Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

[Tobias]

Slightly disappointing. A decent read though. I felt the idea wasn't used to it's potential. The title was better than the book. The story touched on some really interesting ideas though.

What did you guys think about it?

[Barry]

I was more than slightly disappointed in the book. It seemed like it had too many themes going on at once. It also felt like sometimes the plot was sacrificed to address these themes.

[Tobias]

The book's plot could have been alot better and I agree about the themes. It didn't rest long enough on most of the themes that were floating round. It skated over a lot of themes and issues that could have been used to greater potential.

[Laura]

I read this over a year ago so my thoughts on it are a bit distance, but I've never got on with PKD. I've tried three of his books and generally end up confused and left with the feeling I've missed something really important, something that makes it better than OK. I think what you say about too many themes might be the reason. His books seem to make good films, since they strip out a lot so you can focus on one thing.

The main thing I remember about this book is that I just didn't let the point about the old guy walking up the hill.

[Tobias]

I agree with having the feeling of having missed something important that makes the book a classic. I think that I didn't connect with it. There was no character that I connected with.

[John]

I enjoyed it, but I knew what I was getting into beforehand - I had already seen and enjoyed the movie based on it, "Bladerunner". FYI, I liked the director's cut version better, but some claim the standard version explains more (with a detective-style voice-over).

I've even read the sequel "BladeRunner 2", which is more of a sequel of the movie by a different author (Jeeter, I think).

[Antares]

Dick wrote well, but he only had one idea: What is reality? Dick said so himself.

So when you've read one PKD story, you've read 'em all.

That's why 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' is not satisfying. Dick is not trying to tell a story. He's trying to weave scenes around his central question.

_Bladerunner_, on the other hand, took the elements from 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' and asked a new question: What is human? This is a much, much more intimate question for the viewer and is much easier for the viewer to relate to. Plus the characters in the movie have more depth. I cared about Decker and about the replicants at the same time.

After all these years, _Bladerunner_ is still my favorite sf movie.

[Ollectro]

Recently finished this one on audio form.. being a total freak fan of the movie and also recently watched it in its latest blu ray release.. i did had some mixed feelings when i slowly went through the book. After I finished it i decided to not compare the book with the movie anymore but see them both as 2 slightly different interpretations of the same universe..
The animal parts of the story became quit good when i gave it some thought. So did our chickenhead who actually introduced a third species into the storyline next to replicants and humans. The one of a automaton.
But i never really got the emo/internet thing.. It played a huge part in there world and everyone could tap into it and share there emotions. That i understood.. But whats up with the guy who 'çontroled' all that stuf ? Can someone share with me his/her view on this?
Rachel remaines for me the hottest SF female ever.. even in audio :)

[Michael]

Ok I did see the movie when I was in high school twenty+ years ago so I was very surprised at the differences between the book and movie. The one thing I did notice was that both portrayed a need to want and control what we, as human beings, the strong desire to control what we make and make more or make it better.

[John]

Antares wrote: "Dick wrote well, but he only had one idea: What is reality? Dick said so himself.

So when you've read one PKD story, you've read 'em all.

That's why 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' is no..."

I totally agree with you Antares. It´s strange to say so, but the film is so amazing that the book seems not so good. It usually happens the other way, the book much better than the film.

I read it lots of years ago and I don´t remember if the replicants are on the book in the same way as in the film or if there were replicants at all.

[Pickle]

I love PKD but Androids is clearly not his best.

i have to say that 'So when you've read one PKD story, you've read 'em all' is very harsh.

I find something new in each of his books... eg. some of the paranoia in Flow My Tears isnt evident in many other books.

My biggest complaint with PKD is that sometimes a book can end without any real ending ala Eye in the Sky or Man in the High Castle. Though when i read Stephen King i feel he should adopt this instead of squeezing in the most idiotic endings to a 1000 page book.