Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Editora y Distribuidora Hispano Americana, S.A. (2008), Edition: 1st., 320 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:A masterpiece ahead of its time, a prescient rendering of a dark future, and the inspiration for the blockbuster film Blade Runner By 2021, the World War has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending mankind off-planet. Those who remain covet any living creature, and for people who can�t afford one, companies built incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep. They�ve even built humans. Immigrants to Mars receive androids so sophisticated they are indistinguishable from true men or women. Fearful of the havoc these artificial humans can wreak, the government bans them from Earth. Driven into hiding, unauthorized androids live among human beings, undetected. Rick Deckard, an officially sanctioned bounty hunter, is commissioned to find rogue androids and �retire� them. But when cornered, androids fight back�with lethal force. Praise for Philip K. Dick �The most...… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member atimco
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick is a classic sci-fi/futuristic novel, and I'm still dithering as to whether or not it deserves it. Granted, I'm not a sci-fi person by any means, so my opinion on that score probably doesn't matter anyways. I read this in one sitting because I
Basically, Earth has been trashed and most people have emigrated to colonies on Mars and other planets, where they are served by robots (or androids) that are designed to look and act exactly like people. Occasionally these androids rebel, killing their masters and escaping to Earth, where they pose as humans. Rick Deckard is an agent who "retires" androids... that is, kills them (it's sort of the opposite of The Matrix). The tests to determine human from android have to constantly evolve to keep pace with the android technology, which is terrifyingly advanced.
The culture of the story is developed in fits and starts. It starts with Richard "dialing in" the mood that he wants for the day. We learn about how the people still living on Earth have a powerful desire to own real, live animals — and how they keep electric imitation animals to fill that void, since real animals are now so rare and expensive. There is also what seems like a religion, called "Mercerism," based on the life experiences of a man called Wilbur Mercer. People dial in and experience empathy with his everlasting trek up a mountainside where he will be killed (sound familiar?). And empathy is what sets humans apart from androids.
I was a little disappointed in how the world-building was executed. There were a lot of great concepts and it was definitely "shown" rather than "told," but it kept going off on seemingly unrelated tangents, and never returning to finish developing each idea. I wanted to know more about life on other planets, about the whole dialing-in your mood thing, and who put Mercerism in place. Is this story about mind-control, moral dilemmas, religious lies, disenfranchised minorities, or just plain action?
The writing was fair. I've heard this book criticized as having a good plot and bad writing, but nothing really stood out to me as desperately needing an editor. It was serviceable prose. I've yet to see the film, but I've heard it's good. Any opinions on that score?
This was a fascinating story with lots going on, but it just felt unsatisfactory at the end. It still hadn't decided what kind of story it was. Dick raises a lot of questions he doesn't answer, which is a writer's prerogative, I suppose. But I found myself wanting more cohesion. Maybe I'm just not used to the genre. I would recommend this book to mature readers (younger readers probably shouldn't be confronted with some of the themes here). Though probably less striking now than it was when it was first published in 1968, I found it fairly enjoyable and thought-provoking.
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had two hours free, but also because the story moves quickly and I found myself very interested in what was going to happen next. Basically, Earth has been trashed and most people have emigrated to colonies on Mars and other planets, where they are served by robots (or androids) that are designed to look and act exactly like people. Occasionally these androids rebel, killing their masters and escaping to Earth, where they pose as humans. Rick Deckard is an agent who "retires" androids... that is, kills them (it's sort of the opposite of The Matrix). The tests to determine human from android have to constantly evolve to keep pace with the android technology, which is terrifyingly advanced.
The culture of the story is developed in fits and starts. It starts with Richard "dialing in" the mood that he wants for the day. We learn about how the people still living on Earth have a powerful desire to own real, live animals — and how they keep electric imitation animals to fill that void, since real animals are now so rare and expensive. There is also what seems like a religion, called "Mercerism," based on the life experiences of a man called Wilbur Mercer. People dial in and experience empathy with his everlasting trek up a mountainside where he will be killed (sound familiar?). And empathy is what sets humans apart from androids.
I was a little disappointed in how the world-building was executed. There were a lot of great concepts and it was definitely "shown" rather than "told," but it kept going off on seemingly unrelated tangents, and never returning to finish developing each idea. I wanted to know more about life on other planets, about the whole dialing-in your mood thing, and who put Mercerism in place. Is this story about mind-control, moral dilemmas, religious lies, disenfranchised minorities, or just plain action?
The writing was fair. I've heard this book criticized as having a good plot and bad writing, but nothing really stood out to me as desperately needing an editor. It was serviceable prose. I've yet to see the film, but I've heard it's good. Any opinions on that score?
This was a fascinating story with lots going on, but it just felt unsatisfactory at the end. It still hadn't decided what kind of story it was. Dick raises a lot of questions he doesn't answer, which is a writer's prerogative, I suppose. But I found myself wanting more cohesion. Maybe I'm just not used to the genre. I would recommend this book to mature readers (younger readers probably shouldn't be confronted with some of the themes here). Though probably less striking now than it was when it was first published in 1968, I found it fairly enjoyable and thought-provoking.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
I enjoyed this novel much more than the other Philip K. Dick (henceforth PKD) novel I have read, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, I think because it is a more linear, straightforward story that still gives the reader a lot to think about. And the book is only minimally like its famous movie
The story is set on a near-future Earth that has been ruined by nuclear war. Most animal species have become extinct or nearly so. The few remaining people who haven't emigrated to colonies on Mars hold animal life in such esteem that it is considered a status symbol to own a living animal, and even stray insects are collected and kept from harm. The irony is that the main character, Rick Deckard, is a hunter -- not of animals or men, but of organic androids. His job as bounty hunter is to track down those androids that have killed their human owners on Mars and returned to Earth to live in hiding, pretending to be human. The androids are so realistic that they can only be detected using a psychological test that reveals whether they feel empathy for other living beings; "andys," as they are called, aren't capable of empathy, which is why bounty hunters like Deckard feel it's okay to kill them.
The story covers about one day in Deckard's life, during which he is tracking down and "retiring" four highly advanced andys of the Nexus 6 line, one of whom nearly killed his boss. In the course of his assignment, he meets and becomes involved with Rachael Rosen, a Nexus 6 android and employee of Rosen Industries, which makes them. Deckard's experiences hunting the andys and with Rachael lead him to question his profession and even to feel empathic toward the androids, which shakes his core belief system.
What's most interesting about this novel is its take on the importance of empathy, especially in contrasting the human characters with the non-empathic androids they're trying to kill. The experience of empathy has become a religious pursuit for most humans, as they use machines to empathically connect with one another and a spiritual leader named Mercer, and as they empathically connect with the animals in their care.This concept of empathy set against such a bleak vision of the future is particularly effective when contrasted with our current disregard for the planet and its rich variety of life while we still have it. We learn to value life only when it's gone, but even so, we still feel compelled to destroy, to the point where we have to invent something -- the androids -- that we can feel okay about killing. When Deckard begins feeling empathy for them, he no longer knows who he is.
Two things I noticed. PKD invented some wonderful words and phrases for this story. My favorite was "disemelevatored," meaning to get off the elevator. I also noticed that he used the phrase, "So it goes," twice when referring to the meaninglessness of life and death, yet this novel was published a full year before Slaughterhouse-Five. Great minds, I suppose.
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version, Blade Runner, so you can read it without fear of spoilers.The story is set on a near-future Earth that has been ruined by nuclear war. Most animal species have become extinct or nearly so. The few remaining people who haven't emigrated to colonies on Mars hold animal life in such esteem that it is considered a status symbol to own a living animal, and even stray insects are collected and kept from harm. The irony is that the main character, Rick Deckard, is a hunter -- not of animals or men, but of organic androids. His job as bounty hunter is to track down those androids that have killed their human owners on Mars and returned to Earth to live in hiding, pretending to be human. The androids are so realistic that they can only be detected using a psychological test that reveals whether they feel empathy for other living beings; "andys," as they are called, aren't capable of empathy, which is why bounty hunters like Deckard feel it's okay to kill them.
The story covers about one day in Deckard's life, during which he is tracking down and "retiring" four highly advanced andys of the Nexus 6 line, one of whom nearly killed his boss. In the course of his assignment, he meets and becomes involved with Rachael Rosen, a Nexus 6 android and employee of Rosen Industries, which makes them. Deckard's experiences hunting the andys and with Rachael lead him to question his profession and even to feel empathic toward the androids, which shakes his core belief system.
What's most interesting about this novel is its take on the importance of empathy, especially in contrasting the human characters with the non-empathic androids they're trying to kill. The experience of empathy has become a religious pursuit for most humans, as they use machines to empathically connect with one another and a spiritual leader named Mercer, and as they empathically connect with the animals in their care.This concept of empathy set against such a bleak vision of the future is particularly effective when contrasted with our current disregard for the planet and its rich variety of life while we still have it. We learn to value life only when it's gone, but even so, we still feel compelled to destroy, to the point where we have to invent something -- the androids -- that we can feel okay about killing. When Deckard begins feeling empathy for them, he no longer knows who he is.
Two things I noticed. PKD invented some wonderful words and phrases for this story. My favorite was "disemelevatored," meaning to get off the elevator. I also noticed that he used the phrase, "So it goes," twice when referring to the meaninglessness of life and death, yet this novel was published a full year before Slaughterhouse-Five. Great minds, I suppose.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick was a fantastic science fiction read with themes revolving around man’s humanity. First published in 1968, this iconic novel is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco as bounty hunter Richard Deckard tracks down and “retires” runaway
The world has suffered through a nuclear war and is vastly changed. Most people have been killed or have moved to Mars. Those that remain are “specials”, people disfigured by fallout or whose brains have been affected leaving them with low intelligence, other people who are needed to work on earth and those who cannot afford to leave also remain. Most species have been eliminated or endangered by radiation poisoning so owning an animal is a status symbol. To show one’s empathy for animals is to show that you are human. Androids are devoid of empathy and testing them for this is one way to root out these hidden beings who are trying to pass as human.
