I have just started reading “Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick, a classic of the sci-fi genre.   Despite not being far into the book, there has already been a car crash, a kidnapping and the raising of colossal philosophical questions about the nature and importance of each individual human being’s free will – so, all in all, not a bad start!

What’s struck me most about the early part of the book has been the gap between the film version and the original Philip K. Dick story.   Indeed, the very first lines of the book are about how Anderton is, “getting bald. Bald and fat and old.”  I found this surprising, which was understandable, given that Tom Cruise played Anderton in the 2002 Steven Spielberg film based on the book.  It appears, therefore, that the film was very loosely based on the original story, written in 1956.  Actually, I’m quite pleased that I’ve already seen the Spielberg interpretation of the story as it has added an extra level of intrigue to my reading of this book.  I wonder if the ending of the film, which was largely positive for the main characters, had been given the same Hollywood makeover as Anderton, the fat, balding, 50-something who ended up being portrayed by Tom Cruise.

Perhaps the ending has been sugar coated, perhaps it hasn’t.  Either way, from the opening pages of the book, it seems its going to be fun finding out!