Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
3 journalers for this copy...
The novels of Philip K. Dick are a continual and often surprising source of inspiration for the mundane fantansies of Hollywood [....] The complexities of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) inspired Ridley Scott's groundbreaking Blade Runner (1982), but the movie is still a pale shade of the text. Ultimately, the book questions the nature of humanity through the figure of Rick Deckard, a man who hunts “replicants” — androids designed to be “more human than human.” The “sheep” of the title is an artificial creation that dies through Deckard’s neglect, a source of intense shame to him. This lack of empathy, fundamental to Dick’s distinction between human and replicant, suggests the interminably argued point that Deckard himself may be one of the replicants he hunts. Deckard’s growing ethical confusion about “retiring” the replicants is highlighted by the book’s extension into the quasi-religious undertones of persuasion and vicarious empathy. The religion of Mercerism — from which replicants are prohibited — is a typical Dick invention. Ultimately Mercer is proved a false idol, and the text not only asks what it means to be human, but also, in an expression of Dick’s philosophy, questions the viability of reality itself. — Simon Stevenson in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
I read this about 10 years ago — if I remember rightly, I found it intermittently interesting, also confusing (especially all the religious stuff); and nothing like the movie, which isn't a bad thing.
This copy is one of the ones for this year's Big Read in Ithaca.
This copy is one of the ones for this year's Big Read in Ithaca.
Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!
This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.
In transit.
One of my selections from the USA-Canada 1001-library VBB. Thanks so much for sharing. I will journal and then make available to other library members when I'm done reading it.
I really enjoyed this book. Sci-fi is not normally a genre that I read. I liked the character development and even the androids had personality. It's interesting to see Dick's take on the not so distance future. I haven't seen Bladerunner, although I would like to now.Will make available to other 1001-library members.
This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing Heaven150:)
If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.
