Project Gutenberg 2010-06-16 Public domain in the USA. 8874 Dick, Philip K. 1928 1982 Dick, Philip Kindred Piper in the Woods Produced from Imagination: Stories of Science and Fantasy February 1953. Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_in_the_Woods Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Piper in the Woods" by Philip K. Dick is a science fiction short story written in the early to mid-20th century. The narrative explores themes of identity, purpose, and the psychological consequences of a modern, mechanized society as it contrasts these with the natural world. In the story, a phenomenon is unfolding on Asteroid Y-3, where personnel from Earth are inexplicably developing a belief that they are transforming into plants. The plot follows Doctor Henry Harris as he investigates a series of bizarre cases where garrison personnel report feeling like plants, desiring nothing more than to bask in the sun rather than fulfill their duties. As Harris delves deeper, he learns of a collective psychological phenomenon among the crew, tied to their disillusionment with the rigors of their roles in a technologically advanced society. This leads to the revelation of "the Pipers," a symbolic manifestation of their suppressed desires for a simpler, carefree existence. The story culminates in an understanding that the Pipers are not outside forces but rather a reflection of the men's own psyche grappling with the conflict between duty and the longing to escape into nature. Harris resolves to help them confront these inner conflicts through psychotherapy, aiming to reintegrate them back into their roles while reconciling their yearning for freedom and tranquility. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 87.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Psychological fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: American Literature 70577 2025-06-13T11:15:50.135257 text/html 66835 2021-01-06T18:37:00 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 185313 2021-01-06T18:37:00 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 252422 2025-06-13T11:15:55.222276 application/epub+zip 251312 2025-06-13T11:15:52.169273 application/epub+zip 153095 2025-06-13T11:15:50.880281 application/epub+zip 397158 2025-06-13T11:15:57.245256 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 285083 2025-06-13T11:15:54.390321 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 163807 2022-09-15T06:31:27.365030 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 62348 2025-06-13T11:15:49.628260 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 62225 2021-01-06T18:37:00 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 23673 2021-01-06T18:37:00 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20024 2025-06-13T11:15:57.425340 application/rdf+xml 13381 2025-06-13T11:15:51.455308 image/jpeg 3490 2025-06-13T11:15:51.168347 image/jpeg 252253 2025-06-13T11:15:50.153239 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia