Blade Runner: Originally published as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

These days I imagine that most people, like myself, read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" after having seen and enjoyed the movie "Blade Runner". In my case "Blade Runner" is one of my all-time top ten favorite movies, for a variety of reasons: the questions it raises about what is human and what is not; the love story and the conflict it creates between a man's feelings and his occupation; the futuristic film noir settings and acting; and the contrast between the rich and powerful and the degraded denizens of the street. "Blade Runner" is one of the few movies I own on DVD or Blu-ray, since there are few movies that I want to see more than once. Recently, after introducing one of my kids to "Blade Runner", I decided that we should both read the book that it is based upon. We each thoroughly enjoyed "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", but for slightly different reasons than the movie "Blade Runner".Contrasting first the book with the movie: it turns out that the movie follows the book fairly closely for about the first third of the book (minus one character, as Rick Deckard is married in the book), but then the plot of the movie departs fairly significantly from the book. One of the enjoyable aspects of reading "Do Androids Dream..." as a Blade Runner fan is seeing the choices that the moviemakers made to come up with a compelling two hour movie. They basically redid the plot to make the major conflict in the movie one between the Nexus-6 androids and the head of the corporation that made them, and they also made the romance between Rick Deckard and the android Rachel into the second major plot element of the movie. Philip K. Dick died in 1982, the same year that "Blade Runner" had its first theatrical release, so I don't believe there is any way to know what Dick thought of the movie. I think that the choices made to create "Blade Runner" were the right ones to make a great movie, even though there were unfaithful to the book. The movie and book are separate works with similar themes, and can be appreciated on their own.The main theme of "Do Androids Dream..." is the same as "Blade Runner"; what does it mean to be human, and how should humans and artificial humanoid lifeforms treat each other, especially in cases where the humanoids come in peace and want nothing more than to be treated the same as humans and left alone. Although this specific situation can only come about in the future, if artificial intelligence and life science technology progress far enough, the situation has parallels that are nearly as old as mankind: the conflicts that come about when two civilizations, races, ethnicities or tribes meet and start to intermingle. Should the groups be kept entirely separate under penalty of death? One of the Nexus-6 androids in "Do Androids Dream..." is a renowned opera singer - should she be terminated simply because she is an android impersonating a human?The post-nuclear-war world that Philip K. Dick portrays in "Do Androids Dream..." is even bleaker than the landscapes in "Blade Runner". Animal species have become extinct and animals have died off in such large numbers that people's greatest status symbol possession is their pet - and of course a real animal pet is far superior to an artificial one. People's minds are degenerating because of the nuclear fallout, and the move off-planet is not one of lifestyle choice but of survival, for those smart enough to make it. People squat in abandoned buildings and move from place to place to try to minimize the nuclear fallout, In the book Philip K. Dick is able to explore these sub-topics and others that are barely alluded to in the movie.The primary (albeit minor) problem I had with "Do Androids Dream..." were a couple of logical inconsistencies in the plot. If the world and makind are as damaged as Dick describes them, then would there be enough of civilization left to still support opera performances? Why would the androids want to come to Earth? In all science fiction there is some disbelief that the reader has to suspend. I also felt that some people could easily interpret "Do Androids Dream..." as being misogynist, since the female characters are for the most part pitifully weak, whereas most of the action is taken by men.That said, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" should be a must read for anyone who enjoyed "Blade Runner". The parallels between the two works are fun to uncover. Each work poses deep questions about humanity and makes a major impact on the audience, which are two important criteria for earning the accolade "masterpiece".

