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Recommend to me a book

Farted by GreyClock, December 29, 2012, 05:46:03 PM

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GreyClock

Hi. I'm gonna order a book but first I need a good suggestion for a second book to order because of a free shipping after exceeding a certain cost threshold type deal. I'm not going to tell you what I'm already ordering or what I typically read as I want suggestions that are maybe outside of my sphere of interest or knowledge. It should be available in English though.

Losperman

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


GreyClock

Quote from: Losperman;1935223Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.
I don't know. I mean how different is it from Blade Runner?

Quote from: AstronautClock;1935224whats your genre
Don't really care as long as it's a good read. Surprise me. That's what this thread is about.

pop-tart


Losperman

Quote from: GreyClock;1935226I don't know. I mean how different is it from Blade Runner?

Quite different. The movie uses the general theme and characters, but there are some major differences when it comes to plot and stuff.

I read the book well after seeing the movie and liked the book more, even if I may be in the minority. It's pretty brilliant, in my humble opinion.
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GreyClock

The book I wanted to order initially was Fantômas by Allain & Souvestre. I decided to also order Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Putting me over the free shipping threshold, but then I saw a ten euro five book set of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I knew I had to order that as well. Then I remembered I wanted to read Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, saw a really cheap version of Candide by Voltaire and came across a book called Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey, which I ordered based on the title alone. So I should be all set for a while.

Losperman

Quote from: GreyClock;1935314The book I wanted to order initially was Fantômas by Allain & Souvestre. I decided to also order Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Putting me over the free shipping threshold, but then I saw a ten euro five book set of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I knew I had to order that as well. Then I remembered I wanted to read Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, saw a really cheap version of Candide by Voltaire and came across a book called Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey, which I ordered based on the title alone. So I should be all set for a while.

Awesome. Let me know what you think of Androids. I don't know many people who've read it, but I liked it so much that I'm quite interested to hear what you think of it.
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GreyClock

I'll get back to you on that, shipping is going to take a while. Thanks though.

GreyClock

Quote from: Losperman;1935315Awesome. Let me know what you think of Androids. I don't know many people who've read it, but I liked it so much that I'm quite interested to hear what you think of it.
So I read it almost cover to cover, there was a night's sleep in between. I really liked it, it was quite different from the movie. By some weird coincidence it was on TV the day I ordered the book. It left me wondering about some things, like that stuff about the electric snake that's in there. In the book electric animals and real animals are much more prominent and much more significant. Maybe you can shed some light on a thing or two though: the first is John Isidore. He didn't seem all that dumb to me? Sure he stuttered a bit when stressed, but his inner thoughts didn't seem to conform to his chickenhead status. I spent the entire book expecting some sort of reveal about him, and others like him, not being allowed to emigrate for some other reason. There were hints that Mars was pretty awful, but it's never really worked out. He seemed like a really nice person (the cat, helping the andys, the spider) which ties in with theme of the book. In the end he just wants to move to a more populated area and be around people again, but he already had a job where he interacted with other people? Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe that's a bigger deal than I think?

A second thing I wondered about was how Deckard knew Kadalyi was Polokov? One minute they were talking about his gun, the next he's asking him about his identity, but the wrong way around. Was that a trick? Or did Deckard see Polokov's poop sheet (ha ha) or something earlier? (I seem to remember something about humans not being allowed to return to earth, maybe that's how Deckard knew, cause Polokov said he got the gun on Mars?)  

The third and last thing was about the androids, what was their motivation? The colonies seemed to be pretty awful sure, but the Baty's and Pris don't seem to have any real goal. Some androids are trying to blend in (Luba Luft), but to what purpose exactly? Pretty elaborate setups too, I mean a whole second police force? Roy is described as some sort of spiritual leader figure but it didn't really come across? In the movie I bought that, and there they are on a clear mission to fix their short lifespan. This is mentioned in the book in a conversation with Rachel, but the fugitives never mention it? Also the final fight seemed a little anti-climactic, Nexus-6 were supposed to be badass but Roy missed twice? (Yeah, Mercer said the first one would be the hardest, but come on.) What are your thoughts on all this?