I was absolutely fascinated by this tale. Set in the year 2019 (which seemed in the future when the book was written), this world is an unhealthy, dreary place with it’s fake religion, mood amplifiers and a non-stop 24 hour television show. The story totally held my attention while at the same time the author left many unanswered questions that give the reader a lot to ponder upon. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a complex, dark and disturbing read that in light of the world situation today seems all that more relevant.
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androids. I have seen the 1982 film based on this book, but I have either forgotten it or it was very loosely based on the actual story.The world has suffered through a nuclear war and is vastly changed. Most people have been killed or have moved to Mars. Those that remain are “specials”, people disfigured by fallout or whose brains have been affected leaving them with low intelligence, other people who are needed to work on earth and those who cannot afford to leave also remain. Most species have been eliminated or endangered by radiation poisoning so owning an animal is a status symbol. To show one’s empathy for animals is to show that you are human. Androids are devoid of empathy and testing them for this is one way to root out these hidden beings who are trying to pass as human.
I was absolutely fascinated by this tale. Set in the year 2019 (which seemed in the future when the book was written), this world is an unhealthy, dreary place with it’s fake religion, mood amplifiers and a non-stop 24 hour television show. The story totally held my attention while at the same time the author left many unanswered questions that give the reader a lot to ponder upon. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a complex, dark and disturbing read that in light of the world situation today seems all that more relevant.
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LibraryThing member Poquette
One day in the life of an android bounty hunter — that is the frame of this witty, philosophical science fiction novel, which was written in 1968 but is set in the year 2021. By 2021 colonization of Mars has been underway for several years — even before World War Terminus, which has turned
Inevitably, androids on Mars who are the functional equivalent of slaves, will occasionally go rogue, kill their "masters" and anyone else who gets in their way and commandeer a ship back to Earth. Thus the need for bounty hunters.
A group of six of these fugitive androids have made their way back to Earth and are on the loose in the San Francisco area, and it is the duty of our hero bounty hunter to find, test and destroy these creatures. Many ethical questions are raised in the course of this intriguing novel, and it is not surprising that the bounty hunter would be transformed in the course of carrying out his mission.
In addition to the interesting premise of the novel, the problem of reading a book written in 1968 and set in 2021 reveals many incongruities related to how the author thought the world would be in 2021 and the way it actually is in 2015. In Philip K. Dick's imagination, the world has not only very humanlike android helpers and space migration, but it also has videophones, hover cars, laser guns and — in the absence of real animals — electric sheep, goats, rabbits, etc., to substitute for pets. However, it does not foresee personal computers, laptops and notebooks, the Internet or cell phones, much less smart phones.
Despite these anomalies, or perhaps because of them, we have here an engrossing exploration of the many questions raised in a post-nuclear holocaust environment where an artificial being whose intelligence makes it competitive with human beings must be dealt with. It is left to the reader to come up with answers.
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planet Earth into an irradiated dust bowl where massive extinctions have transformed animal ownership into the equivalent of what luxury car ownership was to the American of 1968. People who qualifiy as to age and intelligence are lured into migrating to Mars by the promise of being provided with a fully functioning almost human android upon arrival at the red planet. People whose numerical age is too high or whose numerical IQ is too low are left to live out their days on Earth where civilization has been all but destroyed and the population decimated. It is illegal for an android to be running around free on Earth. They are made strictly for use on Mars. Androids have reached such a high level of development that the only way to distinguish them from humans is by administering a highly sophisticated empathy test or a postmortem bone marrow examination. Inevitably, androids on Mars who are the functional equivalent of slaves, will occasionally go rogue, kill their "masters" and anyone else who gets in their way and commandeer a ship back to Earth. Thus the need for bounty hunters.
A group of six of these fugitive androids have made their way back to Earth and are on the loose in the San Francisco area, and it is the duty of our hero bounty hunter to find, test and destroy these creatures. Many ethical questions are raised in the course of this intriguing novel, and it is not surprising that the bounty hunter would be transformed in the course of carrying out his mission.
In addition to the interesting premise of the novel, the problem of reading a book written in 1968 and set in 2021 reveals many incongruities related to how the author thought the world would be in 2021 and the way it actually is in 2015. In Philip K. Dick's imagination, the world has not only very humanlike android helpers and space migration, but it also has videophones, hover cars, laser guns and — in the absence of real animals — electric sheep, goats, rabbits, etc., to substitute for pets. However, it does not foresee personal computers, laptops and notebooks, the Internet or cell phones, much less smart phones.
Despite these anomalies, or perhaps because of them, we have here an engrossing exploration of the many questions raised in a post-nuclear holocaust environment where an artificial being whose intelligence makes it competitive with human beings must be dealt with. It is left to the reader to come up with answers.
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LibraryThing member msf59
The year is 2021. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter. His job is to find rogue androids, that have illegally returned to Earth and “retire” them immediately. Since these androids are so far advanced and look and act completely human, this is no easy task.
Philip K. Dick has created a dark and
I’ve always been a big fan of the film version, “Blade Runner”, but it is only very loosely based on the book, which made the reading experience surprisingly fresh and entertaining.
This is my first attempt at this acclaimed author’s work and it left a strong impression and a desire to seek out more of his books. Highly recommended.
Philip K. Dick has created a dark and
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disturbing future, where most life forms have gone extinct and owning an animal of any sort is a sacred honor. The story is told in a dry hard-boiled style, which fits in perfectly with this cold dystopian world.I’ve always been a big fan of the film version, “Blade Runner”, but it is only very loosely based on the book, which made the reading experience surprisingly fresh and entertaining.
This is my first attempt at this acclaimed author’s work and it left a strong impression and a desire to seek out more of his books. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member beserene
Philip K. Dick’s novel is a modern classic of science fiction. The basis for the film “Blade Runner”, this book lays the foundation for many of the tropes that now are common in the genre. The idea of the android, concepts of artificial intelligence, and questions of humanity are all refined
What may surprise readers who have been previously familiar with “Blade Runner” is the commentary on religion and spirituality which features strongly throughout the book. Though it’s been years since I watched the film, I don’t recall that portion of the novel being carried over. In a lot of ways, however, it’s absolutely essential to understanding the world, and therefore the commentary, that PD has constructed. There is more to that commentary that meets the eye and, even days later, I’m still thinking about the meanings that I may have missed. That continuing occupation of a reader’s thoughts is one of the reasons that this novel and indeed so many of Philip Dick’s writings have become classics of the genre. This is one book that deserves, and demands, multiple readings. An absolutely necessary read for fans of the genre.
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here, in PD’s characteristically sharp, often ironic fashion. Like many science fiction writers before and since, Philip Dick envisions a world where human beings have shot themselves in the collective foot – disaster on a national and global scale has struck and those left to struggle onward are herded (like, yeah, sheep) within the comforting illusions created by controlled and controlling media, government, etc. What may surprise readers who have been previously familiar with “Blade Runner” is the commentary on religion and spirituality which features strongly throughout the book. Though it’s been years since I watched the film, I don’t recall that portion of the novel being carried over. In a lot of ways, however, it’s absolutely essential to understanding the world, and therefore the commentary, that PD has constructed. There is more to that commentary that meets the eye and, even days later, I’m still thinking about the meanings that I may have missed. That continuing occupation of a reader’s thoughts is one of the reasons that this novel and indeed so many of Philip Dick’s writings have become classics of the genre. This is one book that deserves, and demands, multiple readings. An absolutely necessary read for fans of the genre.
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LibraryThing member Kara
I'm a classic sci-fi kind of girl, and this is a classic sci-fi kind of book.
The world has changed into something dramatically different than it is today, and there are androids and electric sheep (ha, surprise) and mood-altering machines. But the story, at its heart (and like lots of great science
In college, a professor once said that the only real philosophy being written in modern times is in science fiction. This work is a great example of that.
The world has changed into something dramatically different than it is today, and there are androids and electric sheep (ha, surprise) and mood-altering machines. But the story, at its heart (and like lots of great science
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fiction), is about what it means to be human, and that's what's so appealing about this book. It tackles questions like: "what makes us human?" and "how can we be sure what we're experiencing is real?"In college, a professor once said that the only real philosophy being written in modern times is in science fiction. This work is a great example of that.
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LibraryThing member sporkdelis
I am not much of a hard-core sci-fi reader– at least I don’t think I am. After reading this book I suddenly have my doubts. This is a heart wrenching, mind-bending beautiful piece of literature. It has the feel of an old Detective movie (having never read any old pulp fiction), but a very
The story follows bounty hunter Rick Deckard on the longest day of his career.
Deckard lives on Earth after World War Terminus left it destroyed by nuclear clouds and dust. The buildings are mostly deserted and become more and more empty every day as humans migrate to Mars. On Mars they are given a large amount of land and Android slaves to keep it for them. The only people who aren’t invited are those who are too old or too stupid to join the humans there. If you are labeled a Chickenhead or an Anthead you can emigrate if you agree to be sterilized.
