغذ زیادی اسراف شده
یه علمی تخیلی جذاب و نسبتا پیچیده که بعضی وقتها باید چندبار یه جمله یا صفحه رو بخونید تا متوجه بشید
هیچکدوم از فیلمهاش رو هم ندیده بودم و هیچ ایده ای نداشتم که قضیه از چه قراره
خلاصه که ارزش خوندن داره
---------
ده هزار تومن برای یه کتاب 70 صفحه ای که سال 96 چاپ شده خیلی عجیب غریبه!
صفحه بندی کتاب هم طوریه که چهار طرف متن کلی جای خالی هست و کاغذ زیادی اسراف شده
June 7, 2021
This was an easy short story to get into, with some interesting sci-fi ideas and a nice twist. It’s not overly complicated or too scientific so I imagine it can be enjoyed by most people.
I couldn’t help but note that there are only two women that appear in this short story, both with minor parts. Granted there aren’t an array of characters that feature in total, however the two women are both portrayed as unlikeable, one an unsupportive nagging wife, and one with her breasts exposed.
I couldn’t help but note that there are only two women that appear in this short story, both with minor parts. Granted there aren’t an array of characters that feature in total, however the two women are both portrayed as unlikeable, one an unsupportive nagging wife, and one with her breasts exposed.
December 16, 2020
Excelente relato. Me ha gustado mucho.
En realidad 4,5
Cuando leí ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas? sentí pereza con el estilo de narración del autor y en ese momento veía muy lejana la posibilidad de volver a leer otro texto creado por Philip K. Dick. Sin embargo, los libros y la vida siempre nos sorprenden. Ayer estaba revisando los libros que leeré más adelante y por casualidad apareció el título de esta obra a mi vista. El nombre me llamó la atención, leí la sinopsis y treinta minutos más tarde ya había leído esta historia. Es increíble que el mismo autor que hace cuatro meses me dejó inconforme con una de sus obras más aclamadas, en esta ocasión me haya atrapado completamente con un relato corto. Con esta experiencia intentaré recordar que debo darles segundas oportunidades a los autores e incluso terceras.
Sobre la historia, debo recomendar que no lean la sinopsis. Es algo que hacemos siempre pero aquí no es bueno porque en los pocos renglones que la constituyen, es contada absolutamente toda la historia, así que si por casualidad no la han leído o desconocen el argumento de la película Total Recall —mejor conocida como Desafío total o El vengador del futuro— es mejor que no busquen más información y lean esta historia sin titubeos. Si les gusta la ciencia ficción seguramente les encantará, eso es todo lo que necesitan saber. En mi caso, curiosamente no recordaba la película, pero cuando entré a Google a buscar sobre ella, de inmediato me acordé de esta cinta tan famosa protagonizada por Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Fue un relato bien contado, con sus elementos de ciencia ficción explicados sencillamente y con una historia que mejora progresivamente hasta el final. La ambientación es muy similar a la presentada en ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?, así como el comportamiento y la forma de pensar de los personajes de esa obra. Por mi experiencia anterior con el autor mis expectativas fueron bajas, pero esa fue una ventaja que me ayudó a disfrutar más el argumento y a dejarme llevar por la imaginación de Philip.
Es un relato del cual no observé algo negativo. Me hubiera encantado que fuera más extenso, pero considero que con las páginas existentes es suficiente para entretenernos. Finalizo muy satisfecho. Muy recomendado.
En realidad 4,5
Cuando leí ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas? sentí pereza con el estilo de narración del autor y en ese momento veía muy lejana la posibilidad de volver a leer otro texto creado por Philip K. Dick. Sin embargo, los libros y la vida siempre nos sorprenden. Ayer estaba revisando los libros que leeré más adelante y por casualidad apareció el título de esta obra a mi vista. El nombre me llamó la atención, leí la sinopsis y treinta minutos más tarde ya había leído esta historia. Es increíble que el mismo autor que hace cuatro meses me dejó inconforme con una de sus obras más aclamadas, en esta ocasión me haya atrapado completamente con un relato corto. Con esta experiencia intentaré recordar que debo darles segundas oportunidades a los autores e incluso terceras.