Chalk Clock

Quote from: pop-tart;1935227Stranger In A Strange Land

i just listened to this on audible. man. there where a lot of orgies.

Losperman

Quote from: GreyClock;1936339In the book electric animals and real animals are much more prominent and much more significant.

Yeah, that's one reason I like the book more than the movie. I can understand the concept might have been a little out there (even for a science fiction movie), but it adds a lot to the story.

QuoteMaybe you can shed some light on a thing or two though: the first is John Isidore. He didn't seem all that dumb to me? Sure he stuttered a bit when stressed, but his inner thoughts didn't seem to conform to his chickenhead status. I spent the entire book expecting some sort of reveal about him, and others like him, not being allowed to emigrate for some other reason. There were hints that Mars was pretty awful, but it's never really worked out. He seemed like a really nice person (the cat, helping the andys, the spider) which ties in with theme of the book. In the end he just wants to move to a more populated area and be around people again, but he already had a job where he interacted with other people? Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe that's a bigger deal than I think?

I think his character is supposed to be a commentary on class and the perception of intelligence. Like you said, he's not all that dumb (he even talks about other chickenheads who actually are pretty dumb, doesn't he? I might be misremembering) but because of the fact that his genes are impure he is automatically categorized as "special" and treated as a lower class (with andys being the lowest, I think, even though they are technically not human). Because of his status he is treated like crap, with only andys being treated worse because of their "non-human" status. This leads him to befriend them and treat them as equals, and they (two of them, at least, I think) do the same to him. So I suppose his character was meant to help humanize andys and show that they can form real relationships with humans and vice versa. It's been a year since I read it, though, so I might be forgetting some stuff.

QuoteA second thing I wondered about was how Deckard knew Kadalyi was Polokov? One minute they were talking about his gun, the next he's asking him about his identity, but the wrong way around. Was that a trick? Or did Deckard see Polokov's poop sheet (ha ha) or something earlier? (I seem to remember something about humans not being allowed to return to earth, maybe that's how Deckard knew, cause Polokov said he got the gun on Mars?)

Damn. I know the answer to this, because I covered it in the class I read it for, but I don't remember the specifics. I think it was something in the way Polokov answered him. I don't have my copy on me, but I'll pick it up the next time I stop at home and look into it.

QuoteThe third and last thing was about the androids, what was their motivation? The colonies seemed to be pretty awful sure, but the Baty's and Pris don't seem to have any real goal. Some androids are trying to blend in (Luba Luft), but to what purpose exactly? Pretty elaborate setups too, I mean a whole second police force? Roy is described as some sort of spiritual leader figure but it didn't really come across? In the movie I bought that, and there they are on a clear mission to fix their short lifespan. This is mentioned in the book in a conversation with Rachel, but the fugitives never mention it? Also the final fight seemed a little anti-climactic, Nexus-6 were supposed to be badass but Roy missed twice? (Yeah, Mercer said the first one would be the hardest, but come on.) What are your thoughts on all this?

I think their motivation was to be treated as human and allowed to live human lives. The idea that they are being made more and more human-like is continually brought up, and even the best detectives are having trouble telling some of the new models apart from real humans. Not only that, some androids don't even realize that they're not human, and some humans even come to question whether they might really be androids. This is shown in the scene with Deckard and Resch, where they both begin to think that Resch is an android. And, like you said, Luba Luft just wants to blend in, whereas someone like Roy is contemptuous and actually revels in the fact that humans are deceived into believing in things (like that talk show and religion) that the androids feed them. And Rachael pushes Deckard's goat off the roof out of spite/jealousy/anger. So I think we're supposed to get that androids have developed so much that they are just like humans. They have their own emotions and motivations, and they even make mistakes (like missing shots).

Again, I haven't read it in awhile, so I might be missing points or forgetting things, so some of this might end up being garbage.
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