Rick Deckard, like most of the remaining humans on Earth is a follower of Mercerism. Mercerism is all about the feeling of empathy for all things. One way to experience empathy is to own and care for animals. It is unheard of for a person not to own an animal, but the real thing is so expensive that many people buy animatronic animals that eat and breathe and do all of the same things a real animal does just to keep up appearances. Deckard owns an electric sheep. The electric sheep is a replacement for a real one he bought that suddenly died one day. The electric one is a sad replacement, and only makes Deckard depressed. It appears that this is a common enough occurrence that he and his wife have electronic devices that they can program to make them feel a certain way– everything from loving devotion to one’s husband to wanting to watch T.V. no matter what is on. One final addition to Mercerism is an “Empathy Box” with two handles that you grab in order to experience the myth of Wilbur Mercer along with any other human being in the universe who is using the box at that exact time. It is the epitome of empathy.
Rick Deckard is called into work to go after several androids that have killed their owners and escaped to Earth. One of them has shot the senior bounty hunter so the job is now Deckard’s.
The Androids are all part of a growing group of androids angry with their inability to feel empathy– their inability to be a part of Mercerism. This is in fact the flaw that separates them from humans, and they are found out by taking a simple test to look at their biological response to social situations that go against the empathetic Mercerist culture. The big problem is that these escapees are the newest models of androids, and the police are not convinced that Deckard could tell the difference between them and humans with the present monitoring tools. He is sent off to test his skills against the manufacturer’s androids. Rick Deckard passes the test better than expected as the android herself, Rachel, doesn’t even know that she is an android. With that he runs off to find the missing androids and “retire” them. If he can get all six in one day he will have killed a record number and have enough money to get a real animal to make him feel right with the world again.
Then we are introduced to John Isidore. Isidore is a Chickenhead living in an empty apartment building with his own apartment slowly turning to “kipple.” He works doing delivery and pick-up for a mechanic that fixes the artificial animals– calling himself a vet for the sake of appearances.
Isidore lives alone with only the T.V. and Buster Friendly, the eternal T.V. host, to comfort him. That is until he finds that thee is a new tenant in his building.
This is the base of a surreal and surprising novel. The question of whether we really feel any connection with other things, and why and if this feeling should be regulated to living things, and why that’s the way it all is runs through the whole story. Rick Deckard’s confusion over his empathy for the androids he had to retire and his lack of empathy for his artificial sheep, and his lack of empathy for Fellow bounty hunter Resch all make for a story that makes you wonder where the next twist will take you.
The story is especially pertinent to life today. We are constantly reaching out to the internet and the twitters and facebooks in search of this feeling of community in what we feel is a world devoid of real human interaction, but we really are just forming bonds with machines. We don’t have the excuse of nuclear war and radioactive dust, we only have laziness, insecurity, and an inability to deal with the immediacy of real life. Rick Deckard feels this loneliness painfully even with his wife who obviously loves him, and he seems to love back. She and all other humans seem to suffer from this feeling of disconnection, using the empathy boxes and the animals to soothe this feeling of loneliness in a slowly dying world.
I can’t help but wonder if we too are mourning a dying world. We don’t have any tools to fix this feeling, and we only come up with fixes that really push us as humans further apart.
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sincere emotional core.The story follows bounty hunter Rick Deckard on the longest day of his career.
Deckard lives on Earth after World War Terminus left it destroyed by nuclear clouds and dust. The buildings are mostly deserted and become more and more empty every day as humans migrate to Mars. On Mars they are given a large amount of land and Android slaves to keep it for them. The only people who aren’t invited are those who are too old or too stupid to join the humans there. If you are labeled a Chickenhead or an Anthead you can emigrate if you agree to be sterilized.
Rick Deckard, like most of the remaining humans on Earth is a follower of Mercerism. Mercerism is all about the feeling of empathy for all things. One way to experience empathy is to own and care for animals. It is unheard of for a person not to own an animal, but the real thing is so expensive that many people buy animatronic animals that eat and breathe and do all of the same things a real animal does just to keep up appearances. Deckard owns an electric sheep. The electric sheep is a replacement for a real one he bought that suddenly died one day. The electric one is a sad replacement, and only makes Deckard depressed. It appears that this is a common enough occurrence that he and his wife have electronic devices that they can program to make them feel a certain way– everything from loving devotion to one’s husband to wanting to watch T.V. no matter what is on. One final addition to Mercerism is an “Empathy Box” with two handles that you grab in order to experience the myth of Wilbur Mercer along with any other human being in the universe who is using the box at that exact time. It is the epitome of empathy.
Rick Deckard is called into work to go after several androids that have killed their owners and escaped to Earth. One of them has shot the senior bounty hunter so the job is now Deckard’s.
The Androids are all part of a growing group of androids angry with their inability to feel empathy– their inability to be a part of Mercerism. This is in fact the flaw that separates them from humans, and they are found out by taking a simple test to look at their biological response to social situations that go against the empathetic Mercerist culture. The big problem is that these escapees are the newest models of androids, and the police are not convinced that Deckard could tell the difference between them and humans with the present monitoring tools. He is sent off to test his skills against the manufacturer’s androids. Rick Deckard passes the test better than expected as the android herself, Rachel, doesn’t even know that she is an android. With that he runs off to find the missing androids and “retire” them. If he can get all six in one day he will have killed a record number and have enough money to get a real animal to make him feel right with the world again.
Then we are introduced to John Isidore. Isidore is a Chickenhead living in an empty apartment building with his own apartment slowly turning to “kipple.” He works doing delivery and pick-up for a mechanic that fixes the artificial animals– calling himself a vet for the sake of appearances.
Isidore lives alone with only the T.V. and Buster Friendly, the eternal T.V. host, to comfort him. That is until he finds that thee is a new tenant in his building.
This is the base of a surreal and surprising novel. The question of whether we really feel any connection with other things, and why and if this feeling should be regulated to living things, and why that’s the way it all is runs through the whole story. Rick Deckard’s confusion over his empathy for the androids he had to retire and his lack of empathy for his artificial sheep, and his lack of empathy for Fellow bounty hunter Resch all make for a story that makes you wonder where the next twist will take you.
The story is especially pertinent to life today. We are constantly reaching out to the internet and the twitters and facebooks in search of this feeling of community in what we feel is a world devoid of real human interaction, but we really are just forming bonds with machines. We don’t have the excuse of nuclear war and radioactive dust, we only have laziness, insecurity, and an inability to deal with the immediacy of real life. Rick Deckard feels this loneliness painfully even with his wife who obviously loves him, and he seems to love back. She and all other humans seem to suffer from this feeling of disconnection, using the empathy boxes and the animals to soothe this feeling of loneliness in a slowly dying world.
I can’t help but wonder if we too are mourning a dying world. We don’t have any tools to fix this feeling, and we only come up with fixes that really push us as humans further apart.
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LibraryThing member johnnyapollo
This is the first time I've read this book since sometime in the early 80's - I "discovered" PDK then - having picked up some old Ace paperback books. I vividly remember thinking when Bladerunner came out in the theaters that the adaptation was very good. I happened on this paperback version at an
Besides some of the updating (in the book the colonies were on Mars, not distant solar systems - also part of the impetus for leaving Earth was due to radioactive dust that periodically sweeps the planet, causing genitic mutation) there were quite a few concepts missing or only hinted at in the movie version. The dust has basically killed off most of the animal life on the planet, so many creatures are extinct. Because of this animal like has become extremely precious, and most inhabitants obtain a real animal as pets that are kept on the roofs of buildings. The first animals to go extinct was the owl - which the movie gives a nod to in one scene at the Tyrell Corporation. Decker (who's first name is Rick - I don't believe he's ever called by his first name in the movie and it's used prominently in the book) had a real animal which died - to keep from being looked down upon, he has bought an electric sheep as a pretense - part of the title derives from that I think.
In the movie the Androids are fighter types as survivers for wars in distant solar systems - the book's "andies" are basically servent-class, given free to colonists as an incentive to depart. Another noticeable departure is that in the movie the planet is over-populated, while in the book most of humanity is left, so there are whole buildings in the burbs that are empty but for the "chickenheads" (derogative for genitically mutated humans that have sub-normal intelligence caused by the dust). The andies are actually more intelligent than humans but they are limited in expansiveness, having a lack of normal empathic response - the tests used in both the movie and book tests the empathic response and that's one way the andies are detected.
There's no mention of the term "Bladerunner" in the book - I didn't realize that. Also, once you read the book you understand the "chickenhead" character John Isadore (Sebastian in the movie), who was a Tyrell Corporation employee in the movie, but drove an veterinary truck (actually a front as the company he worked for fixed electronic animals in the book). As a sub-intelligent human he's easily persuaded to help the andies in the book - his character in the movie is "sick" and due to that has no friends. The motivations are similar.
One of the biggest changes was the Pris character - in the book she's the same model as Rachel so they should have looked the same. Another really major change was the religious aspect of the book - pretty much all the inhabitants worship "Mercer" - an old man who walks uphill and is hit by rocks - humans use an empathy machine to experience a mind-meld with everyone else "jacked in" as they collectively experience Mercer - this goes in-hand with other mood ehhanceing devices used in the book. Once can dial a specific number for peace, etc.
In the book Rick Deckard is married and his wife Iris figures prominently - completely left out of the movie - as is the electric sheep and later real goat that Rick buys using the proceeds of the first three andy "retirements."
Well enough about differences - what came to mind to me is how movie adaptations end up changing our memories of books, even favorite books. After watching the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies I now picture the actors in the books roles, and the plots subtley get changed to the movie version. This happens even after multiple readings before and after - I'm guessing that the mind has an easier time synthesizing video and audio input than the written word, so the imagery inscribed on our brains is easily edited by the updated multi-media input.
