“These days, [Philip K.] Dick is widely considered the science-fiction novelist who most accurately foresaw our contemporary world.”
—the Los Angeles Times
7 thoughts on “Um, what?”
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“These days, [Philip K.] Dick is widely considered the science-fiction novelist who most accurately foresaw our contemporary world.”
—the Los Angeles Times
Comments are closed.
Well, you know, that’s if you believe that any of the movies based on his books actually had something to do with his books. And um…
Okay, I’ll be over here, in my safe room, trying not to freak out.
Yeah, I know about those adaptations… I wish someone would make a DO ANDROIDS DREAM movie, or mini series based on the BOOK the way it was supposed to be. BLADERUNNER was cool, but wow, the book was AMAZING.
I’m a fan of both Androids and Blade Runner and agree that a more faithful adaptation of the novel would be welcome. I just don’t think the book (or the existing film) have much of a connection to the contemporary world.
I’d describe Android‘s setting as a fairly stock ’70s-era dystopian Earth with some uniquely Dickian flourishes. It doesn’t feel prescient to me, it feels anachronistic — which is fine, because I think its virtues lie elsewhere.
When reading the book, A SCANNER DARKLY definitely felt 70’s to me in many ways. Hell, the movie even felt 70’s… But by time I read ANDROIDS, I had seen BLADERUNNER many times and took scenes from that to fulfill my minds-eye of what the book was. I couldnt shake it either… On Subsequent reads, I tried to no avail. Maybe, i will try again though sometime soon.
Huh. I would say Ballard, hands-down.
Ballard definitely does feel more like a resident of the same planet, even when he’s describing utterly fantastic settings. I also think his approach to world-building was more comprehensive. Dick seems more apt to focus his creativity on a handful of elements that really interest him, without worrying overmuch about the big picture.
I hope this means our friends from Frolix 8 are arriving real soon now.