Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a book that most people think they remember, and almost always get more or less wrong. Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner took a lot from it, and threw a lot away; wonderful in itself, it is a flash thriller where Dick's novel is a sober meditation. As we all know, bounty hunter Rick Deckard is stalking a group of androids returned from space with short life spans and murder on their minds--where Scott's Deckard was Harrison Ford, Dick's is a financially over-stretched municipal employee with bills to pay and a depressed wife. In a world where most animals have died, and pet-keeping is a social duty, he can only afford a robot imitation, unless he gets a big financial break. The genetically warped "chickenhead" John Isidore has visions of a tomb-world where entropy has finally won. And everyone plugs in to the spiritual agony of Mercer, whose sufferings for the sins of humanity are broadcast several times a day. Prefiguring the religious obsessions of Dick's last novels, this asks dark questions about identity and altruism. After all, is it right to kill the killers just because Mercer says so? --Roz Kaveney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Philip K. Dick's classic SF novel, which was adapted as the film BLADE RUNNER.
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First Sentence
A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
56 of 59 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this novel some years after first seeing the film version - "Bladerunner". At first, I was disappointed: I foolishly expected something to resemble the film - but I had forgotten that Dick himself was extremely distressed about the distruction of his plot when the film was made: Hence the book and the film, although based on the same ideas should really be viewed as different stories: Both have a "Bladerunner" chasing after escaped Androids, but there the similarities start to run out.
On reflection, I now recognise the book as being an excellent work. The only reason I have awarded it four stars out of five is that I have also read "Ubik" - which is so excellent that I cannot judge "Do Androids..." at 100% in comparison.
The book is more subtle than the film, and includes a lot of Dicks subtle examination of the human condition, which, over the years, had led him to accurately predict several technological innovations to come, not because he was up on technology, but because he knew the sort of thing we'd end up doing. The story contains electric animals, since the real ones have become rather scarce, one of these being the electric sheep owned by the main character, which he pretends is real to save face. One of my favorites is the device which can change your mood: When you don't feel like changing your mood, you can dial in a code to put you in the mood for using the machine! So, given that we are now cloning sheep, I would suggest mood-machines and Androids are on the way.
If you're new to Dick, you're also new to his unique ability of being able to weave a puzzle that will take at least half the book to unravel (or so you think, until you reach the end, and you realise you were wrong!): So, if you haven't read his material before, start with this book - and stick with it - wait a while to let the neurons settle down, and then read his best work - "Ubik". Most of his other works are also worth a read, and some are excellent, although I don't have space to list them all here.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Deckard is a bounty hunter in the regular employment of the San Francisco police department. His regular salary is low but he earns 1000 dollars for every android he destroys. there's not much life left on Earth. Most of the plants and animals were either killed in the nuclear war or died later from radiation poisoning. Those left are still deteriorating and dying. Unaffected survivors were persuaded to colonise other planets and were offered android 'slaves' as an incentive. So Deckard and his wife now live in a dry, barren, depopulated city where radioactive dust and escaped androids are the big problems. The diminishing fertility of the few remaining healthy men is guarded by lead codpieces. The most expensive, prestigious and coveted commodity is an actual living animal - even a spider or a toad is highly valued. Deckard and his wife own an electric sheep which they keep on the roof of their apartment building. They're ashamed of it. If Deckard could 'retire' 3 androids, the 3000 dollar bounty would be enough for a down-payment on a real ostrich or a goat. This is his ambition.
If you've watched 'Blade Runner', it might strike you that this, the book it was based upon, tells a very different story. This Deckard bears little resemblance to the Harrison Ford Deckard. The android characters are equally dissimilar to those in the film. the way they're tested (in book and film alike) is by asking them a series of questions, the answers to which show whether they have empathy. Androids fail the empathy test. Whereas the film androids failed the test, they then went on to behave empathetically. the book androids, on the other hand, confirm the test results in their cold behaviour, not only to their enemies, but to each other. Even so, Deckard finds enough 'life' and humanity in these entities to stimulate his own sense of empathy.
