Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
(Yes, one of our kitten is kind of obsessed with biting books. I'm trying to make him break that habit but he's loyal to his own ways.)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Blurb:
It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill. Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignment – find them and then retire them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found.
Review:
Funny, he thought; even though I know rationally it's faked the sound of a false animal burning out its drive-train and power supply ties my stomach in knots. I wish, he thought painfully, that I could get another job. If I hadn't failed that IQ test I wouldn't be reduced to this ignominious task with its attendant emotional byproducts.
Okay, so this was a really interesting experience. I would definitely recommend this one for a variety of reasons but I also struggled to connect with this book in a meaningful way. I feel like I should love Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but all I manage is appreciation for all the things it does well. What I do want to mention quickly before I dive into any more detail is that this didn't feel much like a majority of SciFi books. The thing about SciFi is that it often feels a lot longer than it is. There is usually so much going on that the brain capacity needed to get through a page makes it seem like one has read three pages instead. But Dick's style of writing has a nice flow, he doesn't unnecessarily explain anything and reading a page actually feels like reading a page. Honestly, this totally contradicted what I was expecting and I was totally surprised when I flew through the first 30 pages instead of struggling with the beginning.
The things this book does excellently, besides the general pacing, is the conveying of information. As I've mentioned before, a lot of the information is sort of brushed over and, as a reader, one has to infer its meaning alone, the book doesn't hold your hand but it doesn't need to. Like, now matter who you are you'll realize what a human "chickenhead" is supposed to be (at least roughly and certainly in context) and you'll realize that it isn't a good thing to be but still better than an "anthead". And certainly no one wants to be "a special", especially if you've heard that specials are not allowed to emigrate and generally seem to be connected to a lack of social standing. Not only has the author managed to convey a lot of information about the story-world though context but he, moreover, manages to convey a lot of 'emotional' information through different elements of the story. Like, the characters are obsessed with animals (not electrical ones, if possible) and there is a certain overall emotional disconnect but you really start feeling the discrepancy in human contact and contact with animals when characters spend pages at a time thinking about buying/actually buying animals while they totally brush over interactions with supposed loved ones.
But besides feeling like quite the intelligent book (with intelligent storytelling) which appreciates that its readers may also be intelligent there are a lot of really interesting ideas proposed and interesting questions asked by the narrative. The mood organ, the entire concept of androids as products with actual consciousnesses (and humanity?? <- this is the big question if you haven't guessed already), Mercer and Mercerism; all these ideas are really interesting but also fundamentally grounded in current society. Basically, it all results in a discussion of humanity and what makes humanity even inherently human, what behaviour makes human 'better' than androids? How does empathy work? Etc. And, of course, there are no distinct answers given, the evidence is merely presented and the audience has to come to its own conclusions, obviously, this conclusion is tinted by Dick's views on the matter but still.
Overall, I want to reiterate that I really recommend reading this book to everyone, even if you're not really a SciFi fan. But, as previously stated, I somehow failed to connect to the book on a deeper emotional level. I think this might be because Dickard himself is grappling with his emotions and doesn't really connect to anything emotionally himself and Isidore's perspective is a little to naïve meaning that it felt like there wasn't really an opening for emotional involvement within the narrative itself. But I can't say for sure, honestly, I'm quite confused by my black of emotional response myself.
The things this book does excellently, besides the general pacing, is the conveying of information. As I've mentioned before, a lot of the information is sort of brushed over and, as a reader, one has to infer its meaning alone, the book doesn't hold your hand but it doesn't need to. Like, now matter who you are you'll realize what a human "chickenhead" is supposed to be (at least roughly and certainly in context) and you'll realize that it isn't a good thing to be but still better than an "anthead". And certainly no one wants to be "a special", especially if you've heard that specials are not allowed to emigrate and generally seem to be connected to a lack of social standing. Not only has the author managed to convey a lot of information about the story-world though context but he, moreover, manages to convey a lot of 'emotional' information through different elements of the story. Like, the characters are obsessed with animals (not electrical ones, if possible) and there is a certain overall emotional disconnect but you really start feeling the discrepancy in human contact and contact with animals when characters spend pages at a time thinking about buying/actually buying animals while they totally brush over interactions with supposed loved ones.
But besides feeling like quite the intelligent book (with intelligent storytelling) which appreciates that its readers may also be intelligent there are a lot of really interesting ideas proposed and interesting questions asked by the narrative. The mood organ, the entire concept of androids as products with actual consciousnesses (and humanity?? <- this is the big question if you haven't guessed already), Mercer and Mercerism; all these ideas are really interesting but also fundamentally grounded in current society. Basically, it all results in a discussion of humanity and what makes humanity even inherently human, what behaviour makes human 'better' than androids? How does empathy work? Etc. And, of course, there are no distinct answers given, the evidence is merely presented and the audience has to come to its own conclusions, obviously, this conclusion is tinted by Dick's views on the matter but still.
Overall, I want to reiterate that I really recommend reading this book to everyone, even if you're not really a SciFi fan. But, as previously stated, I somehow failed to connect to the book on a deeper emotional level. I think this might be because Dickard himself is grappling with his emotions and doesn't really connect to anything emotionally himself and Isidore's perspective is a little to naïve meaning that it felt like there wasn't really an opening for emotional involvement within the narrative itself. But I can't say for sure, honestly, I'm quite confused by my black of emotional response myself.
Rating:
You know I could repeat myself and reiterate how great of a book this is and stuff but I won't (any more): 3 out of 5 stars.
Details:
Name: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Deutscher Titel: Träumen Androiden von elektrischen Schafen?
Author: Philip K. Dick
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 193
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