I recently revisited Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and it is as powerful as ever. As deservedly popular as the film Blade Runner is--which is nI recently revisited Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and it is as powerful as ever. As deservedly popular as the film Blade Runner is--which is now an entire franchise--the seminal novel itself is always worth exploring and reanalyzing.
On the surface it is an adventure story about a bounty hunter fighting against evil androids. But really, it uses these science fiction tropes to delve into very deep questions of human identity and human morality.
What is empathy? Is that what makes us moral? If so, then what of the paradox of killing something clearly alive but without empathy? See how this spirals...
And the questions of identity. If something is a complete copy, is it still real? If you have a fake electronic animal and nobody knows, do you effectively have an animal? How would ethics exist in a post-nuclear war if androids were slaves and yet all other life was sacred? Does the entropy of the universe manifest itself in modern commercial junk as "kipple"?
So many questions raised.
One of the concepts most glaringly missing from Ridley Scott's famed adaptation is the religion of Mercerism. A religion coated in Jesus's suffering, it is questioned in the novel and then debunked and then still found to have an important spirituality. Going back and forth is exhausting, and the whole point.
On a personal note, one of my favorite parts is when Deckard is arrested by another police station he's never heard of. Like weird dream logic, he is taken to an alternate authority within the same city and it doesn't make sense. The reader starts sensing that something is very wrong, starts wondering if Deckard was brainwashed and in the wrong all along. Nobody can write in a way that makes you question reality like Philip K. Dick.
Although to be fair, Dick was a pulp fiction writer and sometimes lacked proper editing. The constant use of "presently" wasn't necessary. One part actually says "I wonder, he wondered." Then again, who cares? It's P.K. Dick. He was prolific and brilliant and it somehow works that he churned out such profound novels with various writing flaws. The story structure, by the way, still impeccable.
Easily one of his best novels, and not just because there's a film. Not just because it's approachable and easy to sum up in a pitchable synopsis. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has passed the test of time and is as important to read as any cutting-edge speculative fiction story out there. All those questions raised, and even today just as unanswerable as we're deep into the next weird century... ...more
I really enjoyed this short story collection of some of PK Dick's finest and weirdest or short stories. Of course, as we all know, he was a genius andI really enjoyed this short story collection of some of PK Dick's finest and weirdest or short stories. Of course, as we all know, he was a genius and predicted the anxiety and reality confusion of the modern world like no one else! Etc. etc., you've heard it all before.
What is unique about this anthology is that it ties into the Amazon television series. Now, it is true that this series has it's highlights but it's frankly not as good as Black Mirror. But it's still solid science fiction, which should always be embraced, and it's most interesting to watch the adaptation with all their choices in rewrites, and then go to the original source material to read what else could be.
At the same time, PK Dick's prose was sloppy here and there but that's not the point. The powerful ideas are incredible enough that these stories are worth the legendary hype of this important author.
I particularly got a lot out of Human Is, a love story about how the alien that possesses a woman's husband is actually the good guy, and Sales Pitch which with its obsessive salesrobot is probably one of the most biting satire of consumerism you'll ever read.
I imagine these stories will resonate for decades, if not centuries, to come. Nothing as timeless as the great Philip K. Dick!...more
Of all the classic science fiction authors: Nobody but nobody predicted our surreal 21st century like P.K. Dick! It can't be said enough.
Flow My TearOf all the classic science fiction authors: Nobody but nobody predicted our surreal 21st century like P.K. Dick! It can't be said enough.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said is a dystopian novel, which is a worn genre at this point. Yet what sets it apart is the way it intersects a deeply paranoid police state... with shallow celebrity pop culture. Feeling familiar yet?
The main character is a very unlikable talk show host, who finds himself an "unperson" one morning: nobody remembers who he is and he doesn't have any papers in order. The way he maneuvers this society makes him an interesting point-of-view character. There is horrifying racism, disturbing sexual deviancy, and very messed up drug trips. 1970s-era Philip K. Dick really lets loose.
Another interesting aspect is giving the readers a perspective of a police general within this setting. Because there are no good guys, or at least we just aren't focusing on the good guys. While the young students in internment camps are only talked about as background, the main guy running for his life couldn't be less worthy of rooting for. This is no Winston Smith. The police figure on the other hand is trying to uncover the mystery, while somewhat doing the best they can in this horror of a world.
A criticism of the novel is the way it resolves in the end. Not to spoil, but the ambiguity is more or less explained by the end. Perhaps this is what makes Dick a science fiction writer, and not a magical realist, because the literary characterization still needs a somewhat pseudoscientific explanation.
When analyzing Flow My Tears, looking through the lens of pulp fiction and 70s counterculture is the point, and I certainly think it's still valid as we are two decades in to the next century. Sure it would be written a different way today, but this shouldn't take away the impact of the text. While less essential than other works by the author, it still holds up well and is an excellent read for completists and casual readers alike. ...more
What an amazing mindfuck of a book. Few are worth as many rereads as this. The pinnacle of P.K. Dick, and his most semi-autobiographical at that.
You'dWhat an amazing mindfuck of a book. Few are worth as many rereads as this. The pinnacle of P.K. Dick, and his most semi-autobiographical at that.
