Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Although I'm a big fan of Philip K. Dick's, I've never actually read the book that inspired one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever, Blade Runner. And "inspired" is a good word to describe their relationship - they share same characters and loosely the same plot, but lot of the world and pretty much all of the details are different. Rick Deckard is still a bounty hunter after the runaway Nexus-6 androids and ends up pondering on philosophical questions about what makes a human and if androids have a right to live just as much as them.

However the question in Blade Runner is posed differently - in the movie androids (they are called replicants only in the movie) are in pretty much all ways same as humans. They have complicated emotions like empathy and by the end of the movie the viewer is pretty much ready to say they should granted the same rights as humans. Do Androids Dream... is more complicated - it's quite clear androids are not like humans, and are not capable of human emotions (the whole basis of the Voigt-Kampff emotion test) and will never do. But they are conscious and alive in their own way - and the comparison in the book is against animals (and to a point retarded post-war humans without human rights, called specials), not humans. After the latest World War pretty much all animals have died, and the existing ones are sold with high price tags to toting owners and are considered the most priced possessions.

But Dick really was light years ahead of his time. The point of the book is not the plot, but the numerous philosophical questions it raises about life, humanity and religion (to name a few). Dick's writing style is sometimes bizarre, and some of his ideas too - although this is not from the most weird end of his writings. He manages to create beautifully a whole world in the palm of his hand with only hints and without forcing the explanations, although characters have always been his weak point as they tend to be a bit two-dimensional. This story however it's so multi-layered and works in so many levels it's no wonder it's achieved such cult status.

Wonderful piece of writing.

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