Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I like science fiction ... when it's done properly. That might sound like it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's just that I'm not a Star Trek nut or a Star Wars fanatic and there aren't a whole lot of science fiction films that please me. I have seriously enjoyed the film 'Blade Runner' and cannot believe that they managed to pull off something so cool in 1982. Well, the book that 'Blade Runner' is based on was published in 1968. It's called 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'. I finally got my hot little hands on a copy of it. Surprisingly, it's not that easy to get a hold of. 'Logan's Run' wasn't easy either and it was published around the same time. It was a lot like 'Logan's Run' as in the movie gutted a 'food for thought' story and turned it into an action film. Granted, 'Logan's Run' is more of an action book than 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'. Needless to say, neither movie bears a strong resemblance to the book it was founded on. Or at least, that's what I thought.

I also have to take a second to explain that I do not like the director's cut of 'Blade Runner' at all. There are only a few differences - three actually. The director's cut omits Decker's narrative, which I think is essential to the viewer's understanding of the plot. Next, there is an added scene of Decker dreaming of a unicorn, which some people believe supports the idea that Decker is a replicant himself (I disagree with this concept on so many levels as far as the film is concerned, because I don't believe there is enough additional evidence to support it). Lastly, at the end when Roy dies, they slow the film down drastically instead of including Decker's narrative, which I thought was more meaningful than watching rain fall slower, but that's just my opinion.

Now, I'll talk about the book. I really enjoyed Phillip K. Dick's writing style. He's a man who moves. At the same time I also got a book out of the library by Sebastian Faulks called 'Charlotte Grey'. Man alive! If I wanted to know that much about air planes, I'd have gotten a book on them instead of a novel. It's probably nothing and I'm just grouchy. It's just that I know that I'm interested in at least a portion of that story, but the author completely ruined it by talking about everything else besides what was actually going on. I have never been so bored with something I was interested in. I'd rather read Bylaws. At least they are concise. Anyway, so the writing style for 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' was good and that counts for a lot in my books. A LOT. If someone has a boring writing style than it doesn't matter what they have to say or what story they have to tell because I won't read it.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should recommend it to all you bloggers out there. I thought it was interesting, especially as a comparison against the film. It had something in it that I disapproved of, but it also had a lot of really interesting ideas about the human race and their feelings towards each other. It was really interesting and it wasn't very long. It wouldn't take very much time at all.