August 5, 2013

Read The Greatest Memory And Identity Science Fiction

By Cathy Mercer


Science fiction stories are usually set in a far off future. They feature technology and how it can potentially harm humanity. One the commonest forms of the genre is memory and identity science fiction. Philip K. Dick is arguably the most popular author of this type of writing, as many of his books have been made into big budget Hollywood movies.

The vast majority of Dick's writing was sci-fi. He wrote nearly forty novels and many collections of short stories. His career lasted for over thirty years. His first story was published in the early nineteen fifties in a pulp magazine. The first story he actually sold to a sci-fi publication was titled Roog.

Dick often explored the notion of reality being determined by perception, that there is no objective reality. Many of his protagonists even question the nature of their own existence. Even though most of his stories take a futuristic setting, they are derived from Dick's own real life experiences and this gives them a believable quality.

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? is probably Dick's most well known work. It was originally published in 1968 and is set in the future. There has been a nuclear war and most forms of animal are extinct because of radiation poisoning. The book explores the contrast between humans and androids who look like humans. It was made into a feature film called Bladerunner which starred Harrison Ford.

There have been a couple of sequels written to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The author was K. W. Jeter, who Dick had known well. The sequels were published in the mid to late 1990s and examined the differences between the original text and the movie. Dick's estate gave their blessing for these later books to be written.

The Philip K. Dick Society was established as a way of perpetuating the popularity of Dick's work. Fans also made a robot which resembled him. The robot's head was actually lost and never found but a new one was made. There have been plenty of books written about Dick but Emmanuel Carrere's is thought to be the most eloquent.

Other key writers in the sci-fi genre are Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein. They are viewed as having had a massive influence on the genre. Heinlein is noteworthy because he was one of the earliest sci-fi novelists to get a mainstream audience. Asimov created a large body of work and was known for robot fiction. The majority of Clarke's writing investigated the idea of humans being confronted by superior alien life forms. One of Clarke's stories was the starting point for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Dick passed away at his home in Santa Ana during the early eighties. Even though he had lived in poverty for much of his life, many say he is the most important writer of memory and identity science fiction. His influence on filmmakers is clear. Famous directors like David Cronenberg and Christopher Nolan have been influenced by him. Donnie Darko and Memento were inspired by his writing.




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