I did enjoy the film very much - although P K Dick was distressed by it apparently. The book is a completely different experience: more sad, dour, down-beat, more complicated, more thought provoking, less technologically flashy and colourful. Loving the film is no guarantee of loving the book, or vice versa. I recommend them both.
If you've watched 'Blade Runner', it might strike you that this, the book it was based upon, tells a very different story. This Deckard bears little resemblance to the Harrison Ford Deckard. The android characters are equally dissimilar to those in the film. the way they're tested (in book and film alike) is by asking them a series of questions, the answers to which show whether they have empathy. Androids fail the empathy test. Whereas the film androids failed the test, they then went on to behave empathetically. the book androids, on the other hand, confirm the test results in their cold behaviour, not only to their enemies, but to each other. Even so, Deckard finds enough 'life' and humanity in these entities to stimulate his own sense of empathy.
I did enjoy the film very much - although P K Dick was distressed by it apparently. The book is a completely different experience: more sad, dour, down-beat, more complicated, more thought provoking, less technologically flashy and colourful. Loving the film is no guarantee of loving the book, or vice versa. I recommend them both.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Forget about Blade Runner. That was as much about Ridley Scott's stylish visual sense as androids and humanity. The book the film was based on is much more about decay. This is not a world of Tokyo cityscapes; it is a broken world, a dying world, a world populated by those too old or to stubborn to leave. It is about a society where people strive to own a real animal. And of course, it is about questions of what it is to be human, and about the rights of androids when their intelligence surpasses humans'.
As usual Dick imagines this with incisive intelligence himself, considering commercial and political influences on the development of androids and society in general. The plot is 'overcoming the monster', delivered in simple prose, with twists to confuse and tease your mind. A quick but stimulating read, in short, it deserves its classic status.
As usual Dick imagines this with incisive intelligence himself, considering commercial and political influences on the development of androids and society in general. The plot is 'overcoming the monster', delivered in simple prose, with twists to confuse and tease your mind. A quick but stimulating read, in short, it deserves its classic status.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Totally different from the film...
Like a lot of people I came to this book having already seen the film and as has
been noted by other reviewers the differences between the two are huge. Read more
been noted by other reviewers the differences between the two are huge. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Ken Hickey
as expected
If you understand the title you will love the book different from the film I loved every thought provoking page
Published 26 days ago by Mr. W. D. Simpson
Nearly a classic
What more can be added to reviewing this book than what has already been said? It's more than a good read, it's nearly a classic, and it's certainly different from the film... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sameer
A Quiet Masterpiece
Basically I'll skip the plot and a diatribe I was going to write about how Science Fiction has become utterly trivialised and commonplace, and just say that if you want to read a... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Monkhouse
If they do dream of sheep , how many could they count ?
Inspired by a radio programme dedicated to P K Dick I decided to give this a go and I wasn't too dissapointed . Read more
Published 5 months ago by lart phauson
Androids and dreams
This wonderful book by Philip K Dick is perhaps less known than the movíe it originated. Being a great fan of Blade Runner - I've seen it dozens of times (I recommend... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dra Clara Pracana
A dying world
The world we encounter in Dick's futuristic novel is a living nightmare. Radioactive dust permeates the fragile atmosphere, where a frighteningly scarce population takes comfort in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by lagouge
Not the book of the film...
Bladerunner is one of my favourite films, and I have been reluctant to read the book on which it is based for fear of it not living up to my expectations. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Stressman
Original and Philosophical Creation
This is the novel on which the film Bladerunner was based. Having seen the film first, I was intrigued to see what the book had to offer. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Talc Demon
Starts slow but builds to a crescendo
This was my first time reading a Phillip K. Dick book despite having heard of him for a long time, and I must admit I did not really know what to expect. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jazzman
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