Many people are not familiar with the name Philip K. Dick, yet they are probably very familiar with his stories. One of his most beloved stories “Do androids dream of electric sheep? ” was adapted into film in the form of the Sci-fi classic “Blade Runner” starring Harrison Ford. Other noteworthy films Based on the stories of Philip K. Dick are: Screamers, Minority report and Paycheck. His stories often have a dark tone and some are outright disturbing, but that is what makes his stories so appealing.
Philip K Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 along with his twin sister Jane who died three weeks after birth. He would move to California during his childhood, where he would spend the majority of his life. He went to high school at Berkeley high school. In 1949 he attended the University of California, Berkeley briefly before dropping out. In 1954 Philip K Dick’s first novel “Solar Lottery” was published. During his career as a writer, Dick would write 44 novels and 121 short stories. In 1982 Dick died at age 52 of heart failure.
Philip K Dick was a man who had a fascination with the big questions. Unlike a lot of other science fiction writers, his writings focused more on the nature of consciousness than scientific plausibility. He dared to question the definition of reality and pondered what it meant to be alive from a philosophical standpoint. Dick was not just a sci-fi writer, he was a philosopher in the deepest sense of the word. He wrote about his hopes, his dreams and his fears wrapped up in the guise of dark futuristic fables.
Philip K Dick is my favorite author because he challenges me to think for myself and question the nature of reality. He was a man that realized that things weren’t always what they seemed to be. I also enjoyed the dark, gritty atmosphere of his stories. Of all the Novels written by Philip K Dick that I have read, my favorite is “Do androids dream of electric sheep.” Philip K dick was a true visionary of the Science fiction genre.