Sobre la historia, debo recomendar que no lean la sinopsis. Es algo que hacemos siempre pero aquí no es bueno porque en los pocos renglones que la constituyen, es contada absolutamente toda la historia, así que si por casualidad no la han leído o desconocen el argumento de la película Total Recall —mejor conocida como Desafío total o El vengador del futuro— es mejor que no busquen más información y lean esta historia sin titubeos. Si les gusta la ciencia ficción seguramente les encantará, eso es todo lo que necesitan saber. En mi caso, curiosamente no recordaba la película, pero cuando entré a Google a buscar sobre ella, de inmediato me acordé de esta cinta tan famosa protagonizada por Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Fue un relato bien contado, con sus elementos de ciencia ficción explicados sencillamente y con una historia que mejora progresivamente hasta el final. La ambientación es muy similar a la presentada en ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?, así como el comportamiento y la forma de pensar de los personajes de esa obra. Por mi experiencia anterior con el autor mis expectativas fueron bajas, pero esa fue una ventaja que me ayudó a disfrutar más el argumento y a dejarme llevar por la imaginación de Philip.
Es un relato del cual no observé algo negativo. Me hubiera encantado que fuera más extenso, pero considero que con las páginas existentes es suficiente para entretenernos. Finalizo muy satisfecho. Muy recomendado.
January 6, 2021
"Despertó…, y deseó Marte.
Pensó en los valles. ¿Qué se sentiría al caminar por ellos? Creciendo incesantemente, el sueño fue en aumento a medida que recuperaba sus sentidos: el sueño y el ansia. Casi llegaba a sentir la abrumadora presencia del otro mundo, que solamente habían visto los agentes del Gobierno y los altos funcionarios. ¿Y un empleado como él? No, no era probable"
"Haremos diversas clases de pruebas. Trataremos de determinar su último deseo por muy fantástico que sea, y entonces le llevaremos a Rekal y procuraremos que tal deseo se haga realidad en su mente. Y…, buena suerte. Es evidente que le debemos algo. Actuó usted muy bien para nosotros."
Historia en la que se basaran para la película Total Recall/ El vengador del futuro(en mi país) {1990}
De esta historia en particular esperaba un poco mas. No esta mal, pero me resulto bastante indiferente e intrascendente. Todo el tiempo sentí la falta de algo visual, puede ser un poco por la sugestión de la película, pero principalmente porque carece enormemente de descripciones.
Pensó en los valles. ¿Qué se sentiría al caminar por ellos? Creciendo incesantemente, el sueño fue en aumento a medida que recuperaba sus sentidos: el sueño y el ansia. Casi llegaba a sentir la abrumadora presencia del otro mundo, que solamente habían visto los agentes del Gobierno y los altos funcionarios. ¿Y un empleado como él? No, no era probable"
"Haremos diversas clases de pruebas. Trataremos de determinar su último deseo por muy fantástico que sea, y entonces le llevaremos a Rekal y procuraremos que tal deseo se haga realidad en su mente. Y…, buena suerte. Es evidente que le debemos algo. Actuó usted muy bien para nosotros."
Historia en la que se basaran para la película Total Recall/ El vengador del futuro(en mi país) {1990}
De esta historia en particular esperaba un poco mas. No esta mal, pero me resulto bastante indiferente e intrascendente. Todo el tiempo sentí la falta de algo visual, puede ser un poco por la sugestión de la película, pero principalmente porque carece enormemente de descripciones.
April 16, 2018
Classic novelette by PKD that was the basis for the first adaptation of Total Recall. :)
Aside from some of the later nuttiness of the movie, I was very surprised how faithful the film was to the original story. :) So many great aspects carried over. :)
Gotta love classic PKD! This is just plain fun.
Aside from some of the later nuttiness of the movie, I was very surprised how faithful the film was to the original story. :) So many great aspects carried over. :)
Gotta love classic PKD! This is just plain fun.
December 31, 2021
4 Stars for Total Recall (audiobook) by Philip K. Dick read by Phil Gigante.
It was interesting to see what inspired the 2 Hollywood movies. The plot to this short story is recognizable as the the beginning of the movies. And I guess the rest is Hollywood writers.
It was interesting to see what inspired the 2 Hollywood movies. The plot to this short story is recognizable as the the beginning of the movies. And I guess the rest is Hollywood writers.
