Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

14 reviews

belgian_fantasy_fan's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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baccoamon's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Avid readers and fans of the Blade Runner series will undoubtedly come across this book when in need of another brooding scifi story to satiate that craving. But one would find themselves either pleasantly surprised or underwhelmed, depending if the reader is looking for a new story or a familiar one, to find that "Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep" is very much the corner stone of niche scifi that it is heralded as while also very much not living up to some of its more established inspirations. 

Philip K. Dick in this book seems to stumble upon larger questions around collective identity vs individuality, worship culture, mental health, and empathy that tend to lead to more open answers rather than a definite perspective. I did come away wondering if this book was written to be more of a introspection for the reader to dissect for themselves or if simply the language he was afforded was not able to directly correlate some of these ideas in a more precise way due to the time period and this very much being a speculative future where a writer from 1968 is looking into a world overcome by class elitism and techno-ethic dilemmas. For fans of speculative fiction and brooding scifi you will find yourself at home as Decker reflects on what self fulfillment, empathy, and identity means to the human experience.  

My largest negative to the story is the inability to truly humanize the Androids as it creates a strange conflict of interest when it comes to the ethos that I believed Philip to be leaning towards and the outdated understanding of Schizophrenia, as a reminder that this book is from 50 years ago, is a bit annoying to overlook while reading. 

Contemplative and interesting this book is worth your time but do not expect a literary Blade Runner. 
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mandkips's review against another edition

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dark reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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coolfijiwater's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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luxxltyd's review

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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glace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Firstly, the film was a separate story to the book, although similar. So the book is worth reading for film-watchers. This book is more reflective and thought provoking. There is a strong focus on the varying capacity for empathy for different people. People question their own reality, and how do they deal with the answer when they learn the truth. It's a short book that can be finished at a leisurely pace over a weekend.
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kerttuli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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cnohero's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny medium-paced
 <Spoilers>  
I have complex feelings about this book.

Pros: Excellent writing, and world building. Good science discussion for it's time. I found the desire to have a pet, and the scarcity both funny and sad.

Cons: I didn't find the characters very likeable.
(Rant) The sci-fi trope of men wanting to have sex with android women is just disturbing to me...
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melchior's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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kysariin's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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