Summer reading, first title: [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] definitely changes up my usual choice of non-fiction. This alternate reality to what we take for granted—the Allies winning WWII—swept me in with the first page. Readers know they are with a masterful story teller. And the pages kept turning.

However, the small but varied cast of characters lost me a time or two as the narrative jumped from one story line to another. And then there's the writer's psychotic break along with the stretch (for me) of understanding the importance/influence of the I Ching.

I can check reading something Phil-Dickian off my list and plunge on with my summer selection. ( )

Not reviewed. Not well remembered. ( )

Philip K Dick is the man ( )

In the 1960s, science fiction writer Philip K. Dick explored the notion that what we call reality is not at all 1Creal 1D in many of his short stories and novels. 1CThe Man in the High Castle 1D is one of those explorations. In this one, the characters live in an America that was conquered by the Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, (Like Joe Cinnadella in the novel, I leave out Italy even though it was one of the Axis countries.) The United States has been divided between Germany on the East Coast and Japan on the West Coast, with Germany in nominal control of the Rocky Mountain Region. In a way, this is reminiscent of Neal Stevenson 19s notion of a balkanized America, except that American is not wholly controlled by a single external power in Stevenson 19s universe.)

The main characters are Robert Childan, owner of an antique business in San Francisco who caters to a Japanese fondness for Americana, especially Civil War era pistols, like the one owned by Mr. Tagomi, head of the Japanese trade mission who finds himself unwittingly brokering a high-level meeting between Mr. Yatabe from the 1CHome Islands 1D as Japan is always designated, and Mr. Baynes who supposedly represents a Swedish corporation, but neither Yatabe nor Baynes is who he pretends to be.

Then there are Frank Frink, a skilled worker who fabricates counterfeit Civil War era pistols, and his foreman, Ed McCarthy. Frink and McCarthy decide to go into business for themselves making jewelry even though everyone tells them that the Japanese will not buy their art nouveau designs.

Then there is Paul and Betty Kasoura, a young Japanese couple stationed in San Francisco, who are young enough not to remember World War II and are consequently more benevolent toward Americans than are some of their elders.

Finally there is Juliana Frink, Frank 19s ex-wife who lives in Cannon City, Colorado, where she meets Joe Cinnadella who has just arrived on a truck from the East Coast.

Someone complained that the novel 1CFatherland 1D makes living under Nazi rule seem no worse than having to live in Cleveland. (I am not sure whether the critic was talking about the novel or the movie version or both; nor am I clear about what he had against Cleveland.) This novel almost draws the same complaint, although it is clear that for 1Cnon-whites 1D 14that broad category of targeted populations that includes almost everyone 14the Nazis are ruthless in going anywhere in the world to exterminate them.
The gist is that it seems better to live under the Japanese than the Germans, especially if you belong to a minority group.

Indeed, the Nazis have done many atrocious things like exterminating most of Africa, draining the Mediterranean Sea for farmland, and, oh, yes, they have had the hydrogen bomb for well over a decade and have been happy to use it. Not to mention they built an SST-like rocket ship that cut travel time between New York and San Francisco to two hours. The Germans are also pushing a space program to colonize Mars.

Dick is both brilliant and eccentric. Some of the scenes, such as the uncomfortable dinner party between the Kasouras and Childan, are revelatory. (The Japanese are more tolerant while Childan is the true bigot.) But Tagomi 19s remorse after having to kill two intruders felt to me as if it lacked foundation in the earlier development of his character. Many of the characters think in a clipped English that uses oddly flowery words and is spare of articles, definite and indefinite, as if Americans who spend their time talking to Japanese are turning Japanese themselves. A subtle touch is that thoughts and speeches certainly reflect the views of the characters, but it is not always clear whether Dick thinks they are right about anything. After Joe goes on an approving rant about socialism, Juliana thinks, 1CSpoken like a true Nazi. 1D Does Dick think Joe 19s speech had any merit? Perhaps, perhaps not.

In one scene, Childan is thinking 14not speaking, but thinking 14about a Chinese he is dealing with, and Dick uses a racial slur to refer to the Chinese; whereas, in a later scene, Baynes sees a similar man, and, in describing Baynes 19 thoughts, Dick refers to the man as 1CChinese. 1D Dick 19s shorthand way of communicating that Childan is a bigot while Baynes is not. If Dick were writing today, however, I am not sure the modern world with its zero-tolerance hypersensitivity to racial matters would comprehend the subtle distinction the author is making here.