I think the book version is easily a good read as a stand-alone entity. If you're looking for something different it's well worth reading. Just try not to take too much baggage with you as you delve into the words - I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
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estate sale for a quarter, so I thought it would be a good time to reread. I've read some other reviews before and knew beforehand that some things had been changed - the reread was very eye opening.Besides some of the updating (in the book the colonies were on Mars, not distant solar systems - also part of the impetus for leaving Earth was due to radioactive dust that periodically sweeps the planet, causing genitic mutation) there were quite a few concepts missing or only hinted at in the movie version. The dust has basically killed off most of the animal life on the planet, so many creatures are extinct. Because of this animal like has become extremely precious, and most inhabitants obtain a real animal as pets that are kept on the roofs of buildings. The first animals to go extinct was the owl - which the movie gives a nod to in one scene at the Tyrell Corporation. Decker (who's first name is Rick - I don't believe he's ever called by his first name in the movie and it's used prominently in the book) had a real animal which died - to keep from being looked down upon, he has bought an electric sheep as a pretense - part of the title derives from that I think.
In the movie the Androids are fighter types as survivers for wars in distant solar systems - the book's "andies" are basically servent-class, given free to colonists as an incentive to depart. Another noticeable departure is that in the movie the planet is over-populated, while in the book most of humanity is left, so there are whole buildings in the burbs that are empty but for the "chickenheads" (derogative for genitically mutated humans that have sub-normal intelligence caused by the dust). The andies are actually more intelligent than humans but they are limited in expansiveness, having a lack of normal empathic response - the tests used in both the movie and book tests the empathic response and that's one way the andies are detected.
There's no mention of the term "Bladerunner" in the book - I didn't realize that. Also, once you read the book you understand the "chickenhead" character John Isadore (Sebastian in the movie), who was a Tyrell Corporation employee in the movie, but drove an veterinary truck (actually a front as the company he worked for fixed electronic animals in the book). As a sub-intelligent human he's easily persuaded to help the andies in the book - his character in the movie is "sick" and due to that has no friends. The motivations are similar.
One of the biggest changes was the Pris character - in the book she's the same model as Rachel so they should have looked the same. Another really major change was the religious aspect of the book - pretty much all the inhabitants worship "Mercer" - an old man who walks uphill and is hit by rocks - humans use an empathy machine to experience a mind-meld with everyone else "jacked in" as they collectively experience Mercer - this goes in-hand with other mood ehhanceing devices used in the book. Once can dial a specific number for peace, etc.
In the book Rick Deckard is married and his wife Iris figures prominently - completely left out of the movie - as is the electric sheep and later real goat that Rick buys using the proceeds of the first three andy "retirements."
Well enough about differences - what came to mind to me is how movie adaptations end up changing our memories of books, even favorite books. After watching the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies I now picture the actors in the books roles, and the plots subtley get changed to the movie version. This happens even after multiple readings before and after - I'm guessing that the mind has an easier time synthesizing video and audio input than the written word, so the imagery inscribed on our brains is easily edited by the updated multi-media input.
I think the book version is easily a good read as a stand-alone entity. If you're looking for something different it's well worth reading. Just try not to take too much baggage with you as you delve into the words - I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
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LibraryThing member TheCriticalTimes
Is it science fiction or literary fiction? One thing is for sure, it is a great well thought through novel and was one of the first to make science fiction both main stream and accepted as a literary form of expression.
We meet Decker a police employee who hunts Androids (Andys). It is somewhere in
As with many science fiction writers Philip K. Dick had to introduce concepts and terminology that makes his version of the future seem legitimate and real. He chose to use the ideas as needed and explain when necessary. This gives the novel a very fluid feel and sounds as if it is a contemporary work from that imaginary period. That also means that you need a strong stomach for little details that not always explained.
There are many ideas and literary inspirations from other works in this novel and it isn't difficult to see views of Orwell's 1984 as well as Camus' The Stranger. Both representing novels about existentialism and the importance of free choice and individual thought. It is tempting to compare the novel to the movie Blade Runner but the two seem so completely distinct that doing so would do a disservice to both. If there is one thing that does link the two, then it is a sense of highly stylized dystopianism, where the imaginary rendered view of the future almost seems disturbingly real.
We meet Decker a police employee who hunts Androids (Andys). It is somewhere in
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the future and most of humanity has emigrated to Mars. Earth is a mostly lifeless planet where humans pay exorbitant amounts of money to own a real animal, regardless of what kind of animal. For those who can't afford the real thing there are always better than life substitutes. Existentially confused Decker is given the assignment to retire six android of the type nexus-6, a model virtually indistinguishable from real humans. The only tell tale sign being that they exhibit less empathy towards living things. As Decker starts to hunt for the six dangerous androids he slowly loses the conviction that human means good and android means bad. He starts to see both as separate entities, each with a right to live.As with many science fiction writers Philip K. Dick had to introduce concepts and terminology that makes his version of the future seem legitimate and real. He chose to use the ideas as needed and explain when necessary. This gives the novel a very fluid feel and sounds as if it is a contemporary work from that imaginary period. That also means that you need a strong stomach for little details that not always explained.
There are many ideas and literary inspirations from other works in this novel and it isn't difficult to see views of Orwell's 1984 as well as Camus' The Stranger. Both representing novels about existentialism and the importance of free choice and individual thought. It is tempting to compare the novel to the movie Blade Runner but the two seem so completely distinct that doing so would do a disservice to both. If there is one thing that does link the two, then it is a sense of highly stylized dystopianism, where the imaginary rendered view of the future almost seems disturbingly real.
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LibraryThing member benjamin.duffy
It seems to me that a lot of science fiction writers, even well-known and popular ones, aren’t great writers. They’re great at concept and imagination, but not always that good at conveying their imaginings to the reader. One example would be Larry Niven, whose Ringworld quartet I finished a
After reading Philip K. Dick’s Adjustment Team, I was prepared to put him in the same category, as that book was built on an interesting premise, but just felt skeletal and under-written. Fortunately for me, I decided to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and see if I was wrong. I was. The book is richly written, nicely paced, and while the dialogue is slightly wooden, that actually fits well in a story where most of the characters are androids, psychopaths, or mentally retarded – it added an uneasy, off-kilter feel to character interactions that worked nicely with the atmosphere of the book. I also found the religious and philosophical aspects of the story very interesting, not to mention unique, which is pretty hard to accomplish.
I was of course very familiar with Blade Runner, the film inspired by this book, but I did my best not to let that affect my expectations. As it turns out, the book is very different in feel to the film, being desolate and post-apocalyptic rather than claustrophobic and noir-ish. There’s also a pretty heavy dose of cultural satire with a feel somewhat like Stephen King’s The Running Man or the film Robo-Cop. Except for the shared names of a lot of the characters, it would have been easy to forget the movie was even based on the book.
I highly recommend this book, whether you've seen the movie, liked it, or not. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is an intriguing, thought-provoking creature all its own.
PS - One interesting thing is that the titular electric sheep actually feature significantly in the plot. It’s not just some metaphor, as I assumed it would be. Crazy.
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couple of years ago. As captivated as I was by his world-building, I was equally frustrated by his storytelling. The pacing hitched and jerked like an old truck, racing through some parts while draaaaaaaagging through others, and the description was so vague that it was often like looking at Niven’s (presumably amazing) world through a small, dirty window.After reading Philip K. Dick’s Adjustment Team, I was prepared to put him in the same category, as that book was built on an interesting premise, but just felt skeletal and under-written. Fortunately for me, I decided to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and see if I was wrong. I was. The book is richly written, nicely paced, and while the dialogue is slightly wooden, that actually fits well in a story where most of the characters are androids, psychopaths, or mentally retarded – it added an uneasy, off-kilter feel to character interactions that worked nicely with the atmosphere of the book. I also found the religious and philosophical aspects of the story very interesting, not to mention unique, which is pretty hard to accomplish.
I was of course very familiar with Blade Runner, the film inspired by this book, but I did my best not to let that affect my expectations. As it turns out, the book is very different in feel to the film, being desolate and post-apocalyptic rather than claustrophobic and noir-ish. There’s also a pretty heavy dose of cultural satire with a feel somewhat like Stephen King’s The Running Man or the film Robo-Cop. Except for the shared names of a lot of the characters, it would have been easy to forget the movie was even based on the book.
I highly recommend this book, whether you've seen the movie, liked it, or not. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is an intriguing, thought-provoking creature all its own.
PS - One interesting thing is that the titular electric sheep actually feature significantly in the plot. It’s not just some metaphor, as I assumed it would be. Crazy.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
This was such a sad book, much more so than the film "Blade Runner".
In the aftermath of a global wars, the earth is devastated and contaminated with radioactive dust, and there are virtually no animals life left living in the wild. Most of the survivors have emigrated, while those who are left
At the end, when Deckard even admitted that the androids were actually alive, and it was only legally that they weren't, I started to wonder if it was only their very short lives and lack of a childhood that meant that they never had a chance to develop empathy and become fully human.
There were many confusing things in this book:
I found myself wondering why the bounty hunters needed to do the empathy tests on suspected androids, since they are described as exuding coldness and emptiness, and even a chickenhead like J R Isidore can tell almost immediately that there is something wrong with them.
Rachael said that no bounty hunter except Resch had ever carried on retiring androids after being with her, but how could this happen without the authorities noticing the correlation between visits to the Nexus Corporation and bounty hunter resignations/nervous breakdowns? And if she was only a couple of years old, how many bounty hunters would she have met in that time anyway?
Also, since Resch was a human, how come he didn't realise that the police station where he worked was a fake police station run entirely by androids and acting as a kind of safe house for them? I mean he had even suspected that his boss and Polokov were androids, but kept on working there anyway - that really didn't make sense. And if the fake police station was set up to protect androids, why did they employ a human bounty hunter anyway? Did he ever get sent out to retire anyone? Maybe an android who wasn't discreet enough, and was putting the rest of the androids at risk?