February 21, 2021
Another reread? Well, since we are going to watch the movie tonight I thought, why the heck not?
Douglas Quail, a regular clerk, has dreams of a more exciting life. He dreams of adventures on Mars. Thankfully, there’s Rekal Inc., a company that offers memory implants that are so real you won’t be able to tell the difference.
Douglas makes an appointment with Rekal to have a memory implanted about him being an interplanetary secret agent that just returned from a dangerous mission on Mars. However, during the programming process something peculiar comes up. Quail already seems to have memories of that trip to Mars that he might have simply suppressed. Has he been to Mars actually? Or is it just some wish that is buried deep in his subconsciousness? Or is it actually the work of Rekal? Well, whatever it is, soon the Interplan cops are after him.
By now you’ve probably realized what this is, if you didn’t know it already.
I LOVE this movie. And actually enjoyed this PKD short story (novelette?) even more this third time around.
Really looking forward to movie night now. :)
Aaand movie night was great fun. :) I still like the screen adaptation better than PKD's story. But it has gotten closer over the years.
Douglas Quail, a regular clerk, has dreams of a more exciting life. He dreams of adventures on Mars. Thankfully, there’s Rekal Inc., a company that offers memory implants that are so real you won’t be able to tell the difference.
Douglas makes an appointment with Rekal to have a memory implanted about him being an interplanetary secret agent that just returned from a dangerous mission on Mars. However, during the programming process something peculiar comes up. Quail already seems to have memories of that trip to Mars that he might have simply suppressed. Has he been to Mars actually? Or is it just some wish that is buried deep in his subconsciousness? Or is it actually the work of Rekal? Well, whatever it is, soon the Interplan cops are after him.
By now you’ve probably realized what this is, if you didn’t know it already.
I LOVE this movie. And actually enjoyed this PKD short story (novelette?) even more this third time around.
Really looking forward to movie night now. :)
Aaand movie night was great fun. :) I still like the screen adaptation better than PKD's story. But it has gotten closer over the years.
March 8, 2019
Comencé leyendo a Dick con su novela ucrónica El hombre en el castillo por haberse merecido el premio Hugo, sin embargo, no la disfruté mucho, no tanto como esta pequeña historia de la cual se basaron las dos películas "Total Recall" en 1990 y 2012. La de 1990 fue tal vez la primera película de ciencia ficción que vi en mi vida. Me han dado muchas ganas de verla de nuevo.
Todavía tengo muchos libros pendientes de PKD así que vamos a ver como van los demás.
Todavía tengo muchos libros pendientes de PKD así que vamos a ver como van los demás.
July 1, 2015
"Ironically, he had gotten exactly what he had asked Rekal; Incorporated for. Adventure, peril, Interplan police at work, a secret and dangerous trip to Mars in which his life was at stake - everything he had wanted was a false memory.
The advantages of it being a memory - and nothing more - could now be appreciated."
This one was great! Very short, but masterfully written and constructed. I particularly enjoyed the humor and irony of the ending.
The advantages of it being a memory - and nothing more - could now be appreciated."
This one was great! Very short, but masterfully written and constructed. I particularly enjoyed the humor and irony of the ending.
April 30, 2020
Pocas cosas son más apasionantes para mí que nuestra memoria, sus imperfecciones y sus juegos laberínticos. Nuevos recuerdos, viejos recuerdos, recuerdos manipulados, borrados, dudosos. Este breve cuento de Dick tiene que ver con eso y rápidamente captó mi atención. Por supuesto, si le adicionamos el oficio y la esencia humana de los personajes del gran Philip, tenemos otro laberinto, uno en el que da verdadero gusto perderse.
April 18, 2022
An interesting pulpy short story about surveillance, human memory, longing and imagination. I say pulpy because it has clever one liners - "So I have to warn you: anything you think may be held against you." and a bare chested receptionist - "she fluttered, her melon-shaped breasts--today painted an incandescent orange--bobbing with agitation".
There is a device actually placed inside the protagonists head with which the authorities can read his thoughts and also talk to him. But Dick's message seems to be that human memory, longing and imagination are indestructible even in the face of such technological interventions to control human consciousness.
