Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Tl; dr: Masterpiece.

Format read: Paperback
Reading time: 5-7h
Tags: philosophical, psychology, science fiction, speculative, robotics, artificial intelligence, androids, animals, dying earth, post-apocalyptic
Own a copy: yes
Reread likelihood: 1000/10

Summary
Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who specialises in ‘retiring' andys: Android escapees from Mars. Deckard uses a psychological test, the Voigt-Kampff, that detects levels of empathy in the suspect. Androids are naturally devoid of empathy, which makes Deckard's job easy, until a new type of android is created, the Nexus-6. This type is not only very difficult to deal with, but it is also virtually indistinguishable from humans. Deckard's bounty hunting days are at risk if he can't find and retire eight escaped and dangerous Nexus-6 android criminals.

Review
Where to begin with this review? Perhaps I should preface this by saying that this is my fourth reread of this book, and the story never ceases to amaze me.

The novel focuses on a dying humanity that is about to be overrun by humanoid androids. Earth has all but been destroyed, and most of the animals and plants have died out, making for a grim and cheerless environment. The majority of humans have emigrated to Mars for a chance at a better life, but we soon find out that humanity is doomed out there, too, where humans are regularly killed by their android servants. The humans who remain on Earth are the lowest on the social ladder: They cannot emigrate because they are either 1) too poor or 2) contaminated by the radioactive dust and can therefore not reproduce. Those who are not yet contaminated, like Deckard, are only hanging on by a thread. It's only a question of time before the dust contaminates them, too.

One of the major themes of the book is the use of empathy. Humans are distinguishable from androids only through their strong feelings of empathy, in particular towards animals. In fact, human-human empathy is not a necessity in this world; we are repeatedly shown how humans mistreat other humans based on their social status and/or mental faculties. Instead, the ultimate sign of empathy–and thereby humanity–is having the ownership of an animal. However, animals are incredibly rare and expensive, which puts them out of reach of most people on Earth unless they work tirelessly. This is the case for Deckard who desperately wants to buy a real animal to replace his electric sheep. Having a flesh and blood animal to care for is the ultimate luxury and status symbol, and Deckard chases this dream throughout the novel. To achieve this, he must hunt and kill the rogue androids from Mars. Each kill nets him 1000$ bonus on top of his salary with the police, which makes bounty hunting a lucrative side job. Naturally, this is a very dangerous job, and Deckard finds himself in hairy situations more than once. However, his dream of owning an animal surpasses everything, even when he begins to develop empathy for the androids–an anomaly that should not happen in humans.

He thought, too, about his need for a real animal; within him an actual hatred once more manifested itself toward his electric sheep, which he had to tend, had to care about, as if it lived. The tyranny of an object, he thought. It doesn't know I exist. Like the androids, it has no ability to appreciate the existence of another. (p. 40)

“That goat,” Rachael said. “You love the goat more than me. More than you love your wife, probably. First then goat, then your wife, then last of all [me]” (p. 185)