Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in Metafilter

Jan 01, 2011 Julie Bestry rated it liked it · review of another edition

I received this classic as part of Cornell's New Student Reading Project. http://reading.cornell.edu/

All incoming freshman and all dues-paying alumni get copies...though we alums don't have to do the homework. In ten years, I've never read the books. Sadly, The Grapes of Wrath from 2009 is still sitting on my bedside table, haunting me. But I like science fiction and figured everyone should read some Philip K. Dick. So I did. And I'm left...unsatisfied.

It's not that the book wasn't well-written I received this classic as part of Cornell's New Student Reading Project. http://reading.cornell.edu/

All incoming freshman and all dues-paying alumni get copies...though we alums don't have to do the homework. In ten years, I've never read the books. Sadly, The Grapes of Wrath from 2009 is still sitting on my bedside table, haunting me. But I like science fiction and figured everyone should read some Philip K. Dick. So I did. And I'm left...unsatisfied.

It's not that the book wasn't well-written or fairly well-plotted, but there's a calculated coldness about the narration that put me off. It reminded me a bit of Hemingway, actually, in that incredibly masculine writing style, where any reference to emotions is within the confines of a visceral, rather than emotional, response. The action didn't excite me, the "sex" (one minor, uncomfortable scene) wasn't titillating, and the strongest, most palpable feelings the book incited in me were weariness and ennui. Not boredom with the story, but boredom within the story, if that makes sense. I felt like a minor character, observing, and yet bored and frustrated.

Of course, the world in which the narrative takes place is a sad, post-apocalyptic one, but with interesting flourishes. In 1967, Dick wrote of a time of video cell phones (check) and flying cards (no check), TVs and radios not appreciably different from what we have now, and mood-altering machines you can dial at will. The best part (to me) was the competitive (winking) nature of Buster Friendly, tearing down the primary Earth religion of Mercerism, because Buster Friendly struck me as a combination of Larry King and [insert right wing political pundit here], tearing down the one thing that gave people comfort, but offering nothing but platitudes and faux entertainment as an alternative. (What would PKDick think of today's political battles?)

I have to remember that in 1967, sci fi was still written primarily for men, and Heinlein aside, often lacked humor and delight. This book is thoroughly without delights. I wouldn't say it's bad; it's just not for me. That said, I intend to view the lectures given at Cornell (http://reading.cornell.edu/android_le...) to see all that I might have missed. It won't make me happier, but it will make me smarter, and *that* will make me happier.

Or maybe turn me into an android. ...more

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