I hope I shall arrive soon

What Hacker News says

1. atombenderJul 2025
   I really, really disliked that show. They completely mangled the plots, for one; Autofac is a great story, but the adaptation bears little resemblance to it.

   They also made some odd choices that didn't really emphasize the qualities that PKD is known for. "Autofac" is the only really classic story here. Why not "The Electric Ant", "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon", "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (rights still owned by the Total Recall producers maybe?), "A Little Something for Us Tempunauts", or "Faith of Our Fathers"? Or, indeed, Second Variety?

   Show morethread
2. lobster_johnsonJan 2018
   Fidelity to the plot isn't paramount, but I'd want fidelity to the essence of the story. Both were violated in the aforementioned episodes.

   It's worth pointing out that Dick's stories are dark. Autofac has one of the most apocalyptically pessimistic endings ever written (though his seminal "Second Variety" manages to be even darker). I can't think of many that are in some way uplifting. Most of his best stories — "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon", "Impostor", "The Electric Ant", "A Little Something for Us Tempunauts", "Second Variety", "Explorers We" and "Colony", to name a few — are end on a dark, often depressing note. Of the few classics that aren't, such as "Paycheck" and "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", would probably not lend themselves to Black Mirror-style stories, although I'd love to see faithful adaptations of these. (By the way, if you don't find these stories great or original, I don't know what to tell you. They are masterpieces!)

   If the producers didn't want dark stories, it's strange that they would choose Philip K. Dick.

   Show morethread
3. scandoxSep 2016
   I think it is a way off from being his best book. It has, conventionally speaking, the most striking premise (for its day). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is much superior.

   What I found really interesting is to read his short fiction and then go back to the novels. In the stories you see his controlled, precise side and that kind changes how you feel about his longer work. I cannot recommend these enough:

   Faith of Our Fathers

   Upon The Dull Earth

   The Electric Ant

   I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

   I think reading the novels one is only seeing one side of the writer.

   Show morethread
4. DonHopkinsSep 2025
   I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Hope_I_Shall_Arrive_Soon

   thread
5. atombenderApr 2025
   In total, I count 14 books with titles chosen by the publisher/editor:

       Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
       Dr. Bloodmoney
       The Simulacrum
       Ubik
       We Can Build You
       Martian Time-Slip
       The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
       The Divine Invasion
       A Maze of Death
       Counterclock World
       Radio Free Albemuth
       Solar Lottery
       The Zap Gun [1]
       The World Jones Made
   

   Among his notable works, the only titles PKD came up with were The Man in the High Castle, VALIS, Flow My Tears, Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly.

   So. Yes, most.

   Editors changed his shorts, too. I love the title "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon", but PKD wanted to call it "Frozen Journey".

   [1] This one was unusual in that the editor gave PKD the title and asked him to write a plot around it.

   Show morethread
6. brabelApr 2023
   > The truth doesn't care about your feelings. It just _is_.

   That's the very definition of reality.

   In other words:

   “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”

   ― Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

   Show morethread