Tempus fugit as the saying goes (time flies). It has been a little over 5 years since I started this blog. Lots has gone on in my life since I began here; rebuilding I guess you could call it. Hoping that the next 5 will be better.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
This book is by Philip K Dick. It was the inspiration for the movie, Blade Runner.
The book and the movie have some resemblance, but there are significant differences. If you have not seen the movie, my advice is to rent it and take a look. It is worth seeing for the sets alone. The only thing I did not like about the movie is that the fight scene near the end is VERY long and the end dangles a bit.
Similarly, I really liked the book, but the ending was a little "off" so to speak. I think that the author was going for something deep/mystical, but it didn't work or maybe I just didn't get it. I have no objection to deep/mystical, but it has to be a little clearer than this to work for me.
That being said, the rest of the book is great. I really felt that I was there inside the story while reading it. In case you don't know, the book and movie both focus on the adventures of a bounty hunter of sorts who retires (kills) androids who return to Earth from off planet - androids are not allowed on Earth because of dangers they pose or that they are perceived to pose I guess.
In the course of the book, many issues are examined. I thought the discussion of empathy and the comments regarding morality were quite interesting. The religion (I guess that's what it was) of Mercerism was on the surface a little strange, but made a lot of sense in the context - depressing loneliness after massive depopulation due to a big war and emigration off planet. The discussion of the silence relating to this was thought provoking and a little scary. Interaction with artificial life was also explored - both animal and humanoid (android), as well as the android point of view.
Important in the book, but only briefly picked up in the movie, is the issue of the loss of most of the animal life on Earth. Real animals become an obsession. People spend fortunes on them and much time caring for them. If they cannot afford the real thing, they get realistic fakes and go through the motions - the title seems to relate to this.
There were a few kind of "funny" parts in the book - like about Deckard (the main character) reading blurred carbon copies of papers. OK, the book was written in 1968, but is portraying the year 2021, so this seems a little funny to someone reading today. If you are very young, you might not even know what a carbon copy is. Well, predicting the future is not easy. People also smoke a lot in the book (as they do in the movie) which seems a bit outdated, but then there has been a devastating world war, so maybe people would take up that habit again. Who knows.
All in all, I would recommend watching the movie first and then reading the book. They complement each other well, even though somewhat different. I found it helpful to have a picture of the characters from the movie while reading the book, although here, not all the characters act the same way in both and some are not even in both.
Recommended.
The book and the movie have some resemblance, but there are significant differences. If you have not seen the movie, my advice is to rent it and take a look. It is worth seeing for the sets alone. The only thing I did not like about the movie is that the fight scene near the end is VERY long and the end dangles a bit.
Similarly, I really liked the book, but the ending was a little "off" so to speak. I think that the author was going for something deep/mystical, but it didn't work or maybe I just didn't get it. I have no objection to deep/mystical, but it has to be a little clearer than this to work for me.
That being said, the rest of the book is great. I really felt that I was there inside the story while reading it. In case you don't know, the book and movie both focus on the adventures of a bounty hunter of sorts who retires (kills) androids who return to Earth from off planet - androids are not allowed on Earth because of dangers they pose or that they are perceived to pose I guess.
In the course of the book, many issues are examined. I thought the discussion of empathy and the comments regarding morality were quite interesting. The religion (I guess that's what it was) of Mercerism was on the surface a little strange, but made a lot of sense in the context - depressing loneliness after massive depopulation due to a big war and emigration off planet. The discussion of the silence relating to this was thought provoking and a little scary. Interaction with artificial life was also explored - both animal and humanoid (android), as well as the android point of view.
Important in the book, but only briefly picked up in the movie, is the issue of the loss of most of the animal life on Earth. Real animals become an obsession. People spend fortunes on them and much time caring for them. If they cannot afford the real thing, they get realistic fakes and go through the motions - the title seems to relate to this.
There were a few kind of "funny" parts in the book - like about Deckard (the main character) reading blurred carbon copies of papers. OK, the book was written in 1968, but is portraying the year 2021, so this seems a little funny to someone reading today. If you are very young, you might not even know what a carbon copy is. Well, predicting the future is not easy. People also smoke a lot in the book (as they do in the movie) which seems a bit outdated, but then there has been a devastating world war, so maybe people would take up that habit again. Who knows.
All in all, I would recommend watching the movie first and then reading the book. They complement each other well, even though somewhat different. I found it helpful to have a picture of the characters from the movie while reading the book, although here, not all the characters act the same way in both and some are not even in both.
Recommended.
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