The Man in the High Castle

In an alternate version of San Fransisco, change is in the air, and Americans (both Jews and non-Jews), Japanese, and Germans weigh decisions about their futures. In their world, the Axis powers won World War II, and both individual society and international relations operate in a vacuum of trust. Japan controls the U.S. West Coast and the Americans who still live there have adopted Japanese customs. Japanese and Americans alike consult the I Ching as an oracle to make decisions and foretell the immediate future. Everyone is morbidly curious about a book the Germans have banned, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, an alternate history of World War II in which Germany and Japan were defeated.

The theme of free will vs determinism resonated most show more with me. The characters, with a couple of brief exceptions, have a fatalistic view of the world and of their individual lives within the larger whole. By consulting the I Ching for even the most inconsequential of decisions, they cede their free will and personal responsibility for the consequences of their choices. If you take determinism to its logical conclusion, this book would be completely implausible because it would be impossible for history to have turned out any differently than it has. show less

Nazis are cynics with utter faith

The Axis powers won WWII and are occupying the U.S. This mind-bending novel set in an alternative history / universe provides context for some of Dick's most viscous criticisms of society and wonderfully biting attacks on nazis, which are just as apropos for today's nazis (e.g. the entire movement a product of a syphilitic brain, and this: "...those elite SS fairies have that angelic simper, that blond babylike innocence; they're saving themselves for mama, or each other").

Impressed at PKD's deep understanding of Japanese culture and sensibilities. "...as a final irony, he regretted my utterance." It indeed feels like he has lived among the Japanese as a conquered subject.

Some interesting commentary show more towards the end that seems to bridge with A Scanner: "...seen through a glass darkly not a metaphor, but astute reference to optical distortion. We really do see astigmatically, in [a] fundamental sense: our space and our time creations of our own psyche, and when these momentarily falter - like acute disturbance of middle ear." show less

What if Germany and Japan had won World War II? That is the question explored in Philip K. Dick's alternative history dystopia The Man in the High Castle, which was published in 1962 and only recently turned into a TV series. The United States as we know it is divided between Japan, which governs the west coast or the Pacific States of America as they are called in the novel, and Germany, which governs the east coast. In between is a neutral zone, the Rocky Mountain States, which still remain good old American. Germany has set up a totalitarian regime and has already started to expand their Reich to space, exploring the Moon and Mars. Adolf Hitler is not their leader anymore but still not dead yet. So much for the setting.

The novel show more follows a range of characters, mainly in the Pacific States of America and San Francisco in particular. There is Robert Childan, store owner of American Artistic Handcrafts Inc., who deals in pre-war American artifacts. There is Nobusuke Tagomi, a Trade Mission official who answers directly to Japan's foreign office. And then there is Frank Frink, an American Jew who works in a factory forging American artifacts as there is a big market for them and the Japanese are highly interested in objects with some historicity. All the while there is talk of a book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, written by Hawthorne Abendsen who is said to live in a fortress in the Rocky Mountains. He is the man in the high castle that gives novel its title and his novel describes a world where the Allies have won World War II, which is why it is naturally forbidden in the German-governed US. It is allowed in the Pacific States, however, and some people are intrigued by the idea. Among other factors, this book sets into motion a movement of change and certain characters in the novel start questioning the system, their existence and the meaning of life.

Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find. (p. 248)

You probably do not read this book so much for its plot but rather for the questions it explores. To my mind, Dick's narrative technique and characterization are superb and contribute to the overall bleak atmosphere, especially towards the end of the novel. Dick masters to depict tensions in a subtle yet tangible way. It is interesting to see how nationality and ethnicity affect relations between characters and how they gradually change over the course of the novel until they reach their turning point. The novel also makes you re-evaluate your expectations from life and how you perceive the country (system?) you live in. In the totalitarian system that Dick depicts, more often than not the characters consult an oracle in order to see what lies in their future or simply to make important decisions in their lives. Also, whenever they start questioning the meaning of their life they seem to eventually turn to their function in society or their job for comfort and safety. As a reader you can really grasp how some characters struggle with individual thought.

There is just one aspect that I did not like about the novel and that was the second part of the final chapter. I would have much preferred if Dick had let the novel end some ten pages before and be done with it. While the final pages do fit the course of the novel I just think it would have been more suspenseful to leave certain things unsaid. I can highly recommend, however, to see for yourself and pick up a copy of The Man in the High Castle. A brilliant 4 stars, perhaps unjustifiably and only very subjectively subtracting one star for the ending. show less

The year is 1962, fifteen years after the end of an alternate version of WWII. The United States, as we knew it, is no more and has been split into three separate entities: the Pacific States of America (the west coast, ruled by Japan), the United States (the eastern third of our country, dominated by the brutal Third Reich) and the Rocky Mountain buffer zone (which is run by…well, its never really clear).

So there’s a scrappy, but ingenious underground movement of Americans battling to overthrow their oppressors and return America to its former glory, right? No. Not even close.

