Beyond Lies the Wub (Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

These are the earliest stories PKD wrote, starting with the previously unpublished 1947 story "Stability" and ending with "Prize Ship", written in 1952. There are 25 of them in the lot, most with comments from the author. Some real gems are collected here (like "King of the Elves" and the pulpy "The Infinites"), but also some rather, ah, unpolished work.

But the thing is that this is not just interesting because of the actual stories but it gives a direct line to the developing talent of the man and that man at this point in his life was blossoming with ideas. He just hadn't yet gotten to the point where he knew how to express them. But that really doesn't stop one who is willing to drop those preconceived notions as to what constitutes good science fiction; this is FICTION with a capital letter, imagined from the get-go and heading towards uncharted waters. Reading this stuff made me long for such stuff today - most of what you get these days is pale and boring, closer to science fact and lacking in any true originality.

The name Philip K Dick emerges quite frequently in any debate over the identity of the world's greatest science fiction author. Consider, then, the claim that Dick short stories are actually a more impressive achievement than his novels. Excessive, you say? I think it's true. Dick's one hundred-odd stories contain at least one mention of most of the ideas that shaped modern imaginative fiction. As such, the five-volume collection of his stories, of which "Beyond Lies the Wub" is the first volume, must be centerpiece of any serious scifi collection.

Dick's prose is never lavish, but always plain and workable. In a sense this merely disarms us, as we don't expect such wondrous invention from apparently normal writing. Aside from that limitation, however, these stories range over everything imaginable: from fantastic to prosaic, from the present time to far future settings, and from horror to tragedy to light-hearted wry humor. Two of the best comedy stories in this volume feature Dr. Labyrinth, a kooky inventor who sees problems and solutions quite differently from the rest of the human race. In "The Preservation Machine", he invents a method for converting musical works to animals, so as the great classical masterpieces can have better odds of survival in a Darwinian world. In "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford", he discovers that inanimate objects will come to life if they are sufficiently irritated. "The Preservation Machine" ends with the discovery that the struggles of a dog-eat-dog world have transformed the works of Bach and Schubert into hideous bits of cacophany, a prime example of how even Dick's humorous tales are not without their bite.

On the horror end we have "Colony" and "Meddler". In "Colony", a exploration team on a new planet finds that murderous blobs of protoplasm are capable of imitating any inanimate object. As Dick himself says is the end notes: "The Ultimate in paranoia is not believing that everyone is out to get you, but rather that everything is out to get you. "Meddler" tells the tale of reckless engineers who build a mirror scoop for observing the future. Regrettably, their own observations guarantee that the future will be a worse place. How can this be? Dick explains the enigma in high style.

Among the more solid hard sf stories is "Mr. Spaceship". An elderly professor agrees to have his brain donated to a cause; it will be installed as the command unit for a spaceship, where its intelligence will allow it to navigate alien minefields. However, the titular vessel has plans of its own, and may prove capable of outwitting both the humans and the aliens. It's a fine example of Dick's faith in individual cleverness against the mass stupidity of government, bureaucracy and corporatism.

It's hard to pick a best story from such a volume; it's a classic case of 'they're all so good'. Top honors would have to go to "The Little Movement". A bizarre old man sells toy soldiers to unsuspecting children. But who's really in charge of the operation, and how can such a sinister scheme be stopped? In second place comes "Nanny", a triumph of wicked humor and shrewd observations of human nature. Mechanical nannies are sold to suburban families, but (as always) there's more going on than meets the eye. In this one, Dick correctly anticipated how parental obsession with child safety would come to overrule common sense.

THIS IS A SINGLE STORY, NOT A COLLECTION AS THE TITLE AND REVIEWS CLAIM. Rather than being a collection, it is the short story, "Beyond Lies the Wub" rather than the book, "Beyond Lies the Wub (Collected Stories: Vol 1)" For some reason, Amazon has bled the reviews from an existing book to this Project Gutenberg free short story.

The story itself gives you a bit of a shiver (at about 25 pages rather than the claimed 411.) The writing isn't as polished as you'd expect from an author like P Dick. The reason being, it's his first published story (Planet Stories, July, 1952.) The content is a bit hard to read as it doesn't reflect the values of today. The ending few sentences make the entire story come together and gives you chills! The polish might not be there, but you can see the seeds of the author's promise!