I initially selected this book because I noticed that it was what inspired the Blade Runner films. So unhesitantly I thought to myself, “If Blade Runner is one of my top favorites, then this book must be good.” Well I am here to confirm that the book is indeed great! This book will for sure leave you thinking. I know it left me thinking! For instance it made me question humanity and what it is that defines humanity. It also made me wonder if I will be around when artificial beings start looking indistinguishable from human beings or if that day will even come to being with!? If it is, how long until it’s here? Another huge question that came to my mind was, “If artificial beings do someday look like us, humans, how will it impact the world as we know it?” All in all, I wish I would have found this book before having watched the Blade Runner films. I feel like the book would have been a good foundation to base the movies off of. Specifically because I remember when I first started watching the Blade Runner films that I was a bit confused with the world/setting. Therefore, with that in mind I feel like it would have been easier to grasp the world had I read the book prior to watching.

In the last 20+ years I've read every PKD book I can get my hands on, in some cases more than once (or with VALIS, three times) but, for some reason I'm not even sure of now, I never read this one. Never saw the movie either. I think I thought it was a short story (and I don't care for his short stories.) Or maybe thought what I knew about the movie wouldn't make the book enjoyable? Either way, I'm not sure what I was thinking - this book is fantastic and the differences between the two are notable and kinda funny.I picked up What If Our World Is Their Heaven recently, I had some Kindle credits or something, and, while I was enjoying the interview, it was quickly occurring to me that I was going to spoil both this book and related movie. So I put it down and for the first time ever started Electric Sheep. It is very obvious why they chose this book to make a movie out of, and why they left out some of the more curious parts. The whole thing with the electric animals is both the weirdest and best part of the book. A man hunts human robots but is fine with robot animals? Sure he wants a real one, but is willing to settle for a robot sheep?This book has everything you could want in a PKD novel. The straightforward stuff that is 60 years ahead of its time - the philosophical arguments of what defines life when it comes to organics and synthetics (and as I type this AI is the hottest of topics.) The weird stuff that almost nobody would ever consider putting into a novel - the idea that war killed off all the animals and now humans are obsessed with them, both real or fake, as some sort of status symbol. And then the ultra out-there stuff that's kind of hard to understand - all the Mercer/empathy box parts that you read and basically have no idea what's going on. And yet altogether this is an amazing package, open for multiple interpretations, timeless, and full of action, characters progression, and amazing writing.Going back to What If Our World after I finished the book, I honestly didn't gain much more insight. He's just very excited for the movie and the production behind it all. And I'm frustrated because I can't find the movie on any streaming services. There are also significantly different versions/cuts? I'll probably give up and not even try to watch it. The book was that enjoyable. I'm not sure I need a watered down version of the story. My hope is that it still manages to dig into the arguments of what defines life. But without the electric animals, I'm not sure how it fully could.Either way, though, I think this book could be an excellent introduction to PKD or, if you’re like me, an excellent way to save the best for last.

A quick and easy paperback, this book is a good read. It is very interesting and has a lot of messages within it that begs for a close-read.

Philip K, Dick escrevia deliciosamente bem. Passam as décadas, porém não fica desatualizado. Seu olhar e imaginação são sempre surpreendentes. A tradução é muito boa.

When the film BladeRunner 1st came into my life 41yrs ago. It has always been, to myself at least, the pinicle of Sci Fi through the eyes of Genius Dir. Ridley Scott.It formulated a dark and detailed world that's incredibly immersive and tactile.‘Philip K. Dick’ (Author, San Francisco) was already my most Fav Sci Fi Author. So many of his stories have been adapted to films.Decades later the film still holds up as a masterpiece of a visually experience, expansive and yet also at times a claustrophobic World. After an environmental collapse. Post Appocaliptic San Francisco & LA are so large they've merged into being one city.Inspired by ‘Phillip K. Dicks’ outstanding ‘Cyberpunk’ book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” 68’‘BladeRunner’ Film 82’Film Adaptation to booklast released in 2007’It's probably the best Sci Fi written & well worth the Read.

Influential SciFi

Scuola....

El libro llegó en perfectas condiciones. El tamaño de la fuente es apropiada, la edición es muy bonita y manejable, la pasta tiene una sensación de papel rugoso muy agradable pero que no se mancha al contacto. La relación calidad/precio es muy recomendable.