"We Can Remember it For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick

            Despite his ever growing popularity since his death, and despite digging into the depths of science fiction since about my mid-teens, I had not heard of Philip K. Dick until after my Science Fiction Literature class in college. I had heard and read his name once or twice, but had no clue that he wrote science fiction until, some day, while watching Total Recall, I noticed the credit that said, “Based on “We Can Remember it For You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick.” After that, I not only figured out he was a science fiction author, I sought the story out and, after reading it, was so thoroughly impressed with its creativeness, suspense, philosophical themes, and element of surprise that I felt like I had to seek out more of his work. I was hooked ever since, and he has since become one of my favorite authors.

            Even after reading a large amount of his work, I can't help but find this story in particular to be among my personal favorites of his, not simply because it helped change my whole perspective, but because it's a legitimately enjoyable, original, and well told story. To bring the scope of the whole thing together, however, I would need to spoil it a bit, but not so much that you know the ending right away, or that you won't still like it and enjoy it (by the way, Total Recall doesn't spoil this story, either).

            After my first time finishing it, I couldn't help but love the surprise ending. What I didn't fully realize at the time, however, was the whole implication behind it, not just what was explained, but the metaphysical aspect that truly makes the story mind-blowing relating to the philosophical subject of the min-body problem. In essence, Rekal is obviously planting fake vacations into the minds of workaholics who need a break and simply can't get one. Sounds simple enough, until the realization hits that they're planting whole new realities into the mind. Anything at all that happens to be implanted is now real to the person who receives the implant, and questions arise as to whether it happens to be real or not. In the perspective of Douglas Quail, it is real, and what we're seeing in this story is Douglas Quail's reality. How are we to say it's not real for sure, or rather, how can you convince someone who knows it's real to them that it isn't? This can obviously lead to psychological breakdown, and shows the operation, while certainly interesting, isn't worth it.

            Simply as a story, it already works, but now try reading it with this in mind if you haven't done so before. Watch and be amazed.