The Biblio Blogazine

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick
Science Fiction, 244 pages 
A Del Rey Book

FTC Disclosure: Purchased from

This is nothing like the movie “Blade Runner”, which is loosely based on the novel.

Not that this is a bad thing. I like the movie, and I like the book.

However, I advise anyone who has not experienced both, to avoid having any expectations that one is much like the other.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that the director of the film hadn’t read much of the book. That was apparent. Yet what he created helped me visualize aspects of Rick Deckard’s post apocalyptic world. It made my reading experience much more enjoyable. In fact the author confirmed that the filmmakers did interpret that aspect of the book accurately.

For me, a good book always evokes questions that I want answered. It’s what keeps me turning page after page.

The one thought that kept recurring in my mind was, “What makes us human? What differentiates us from other creatures, organic or artificial?”

For the author, he focuses on empathy, which according to Dictionary.com, is “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.”

We see this manifested in Deckard’s near obsession with owning a real animal. In 2021 Earth, many species have become extinct. To possess and care for any of the remaining creatures is seen as a status symbol. Not only of wealth, but of one’s empathy and “humanness”.

There was something that bothered me though, and may bother other readers as well. But when I thought about it, I am wondering if it was a deliberate act by the author.

You know how some authors have a favorite word, one that is used so often, it becomes a little bothersome? Well, Philip K. Dick loves using “ersatz” in this book. A lot.

Yet it makes sense when you know what the word means: an artificial substance or article used to replace something natural or genuine.

Maybe this is what Dick wanted to get across. Is a substitute more or less real than the original? Just because it is a substitute, is it any less precious or valuable? Can we, should we,  confer upon it the same feelings, reverence, and respect as we would the original version? Is doing so making us less human, or it more human?

For a book of only 244 pages, there is a lot of quality content that will keep you thinking, and probably re-reading many passages. 

I highly recommend it.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Hugo Award Winner 1963
Science Fiction, 259 pages
Vintage Books, a division of Random House

FTC Disclosure: Library Book

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Do you truly believe that time is linear?

What if it weren’t? What if running parallel to our own reality was another, which is so close to our own, that from time to time it converges, crosses, then returns on its path?

This isn’t the type of science fiction I was expecting. In fact, I looked up the meaning of the term and found that I was a bit off the mark. To quote the famous science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein:

Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the real world as we know it, including all established facts and natural laws. The result can be extremely fantastic in content, but it is not fantasy; it is legitimate–and often very tightly reasoned–speculation about the possibilities of the real world. This category excludes rocket ships that make U-turns, serpent men of Neptune that lust after human maidens, and stories by authors who flunked their Boy Scout merit badge tests in descriptive astronomy.

– from: Ray Guns And Spaceships, in Expanded Universe, Ace, 1981

Philip K. Dick’s book is just as Heinlein says, for he takes “the real world as we know it” and “speculates” what would happen if one set of events happened instead of another. In his story, Germany and Japan were the victors of World War II. His imagined society is well researched and worked out. Not only on the surface, but deep down within the personalities of his characters.

And this is what makes The Man In The High Castle such an intriguing read. The interactions between races, genders, and social classes are real, enlightening, and disturbing. The author’s skill is showing us that no matter what reality in which people live, their humaness prevails; the good, the bad, all of it. He offers us glimpses of what could be, and makes it seem plausible.

But then again, this is what science fiction is supposed to be. And it explains why many of Dick’s works have been adapted to film: “Blade Runner” (from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), “Total Recall” (from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale), “Minority Report”, “Screamers” (from Second Variety), and “A Scanner Darkly” to name a few.

Thanks to Dhympna over at Culinary Carnivale, I am slowly being reintroduced to a genre I set aside years ago and am happy to have discovered it again.

I highly recommend this book as not only an introduction (or reintroduction) to science fiction, but to Philip K. Dick. I can’t wait to get my hands on his other stories. Especially Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies and I feel confident the book will just as good, if not better.