The Man in the High Castle (1962)

Fantastic set up, chilling description of the Nazi Reich cobbled from the memories and thoughts of those on the outside. let down by a slightly anticlimactic ending, but otherwise superb alternative reality fiction ( )

I wanted to like this more than I did. I did really like the idea - what would the world be like if Germany and Japan had won WWII? That aspect of the book was interesting to think about and to explore that alternate world. But I didn't care about any of the characters and nothing much happened, so there was not a lot of plot. It was sort of "a day in the life" exploration instead. ( )

Dick's second best novel after Ubik. But most non-scifi readers are going to like this more than Ubik. Alternate history that points to actual history. The Germans and the Japanese have won WWII, it is the 1960s, and they are not too fond of each other. That's as much as I'm going to give you. The usual Dick theme of shifting realities. Very well drawn characters and a plot supposedly determined by the I Ching that leads to several interesting climaxes. Dick tends to be a bit dated now, pointing to the 60s and 70s for themes, culture, and language, but Castle isn't hampered by this like some of his other novels.

This is a genre bender that I would only hesitantly call science fiction. Everyone I have ever recommended it to that hates scifi still loves this book. Despite the usual Dick weirdness at times he tones it down and maintains coherence enough to appeal to the non-genre/non-Dick fiction reader. Just enough for Dick fans, but not too much for the rest.

If you are mainly a hard scifi fan, Dick is going to be a tough pill to swallow. He utilizes the usual scifi tropes at times but doesn't really care how consistent they are and doesn't dwell on them except as necessary to get whatever his point or theme is across. He is primarily literary and only secondarily scifi.

This is really a beautiful little novel and definitely in my top 25 books of all time. One of the VERY few books I would even consider reading a second time. ( )

While I found the book interesting, I have to say I think the series on Amazon Prime is a more compelling story. If I hadn't already seen the film version I think I would have gotten lost in the book. ( )

Philip K Dick, and this book in particular as a winner of the Hugo Award for best Science Fiction novel in 1963, has such a reputation that I was looking forward to this book.

I perhaps have heard more about Dick than having read his novels, though I have read more of his short fiction. His (novel) 'Do androids dream of electric sheep' was the inspiration for Blade Runner (one of my favourite movies) and the movies Total Recall and Minority Report (if not others) are based on short stories by Dick.

So I was, as already said, looking forward to this but came away less than enthused. The basic outline of the book is relatively well known. Set in the early 1960s, in an alternative history, Germany and Japan have won the Second World War, in circumstances where the USA did not join WWII, with much of the world divided up between the 2 victors, though with Africa itself wiped out. The Mediterranean Sea has has been drained and converted into farming land by Germany.

Hitler survives, though in a vastly health compromised state, with Boorman in an acting position. Churchill remains in the leader's role in England. The USA itself is split into three areas: much of the West Coast is under the control of the Japanese (as is much of Oceania and South Asia); the East Coast is under the control of the Germans; with much of the balance of Continental USA is a no mans land (certainly not under the control of the USA). The Chinese are reduced to a second class. One quickly senses that Germany and Japan do not necessarily eye to eye.

Much of the novel traces Japanese, German and USA characters interacting in San Francisco. Those interactions bring out the characters precarious positions, against the world in which they live.

A number of the characters learn of, or are reading a subversive novel 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy' which depicts yet another alternative world history in which German and Japan do not win WWII, but rather a third version yet again. Most dialogue is as to why this novel-in-a-novel has been written and what it 'means'.

There is use of the I Ching as people seek guidance and answers as to decisions that they need or wish to make. There is a development towards the end of the novel, which has different implications depending on whether one believes the I Ching delivers truth or not. Indeed the fact of that ambiguity of that situation (rather than which of the alternatives is 'correct') may well be the 'message' of the novel (if indeed there is intended to be a 'message').

But it left me a little cold, hence my ranking of 3 * (my ranking of 'readable'). But with, as of today, some 61% of those who provided a ranking on Library Thing (some 2998 rankings in total) giving a ranking of 4 or more (out of 5) and a staggering 95% giving a ranking of 3 or more, I must be missing something.

But I will read more novels by Philip K Dick and see what I can find.

An extremely minor matter but one character changes his name from Fink to Frink, but the first time he explains that (p 6), a typo has him saying both his former and changed name was 'Frink', though it is correctly described later in the novel (p 102). Given the mind-bending of Dick/the genre I did wonder for a short while whether the initial 'incorrect' description was deliberate and of some significance. But alas, nothing came to mind, and can only assume it was a typos after all. Certainly no influence on my overall rating!



Big Ship
27 May 2022 ( )