After a rather riveting month of reading Philip K Dick's 'Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' the members of the book club finally gathered
for its very first meeting. After a brief exchange of niceties we all sat down
to look for some answers, and perhaps questions, pertaining to the book at
hand. Some of the topics that were tackled shall be discussed in this blog
post. This is a SPOILER FREE version
of the book club discussion. A more detailed version shall be uploaded later!
What were some of the things the book did
well?
The universe that the book exists in is set wonderfully to the
point that the readers almost believe that it is real or that it is a
possibility for the future. Another thing the book does well is the covering of
several facets in the lives of the characters both human and android such as
religion, media, loneliness and the relationship between androids and humans.
Additionally things are not over-explained in the books; a lot is left to the
imagination of the reader in a way that suggests that the reader should know
these things as they themselves exist in the same universe.
What are some things that were disliked about the book?
Pacing of the book being a bit slow and the ending being more or
less open ended was what frustrated the readers most. Other than that, the
readers loved the book!
Is there a moral to be learned from the story?
The book raises several ethical and moral questions- should androids
be considered live? Should eugenics be considered when deciding who
lives/dies/gets left behind at the end of civilization? Does having more money
qualify for you to survive just because you can afford the expenses?
By being forced to think of these questions the reader is left to
arrive to the answers on their own in order to understand, what it is to be
human.
How is the book relevant to the current socio-political situations
in the western world?
Looming possibility of nuclear war at any moment is what makes the
book seem so real to the readers. The dystopian universe set forth in the book
doesn’t seem too far off, with modern world leaders who own weapons of mass
destructions and very short tempers. Moreover, the quality of healthcare (that
is whether you live or not) depending on wealth of the patient is very similar
to the populations in the book’s universe that could afford to leave and
survive. Lastly the destruction of earth’s flora and fauna by humans as we struggle
to keep species from going extinct is also well reflected in the book.
Thus far, the book has been established to be relevant to modern
day and a book the readers enjoyed over all! A detailed discussion shall be
uploaded soon ^_^