While reading this, I was thinking I could write an interesting story where the main character Douglas Quail tries to implant a sex fantasy into his mind using Rekal, because he is bored with his wife. I mean this is totally possible in the future. I guess Dick wasn't some ordinary guy into porn. He was someone who thought deeply about aliens and religion and human consciousness. But then I reread the first lines of the short story : "HE AWOKE--and wanted Mars. The valleys, he thought. What would it be like to trudge among them? Great and greater yet: the dream grew as he became fully conscious, the dream and the yearning. He could almost feel the enveloping presence of the other world ..... ". Hmmm!
There is a device actually placed inside the protagonists head with which the authorities can read his thoughts and also talk to him. But Dick's message seems to be that human memory, longing and imagination are indestructible even in the face of such technological interventions to control human consciousness.
While reading this, I was thinking I could write an interesting story where the main character Douglas Quail tries to implant a sex fantasy into his mind using Rekal, because he is bored with his wife. I mean this is totally possible in the future. I guess Dick wasn't some ordinary guy into porn. He was someone who thought deeply about aliens and religion and human consciousness. But then I reread the first lines of the short story : "HE AWOKE--and wanted Mars. The valleys, he thought. What would it be like to trudge among them? Great and greater yet: the dream grew as he became fully conscious, the dream and the yearning. He could almost feel the enveloping presence of the other world ..... ". Hmmm!
August 27, 2017
QUÉ LIBRO GENIAL, aunque en realidad es un cuentecito, de solo unas 40 páginas. Me recuerda lo INTELIGENTE y DIVERTIDA y PROFUNDA que puede ser la ciencia ficción.
Creo que definitivamente no la leo tanto como debiera, considerando cuánto me gusta... pero es que, a veces (muchas) pasa que hay que aprenderse una cultura completa, a lo J.R. Tolkien, solo para leerse un librecillo, y no siempre tengo la paciencia. Historias cortas como la de ahora, por otro lado... son otra cosa. Cuando están bien escritas, claro, porque por supuesto que hay otras terribles. AUNQUE PHILIP K. DICK LA LLEVA. Su libro "¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?", es de los mejores que he leído jamás. Y cambió para siempre mi cosmovisión de la vida. PARA SIEMPRE.
En fin, muy recomendado. El final incluso me hizo reír. Qué libre me siento cuando leo estas cosas, y es que en este género todo es posible. Es tan refrescante y tragicómico. El autor es realmente un ser todopoderoso, y hace que me den ganas de convertirme en uno, solo PARA HACER Lo QUE QUIERA con mi historia, de las formas MÁS INIMAGINABLES.
Creo que definitivamente no la leo tanto como debiera, considerando cuánto me gusta... pero es que, a veces (muchas) pasa que hay que aprenderse una cultura completa, a lo J.R. Tolkien, solo para leerse un librecillo, y no siempre tengo la paciencia. Historias cortas como la de ahora, por otro lado... son otra cosa. Cuando están bien escritas, claro, porque por supuesto que hay otras terribles. AUNQUE PHILIP K. DICK LA LLEVA. Su libro "¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas?", es de los mejores que he leído jamás. Y cambió para siempre mi cosmovisión de la vida. PARA SIEMPRE.
En fin, muy recomendado. El final incluso me hizo reír. Qué libre me siento cuando leo estas cosas, y es que en este género todo es posible. Es tan refrescante y tragicómico. El autor es realmente un ser todopoderoso, y hace que me den ganas de convertirme en uno, solo PARA HACER Lo QUE QUIERA con mi historia, de las formas MÁS INIMAGINABLES.
April 4, 2019
3'5 / 5
February 4, 2022
صادقانه، برای من هنر از هنرمند و کتاب از نویسنده جدا نیست. در نتیجه بهصورت خودکار کتابهای کی. دیک رو دوست دارم، چون کی. دیک رو دوست دارم. ولی ضمناً این هم هست که حس میکنم سایر نویسندههای سطح بالای این ژانر یه گرد خاکستری دلمردهای روی کاراشون پاشیده و کی. دیک، البته که سیاهه، ولی گردش نه خاکستری که سیاه براقه.
و من این سیاه براق رو دوست دارم.
و من این سیاه براق رو دوست دارم.
February 9, 2024
نمیدونم در مورد این کتاب چی بگم.
