Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Hi

This is my second book by Philip K. Dick.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep has 193 pages and a 2-page introduction by Graham Sleight.
It was made into the movie Blade Runner in 1982.
I got my edition at De Slegte.

“World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them with his laser weapon, he dreamed of owning a live animal -- the ultimate status symbol in a world all but bereft of animal life.
Then Rick got his chance: the assignment to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things were never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit -and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted...”

I enjoyed this book but I’m a bit underwhelmed. It took me about 50 pages to really get into it (that’s a fourth of the book) which is a long time for such a tiny book but I’m glad I did finish it.

Then why did it take me so long to get immersed into the story? I think it’s because it didn’t really grab me, I didn’t feel involved with the story and I didn’t care for the characters.

The story is interesting and full of action; it’s different from what I’m used to and even so many years after publishing it doesn’t feel dated. It’s still relevant to this day.
It’s original, well written, thought provoking and haunting.

The business about the sheep and the goat really got on my nerves. We received the message about the importance of animals in this society, could you just get on with the story please? The whole obsession with animals was annoying me.
And I felt like the ‘lovestory’ was unnecessary. It didn’t add enough to the story to redeem its insta-love quality. Dick could have driven home the same points without this storyline.

I liked it, but I’m definitely not blown away by the book.

3 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena

Philip K. Dick: The Man in the High Castle

Hi

I read the Science Fiction Classic; The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. This won the Hugo Award in 1963.
It has 249 pages and I got it second-hand.

“It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war, and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.”

The focus on these minor characters in a world where everything is so different from ours shows us the magnitude of this world. The Nazis terminated almost all life in Africa and this is just mentioned in passing by one of the characters. Oh my word. I gasped reading this. And it is mentioned so casually!
The final use of I-Ching in this novel will keep you wondering about what’s real and what’s not.
The writing isn’t beautiful or elegant. It’s short and to the point.
It’s bleak and gloomy but also full of suspense and intrigue, vivid and ultimately; chilling.

Happy reading!
Helena