Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in Philip K Dick

Oct 06, 2007 Morgan rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi, reread, noiresque, pulp, postapocalyptic, robots

I've seen "BladeRunner" so many times I could puke and watch it again (hell, I even wrote a 15 page critical analysis of it as a neo noir film). And it's an amazing, beautiful film.

I read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" when I was a junior in highschool, after having grown up with "BladeRunner." And it was fabulous.

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and "BladeRunner" are not the same thing. At all. Which is conceptually really, really intriguing. And I love that about the two.

By the tim ...more

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Jun 14, 2007 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, 1001-books-read, guardian-1000-read

A bounty hunter is assigned to "retire" some escaped androids. In itself, that would be enough for a compelling SF action romp, but author PKD has more on his mind. On a post-war Earth, humans interact with androids, animals and "specials" (humans who are impaired due to exposure to toxic "dust") with varying degrees of empathy, giving us an opportunity to ponder the relative value of each life. There's plenty of Dick's quirky absurdist humor along with more action than the usual PKD offering, b ...more

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Aug 15, 2007 Dan rated it it was amazing

After World War III, the earth has become so poisonous that all the animals and wild life have died. Most people have relocated to the off planet colonies. Some people remain on earth trying to survive the radiation and caring for the remaining animals. The social status of earth is based on how many and what types of animals you own. To move off world, the governments of earth offer people an android slave on the colonies. Humans have become pacifists and vegetarians after witnessing the horror ...more

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Aug 25, 2007 Julian rated it it was amazing

Shelves: thinky, novels

This was a re-read for me. The first time I was expecting something different, being a huge fan of 'Bladerunner', but was knocked out by it. Expecting the book rather than the excellently connected film, I had more attention for all the nuances of the story, and loved it to pieces. The story opens entertainingly: the protagonist has a mood machine with settings for various positive states, but his wife has secretly learned how to set it to induce depression and despair in herself.

The sci-fi the ...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Seri rated it it was amazing

Yes! This is one of PKD's best books. It is the best stylistically (PKS was never a great stylist) and structurally. This also spawned a great film (Blade Runner) but this book has far more depth than the film. Deeply philosophical, as most Dick books are, and can even be considered moving at times (a rarity for PKD). It explores religious ideas and the concept of empathy much more than Blade Runner and is one of Dick's most imaginative settings. ...more

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