In fact, the conquered natives in this story are surviving and adapting, at least in the Pacific States and the buffer zone, where most of the story takes show more place. Former Americans now consult the I Ching and internalize and embrace foreign behavior and concepts such as “wu.” They create industries that cater to the ruling tastes, especially the desire for “antique Americana” tchotchkes. They defer and deflect, while contemptuously noting what their conquerors lack. (Note that the story was published during the Civil Rights era.)

The new rulers, however, are less settled. The Japanese mistrust their Nazi counterparts, ever mindful that the Reich wiped out not only the Jewish people, but also most of the population of Africa, and the Nazis are threatened by a book called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, in which the United States wins the war. So yes, you’re reading an alternate history that heavily features a book of alternate history.

Dick packs a load of questions that only become apparent on reflection: What or who can determine fate? Power? Reality? Does art play a role? And finally, on the personal level, just how alternate is this reality?

An interesting note: Dick has written a scene where the woman is in control of her sexuality and choice of partner, and he allows us to see this partner through her eyes, the female gaze, if you will. It’s a quick moment, but an interesting one for 1963, when the book was published.

And finally, Amazon Prime has produced an episodic story that has the title of this book. It introduces new characters and story lines, and yes, there’s a scrappy, but ingenious underground movement. Dick claims he wrote his book using the I Ching to steer the twists and turns of the story. Perhaps the writers for the Amazon Prime series did the same.

A book to reread and ponder. show less

The Man in the High Castle is an intriguing but occasionally confusing book. It uses a science-fiction alternate history, in which the Axis powers won World War Two, to pose a number of questions about the nature of reality. The overall concept, insofar as I could grasp, is the idea of certain realities/parallel worlds being 'false'. More specifically, it is about the perceptions of people within those 'false' worlds and whether they realise, or accept the possibility that, their world is a false one, a fictional one. Beyond this, it posits that the words 'fake' and 'true' have no solid meaning; it all depends on whether we perceive its falsity, whether we believe it to be truthful. For Philip K. Dick, truth is not an absolute. There is show more also an interesting, persistent theme wherein the 'fake' may be better, more useful, than the 'authentic' counterpart. From what I know about Dick, this is a persistent theme in his work; the most well-known example is, of course, the replicants from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (made into the film Blade Runner). In The Man in the High Castle, this is shown in, amongst other examples, the Colt revolver that Tagomi owns and the various physical deceptions that some of the characters make about their identities.

This interpretation that I gleaned from reading the book is perhaps erroneous; this is the sort of book where you could have a wildly different interpretation from someone else, and you both would be able to cite examples from the text to support your view. I like these sort of books that exercise your mind long after you've finished the last page, but this one in particular requires a lot of mental effort. Dick aids the reader in this in some respects. He writes well, with occasional humour to provide a respite from the heavy philosophical concepts and also from the oppressive totalitarianism present in his alternate world. He also provides good characterisation, even if the majority of said characters are unlikeable. However, he hinders the reader's understanding in other ways. There is no plot really to speak of. Some of the philosophising is rambling and impenetrable, with certain passages requiring repeated re-readings (at least for me). The fervent advocacy of the I Ching by many characters (and, therefore, by the author) also gave me an aversion to engaging with High Castle - it felt at times like Dick was trying to convert me. But as alternate histories go, this is one of the more intelligent ones; certainly it is one of the few that transcend the strictures of the 'alternate history' niche to become a genuinely thoughtful piece of literature. show less

The writing has the clunkiness of a hastily written first draft: Sketchy scenes, inconsistent characterization. And yet... the [b:The Man in the High Castle|216363|The Man in the High Castle|Philip K. Dick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1448756803s/216363.jpg|2398287] is compelling. This is a thoughtful, philosophical novel, very different from the Amazon video series it inspired. Most of the action occurs internally. The erratic actions and abrupt scene shifts create a dizzy disorientation. What is real? What is fantasy? The reader, like the characters in the story, cannot be sure. By the odd, surreal conclusion, I felt as though I had lived this story. Maybe I still do.

I always find the endings of PKD novels baffling and this was no exception. The intricacy of the various plot threads, how they weave across each other, and of course the terrifying world building are all brilliant. As with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I can't help wanting more: more details about the world--for example, Africa and its nuclear holocaust, which is at the peripheries of the novel, more closure, more narrative. What happens in the lives of all these characters, the future especially of Baynes/Wergner, Tagomi, and Childan.

As a parenthetical, I can't decide if the book downplays the brutality of Japan's role in WWII. Whenever I try to articulate my discomfort with this, it ends up being a bizarre untenable show more comparison of "who was worse, Nazis or Imperialist Japan?" a question which misses the point. There is a hint of the subjugation of the Chinese, but not much else is mentioned in terms of Japan's atrocities and considering that so many of the sympathetic characters are Japanese--Tagomi, and the Kasouras, who are sympathetic because we encounter them through Childan's racist xenophobic exoticism--compared to the Germans. show less