As for the Mercer machine, its users can't have been fusing with Mercer himself, as he was an actor playing a role, and wasn't suffering at all. So I guess the machine gave them access to a fake 'emotion track' (I mean sort of like a sound track) along with the visuals, since the book did describe them as feeling Mercer's pain, as well as the emotions of the other people using the machine at that moment. I tend to think that the injuries suffered were psychosomatic, like stigmata, due to everyone using the machine at that time being in communion with each other and amplifying Mercer's pain.
It was strange as well, that the Mercer machine encouraged empathy and the sharing of your happiness with other people, while the Mood machine was all about totally fake emotions.
In the aftermath of a global wars, the earth is devastated and contaminated with radioactive dust, and there are virtually no animals life left living in the wild. Most of the survivors have emigrated, while those who are left
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dial positive moods on the mood machines to get themselves through the day and prevent themselves sinking in to an all-consuming depression. It is extremely moving how much care is lavished on the few surviving animals (and even on the electric fakes), with everyone carrying specimen jars around in case they find a spider or insect.At the end, when Deckard even admitted that the androids were actually alive, and it was only legally that they weren't, I started to wonder if it was only their very short lives and lack of a childhood that meant that they never had a chance to develop empathy and become fully human.
There were many confusing things in this book:
I found myself wondering why the bounty hunters needed to do the empathy tests on suspected androids, since they are described as exuding coldness and emptiness, and even a chickenhead like J R Isidore can tell almost immediately that there is something wrong with them.
Rachael said that no bounty hunter except Resch had ever carried on retiring androids after being with her, but how could this happen without the authorities noticing the correlation between visits to the Nexus Corporation and bounty hunter resignations/nervous breakdowns? And if she was only a couple of years old, how many bounty hunters would she have met in that time anyway?
Also, since Resch was a human, how come he didn't realise that the police station where he worked was a fake police station run entirely by androids and acting as a kind of safe house for them? I mean he had even suspected that his boss and Polokov were androids, but kept on working there anyway - that really didn't make sense. And if the fake police station was set up to protect androids, why did they employ a human bounty hunter anyway? Did he ever get sent out to retire anyone? Maybe an android who wasn't discreet enough, and was putting the rest of the androids at risk?
As for the Mercer machine, its users can't have been fusing with Mercer himself, as he was an actor playing a role, and wasn't suffering at all. So I guess the machine gave them access to a fake 'emotion track' (I mean sort of like a sound track) along with the visuals, since the book did describe them as feeling Mercer's pain, as well as the emotions of the other people using the machine at that moment. I tend to think that the injuries suffered were psychosomatic, like stigmata, due to everyone using the machine at that time being in communion with each other and amplifying Mercer's pain.
It was strange as well, that the Mercer machine encouraged empathy and the sharing of your happiness with other people, while the Mood machine was all about totally fake emotions.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
Following a devastating nuclear war, the earth has begun to be emptied of life. Many died in the blasts from the bomb, while others died as the poisonous began to drift over the surface of the planet. Those left behind made the choice to either evacuate the earth, journeying to colonies on Mars and
Rick Deckard feels lost and hopeless when his pet sheep dies. The artificial replacement, though nearly exact in its duplication and requiring the same amount of care, leaves him feeling empty. His one hope is to "retire" enough androids to be able to purchase a new animal. As a bounty hunter, it is his job to hunt down androids who have fled the off-planet colonies and try to gain freedom by passing as humans on earth. The new series of Nexus 6 androids are the hardest to spot and hunting them may cost him his life.
The mystery and the threat of the androids, the noir-ish tone, and the fabulous writing launched me into the story from page one. I could have read it in one sitting if my time had allowed me.
More than the realistic array of characters and the well plotted story, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is also deeply layered, with its biggest question being, What makes a human human? If an android is indistinguishable from a living, breathing human, then what is the point of being human? And all the while your questions what is real and what is manufactured, you begin to wonder does it matter what is real?
The book provides no solid answers. The book tricks you several times, reality seeming to effectively slip, the ground unsettled -- as it should be for a world slowly fading out. I often cared as much for the androids as I did for the humans in this story and often found my loyalties lying with both humans and androids.
I closed the final page with a smile on my face and the desire to just sit and think for a while. Then I wanted to immediately read the book again.
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other planets with the promise of highly engineered androids to help them and keep them company, or to stay on the dying earth with the risk of being changed by the irradiated dust. People on earth, terrified of the loneliness, cluster together into cities and prize above all the ability to keep live animals as pets. Rick Deckard feels lost and hopeless when his pet sheep dies. The artificial replacement, though nearly exact in its duplication and requiring the same amount of care, leaves him feeling empty. His one hope is to "retire" enough androids to be able to purchase a new animal. As a bounty hunter, it is his job to hunt down androids who have fled the off-planet colonies and try to gain freedom by passing as humans on earth. The new series of Nexus 6 androids are the hardest to spot and hunting them may cost him his life.
The mystery and the threat of the androids, the noir-ish tone, and the fabulous writing launched me into the story from page one. I could have read it in one sitting if my time had allowed me.
More than the realistic array of characters and the well plotted story, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is also deeply layered, with its biggest question being, What makes a human human? If an android is indistinguishable from a living, breathing human, then what is the point of being human? And all the while your questions what is real and what is manufactured, you begin to wonder does it matter what is real?
The book provides no solid answers. The book tricks you several times, reality seeming to effectively slip, the ground unsettled -- as it should be for a world slowly fading out. I often cared as much for the androids as I did for the humans in this story and often found my loyalties lying with both humans and androids.
I closed the final page with a smile on my face and the desire to just sit and think for a while. Then I wanted to immediately read the book again.
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LibraryThing member ctpress
The movie Blade Runner is loosely based on Do Androids.. We are on earth after a nuclear disaster where most people have escaped to other planets. The bounty hunter Rick Deckard is out to find and "retire" six fugitive androids passing for humans. This chase is exciting - and as they are so
This idea should really be enough to hold ones attention and explore interesting ideas. But other things are thrown in - the idea of an artificial reality game called Mercerism - treated by many as a religion - this was very confusing and irritating - also the whole idea about people obsessed with having a real pet-animal in stead of artificial ones…..a goat on a roof-top? it was comical, difficult to take serious.
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identical to humans the novel cleverly plays with the idea of what is real and unreal/artificial. Deckard even starts to question his own identity and if he's placed in a real world or a game. This idea should really be enough to hold ones attention and explore interesting ideas. But other things are thrown in - the idea of an artificial reality game called Mercerism - treated by many as a religion - this was very confusing and irritating - also the whole idea about people obsessed with having a real pet-animal in stead of artificial ones…..a goat on a roof-top? it was comical, difficult to take serious.
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LibraryThing member ko106
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick is a novel that challenges our society in a variety of ways. The story takes place in a post-modern world where Earth is covered in dust and disease and most of its inhabitants have emigrated to Mars. But there are still many individuals
One big analogy in Dick’s “Androids” is the concept of the “Hero’s Journey.” The hero’s journey describes the different events that the protagonist of a story must face before achieving his or her goal. Dick follows this form of writing when describing Rick’s struggle for a definition to his life. Rick is a bounty hunter and must kill androids that act as humans and pose as a threat to society. But one big issue with Rick is the idea of killing and retiring. After a while, Rick starts to sympathize for the androids, which is the biggest problem he must face. He is on his “road of trials” and this all starts when he realizes that he has feelings toward an android named Rachel Rosen and she inevitably hurts him in the end. Dick uses Rachel as the temptress along with many other direct connections to the whole concept of the hero. Many men and women set their mind to certain goals they have but when something comes in the way, it’s hard to jump back up. People will always try to tear you down, just as Rachel does, but it is up to the individual how they will end up. It’s hard to feel significant in a world filled with millions of people and Dick uses Rick to symbolize the journey many individuals must face in order to give meaning to their lives.
Continually, Isidore, another character in Dick’s novel, repeatedly talks about the “Kipple” that has taken over the Earth and all of its surroundings. The kipple is described to be all the objects and belongings that were left over from the people who emigrated to Mars. Through further reading, it is easy to relate the kipple to all of the material objects that fill our current lives. Our society is so hung up on materialism and always having the newest thing. Whether it’s a new purse, a new car, sometimes even a new house, we constantly want more and more. And after a while, that pile of unnecessary objects starts to grow and begins to take control of our lives. Dick uses the kipple to show how we need to start to let go of our belongings and realize how insignificant they truly are. Whether or not it’s a real or psychological need, we still find the desire to fill the holes we have with useless objects and the things we value will start to turn into trash very quickly. In addition, the real and electric animals in the novel also prove to be very symbolic. Owning a real animal gives you status and shows your wealth, so some people own electric animals to give the persona that they have money. Many men and women in today’s society will do almost anything to seem rich. We are all so caught up with class and hierarchy that we forget about things that truly matter.
Another reoccurring theme in “Androids” is the constant need for connection and the idea of being alone. In a world where humans are inferior, Rick and the other characters in the novel need to rely on the empathy box to feel true and real emotion. It is the only thing that connects everyone together. Facebook would be a real life example of the empathy box because it is what links most of our world to one another. People believe they have a moral obligation to express their emotions to their peers and continuously update everyone on their lives. Facebook is our society’s solution to loneliness because without it, people may never really connect. Isidore, specifically, is scared of being alone so when he meets Pris and the Baty’s he believes it is fate. This is the first time in his life following World War Terminus that he hasn’t been alone and even though the androids could ultimately kill him, he could care less. This shows how people can be so wrapped into feeling secure and feeling connected that they aren’t concerned with whom they are connected to. So Facebook, the modern empathy box, has both positives and negatives. The positive is that it really does help people to keep in touch with one another, but negative in the sense that it is all people rely on to give them happiness at the end of the day.
