Nanny by Philip K. DickDate Read/Format:5/19/17. Read in Paycheck and Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick. (first printing 1990) Quick Plot:In a version of the future, many families trust nanny robots to care for their children. The Fields family's nanny has been repaired a few times and keeps showing up with dings and dents from an unknown source. Spoiler-ridden Summary:In a version of the future, many families trust nanny robots to care for their children. The Fields family's nanny has been repaired a few times and keeps showing up with dings and dents from an unknown source. After spying on the robot at night, the patriarch of the family realizes that the nanny robot is fighting the neighbor's nanny -- a different model -- in the backyard. When the man takes the robot in to be fixed, the salesperson tries to convince him that fixing it isn't worth it. There are constantly new and better models being developed, and companies are building the need to establish dominance into all of the robots. If he doesn't want his nanny robot torn to shreds by a better one, he should just buy the best. He declines and, very quickly after the nanny robot is returned to the family, the children go to the park and the nanny is destroyed by a big, new nanny robot owned by another family. Mr. Fields is determined for this not to happen again so he goes to the store to buy *the* best robot; one who will be unbeatable in these fights, or at the very least will last a long time. The new nanny goes to the park again and takes down the one who fought the original Fields nanny. Just when you think that will be the end of the story, the father from the family of the former victor now destroyed park bully robot decides that he will absolutely spare no expense in finding something newer and better that can handle the Fields nanny, indicating to readers that the cycle will never end. Thoughts or Additional Info:n/a First Line:"When I look back," Mary Fields said, "I marvel that we ever could have grown up without a Nanny to take care of us." Memorable Lines or Passages:n/a Keywordsfuturistic, consumerism, social commentary, robots, nanny
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They're Made Out of Meat by Terry BissonDate Read/Format:5/13/16. Read on the author's website. The story was originally published in Omni in 1990. Quick Plot:Two beings have a conversation about a planet they've been exploring and they can't believe that the inhabitants of the planet are made entirely of meat. Spoiler-ridden Summary:Two beings of an alien race are assessing the status of a nearby planet. Though they never outright say it, it is implied that it is Earth. Neither can believe that humans (the word is not actually used) are completely made out of meat, including our brains. The idea that we've been trying to make contact with anyone in space or that we talk and sing through our meat mouths astonishes the beings. They've done probes and studied individual humans but found nothing of interest. All in all, they proclaim the planet and its "sentient meat" inhabitants rather pathetic and have no interest in making contact. Instead, they mark the planet as "uninhabited" and move on with their lives, but not without a quick thought of how lonely it might be to feel so alone in the universe. Thoughts or Additional Info:This story is depressing the more you think about it. First Line:"They're made out of meat." Memorable Lines or Passages:n/a Keywords:aliens, space, first contact, philosophy, science fiction, existentialism
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt VonnegutDate Read/Format:5/12/16. Book. "Welcome to the Monkey House" Quick Plot:In an effort to keep every person equal in all ways, no one can excel at anything in this version of the world. If they're beautiful, they must wear grotesque masks. If they're too intelligent, they must wear something in their ears that emits all sorts of noises to distract them. So what happens when a tall, attractive genius decides to question this system? Spoiler-ridden Summary:Harrison Bergeron was taken from his parents at 14. He was too attractive, too intelligent, and seven feet tall. Since that time, he's been in prison as a danger to society. The actual story concentrates on Harrison's parents, George and Hazel. Hazel is of "normal intelligence" (read: pretty simple-minded) so she doesn't have any mental handicaps put upon her. Her husband is another question. Because of his intelligence, he has to wear ear buds in his ears that produce random sounds every 20 seconds, like a 21-gun salute or the sound of a baseball bat hitting a milk carton to distract him and prevent him from exploring any train of thought too extensively. He also has to wear a canvas bag containing 47 pounds of birdshot around his neck. He and his wife are watching a ballet on the television, but it is a sad yet comical affair with Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers' rules in place. The better the dancer, the more handicaps they are wearing. The dancers are fumbling around on stage, wearing varying amounts of weighted bags and hideous masks. A news bulletin interrupts the performance and a man tries to read it but cannot due to his speech impediment. One of the dancers reads it, but she quickly realizes that her voice sounds too good for society and she alters it to sound worse. The bulletin is about Harrison's escape from prison. At first, they show pictures of him. Later, he shows up on the screen--the most handicapped man ever but still considered "under-handicapped." He looks like "a walking junkyard," with 300 pounds of weights on him, and he has black covers on his teeth, has to wear a red rubber nose and has shaved-off eyebrows. In the studio, he rips off all of his handicaps and declares himself Emperor. He rips the handicaps off one of the dancers and declares her his Empress. He encourages some of the other dancers to take theirs off and he will give them titles. The group dances around with an unknown freedom until Handicapper General Diana Moon Glampers comes in with a double-barreled shotgun and kills Harrison and his empress. In the house, George has gone to the kitchen and he misses all this. When he returns, Hazel is crying but she doesn't remember why--probably something sad on television. She agrees and they talk about how they must always try to forget sad things. Thoughts or Additional Info:This was made into a movie in 1995 with Sean Astin as Harrison Bergeron. First Line:"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal." Memorable Lines or Passages:n/a Keywords:equality, handicap, handicaps, weighted bags, dystopia, satire, social commentary, futuristic, classic, ballet
Delilah and the Space-Rigger by Robert A. HeinleinDate Read/Format:5/8/16. Book. Green Hills of Earth (1951, ninth printing, Signet) Quick Plot:A space station construction crew is surprised to see that their new radio technician is a woman. Spoiler-ridden Summary:Tiny, supervisor of a space station construction crew has fired people for things like figuring out how to make a still in space or how to make magnetized dice for gambling, however, he has a new reason to want to fire someone: his new radio tech, sent to replace a fired one, is a woman. She used her initials on her paperwork and doesn't see why her sex should make any difference. She is competent and everyone grows to like her, except for Tiny, who still wants to send her back home. When he finally has the plans set, the workers put in their notice and threaten to strike, which forces Tiny to come to the realization that productivity and morale are up since her arrival and the station would be better off with not just her but also more women. He sends word to the ship that was intended to send Gloria/Brooksie/McIntyre/the female home that they should bring women of all types, and...wait for it...a chaplain, because they'll probably be needing one. Thoughts or Additional Info:A chaplain? This story has a pretty great feminist message throughout. That is, until that final line about getting a chaplain up to the space station. But who am I kidding, it's Heinlein--I'm just happy there weren't any random quasi-incestual references. First Line:"Sure, we had trouble building Space Station One--but the trouble was people." Memorable Lines or Passages:n/a Keywords:feminist, prejudice, space, Gloria, Brooksie, Tiny, Hammond, space station, radio tech, strike, chaplain
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AuthorI'm just a short story lover and voracious reader who wants to keep track of the shorts I read and help others remember the ones they've forgotten. ArchivesCategories
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