اولین کتابی بود که از فیلیپ کی دیک میخونم و راستش خیلی خوشم اومد و جذاب بود و دوست داشتم یه رمان خیلی بلند باشه :)))
زود تموم شد.
خیلی سریع وارد داستان میشی و بدون توضیح اضافه و حرف ها و مکالمه های زیاد میفتی وسط داستان. و عجیب اینکه خیلی سریع هم با داستان ارتباط برقرار کردم و جذب دنیا و شخصیت هاش شدم.
فضاسازی خوبی داشت
شخصیت پردازی کمی داشت که خب تو داستان های کوتاه این ایرادی نیست ولی خیلی سریع جذب شخصیت داستان میشید.
خود داستان شاخ و برگی نداره ولی ایده خیلی خوبی داره و راستش تو 72 صفحه نویسنده کار عالی انجام داد و اینقدر جذبش شدم که هنوزم بهش فکر میکنم و میگم کاش طولانی بود و بیشتر تو این دنیا میموندم .
نمیدونم چی جلومو گرفته که 5 ستاره ندم :))) و حس میکنم فعلا 4.5 بهش بدم بهتره شاید در آینده دوباره خوندمش و امتیاز نهایی رو دادم.
اولین کتابی بود که از فیلیپ کی دیک میخونم و راستش خیلی خوشم اومد و جذاب بود و دوست داشتم یه رمان خیلی بلند باشه :)))
زود تموم شد.
خیلی سریع وارد داستان میشی و بدون توضیح اضافه و حرف ها و مکالمه های زیاد میفتی وسط داستان. و عجیب اینکه خیلی سریع هم با داستان ارتباط برقرار کردم و جذب دنیا و شخصیت هاش شدم.
فضاسازی خوبی داشت
شخصیت پردازی کمی داشت که خب تو داستان های کوتاه این ایرادی نیست ولی خیلی سریع جذب شخصیت داستان میشید.
خود داستان شاخ و برگی نداره ولی ایده خیلی خوبی داره و راستش تو 72 صفحه نویسنده کار عالی انجام داد و اینقدر جذبش شدم که هنوزم بهش فکر میکنم و میگم کاش طولانی بود و بیشتر تو این دنیا میموندم .
نمیدونم چی جلومو گرفته که 5 ستاره ندم :))) و حس میکنم فعلا 4.5 بهش بدم بهتره شاید در آینده دوباره خوندمش و امتیاز نهایی رو دادم.
March 17, 2016
The original story formed the basis for "Total Recall." The movie follows the outline. I think I will like Mr. Dick and I anticipate further reading.
October 19, 2013
My husband found out the other day that I'd missed quite a lot of classic movies of the '80s and early '90s thanks to an overly-sheltered childhood. Included was the movie "Total Recall" which was based on this story. So we rectified my pop culture deficit by reinstituting an intallment of our long-lost Sci-Fi Night and watching the 1990 and the 2012 version of "Total Recall". The two movies and the original story differ vastly. I have to say that I like the ending of the story better. It's a little sillier and completely fails to mention a tri-bosomed lady (imagine that), but it's more satisfying.
After watching Total Recall for the first time, I woke up the next morning having had a dream in which, like Quaid/Quail, I woke up as someone else. Whose house did I wake up in? Oh, wow; this is what it feels like to not have sciatic nerve pain. Nice legs for a short skirt. Where do I take the kids to school? Is there a manual somewhere to tell me how to do my job? Since then, I've found myself, when dozing off, trying to figure out how I really would navigate such a situation. If I told someone I was really someone else, they'd assume I was crazy. But it wouldn't take long for the family to figure out I was an imposter. Would I stick around for a while for a little vacation? I could try calling my own telephone number and hope that the person I'd switched with was now "me" Then maybe I could figure out what to do day by day. Would we switch back just with the wrong faces? How would that go? It's strange how a story can affect you on that level. I guess that's why it inspired 2 movies.
After watching "Total Recall", I accidentally stumbled upon the television series called "Ringer" in which a girl takes on her sister's identity and tries to live her life. This situation was even better-explored in the New Zealand series (which was supposed to have been remade by ABC) "This is Not My Life" in which a man wakes up to a family and life not his own in a utopian world that wasn't quite what it seemed. Eerie concepts. I think it might be fun in the short-term, but not in the long-term. Besides, you have to take on the other person's problems.