All in all, I do believe that Dick does a great job at relating “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” to our modern society. We are all caught up with feeling significant as well as material goods that we don’t realize all the good that is in our lives. And even though the text itself is not post-modern, it talks about post-modern times very accurately and effectively.
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living on Earth, both humans and androids. The story starts off very confusing and left wide open to interpretation, but Dick quickly changes the mood and starts to analyze various post-modern ideals through the text. As the story of Rick Deckard, the “hero” of the novel, goes on, readers’ quickly identify certain symbols that directly compare and relate to our present world. One big analogy in Dick’s “Androids” is the concept of the “Hero’s Journey.” The hero’s journey describes the different events that the protagonist of a story must face before achieving his or her goal. Dick follows this form of writing when describing Rick’s struggle for a definition to his life. Rick is a bounty hunter and must kill androids that act as humans and pose as a threat to society. But one big issue with Rick is the idea of killing and retiring. After a while, Rick starts to sympathize for the androids, which is the biggest problem he must face. He is on his “road of trials” and this all starts when he realizes that he has feelings toward an android named Rachel Rosen and she inevitably hurts him in the end. Dick uses Rachel as the temptress along with many other direct connections to the whole concept of the hero. Many men and women set their mind to certain goals they have but when something comes in the way, it’s hard to jump back up. People will always try to tear you down, just as Rachel does, but it is up to the individual how they will end up. It’s hard to feel significant in a world filled with millions of people and Dick uses Rick to symbolize the journey many individuals must face in order to give meaning to their lives.
Continually, Isidore, another character in Dick’s novel, repeatedly talks about the “Kipple” that has taken over the Earth and all of its surroundings. The kipple is described to be all the objects and belongings that were left over from the people who emigrated to Mars. Through further reading, it is easy to relate the kipple to all of the material objects that fill our current lives. Our society is so hung up on materialism and always having the newest thing. Whether it’s a new purse, a new car, sometimes even a new house, we constantly want more and more. And after a while, that pile of unnecessary objects starts to grow and begins to take control of our lives. Dick uses the kipple to show how we need to start to let go of our belongings and realize how insignificant they truly are. Whether or not it’s a real or psychological need, we still find the desire to fill the holes we have with useless objects and the things we value will start to turn into trash very quickly. In addition, the real and electric animals in the novel also prove to be very symbolic. Owning a real animal gives you status and shows your wealth, so some people own electric animals to give the persona that they have money. Many men and women in today’s society will do almost anything to seem rich. We are all so caught up with class and hierarchy that we forget about things that truly matter.
Another reoccurring theme in “Androids” is the constant need for connection and the idea of being alone. In a world where humans are inferior, Rick and the other characters in the novel need to rely on the empathy box to feel true and real emotion. It is the only thing that connects everyone together. Facebook would be a real life example of the empathy box because it is what links most of our world to one another. People believe they have a moral obligation to express their emotions to their peers and continuously update everyone on their lives. Facebook is our society’s solution to loneliness because without it, people may never really connect. Isidore, specifically, is scared of being alone so when he meets Pris and the Baty’s he believes it is fate. This is the first time in his life following World War Terminus that he hasn’t been alone and even though the androids could ultimately kill him, he could care less. This shows how people can be so wrapped into feeling secure and feeling connected that they aren’t concerned with whom they are connected to. So Facebook, the modern empathy box, has both positives and negatives. The positive is that it really does help people to keep in touch with one another, but negative in the sense that it is all people rely on to give them happiness at the end of the day.
All in all, I do believe that Dick does a great job at relating “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” to our modern society. We are all caught up with feeling significant as well as material goods that we don’t realize all the good that is in our lives. And even though the text itself is not post-modern, it talks about post-modern times very accurately and effectively.
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LibraryThing member ed.pendragon
What can this reader say about this novel that hasn't been said before, and better? Rather than a closely argued review, this overview will be about impressions, rather like the 2007 Gollancz cover picture which, to my chagrin, I didn't realise was a colour dot-matrix image of a sheep till it
First, what this book isn't. It's not 'Blade Runner', however much I tried to accommodate the film's images to the text, and however much I tried to second-guess the way the book's narrative was heading. The film is claustrophobic, the post-apocalyptic cityscape teeming with multitudes on the streets (despite the empty voids of buildings lining them). The novel on the other hand contains a short dramatis personae, and you are hardly, if ever, aware of anyone much else in the polluted environment that Deckard inhabits. And of course the Final Cut of the film implies Deckard is a replicant, whereas the novel comes down firmly in favour of his flawed but real humanity. In many ways this is a mirror image of the theme found in 'Frankenstein' and a reflection of the final voyage in 'Gulliver's Travels'--it may be possible to create or find organisms that are simulacra of perfect, noble-minded human beings, but it seems impossible to cross over the divide of Otherness.
More impressions: Dick is a wordsmith and well-read with it (so, unlikely as it may seem in a future dystopia, are his characters), and that introduces a complexity that simple analysis along the lines of "This book is about..." will simply not start to unravel meaningfully. So I try to let the images that he does implant in my brain work their insiduous magic over time: images like the andy toad in the desert, the Mercer empathy machines, Rachael killing Deckard's animal purchase.
And this, I think, is my final impression. To analyse 'Do androids dream...' may be like taking a creature and by dissecting it on a bench effectively end up killing it. Whether artificial or real, I'm not sure that retiring it is the right way to appreciate it. That's a cop-out, I know, but there you are.
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appeared as a thumbnail on LibraryThing. A case, I suppose, of being too close to it in the first place. Anyway, I've learnt my lesson, and have waited awhile before committing interim thoughts to electronic page. First, what this book isn't. It's not 'Blade Runner', however much I tried to accommodate the film's images to the text, and however much I tried to second-guess the way the book's narrative was heading. The film is claustrophobic, the post-apocalyptic cityscape teeming with multitudes on the streets (despite the empty voids of buildings lining them). The novel on the other hand contains a short dramatis personae, and you are hardly, if ever, aware of anyone much else in the polluted environment that Deckard inhabits. And of course the Final Cut of the film implies Deckard is a replicant, whereas the novel comes down firmly in favour of his flawed but real humanity. In many ways this is a mirror image of the theme found in 'Frankenstein' and a reflection of the final voyage in 'Gulliver's Travels'--it may be possible to create or find organisms that are simulacra of perfect, noble-minded human beings, but it seems impossible to cross over the divide of Otherness.
More impressions: Dick is a wordsmith and well-read with it (so, unlikely as it may seem in a future dystopia, are his characters), and that introduces a complexity that simple analysis along the lines of "This book is about..." will simply not start to unravel meaningfully. So I try to let the images that he does implant in my brain work their insiduous magic over time: images like the andy toad in the desert, the Mercer empathy machines, Rachael killing Deckard's animal purchase.
And this, I think, is my final impression. To analyse 'Do androids dream...' may be like taking a creature and by dissecting it on a bench effectively end up killing it. Whether artificial or real, I'm not sure that retiring it is the right way to appreciate it. That's a cop-out, I know, but there you are.
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LibraryThing member clark.hallman
I have intended to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Philip K. Dick, since it was first published in 1968 and I finally got to it in 2011. The story unfolds after a nuclear war (“World War Terminus”) and Earth has become a difficult and very unhealthy place to live. The majority of
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Earth’s population has emigrated to Mars. Those humans who don’t qualify for emigration to Mars, or don’t want to emigrate, are not expected to live long or well. As an incentive, those emigrating to Mars are given androids that look and act like humans, to serve them. The book deals with several very interesting ethical and moral issues. Some androids choose to return to Earth and blend into the population even though they are not legal of welcome on Earth. It is very difficult to differentiate an android from a human being. They look and behave like human beings and display the ability to think, form attachments to each other and humans, and they have wishes and desires. However, bounty hunters, who work for the police, hunt these rogue androids down and “retire” them. Another interesting aspect of the book deals with a subclass of humans (often called “chickenheads”) who have been adversely affected by the radioactive and poisonous environment on Earth. They are treated very badly by most humans and forced to live an alienated, lonely life. In addition, very few animals survived the war, making ownership of animals a very desirable and expensive status symbol. Those who cannot afford live animals, often purchase “electric” animals that look and behave like real animals, but are much less costly than the real thing. The book focuses on the life of one bounty hunter, a group of androids that he pursues, and a “chickenhead” who becomes acquainted with the androids. In addition to an interesting description of the society and environment, Dick provides satisfying action and emotion. I did not perceive the story to be outdated in any way. It is still a very interesting and fun book, which I enjoyed very much. Even if you have seen the movie, Blade Runner (which is based on this book) I still recommend that you read the book! Show Less
LibraryThing member kittyjay
Philip K. Dick is the science fiction writer for people who don’t like science fiction. While I enjoy some of the genre, I do tend to shy away from the hard sci-fi that Asimov and Niven prefer (NB: They are brilliant authors, just not my taste). Philip K. Dick, on the other hand, finds that
Almost anyone who likes 80s movies will recognize the plot of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, due to its famous adaptation into the science-fiction thriller, Blade Runner. The main character, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter who tracks down androids who are attempting to pass as human, and “retires” them. As he tracks down the latest batch, a group of androids who are so life-like he has a hard time distinguishing them from real humans, he begins to struggle with his career and a femme fatale named Rachael.
