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If Nick Hornby thinks Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD is scary, someone should tell him McCarthy ain’t got nothing on Phillip K. Dick. Philip’s short story “Precious Artifact” is also about the end of the world, and for such a short story – it’s one of the shorter stories in the anthology SELECTED STORIES OF PHILIP K. DICK – it packs a punch.
Imagine a world in which you could do this:
“This is bad news,” Milt said. “May I stop at that amphetamine dispenser and put in my dime? I need a stimulant to cheer me up.”
“Certainly,” Miss Ableseth said, nodding graciously.
I bet you’re thinking, drug stimulants in a dispenser on the street which only costs a dime? What’s so bad about that? Well, probably plenty but I won’t tackle that one.
Instead, I’ll direct you to imagine a world in which everyone wears wigs and plastic (or stainless steel) teeth because they’ve lost their hair and teeth from the war fallout:
“Call me Mary, ” Miss Ableseth said, as she arranged her heavy scarlet wig; it had become dislodged during the last few moments in the cramped quarters of the ‘copter…She pressed her teeth in place; they, too, had become dislodged.
“So I see,” Milt Biskle agreed, and straightened his own wig and teeth, too.
After you’ve wrapped your mind around the social dynamics of that scene, consider that everything you’ve just seen – wig-adjusting humans who can buy drugs on the street for a dime – is all an illusion. There are no humans, there are no machines, there are no cities.
Everything you’ve seen is the construct of the alien race which wiped out your race years ago over a battle of resources (The Matrix, anyone?). You, along with no more than twenty other men, are what remains of your race and planet. No women, no children, no animals or pets. Now that’s scary.
I’ve read only one other story in this collection which I found even scarier: “Upon the Dull Earth.” It remains one of the most disturbing things I’ve read all year.
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that certainly is scary!
dick scares me shitless. i’ve only read a few dick books, but they’ve all had some pretty dark moments. i assume “2nd variety” is in that collection too – i liked that a lot!
i think the thing about dick’s scariness is that he doesn’t particularly try to be shocking or scary – if you know what i mean. you know? he doesn’t try to build it up or gore it up or shock or depress you. he just writes what is scary and describes the situation as it is.
i also get the distinct impression that he’s writing about what he finds scary, which is perhaps what makes it so real. of course other writers do this too, but they dress it up, and he doesn’t do that all – this is where his spare writing is at its most effective.
Comment by jean pierre September 21, 2007 @ 3:32 amjean pierre, “Second Variety” sure is in this collection – it was one of the earlier stories, which sadly I don’t remember that much about. But here’s what I wrote in the book at the end of the chapter (sometimes, I shamelessly mark-up my books):
Now, I’m thinking I’m going to reread that one.
I too think Dick’s spare method of writing is very effective, which is one of the things I think McCarthy and Dick have in common. Neither of them make a fuss over the shocking things that they sometimes write. The situations they create are shocking enough without flowery writing or constructions. They leave the rest to the power of the reader’s imagination which is usually more than enough to do the job.
Comment by J.S. Peyton September 21, 2007 @ 9:40 am