I really like the list of books GoodReads recommends for those who like this story, including favorites such as A Choice of Gods, All You Zombies, and The Martian Chronicles. They've got this story pegged. Now I'm going to have to check my husband's bookshelves to see if we have any of the other suggested titles because this is right down my alley.
After watching Total Recall for the first time, I woke up the next morning having had a dream in which, like Quaid/Quail, I woke up as someone else. Whose house did I wake up in? Oh, wow; this is what it feels like to not have sciatic nerve pain. Nice legs for a short skirt. Where do I take the kids to school? Is there a manual somewhere to tell me how to do my job? Since then, I've found myself, when dozing off, trying to figure out how I really would navigate such a situation. If I told someone I was really someone else, they'd assume I was crazy. But it wouldn't take long for the family to figure out I was an imposter. Would I stick around for a while for a little vacation? I could try calling my own telephone number and hope that the person I'd switched with was now "me" Then maybe I could figure out what to do day by day. Would we switch back just with the wrong faces? How would that go? It's strange how a story can affect you on that level. I guess that's why it inspired 2 movies.
After watching "Total Recall", I accidentally stumbled upon the television series called "Ringer" in which a girl takes on her sister's identity and tries to live her life. This situation was even better-explored in the New Zealand series (which was supposed to have been remade by ABC) "This is Not My Life" in which a man wakes up to a family and life not his own in a utopian world that wasn't quite what it seemed. Eerie concepts. I think it might be fun in the short-term, but not in the long-term. Besides, you have to take on the other person's problems.
I really like the list of books GoodReads recommends for those who like this story, including favorites such as A Choice of Gods, All You Zombies, and The Martian Chronicles. They've got this story pegged. Now I'm going to have to check my husband's bookshelves to see if we have any of the other suggested titles because this is right down my alley.
April 9, 2019
K. Dick se está convirtiendo en uno de mis autores favoritos.
Este relato me ha gustado mucho y me ha sorprendido a pesar de lo corto que es. Cuando lo he terminado he tenido que volver a leer algunos fragmentos para ver qué es lo que pasaba realmente, me gusta cuando un libro me hace sentir eso.
Y he descubierto que hay una película basada en este relato, asique, aunque sea de Schwarzenegger, creo que tengo que verla.
Este relato me ha gustado mucho y me ha sorprendido a pesar de lo corto que es. Cuando lo he terminado he tenido que volver a leer algunos fragmentos para ver qué es lo que pasaba realmente, me gusta cuando un libro me hace sentir eso.
Y he descubierto que hay una película basada en este relato, asique, aunque sea de Schwarzenegger, creo que tengo que verla.
October 10, 2018
Douglas Quail lleva una vida desencantada. Su mayor sueño es viajar a Marte, pero no puede permitírselo. Así que se le ocurre visitar la empresa Rekal, donde se encargan de insertar recuerdos falsos, en este caso de unas vacaciones en Marte. No obstante, algo inesperado ocurrirá durante el proceso.
Se trata de un relato bastante bueno, con una idea sumamente interesante.
Se trata de un relato bastante bueno, con una idea sumamente interesante.
June 10, 2023
من هیچوقت با داستان کوتاه ارتباط برقرار نمیکردم ولی این کتاب بعنوان داستان کوتاه منو شگفت زده کرد.
April 16, 2020
“‘[…] You can’t be this; you can’t actually do this […] But you can have been and have done. […]’”
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale was first published in Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1966, and even those who have never read anything by PKD might know it from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall by Paul Verhoeven, which in parts is extremely faithful to the original short story, though focusing more on action and leaving out the twist of the tale.
