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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Het is 1992, een derde wereldoorlog heeft de wereld vuil en vol fall-out achtergelaten, de meeste dieren zijn uitgestorven en vele mensen zijn vertrokken naar Mars. In Californië verzorgt premiejager Rick Deckard zijn elektrische nep-schaap en jaagt hij op Androïden, die perfect op mensen lijken, maar empathie missen.
Dit laatste gegeven vormt de kern van de roman: het wezen van mens-zijn, lijkt Philip K. Dick te willen argumenteren, is niet zijn intellect, maar zijn vermogen tot medeleven. Dit levert interessante en mooie passages op wanneer de 'koude' en 'gemaakte' androïden met hun aanstaande moordenaars discussiëren over wat 'leven' is en wat hen anders maakt.
Verder onderscheidt de roman zich door een satirische, absurdistische ondertoon en sterk hallucinotoire passages, die meer indruk maken dan het gegeven de rijkdom aan ideeën vrij magere plot.
Geen meesterwerk, maar wel een originele SF met een unieke, grimmige sfeer.
Dit laatste gegeven vormt de kern van de roman: het wezen van mens-zijn, lijkt Philip K. Dick te willen argumenteren, is niet zijn intellect, maar zijn vermogen tot medeleven. Dit levert interessante en mooie passages op wanneer de 'koude' en 'gemaakte' androïden met hun aanstaande moordenaars discussiëren over wat 'leven' is en wat hen anders maakt.
Verder onderscheidt de roman zich door een satirische, absurdistische ondertoon en sterk hallucinotoire passages, die meer indruk maken dan het gegeven de rijkdom aan ideeën vrij magere plot.
Geen meesterwerk, maar wel een originele SF met een unieke, grimmige sfeer.
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm trying to think about the context of this book as I contemplate how to rate it. This one is a Sci Fi classic and so many books and stories have built on the kinds of ideas that books like this introduced. Shame on me for not having read this one first. Reading it late in life makes me feel like its a bit unoriginal but obviously, that's not a fair assessment if this book came first.
Only what this book really reminds me of most of all is Fahrenheit 451 which obviously did come before this book. Both follow public service workers (firefighters, police) who are initially fine maintaining the status quo. Both receive some pressure from their wives to conform to societal standards. Both encounter the people they are hunting who begin their journey of questioning the status quo and leading them to change. There's also a sort of stylistic similarity in my opinion
There is obviously a difference in theme between the two. This one questions what makes us human and scrutinizes how we value life and make anyone who is different "less than" whereas 451 scrutinizes censorship and access to information (and stories).
I'd recommend this for anyone wanting to dep dive on classic Sci Fi novels, but I wouldn't say this one is necessarily an essential read for, say, a top 20 classic sci fis.
Only what this book really reminds me of most of all is Fahrenheit 451 which obviously did come before this book. Both follow public service workers (firefighters, police) who are initially fine maintaining the status quo. Both receive some pressure from their wives to conform to societal standards. Both encounter the people they are hunting who begin their journey of questioning the status quo and leading them to change. There's also a sort of stylistic similarity in my opinion
There is obviously a difference in theme between the two. This one questions what makes us human and scrutinizes how we value life and make anyone who is different "less than" whereas 451 scrutinizes censorship and access to information (and stories).
I'd recommend this for anyone wanting to dep dive on classic Sci Fi novels, but I wouldn't say this one is necessarily an essential read for, say, a top 20 classic sci fis.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
I enjoyed this book both for its philosophical depth (What makes us human? Does it matter if things are fake or not if the effects they produce are the same? etc) and also because it was fun and exciting to read. I genuinely did not know what was going to happen chapter to chapter and always wanted to find out. I found the sci-fi world Dick created immersive and loved his ideas (e.g. the mood organ, Mercerism, and the animal economy.)
Couldn't keep my interest, might have to try the audiobook