You'd think it might be heavy to swallow what with all the in-depth theological themes overlapped with mental illnesses and suicide. Yet somehow it's also funny at the same time as being profound.
The apparent plot doesn't really kick off until halfway through, concerning a David Bowie-esque figure meeting with our confused narrator and someone may or may not be the messiah. It's fine that this plot begins halfway through.
And Horselover Fat and Phillip K. Dick, just how does it work?
Prepare for a beam of pink light, KING FELIX, dead cats and remember that fish cannot carry guns...
Lastly, or rather not. Can't even going to get into the Exegesis for the purposes of this meager review. ...more
Do you wake up tired? Feeling existential angst for the postmodern hypercapitalist age that is these modern times? Has utter paranoia seemed into everDo you wake up tired? Feeling existential angst for the postmodern hypercapitalist age that is these modern times? Has utter paranoia seemed into ever iota of reality, that is, is reality not really feelin real?
Ever just in one of those moods...?
Try Ubik today! Sure to cure what ails ya'!
About eighty decades ahead of its time, only Ubik can help to process the overwhelmingness of the contemporary age. Chock full of post-death theology, psionics, proto-cyberpunk, and retro-retro-retro future nostalgia. Beats the competition, and very reasonably priced.
Use only as directed.
Warning: May cause mindfuck of the extreme variety....more
A powerful drug novel that almost doesn't even belong in the genre of science fiction. The speculative element is more of a literary device than it isA powerful drug novel that almost doesn't even belong in the genre of science fiction. The speculative element is more of a literary device than it is the traditional escapist pulp writing that P.K. Dick came out of, which shows in this novel what an incredible author he was. Haunting and truthful, an expert text on how society pushes people to get tweaked-out and driven insane within the surveillance state. Eternally relevant, sadly....more
I recently revisited Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and it is as powerful as ever.
On the surface it is an adventure story about a bounty hunterI recently revisited Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and it is as powerful as ever.
On the surface it is an adventure story about a bounty hunter fighting against evil androids. But really, it uses these science fiction tropes to delve into very deep questions of human identity and human morality.
What is empathy? What makes us real? If something is a complete copy, is it still real? If you have a fake electronic animal and nobody knows, do you effectively have an animal? How would ethics exist in a post-nuclear war if androids were slaves and yet all other life was sacred? Does the entropy of the universe manifest itself in modern commercial junk as "kipple"?
So many questions raised...
One of the concepts most glaringly missing from Ridley Scott's famed adaptation is the religion of Mercerism. A religion coated in Jesus's suffering, it is questioned in the novel and then debunked and then still found to have an important spirituality. Going back and forth is exhausting, and the whole point.
On a personal note, one of my favorite parts is when Deckard is arrested by another police station he's never heard of. Like a dream, he is taken to an alternate authority within the same city and it doesn't make sense. The reader starts sensing that something is very wrong, starts wondering if Deckard was brainwashed and in the wrong all along. Nobody can write in a way that makes you question reality like Philip K. Dick.
Although to be fair, Dick was a pulp fiction writer and sometimes lacked proper editing. The constant use of "presently" wasn't necessary. One part actually says "I wonder, he wondered." Then again, who cares? It's P.K. Dick. He was prolific and brilliant and it somehow works that he churned out such profound novels with various writing flaws. The story structure, by the way, is still impeccable.
Still one of his best novels, and not just because there's a movie. Not just because it's approachable and easy to sum up in a pitchable synopsis. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has passed the test of time and is as important to read as any cutting-edge science fiction story out there. All those questions raised, they still haven't been asnwered......more
Can P.K. Dick please stop being so damn ahead of his time?! I promised myself I wouldn't read any more books about the current depraved political landCan P.K. Dick please stop being so damn ahead of his time?! I promised myself I wouldn't read any more books about the current depraved political landscape, and I just wanted some nice trippy escapism. Somehow I forgot how poignant this 1976 book would be...
Get this: In Radio Free Albemuth (the sort of 4th book post-script of the VALIS trilogy), there is a dystopian present in which the president is below average right-wing idiot who has used the lowest common denominator of paranoia to claw his way to the top. He's actually a secret Russian agent though, and has a lame son named Don!
Somehow Dick was able to predict that the worst America could offer wasn't some highly intelligent dictatorship, but a pathetic state where misinformation and fear would dumb down the public enough that the most cynical fascists could easily take over. It all comes across as very familiar, sigh~
Ostensibly, Ferris F. Fremont is an analogue of Nixon. Although the 666 aspect seems like Ronald Wilson Reagan as well. The politics of Radio Free Albemuth are all over the place, in excellent P.K. Dick schizo fashion, with satires of Berkeley radicals. And the take on how intelligence agencies actually prefer corrupt politicians as easier to exploit is extremely fascinating. It's about sci-fi Gnosticism as much as anything else, with "God" as a pink light feeding information in order to save the world, and all the mindfucks therein contemplating such.
I happen prefer the first half of the book, which is pseudo-autobiographical in which Phil narrates and talks about his crazed friend Nick. Then it gets into Nick's point of view which has far more theological ranting. And, being that this is Dick, the writing isn't always polished but it does have a certain brilliant energy so don't overly nitpick.
Essential reading for latter-Dick cannon, but do ignore if you are in the mood to ignore the daily onslaught of Prez T****....more
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