Generally regarded as one of the most important American science fiction writers, Philip Kindred Dick was one of a pair of twins born on December 16, 1928; both suffered from a series of physical and mental problems, which would kill Dick's sister, Jane Kindred, 41 days later, and would continue to plague him for the rest of his life. Exacerbated by a voluminous intake of amphetamines, Dick's health continued to worsen as he produced an enormous body of work--nearly 50 novels and 115 short stori more...
Generally regarded as one of the most important American science fiction writers, Philip Kindred Dick was one of a pair of twins born on December 16, 1928; both suffered from a series of physical and mental problems, which would kill Dick's sister, Jane Kindred, 41 days later, and would continue to plague him for the rest of his life. Exacerbated by a voluminous intake of amphetamines, Dick's health continued to worsen as he produced an enormous body of work--nearly 50 novels and 115 short stories in the 29 years following his first published story at the age of 24 to his death from a stroke at the age of 53. Characterized by feelings of paranoia and underlying pessimism, his work includes the 1963 Hugo Award-winning THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE--an alternate history account of the post-World War II United States--THE CONFESSIONS OF A CRAP ARTIST, loosely based on the breakup of his second marriage, and DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, which became the basis for the movie BLADE RUNNER. In 1974 he experienced what he referred to as a "mystical experience," which he spent the last nine years of his life exploring in an unfinished book called EXEGESIS. By the time he died, it had swollen to 8,000 pages. Though he is best known outside the science fiction community as having written the sources for the movies BLADE RUNNER and TOTAL RECALL, his work was instrumental in bringing about a radical shift in American science fiction, moving it away from the stereotypical space adventure, infusing it with explicit political content, and introducing psychological depth to the characters.less...
Drew wrote a review on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K Dick’s name has gained notoriety in recent years with a string of Hollywood films, but none of them have done justice to the dark and paranoid worlds created in his books.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (filmed as Blade Runner in 1982) is Dick at his best, combining so many of his favourite themes; post-nuclear war, religion, identity, technology and dis-utopia.
It is set in the near future, on an Earth that has suffered a nuclear war but at a cost. This Earth is dying, everywhere is surrounded by “kibble†(rotting bomb debris), all the animals have died from radiation, people wear lead-lined underwear and anyone successful has emigrated for Mars or beyond.
In this world is Dekker, a bounty hunter, who is hunting down “replicants†(more artificial copies of humans then robots), who have illegally returned to Earth.
Using the structure of a PI thriller Dick here asks unsettling questions, how do you cope in a world were you can’t tell the real humans from the copies.
Other of Dick’s novels have good premises but the plot often doesn’t follow it through. With Do Androids… there is no disappointment, the plot lives up to all of the promise of its premise. It’s dark, twisting with a truly unsettling ending. The characters here are dark too, the people are worn down by their dying world and not bright and glamorous – don’t think of the actors from Blade Runner.
If you’ve never read any of Philip K Dick’s novels then this is an excellent entry into his dark and dis-utopian world, if you’ve encountered him before then this novel is were so many of his most telling themes come together.
Drew Payne
Philip K Dick’s name has gained notoriety in recent years with a string of Hollywood films, but none of them have done justice to the dark and paranoid worlds created in his books.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (filmed as Blade Runner in 1982) is Dick at his best, combining so many of his favourite themes; post-nuclear war, religion, identity, technology and dis-utopia.
It is set in the near future, on an Earth that has suffered a nuclear war but at a cost. This Earth is dying, everywhere is surrounded by “kibble†(rotting bomb debris), all the animals have died from radiation, people wear lead-lined underwear and anyone successful has emigrated for Mars or beyond.
In this world is Dekker, a bounty hunter, who is hunting down “replicants†(more artificial copies of humans then robots), who have illegally returned to Earth.
Using the structure of a PI thriller Dick here asks unsettling questions, how do you cope in a world were you can’t tell the real humans from the copies.
Other of Dick’s novels have good premises but the plot often doesn’t follow it through. With Do Androids… there is no disappointment, the plot lives up to all of the promise of its premise. It’s dark, twisting with a truly unsettling ending. The characters here are dark too, the people are worn down by their dying world and not bright and glamorous – don’t think of the actors from Blade Runner.
If you’ve never read any of Philip K Dick’s novels then this is an excellent entry into his dark and dis-utopian world, if you’ve encountered him before then this novel is were so many of his most telling themes come together.
Drew Payne
