h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Blade Runner was inspired by Philip K Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' Fans of the film might not recognize much in Dick's novella, which is more about what makes a human being human, as distinct from something that looks exactly like one. Dick's idea, picked up in the film, is that empathy lies at the heart of what it means to be human. The ability to empathise is what sets us apart.

This is a tiny book, but an important one... especially in the current political crisis. I think we could perhaps benefit from a refresher course.

JTG

I really enjoyed 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' as a story. It genuinely played around with my emotions; I don't want to give the plot away, but that bit with the spider in the flat really made me think carefully about my allegiances. The problem was the language - as a book, it's really quite badly written. Still definitely worth a read, though.

Nice article by the way, Tink! Well done!

*grins*
Thanks Emily

Shamefully, I've not read the book, I keep trying to get a copy of it though

Amazon will find you one.

I enjoyed your entry. Sorry, I should have said so earlier.

JTG

has anyone read dick's other books; specifically VALIS or A Scanner Darkly?
i loved both of those; if you like blade runner or do androids dream of electric sheep you should definitely look into them.

Philip K Dick is undoubtedly one of the masters of science fiction. His short stories I rate the best! His novels too are fantastic. If you haven't read any Dick, get a Dick in your hand as soon as you can!

Ouch!

JTG

My favorite PKD book is Man in the High Castle, about an alternate reality in which the Axis powers win WWII.

the pk dick book to read is "ubik", or at a push "flow my tears, the policeman said". gary numan was a big fan, see the album "replicas" or "listen to the sirens" from the first album.

The first Dick book I ever read was 'The galactic pot healer'. Read that as an eleven or twelve year old. I'm of the opinion that all his stuff is obligatory reading. Some of his shorts have been transformed into good films, 'we can remember it for you wholesale' filmed as 'Total recall' and the story about the self manufacturing droids in a wartime scenario culminating in 'replicants' of a wounded soldier and a little boy (can't remember offhand the title of the story or the film though!) was well worth a watch/read!

Dick books worth reading include "Man in the High Castle", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich", "Flow my Tears, the Policeman said" and "The Game Players of Titan".

Dick was not a great literary writer, but his ideas and personality are impregnated into his work and provide a great deal of food for thought. And I share the same birthday as him (16th December) .

". . . the story about the self manufacturing droids in a wartime scenario culminating in 'replicants' of a wounded soldier and a little boy (can't remember offhand the title of the story or the film though!) was well worth a watch/read!"

The movie is called 'Screamers', can't remember the name of the book though

The book that the film 'Screamers' was based on is 'Second Variety'.

Phillip K. Dick is simply one of the most imaginative writers ever.

Phillip K. Dick was quite a large source of quality movie screenplay material. Sadly he wasn't "compensated" for his talent and struggled through a lack of money and too much alcohol. The central character in "The Minority Report" is quite close to a self portrait of himself... Hopefully he is in a much happier place now, where he is universally applauded for his talent, and ideas...

I'd quote the bio where I read this, but I can't remember the name
It was the last short story compilation I think, which includes "The Minority Report".

Standing ovation for Phillip K. Dick...

Here's to him.