Electric Sheep Will Not Keep You Awake

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 
by
Philip K. Dick

Summary from Goodreads

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill.Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignmet--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!

My Thoughts

 First off, let me say that the title of this book didn't describe the book at all.  Why did Philip K. Dick even make this a title.  We only saw an electric sheep mentioned at the beginning of the book and towards then end, when the main character got a goat.  Other than that...I saw nothing to do with electric sheep and the link with androids sleeping.  Androids, yes they were a major part of the book.  But I didn't see any other connection there to the title.  I really did have hope for this book when I began reading it, but slowly, the book kept changing between two characters and got confusing.  I didn't even know who was an android and who was human.  If that was Dick's job, to try and confuse us...then he certainly succeeded.  It took me half the book to figure out if Rick, the main character was a an android or not.  Clarification from the beginning would've been nice.  And then, Isidore was introduced out of nowhere.  Where was he living?  Who was he and why was he important in the story in the first place?  It was just never made clear.  Dick should've made the distinctions between the characters clearer, pushing it to be an easier read, rather the confusion I endured while reading the books.

This was the first book of Dick's that I read and I felt disappointed.  Let down really.  The book was going so well at the beginning.  I thought it was interesting, given that when this book was written, 2021 did seem to be far into the future.  Hoping for a fun read, I was looking forward to see what this author thought the world would be like, five years from now.  I was left un-amused and bored.  Dick didn't write anything that could hold my attention as I found myself falling asleep during parts of this book.

At times, I felt sorry for Rick.  His wife was being annoying, wanting to be depressed and wallow in self pity.  He had a touch job, retiring the androids, and she never seemed to care.  The only time she showed love for him was when he brought home the goat and when the goat was killed.  That was a part I couldn't stand in this book.  When the goat was killed on purpose, all because Rachel couldn't get it through her head that Rick didn't love her the way she loved him.  Or when those heartless androids killed the spider at Isidore's.  Dick should've kept that part out.  Yes, we get it androids don't care about the life of others, whether it be human or animals.  But you didn't have to have it shown and described in the book.  Luckily it was towards the end of the book, otherwise I would've stopped reading right there and then.

There were no characters I could relate to or any that could come closely to being a favorite character.  While I did feel for Rick and Isidore and what they went through in life, it wasn't enough for me to actually care about them.  It's almost as if Dick didn't want the readers to like any of the characters.  There was no substance or depth to them to make them remotely likeable.

I give this book 1 out of 5 stars. I would give it 0 if I could really.  I forced myself to finish it and now I'm wondering why did I even bother.  I don't even remember what happened in most of the book.

Closing:

I hope you enjoyed reading this review and look forward to any comments you may have, especially if you've already read this book.   

Keep a look out for 3 new reviews that I will be writing for the books I'm reading:
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
The Rebel Heir by Elizabeth Michels
The Cross and the Dragon by Kim Rendfeld

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