There was something very special about this era of science-fiction. Earlier science fiction was too enamored with the gadgets and gizmos of what the future would look like, and later science fiction prides itself too much on being Very Clever, but for a brief period, sci-fi struck a balance between machines and man, philosophy and gadgetry. There’s something very special about that. You could, of course, read this as an action-packed, thrilling ride with shades of film noir. Or you could read about it and ask yourself what it means to be human – does it really boil down to an empathy test? Does the will to survive make you human? Where is the line between human and android when the two are nearly indistinguishable? Even Deckard admits that he has to think of his job as “retiring” androids, because otherwise it feels too much like murder (4). And yet, there’s something absolutely chilling in one of the scenes, where a group of androids begin to torture a spider. It is so much worse than if they took pleasure in its pain; instead, they are cold and calculating and absolutely terrifying.
Philip K. Dick has a unique style of writing that is hard to place. The foreword to my copy struggles with it as well: “…one of the marks of Philip Dick’s mastery lies in the tone of his work. He is possessed of a sense of humour for which I am unable to locate an appropriate adjective. Wry, grotesque, slapstick, satirical, ironic … None of them quite fits to the point of generality, though all may be found without looking too far” (viii).
As a master of the genre, Philip K. Dick shines, and nowhere is the unique mixture of action, futurism, pathos, and philosophy on display than in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
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perfect balance between humanity and science that I love.Almost anyone who likes 80s movies will recognize the plot of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, due to its famous adaptation into the science-fiction thriller, Blade Runner. The main character, Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter who tracks down androids who are attempting to pass as human, and “retires” them. As he tracks down the latest batch, a group of androids who are so life-like he has a hard time distinguishing them from real humans, he begins to struggle with his career and a femme fatale named Rachael.
There was something very special about this era of science-fiction. Earlier science fiction was too enamored with the gadgets and gizmos of what the future would look like, and later science fiction prides itself too much on being Very Clever, but for a brief period, sci-fi struck a balance between machines and man, philosophy and gadgetry. There’s something very special about that. You could, of course, read this as an action-packed, thrilling ride with shades of film noir. Or you could read about it and ask yourself what it means to be human – does it really boil down to an empathy test? Does the will to survive make you human? Where is the line between human and android when the two are nearly indistinguishable? Even Deckard admits that he has to think of his job as “retiring” androids, because otherwise it feels too much like murder (4). And yet, there’s something absolutely chilling in one of the scenes, where a group of androids begin to torture a spider. It is so much worse than if they took pleasure in its pain; instead, they are cold and calculating and absolutely terrifying.
Philip K. Dick has a unique style of writing that is hard to place. The foreword to my copy struggles with it as well: “…one of the marks of Philip Dick’s mastery lies in the tone of his work. He is possessed of a sense of humour for which I am unable to locate an appropriate adjective. Wry, grotesque, slapstick, satirical, ironic … None of them quite fits to the point of generality, though all may be found without looking too far” (viii).
As a master of the genre, Philip K. Dick shines, and nowhere is the unique mixture of action, futurism, pathos, and philosophy on display than in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
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LibraryThing member ConnieJo
I'd never read any Dick before, and was told this was a good place to start. After being told for years that the movie adaptations are nothing like his books, I found I recognized standard Dick themes pretty easily, the most prominent here being the questioning of reality and belief systems.
I felt
People keep animals as part of Mercerism, which tries to teach empathy to humans and is one of the things that sets them apart from androids. Still. Rick Deckard thinks about animals A LOT.
I got excited when the conclusion to the android hunt rolled around, but the actual finish of the book is a lengthy discussion of Deckard's new animal and a fortuitous animal find out in the wilds.
ANIMALS.
In fact, I would say the least faithful thing about the Blade Runner adaptation is that they aren't constantly talking about animals.
I felt
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like... this book was bizarrely obsessed with animals. I wasn't expecting that. It begins with Deckard discussing Percherons with his neighbor, then they talk about his electric sheep at length. He leaves for work, stops at a pet shop to oogle an ostrich, then makes inquiries about the ostrich and an electric version when he gets to work. When he goes to his first job, he discusses raccoons and owls extensively with his client. This is just the beginning of the book. The well-thumbed "Sidney's" animal guide comes out constantly, and at one point he considers busting someone for having an early copy.People keep animals as part of Mercerism, which tries to teach empathy to humans and is one of the things that sets them apart from androids. Still. Rick Deckard thinks about animals A LOT.
I got excited when the conclusion to the android hunt rolled around, but the actual finish of the book is a lengthy discussion of Deckard's new animal and a fortuitous animal find out in the wilds.
ANIMALS.
In fact, I would say the least faithful thing about the Blade Runner adaptation is that they aren't constantly talking about animals.
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LibraryThing member regularguy5mb
My second time reading Do Androids Dream, and I love it just as much as I did the first time. This particular reading came after a session of watching all five versions of Blade Runner from the 2007 DVD box set release. I realized that it had been quite a while since I'd read the novel, and that
Firstly, if you're a fan of the movie thinking of reading the book, please note that there is a huge difference between the two. The book is much more cerebral and reserved in its delivery. The whole market of artificial animals, just a blip of a plot point in the movie, is a major element to the book. Also, important features from the novel left entirely out of the movie include Mercerism (the major religion practiced in the book) and the mood organ (people have reached a point where they can't handle their natural moods, so they stimulate them artificially to get through the day).
The book addresses the issue of humans and androids being with or without empathy in a much more in-depth way, with Deckard quitting multiple times in the story because he doesn't feel like he can go on "killing" androids anymore, even if he does really need the money.
The nature of reality is called into question within the book as well. Deckard is accused of being an android himself and taken to a police station he has never heard of, faced with other bounty hunters he should know, but doesn't. Even when he attempts to call his wife he faces a stranger on the Vidphone, making him question his very sanity, as well as his identity. If Ridley Scott really wanted to leave the viewer of the film with a question about Deckard's humanity, I feel this moment was vital for inclusion.
Philip K. Dick was a visionary. He wrote science fiction stories with everyman main characters experiencing every day problems with home, work, and life. The average problem for a Philip K. Dick character might involve keeping his wife from dialing a depression on the mood organ or feeling sorry for himself when he looks at his electric sheep, but it is easy to correlate these issues with those faced by anyone and everyone.
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I'd forgotten certain elements, figured it was finally time for another visit with one of my favorite authors.Firstly, if you're a fan of the movie thinking of reading the book, please note that there is a huge difference between the two. The book is much more cerebral and reserved in its delivery. The whole market of artificial animals, just a blip of a plot point in the movie, is a major element to the book. Also, important features from the novel left entirely out of the movie include Mercerism (the major religion practiced in the book) and the mood organ (people have reached a point where they can't handle their natural moods, so they stimulate them artificially to get through the day).
The book addresses the issue of humans and androids being with or without empathy in a much more in-depth way, with Deckard quitting multiple times in the story because he doesn't feel like he can go on "killing" androids anymore, even if he does really need the money.
The nature of reality is called into question within the book as well. Deckard is accused of being an android himself and taken to a police station he has never heard of, faced with other bounty hunters he should know, but doesn't. Even when he attempts to call his wife he faces a stranger on the Vidphone, making him question his very sanity, as well as his identity. If Ridley Scott really wanted to leave the viewer of the film with a question about Deckard's humanity, I feel this moment was vital for inclusion.
Philip K. Dick was a visionary. He wrote science fiction stories with everyman main characters experiencing every day problems with home, work, and life. The average problem for a Philip K. Dick character might involve keeping his wife from dialing a depression on the mood organ or feeling sorry for himself when he looks at his electric sheep, but it is easy to correlate these issues with those faced by anyone and everyone.
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LibraryThing member LARA335
I haven't seen 'Blade Runner' so came to this without any preconceptions, just intrigued by the weird title. And I don't think androids do. And this is why I really liked this novel- it raised so many questions, leaving me to use my imagination to fill in the many blanks. It jumped in with the
It takes courage and confidence for a writer not to give all the info, and left me
much to think about regarding the purpose of religion, status, the point of empathy and the importance of all the living things we share this planet with.
Must dig out the film...
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action without explaining itself, giving a back-story. I wanted to know why the 'war' happened, and what life was like on Mars, and why did humans stay there but some androids wanted to come back to earth, and, and, and...It takes courage and confidence for a writer not to give all the info, and left me
much to think about regarding the purpose of religion, status, the point of empathy and the importance of all the living things we share this planet with.
Must dig out the film...
