Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
| Author | Philip K. Dick |
|---|---|
| Year | 1968 |
| Genre | Science fiction |
Dick poses a question that is difficult to answer even about oneself: how to distinguish a person from a very good imitation? In his 1968 book, there is a test — measuring the ability to empathize — and the hunter of rogue androids earns his living by asking questions and shooting based on the results. The world around is poisoned and dying, living animals have become a status symbol, and the protagonist saves up for a real sheep while keeping an electric imitation at home. This detail is the foundation of the entire book: empathy, which can be measured, bought, and simulated, ceases to be a reliable boundary. The prose here is tense and at times deliberately absurd, the novel easily shifts from noir to religious parable and back. Cinema has turned this plot into beautiful melancholy, but the book is drier and meaner — it is read for the question it refuses to close.
The book card in the MegaInet.art catalog — reference information. Files are not distributed. Actual data: Wikidata (CC0).
