[JuntMonkey]

I loved Total Recall as a kid. Blade Runner I wasn't big on.

Then in my freshman year of college, I took a science-fiction English course. One of the books was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner). I loved it and raced through it, not going out on Friday night so that I could read it. It became my favorite book.

I didn't get around to reading his short stories until a few years later (2004). I took what I think was supposed to be one of the better collections out from the library. I really did not enjoy any of them very much, including the stories that inspired Total Recall, Minority Report, and Paycheck.

This was puzzling - I expected to love them, since I loved Blade Runner (book).

In the interim I saw Minority Report, which was okay. I saw Paycheck last night, which, surprisingly, I liked better than Blade Runner and Minority Report.

In any event, I want to recapture what I liked about Blade Runner. The fast pace, the depressing (but disturbingly appealing) world, the undeveloped characters who make it more depressing/appealing (reminds me of Winston from 1984).

According to Wikipedia, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, takes place in a "dystopic near-future police state," which is right up my alley. I'll get around to it someday.

Thoughts on Dick?

There is also the possibility that somehow my tastes changed to the extent that I wouldn't like Blade Runner if I read it today, but I doubt it.