Retreat Syndrome
Written by Philip K. Dick
www.ink2quill.com

“Retreat Syndrome” is a short story written by the late great Philip K. Dick. This is an interesting Scifi story published in publications in World of Tomorrow, The Preserving Machine and a few others. This story has several themes we often see in PKD stories.

Retreat Syndrome Philip K. Dick webpage
Retreat Syndrome Goodreads webpage

“Retreat Syndrome” takes place on the West coast of a fairly recognizable U.S. The main character is a John Cupertino who is pulled over for speeding over 160 mph. The situation is strange and officer, Caleb Myers, tries to figure out what is going on. He suspects that the driver is under the influence for drugs but soon finds out that mental illness is also something to consider. From John Cupertino’s point of view he is trying to figure out if he really killed his wife and is really hallucinating on Ganymede. His doctor tells him that he did not kill his wife but he is not sure. He is not a reliable witness by any stretch of the imagination and we the reader are trying to make heads or tails of the whole situation.

This is a strange read, a fun read, where we the reader are left to figure things out as best as we can. On the one hand the doctor is convincing but on the other hand so is the driver. I loved the way PKD plays with our perceptions in this story. We are as much at a loss as John Cupertino.

One criticism I have of the story is that I felt it needed more for the reader. We , the reader, needed more story so in many respects it felt like an unfinished or even abandoned story. I know some writers who lose love of the story they are creating and get sidetracked on to another story that grabs their attention and that might be the case here. Or maybe things in his life took him away from writing more. Either way this is a good story that could have been better. One of the classics that gave me the same feeling was “The Strange Case Of Dr. Jeckyll And Mr. Hyde”, a novella written in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is such a famous novella but it feels too edited, censured and unfinished for me to fawn over it and call it the best thing since sliced bread.

This story is still worth the read if for nothing else than for the mind game of a story.

John Ink2quill

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