Douglas Quail is an average citizen, unhappily married and caught in a job that offers neither prestige nor intellectual gratification nor change, and so he has taken to dreaming about going to Mars one day, well-knowing that a trip to that planet is quite beyond his financial means. His yearnings to break out of the rat-race of his meaningless existence growing ever stronger, he decides to seek the services of a company called Rekall that implants memories in people’s mind, thus providing them with experiences they have hitherto failed to make. Quail chooses a very popular programme, namely that of having been a government agent on a Mars mission, but as accident will have it, that is exactly what he has really been – only the government has made sure that he forgot all about this experience because you don’t really want a hitman to remember that he has killed several people for the government, do you? Tampering with his memory through the Rekall engineers now has unforeseen, and undesirable, consequences. – But there is also an older memory of Quail’s that has passed into oblivion and that will make those in charge see Quail’s case in a new light: As a child, Quail prevented an extraterrestrial invasion by impressing the aliens with an act of compassion, and the emotionalized aliens promised to call off their sinister plans as long as Quail would be alive.
In his movie, Verhoeven did not use the motif of the alien invasion that was cancelled due to a child’s ethic nobility, but in a way this is what makes the story rather interesting: By killing off some people on Mars, Quail furthered the interests of his government, but by acting in a spirit of love and compassion, he saved the entire world – if only for his lifetime. There could be an elevating lesson in this if Quail had not also been given “a magic invisible destroying rod” by the impressed aliens with the help of which he would later pull off his hitman-jobs.
I find it very interesting that for a short story (and also by Dick’s standards) Quail is quite carefully fleshed out a character, which may be a hint that Dick wanted to tell us something about modern people and their ennui with their own lives. People live in a comparatively safe world but the price they have to pay for this is the lack of adventure and their submission to routines, regulations and standardization. But then, this might be what life is all about and the longing for something beyond this might be a mere whim. And who really needs a company like Rekall when our own memories are usually manipulated by our conceptions of ourselves, e.g. when in retrospect, all our actions seem to be purposeful and well-deliberated, when our lives make sense (although lacking glory)? If you browse through some of your journals from ten years ago, you may be surprised that the person speaking there is not really the person you remember, and you may not even like that person very much.
Reading about Quail also made me suspect that there may be a little bit about Dick himself in that character: Dick had some unhappy marriages, and we read of Quail’s wife that ”it was a wife’s job to bring her husband down to Earth”, to remind him of what he failed in in his life. And then this fancy of having already saved the world without remembering it, does this not match with what we know about the later years in Dick’s own life – when he was convinced that Divine powers spoke to him through visions, and the like?
All in all, this is a short story that seems to be working on several levels, as is usual with this remarkable writer.
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale was first published in Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1966, and even those who have never read anything by PKD might know it from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall by Paul Verhoeven, which in parts is extremely faithful to the original short story, though focusing more on action and leaving out the twist of the tale.
Douglas Quail is an average citizen, unhappily married and caught in a job that offers neither prestige nor intellectual gratification nor change, and so he has taken to dreaming about going to Mars one day, well-knowing that a trip to that planet is quite beyond his financial means. His yearnings to break out of the rat-race of his meaningless existence growing ever stronger, he decides to seek the services of a company called Rekall that implants memories in people’s mind, thus providing them with experiences they have hitherto failed to make. Quail chooses a very popular programme, namely that of having been a government agent on a Mars mission, but as accident will have it, that is exactly what he has really been – only the government has made sure that he forgot all about this experience because you don’t really want a hitman to remember that he has killed several people for the government, do you? Tampering with his memory through the Rekall engineers now has unforeseen, and undesirable, consequences. – But there is also an older memory of Quail’s that has passed into oblivion and that will make those in charge see Quail’s case in a new light: As a child, Quail prevented an extraterrestrial invasion by impressing the aliens with an act of compassion, and the emotionalized aliens promised to call off their sinister plans as long as Quail would be alive.
In his movie, Verhoeven did not use the motif of the alien invasion that was cancelled due to a child’s ethic nobility, but in a way this is what makes the story rather interesting: By killing off some people on Mars, Quail furthered the interests of his government, but by acting in a spirit of love and compassion, he saved the entire world – if only for his lifetime. There could be an elevating lesson in this if Quail had not also been given “a magic invisible destroying rod” by the impressed aliens with the help of which he would later pull off his hitman-jobs.