Also, Dick 19s use of the I Ching is a personal quirk that determines the direction of the entire novel, including the novel within the novel, the best seller in this alternative universe, 1CThe Grasshopper Lies Heavy. 1D This inner novel, which is quoted several times in the course of Dick 19s book, describes a world in which the Allies and not the Axis won. Joe complains at one point that his national pride is hurt by the notion that the Axis collapsed because of Italy 19s betrayal. It is noteworthy that the scenario in this inner novel is not our history. It reads more like what someone would write if they lived in a world where the Axis won and they had to imagine a world in which the allies had won. For example, Italy didn 19t betray the Axis in our timeline, so much as it collapsed. The United States and Britain did not become Cold War antagonists in our timeline the way they do in 1CThe Grasshopper. 1D

At the end of the novel, the title character, 1Cthe man in the high castle, 1D Hawthorne Abendsen, author of 1CThe Grasshopper, 1D along with his wife, Caroline, make an appearance when Julianna, having just finished Abendsen 19s novel and, being in his neighborhood, visits him. Have you ever met someone you had admired only to find out that they are ordinary if not an outright jerk? (More autobiography, since Dick no doubt had this experience himself and was also modest enough to believe that when his own fans met him that they, too, were somehow disappointed.)

Alternate realities have become the rave in contemporary sci-fi, but Philip K. Dick explored this topic decades ago. The question, 1CWhat is reality? 1D plagued him so much in his later years that some have speculated that Dick eventually lost his mind. In this novel, he explores the idea that it is possible to dwell in "false realities, 1D but he is tentative and inconclusive. A good question for discussion is whether the alternative San Francisco that one of the characters visits in the second half of the novel is in 1Cour 1D reality or part of Abendsen 19s imagined reality. What is the relationship of Abendsen 19s novelistic 1Creality 1D to ours? Did Dick believe, even when he wrote this novel, that perhaps our own 1Creality 1D is not real? ( )

There are fourteen novels by Philip K Dick in the Science Fiction Masterwork series, totalling now at 193. This 1962 novel was the breakthrough novel for Dick it won the Hugo award in 1963 and was the next one on my list to read. It is an alternative history novel. In Dick's imaginary world; the Germans under Adolph Hitler had won the second world war some fifteen years ago in 1947 and now in 1962 America was suffering under the rule of Nazi Germany and the Imperial state of Japan, both nations having influence in various parts of the USA. Nazi Germany has pushed on with technological developments that has resulted in rockets now able to reach Mars and Venus. They are the most powerful of the two nations that control the rest of the world. American citizens are of a third world status and are trying to come to terms with the struggle to survive under the yoke of the leading two powers.

Dick tells of several American characters attempting to secure a living in these changed times. Robert Childan runs an antique shop in San Francisco which is now part of the Pacific States of America under Japanese Control. He is riding a wave of Japanese interest in American items which were in use before the war: many of the artefacts were destroyed in the war and have become a rarity. He has important Japanese customers who are collectors and he must adapt to their cultural mores as well as securing the items that will satisfy their cravings. Frank Fink who keeps his jewish ancestry secret has recently been fired from his job as a machine tool expert and has recently supplied to Robert Childan a counterfeit colt 44 that he has made in his workshop. He is now going into the business of making modern contemporary American jewellery. Julia Frink the estranged wife of Frank has recently met Joe CInnadella who has promised that he will take her on the trip of her dreams and shows her large bankrolls of money to fund their extravagance. All the characters frequently consult the I-Ching when making decisions and must interpret the weird statements that the I-Ching devines to them. Joe and Julia become avid readers of a novel that is sweeping America called 'The Grasshopper lies Heavy' by Hawthorne Abendsen which tells of an alternate history which bears more resemblance to our own history for example in the 'Grasshopper lies Heavy' the allies won the second world war and America became the most powerful country. Abendsen is the Man in the High Tower and Julia becomes suspicious that Joe is an assassin who is using his relationship with her as cover so that he can murder Abendsen.

If this sounds complicated then I can vouch for it being even more complicated because throughout the novel references are made to the history of the German victory in the second world war and the subsequent progroms carried out by the Nazi's that resulted from it. At the current time of the novel there is a power struggle going on in Berlin. Martin Boorman who succeeded Hitler has recently died and Joseph Goebbels is launching a bid for power with the prospect of more ethnic cleansing with his project Dandelion. Agents from the Nazis are meeting Japanese officials as part of the power struggle. Americans are standing helplessly by, hoping that a more liberating clique seizes power in Berlin, but are hedging their bets with the officials with whom they come into contact. Of course a story as complicated as this will have plot holes, but this is science fiction where plot holes are almost de rigueur. Dick's characterisation is good for this genre and there is little evidence of racism and misogyny from the hands of the author. It is dark, it is a little weird, but Dick creates an atmosphere that can grip the reader right to the end of the story, even in a story like this one, that is open ended. 4 stars. ( )