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LibraryThing member Laurenwuvsu01
Lauren M
September 30, 2010
Writing About Literature
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Review
The “cool smile” intertwines the different elements that formulate the multiple concepts derived by Baudrillard. The “cool smile” ties together the other four areas of Baudrillards ideas which result
The “cool smile” acts as more than the traditional symbol of happiness within present day society. The “cool smile” represents a division of increased separation between the perceived self, and the true self. The consumer lifestyle makes products readily available, even items such as homes or crops can be easily attained at any moment. Therefore human worth transforms from true identity, to which man or woman can acquire the greatest amount of seemingly valuable items. Life necessities become reliant upon social status and wealth. As people move towards a materialistic world, the “cool smile” starts to become more prevalent. The “cool smile” shields the true self, and as a result projects an idealized self, based on pursuit of social status. Eventually the perceived self consumes the true self, and the question no longer remains “who do I want to be?”, but “What is real and what is true?”. Androids within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” act as the human projection of an idealized self or the “cool smile”, while humanbeings represent the true self. The problem arises when the artificial self masks the true self, and the “cool smile” becomes the only conscious constraint on society’s actions. Throughout “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, Rick consistently finds himself being challenged to decipher between real human beings, and the new Nexus-6 android. Amanda Werner serves as a prime example of the demanding physical expectations society holds over women, which forces women to create a “cool smile” to derive confidence. When Deckard convinces Rachel to fly to San Francisco he makes a comment regarding Amanda’s artificial beauty, “I like her; I could watch her the rest of my life. She has breasts that smile” (183), Amanda represents the “cool smile”, she represents the idealized “beautiful” woman. Dick conveys Baudrillard’s ideas through Amanda by portraying her as an Android, to illustrate the artificial foundation of humankind. Deckard could watch Buster Friendly’s show for the ‘rest of my life’, because of Amanda’s projected appearance, not because of the message the television show conveys, but the portion of the show that detaches from reality—an android. In addition, the “cool smile” represents a loss of history through the creation of androids. Colonization of mars depicts humankind’s loss of affiliation with earth and any former establishments made on earth. During the twentieth century and afore, slavery resided on each continent with the exception of Antarctica, and although slavery does still exist in some countries, the majority of countries frown upon slavery and have abolished this inhumane act. However on mars each immigrant essentially receives a slave or an android which depicts a loss of history and repetition of past mistakes. The “cool smile” feeds into the basis of the simulacra because the simulacra represents destruction of culture, and the loss of self worth based on merit as opposed to wealth. The novel also embodies some portions of the Holocaust. Isadore cannot emigrate to mars because he holds the title of being “special”, during the Holocaust the first people to be annihilated were the handicapped due to misconceptions that the handicapped held little worth or use. Therefore the colony on mars denied Isadore acceptance because the state did not receive his true self well. Therefore Isadore longs for a live animal to increase his self worth because the rest of society believes in worth as a measure of wealth. Mars also reflects the “cool smile” because Mars identifies with the natsi regime, a form of corruption, therefore Dick conveys that materialism corrupts honest societies, by feeding on each individuals desire to buy.
Animals within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” represent the wealth and status that create the necessity for the “cool smile”. Deckard’s wife clearly exemplifies superficial happiness through animal status. Deckard bring’s home a real goat, Iran states, “it certainly does cure my depression. Now we can admit to everybody that the sheep’s false”, she continues on saying, “See now we have nothing to hide; what we’ve always wanted has come true. It’s a dream” (172). Iran based her whole self worth on status and acquired a false sense of security through owning a goat. Iran puts on the “cool smile” when she gets the goat because she feeds into the manipulative materialistic world that everyone else follows. Iran succumbed to her depression, caused by materialism, however now she has the opportunity to project her “cool smile”, and takes the initiative to do so.
The “cool smile” reveals the ways with which society moves away from a natural lifestyle.Objects within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” such as the mood organ, fake animals, and androids create the simulacra of the human world. Baudrillard and Dick foreshadow a world faced with destruction, where the only plausible result from this destruction will be a world where nothing can possibly live—where only androids or fake animals become more dominant than the original.
September 30, 2010
Writing About Literature
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Review
The “cool smile” intertwines the different elements that formulate the multiple concepts derived by Baudrillard. The “cool smile” ties together the other four areas of Baudrillards ideas which result
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from a loss of history, an increase in mediation influence, proliferation of kitsch, and the development of a consumer society. The “cool smile” plays a crucial thematic role in conveying the underlying ideas of the simulacra throughout “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Androids, and the mood organ utilize Baudrillards idea of the “cool smile” to reveal the artificial culture behind humankind and the future that awaits a consumer market. The “cool smile” acts as more than the traditional symbol of happiness within present day society. The “cool smile” represents a division of increased separation between the perceived self, and the true self. The consumer lifestyle makes products readily available, even items such as homes or crops can be easily attained at any moment. Therefore human worth transforms from true identity, to which man or woman can acquire the greatest amount of seemingly valuable items. Life necessities become reliant upon social status and wealth. As people move towards a materialistic world, the “cool smile” starts to become more prevalent. The “cool smile” shields the true self, and as a result projects an idealized self, based on pursuit of social status. Eventually the perceived self consumes the true self, and the question no longer remains “who do I want to be?”, but “What is real and what is true?”. Androids within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” act as the human projection of an idealized self or the “cool smile”, while humanbeings represent the true self. The problem arises when the artificial self masks the true self, and the “cool smile” becomes the only conscious constraint on society’s actions. Throughout “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, Rick consistently finds himself being challenged to decipher between real human beings, and the new Nexus-6 android. Amanda Werner serves as a prime example of the demanding physical expectations society holds over women, which forces women to create a “cool smile” to derive confidence. When Deckard convinces Rachel to fly to San Francisco he makes a comment regarding Amanda’s artificial beauty, “I like her; I could watch her the rest of my life. She has breasts that smile” (183), Amanda represents the “cool smile”, she represents the idealized “beautiful” woman. Dick conveys Baudrillard’s ideas through Amanda by portraying her as an Android, to illustrate the artificial foundation of humankind. Deckard could watch Buster Friendly’s show for the ‘rest of my life’, because of Amanda’s projected appearance, not because of the message the television show conveys, but the portion of the show that detaches from reality—an android. In addition, the “cool smile” represents a loss of history through the creation of androids. Colonization of mars depicts humankind’s loss of affiliation with earth and any former establishments made on earth. During the twentieth century and afore, slavery resided on each continent with the exception of Antarctica, and although slavery does still exist in some countries, the majority of countries frown upon slavery and have abolished this inhumane act. However on mars each immigrant essentially receives a slave or an android which depicts a loss of history and repetition of past mistakes. The “cool smile” feeds into the basis of the simulacra because the simulacra represents destruction of culture, and the loss of self worth based on merit as opposed to wealth. The novel also embodies some portions of the Holocaust. Isadore cannot emigrate to mars because he holds the title of being “special”, during the Holocaust the first people to be annihilated were the handicapped due to misconceptions that the handicapped held little worth or use. Therefore the colony on mars denied Isadore acceptance because the state did not receive his true self well. Therefore Isadore longs for a live animal to increase his self worth because the rest of society believes in worth as a measure of wealth. Mars also reflects the “cool smile” because Mars identifies with the natsi regime, a form of corruption, therefore Dick conveys that materialism corrupts honest societies, by feeding on each individuals desire to buy.
Animals within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” represent the wealth and status that create the necessity for the “cool smile”. Deckard’s wife clearly exemplifies superficial happiness through animal status. Deckard bring’s home a real goat, Iran states, “it certainly does cure my depression. Now we can admit to everybody that the sheep’s false”, she continues on saying, “See now we have nothing to hide; what we’ve always wanted has come true. It’s a dream” (172). Iran based her whole self worth on status and acquired a false sense of security through owning a goat. Iran puts on the “cool smile” when she gets the goat because she feeds into the manipulative materialistic world that everyone else follows. Iran succumbed to her depression, caused by materialism, however now she has the opportunity to project her “cool smile”, and takes the initiative to do so.
The “cool smile” reveals the ways with which society moves away from a natural lifestyle.Objects within “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” such as the mood organ, fake animals, and androids create the simulacra of the human world. Baudrillard and Dick foreshadow a world faced with destruction, where the only plausible result from this destruction will be a world where nothing can possibly live—where only androids or fake animals become more dominant than the original.
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LibraryThing member eas7788
Wow, did not like this. How can a prescient sci fi writer be so unimaginative about women and gender, and about race (and any other differences)? There are interesting elements like the idea of authenticity, the role of animals, what makes a human a human. But the plot drags and the characters are
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flat. An interesting premise is not enough. I read it to see how it connects to the movie, and I see how they got from one to the other. When so much of a book is discarded, it's a bad sign for the book. Don't feel like I want to read any more Dick. Show Less
LibraryThing member ClosetWryter
This is the book that started the classic movie "Blade Runner" with Harrison Ford and its two distinct endings.
LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reactions to re-reading this novel in 1999. Spoilers follow.
I appreciated, as I almost always do, Dick's black humor and skillful characterization and dialogue I was still affected by the scene where Isidore tries to repair an ailing cat he mistakes for an android, and where Roy Batty tortures a
I always liked this novel but appreciated it more this time and realized it does make a point and decision about its moral quandaries.
I appreciated, as I almost always do, Dick's black humor and skillful characterization and dialogue I was still affected by the scene where Isidore tries to repair an ailing cat he mistakes for an android, and where Roy Batty tortures a
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spider (Baty’s casual cruelty was more noticeable on re-reading and, the first time, I missed his mystical preoccupations). This time around more of a sense of desperation, loneliness, and despair came through. Deckard just wants (like Isidore) to make a connection with something. When his wife (their fights over the mood organ settings are hilarious) is unavailable, he seeks sex and companionship with android Rachael. Isidore knows Pris is an android, but doesn’t care. She is close enough to human to do. The sense of Deckard being destroyed by his job comes through powerfully. The possibly hallucinatory visions of Mercer tell him that it is the nature of things that he has to do something that corrodes his identity. He is unlike the creepy bounty hunter Phil Resch who likes to kill androids but fears, at one point, that he is an android)) . Mercerism is shown to be a fraud, and the androids do come off as at least disturbingly callous and sometimes clinically savage (Baty doesn’t sexually enjoy torturing the spider but derives a little-boy like thrill mingled with curiosity) yet Dick seems to say, with Isidore’s affection for Pris and the comforts of the debunked Mercer and Deckard’s fake toad, that even fake life can provide comfort in the tombworld (a rather gnostic concept) that Mercer, and, ultimately, all of us inhabit as the universe runs down. I always liked this novel but appreciated it more this time and realized it does make a point and decision about its moral quandaries.
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Subjects
Awards
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novel — 1968)
Locus All-Time Best (Science Fiction Novel — 51 — 1998)
The Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
Original language
Spanish
Original publication date
1968
ISBN
8435020908 / 9788435020909