I find it very interesting that for a short story (and also by Dick’s standards) Quail is quite carefully fleshed out a character, which may be a hint that Dick wanted to tell us something about modern people and their ennui with their own lives. People live in a comparatively safe world but the price they have to pay for this is the lack of adventure and their submission to routines, regulations and standardization. But then, this might be what life is all about and the longing for something beyond this might be a mere whim. And who really needs a company like Rekall when our own memories are usually manipulated by our conceptions of ourselves, e.g. when in retrospect, all our actions seem to be purposeful and well-deliberated, when our lives make sense (although lacking glory)? If you browse through some of your journals from ten years ago, you may be surprised that the person speaking there is not really the person you remember, and you may not even like that person very much.
Reading about Quail also made me suspect that there may be a little bit about Dick himself in that character: Dick had some unhappy marriages, and we read of Quail’s wife that ”it was a wife’s job to bring her husband down to Earth”, to remind him of what he failed in in his life. And then this fancy of having already saved the world without remembering it, does this not match with what we know about the later years in Dick’s own life – when he was convinced that Divine powers spoke to him through visions, and the like?
All in all, this is a short story that seems to be working on several levels, as is usual with this remarkable writer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2012
The motherload of PKD stories and novels has been released over the past year, as observed on SFF Audio's new releases podcasts.
I decided to take a quick listen to Total Recall, which is actually the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which was then adapted into the movie Total Recall. The story itself hasn't changed, so I'm not sure why they renamed it for this release, except for name recognition.
Phil Gigante does a great job as narrator, making the interesting decision of portraying Douglas Quail with two different voices - one is the main guy who thinks he is an average joe who can't afford a vacation to Mars, and the other is the secret agent hiding in his head.
I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not sure of the intricate differences between the two, but the audio book is 1 disc and a quick listen.
I decided to take a quick listen to Total Recall, which is actually the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," which was then adapted into the movie Total Recall. The story itself hasn't changed, so I'm not sure why they renamed it for this release, except for name recognition.
Phil Gigante does a great job as narrator, making the interesting decision of portraying Douglas Quail with two different voices - one is the main guy who thinks he is an average joe who can't afford a vacation to Mars, and the other is the secret agent hiding in his head.
I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not sure of the intricate differences between the two, but the audio book is 1 disc and a quick listen.
March 8, 2019
I love any of Dick's mind blowing stories and this is one of his best. It's short so even more of a treat because he sets it up, breaks it down and then sets it up all over again in less than 25 pages.
I think everyone is familiar with the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie version of this tale, Total Recall. Who didn't love that? My kids even love this movie. The newer version...not so much. The first movie works because of the shtick, but the story works because of Dick's genius way of creating a literary ouroboros. He does it over and over throughout his career, but this was my first experience with it.
I may have been 9 or 10 when I first read it, but you never forget your first mind fu*k.
I think everyone is familiar with the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie version of this tale, Total Recall. Who didn't love that? My kids even love this movie. The newer version...not so much. The first movie works because of the shtick, but the story works because of Dick's genius way of creating a literary ouroboros. He does it over and over throughout his career, but this was my first experience with it.
I may have been 9 or 10 when I first read it, but you never forget your first mind fu*k.
April 11, 2018
Wow. SO much better than the movie! Hollywood ought to be ashamed of itself! 5, holy cats that was amazing, stars. It’s a short freebie online and completely worth it!
January 20, 2023
خوشم اومد باید دوباره بخونمش
December 26, 2018
La historia es bastante buena lo que pasa es que, bien porque es corto y no le da tiempo a desarrollarlo como quisiera, bien porque la película me gustó mucho, en este caso, prefiero la película al libro.
March 2, 2023
یک کتاب کوتاه ۷۲ صفحه ای
روند داستان طوری بود که اصلا دلم نمیخواست تموم بشه ،تصویر سازی که حتی بعد از پایان کتاب هنوز همراهمه.
در کل درسته که خیلی با شخصیت ها بازی نشده و نقش ها عمیق نیستن اما کتاب جذابی بود.
(البته به نظرم میشد در صفحه های کمتری هم چاپ بشه چون فضای خالی زیاد داره)
روند داستان طوری بود که اصلا دلم نمیخواست تموم بشه ،تصویر سازی که حتی بعد از پایان کتاب هنوز همراهمه.
در کل درسته که خیلی با شخصیت ها بازی نشده و نقش ها عمیق نیستن اما کتاب جذابی بود.
(البته به نظرم میشد در صفحه های کمتری هم چاپ بشه چون فضای خالی زیاد داره)
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