I really enjoyed this book, so much, that it took me almost half a year to read. I could’ve finished it in a few days, but I didn’t because I wanted to savour it and enjoy it; rather than reading it in interrupted segments while I was waiting for other things.

Most people will know this Phillip K Dick novel as Blade Runner, although I haven’t seen the movie in well over a decade (but I think they’re doing a remake of it now). But I like the book version of Dick’s works rather than their film adaptations – the books are more weird and subversive.

The reason I liked DADoES is that it is the most exciting book I’ve read in awhile. It is plot driven and has a lot of “action” but it also has some interesting questions about human classes – are people human, “specials” (radiation affected humans) or androids; what really is the difference between them, and should we treat them differently. Although this is set in a futuristic world, you can imagine that those same questions can be posed today in our culture.

There is also the question of whether Deckard is an android (i.e., replicant). I remember that that was raised in the movie, but I didn’t read anything that would specifically point that out (nor was there anything that would disprove it). But it’s one instance where knowing the ending actually made the book more interesting, as I was thinking of his reaction to situations and how they would sway the argument one way or the other.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: reading, sciencefiction