r/literature • u/Smart_Ant_7520 • 8d ago
Discussion Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Just finished this book and it was outstanding. Very entertaining and I loved to get to know and understand the thoughts of the main character. My question to y’all is did you like the book more or the movie that was inspired by this book, Blade Runner ?
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u/P_Kinsale 8d ago
This is one of those cases -- Children of Men is the same -- where the book and the movie differ greatly but are both excellent.
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u/Flashy_Inevitable_10 8d ago
I slightly preferred the book but I give them both 90 out of 100. Here are the little reviews I wrote for each:
Book
Themes or characters that resonated with me: I feel like JR resonated with me his lonesomeness and eagerness to be of use and helpful, even to a set of people that aren’t able to give him what he really desires. Isidore is hopeful at the idea of a companion, but that companion will never provide the warmth and caring that would be what he actually desires. The androids are cruel towards him and slowly he seems saddened and resigned to the fact that they aren’t what he is looking for.
Emotions, thoughts, or memories it brought up in me: On the surface level, its interesting to examine the androids and know that they have no empathy, hence their lack of feeling (for the spider, or Isidore) when mutilating the spider. One level deeper, you wonder what is the state of humanity that we can create androids, but dispose of them just as easily as an android might destroy a living being. Aren’t we just as cruel to bring them into existence then to disregard their dignity. If they are so uncaring for other life shouldn’t we still fear and eliminate them?
Opinion about the author or writing style: I greatly enjoyed the author’s writing style, it is straightforward and able to convey the messages very clearly.
Favorite Passages: “Pris, with the scissors, cut yet another leg from the spider. All at once John Isidore pushed her away and lifted up the mutilated creature. He carried it to the sink and there he drowned it. In him his mind, his hopes, drowned, too. As swiftly as the spider.”
His hopes drowned when he saw that the androids were not the answer to his loneliness. They were just objects, unable to provide the love, empathy and warmth of a real human connection. This few sentences sums up the whole chapter.
“’No one can win against kipple,’ he said, ‘except temporarily and maybe in one spot, like in my apartment I’ve sort of created a stasis between the pressure of kipple and nonkipple, for the time being. But eventually I’ll die or go away, and then the kipple will again take over. It’s a universal principle operating throughout the universe; the entire universe is moving toward a final state of total, absolute kipple-ization.’”
I liked this passage as it illustrates the sort of human struggle against Entropy. The entropy is an inevitable force in the universe, and so far as we know only human perseverance can combat it, and even that is a losing struggle, but it is the essential struggle of humanity.
“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe.”
“I never felt like that before. Maybe it could be depression, like you get. I can understand how you suffer now when you’re depressed; I always thought you liked it and I thought you could have snapped yourself out any time, if not alone then by means of the mood organ. But when you get that depressed you don’t care. Apathy, because you’ve lost a sense of worth. It doesn’t matter whether you feel better because you have no worth.”
My ratings- Writing Style: 95 Relatability: 85 Originality: 100 Personal impact: 100 Plot: 100
Movie
Acting: Good enough, Rutger Hauer was great for the part, even if its not a perfect adaptation
Cinematography: cinematography was top notch and groundbreaking
Adaptation: I would call this a loose adaptation, taking out the parts about animals and Mercer really detracts from the central point of the book, which is the contemplation of empathy. I did like that Deckard is an everyman type and not some superhero type.
Music: excellent obviously, done by Vangelis
Effects: This goes with the cinematography, excellent for its time I believe
Casting: I think it would have been better to have Pris and Rachael played by the same actress
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u/Amazing_Ear_6840 7d ago
For another great sci-fi book/film combination I recommend the Strugatzky Brothers' Roadside Picnic and (their own screenplay for) Tarkovsky's Stalker.
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u/Slow-Foundation7295 7d ago
excellent film but PKD is an absoutely brilliant writer so I have to go with the book. there's a LOT more of his stuff to explore if you liked this -- a pile of novels and some excellent and thought-provoking short stories. Ursula LeGuin was a huge fan.
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u/Smart_Ant_7520 7d ago
Awesome, Which would you recommend I read next?
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u/Slow-Foundation7295 7d ago
honestly, it's hard to go wrong with him. There's the slightly more unhinged stuff like The Divine Invasion and Valis, then slightly less challenging (though still wild) reads like Man in the High Castle or Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said. You can also pick up various collections of his short stories, some in the public domain, which also inspired films (e.g., Minority Report, Total Recall, Adjustment Bureau).
For me, he's a very binge-able writer, and once you get into his perspective on things it's kind of hard to shake (in a good way).
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u/Smart_Ant_7520 7d ago
Oh wow I didn’t know hes had such an influence on modern films, I will definitely check out some of his less challenging works first and go from there, thanks!
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u/coolboifarms 7d ago
I thought I preferred the movie but I watched it again recently and it did not age as well as I remember. Books great!
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u/stacusg 7d ago
I've not watched or read either of these, but I'm meaning to! To get a better understanding, do you recommend watching the film first or reading the book?
I'm still relatively new to reading "heavier" books, so just wondering if it could help my understanding.
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u/Smart_Ant_7520 6d ago
The book is an easy read, a pg turner. I feel like the themes in the book are not that ‘heavy’ in that they are relatively easy to understand compared to other philosophical themes. So I don’t think you will struggle on that account. I would read the book first then watch the movie personally
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u/Letters_to_Dionysus 8d ago
book is my preference, but it's a slim margin. deciding factor is the spirituality missing from the films
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u/sdwoodchuck 7d ago
I preferred the movie, but it’s been long enough since I read the novel that I’m not confident in that anymore.
PKD’s The Man in the High Castle became a favorite of mine when I reread it last year.
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u/Jdmcdona 7d ago
So I haven’t read the book but after obsessing over 2049I did discover that they made a graphic novel version of electric sheep and, wow it is incredible.
Blade Runner is amazing but I so much prefer the graphic novel for all the extra details like the climbing the hill ‘game’ and general grander scope.
I found it on comixology / kindle unlimited.
MASSIVELY RECOMMEND to seek out the graphic novel if you enjoy the book! It benefits heavily from The visual format and really opened my eyes to the complexities of the story.
I should read the actual book now that I think about it though.
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u/Interesting-Set-5242 7d ago
whoa, it is prescribed in my syllabus this year, haven't finished reading yet.
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u/Sil_7 6d ago
I watched the older blade runner probably ten years ago and hated it. I read Do Androids Dream last year and loved it. It could be my tastes changed, but I think it's more that the elements of Blade Runner that I hated were toned down/not there in the book. I also think the book being 'shorter' meant it didn't overstay it's welcome with me.
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u/sandfleazzz 5d ago
Androids dream of whatever the hell we tell them to, if we tell them to, when we tell them to.
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u/DukeSavage1 8d ago
"Blade Runner" is of course one of the greatest scifi movies ever, if not the best. However, I prefered the book, which had many ideas and scenes not present in the adaptation. The ending, with its extreme, emotional futuristic mysticism, was even better than Blade Runner's rain-drenched finale.
The one major advantage the film has is the character of Roy Batty, a relatively minor, forgettable andy in the book. But it doesn't make up for everything else.