Re: CitySpeak in _Blade Runner_ (was Conlangs in History)

At 08:45 PM 8/20/2000 +0200, BP Jonsson wrote:
>>Date:         Fri, 18 Aug 2000 12:12:54 -0400
>>From: Yoon Ha Lee <yl112@...>
>>Subject:      Re: "CitySpeak" in _Blade Runner_ (was  Conlangs in History)
>>To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
>>On Fri, 18 Aug 2000, John Cowan wrote:
>> > [snip]
>> > With perhaps a side reference to Philip K. Dick, aka Horselover Fat.
>
>A real person?
The late Philip K. Dick was not only a real person but a major
science-fiction writer.  He was very prolific, and his work was very
uneven, but the good stuff was _very_ good.  FWIW, he's one of the few
genre SF writers to be taken seriously by the academic lit-crit
establishment.  In one of his late, semi-autobiographical novels (either
_Valis_ or _The Divine Invasion_, I can't remember which), the protagonist
is a writer named Horselover Fat; the name is formed by literally
translating his own, from Greek (_philohippos_ or something like that =
"horse-lover") and German (_dick_ = "fat").
>
>> > Is this Cityspeak found in the original "Do Androids Dream of Electric
>> Sheep"?
Cityspeak is _not_ found in the novel, only in the film.

>>I could almost have sworn that it *wasn't,* but it's been over a year
>>since I read it.  I haven't actually seen Bladerunner <ducking>, but I'm
>>told the two do have significant differences (from those who know).
>
>Is it a good read?  I like the movie, and IME if you like the film, don't
>read the book & vice_versa.
IMHO, this is one of the few exceptions; I really like them both (although
the book is not one of Dick's best).  But the connection between them is so
tenuous that it's probably better to think of them as totally distinct
works, rather than thinking of the film as an adaptation of the book.

- Tim

------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Smith

"To live outside the law you must be honest."
        -- Bob Dylan