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The Man in the High Castle

by Philip K. Dick

3.82 · rating details · 13,911 ratings · 936 reviews

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war - and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. ...more

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Published (first published 1962)

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May 12, 2008

brian rated it

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the plot is simple enough: an alternate history detailing what would've happened had the axis powers won the second world war. thankfully, there's very little of that obvious government intrigue and new-world-order shit that lesser writers focus on -- rather, Dick's obsession is the spiritual life of the individual in a totalitarian society told in the form of a wonderfully messy jumble of ideas and ruminations on race and history and human connection and destiny. in fact, i think dick's ideas ...morethe plot is simple enough: an alternate history detailing what would've happened had the axis powers won the second world war. thankfully, there's very little of that obvious government intrigue and new-world-order shit that lesser writers focus on -- rather, Dick's obsession is the spiritual life of the individual in a totalitarian society told in the form of a wonderfully messy jumble of ideas and ruminations on race and history and human connection and destiny. in fact, i think dick's ideas are so powerful, they somewhat take over the novel... his characterizations, on the other hand, are not as strong as they could be; as a result, they're crushed under the weight of plot and idea...

imagine a hybrid of, say, Philip K. Dick and Richard Yates? he'd pump out a few of the greatest novels ever written. that said, i expected a novel of utter strangeness and great ideas and got it; what i didn't expect was such a human and humane one.

well, there's only so much to say, best to read these passages:

on the Nazi leaders of America:

"Their view; it is cosmic. Not of a man here, a child there, but an abstraction: race, land. Volk. Land. ...It is their sense of space and time. They see through the here, the now, into the vast black deep beyond, the unchanging. And that is fatal to life. Because eventually there will be no life; there was once only the dust particles in space, the hot hydrogen gases, nothing more, and it will come again. This is an interval, ein Augenblick. The cosmic process is hurrying on, crushing life back into granite and methane; the wheel turns for all life. It is all temporary. And they - these madmen - respond to the granite, the dust, the longing of the inanimate; they want to aid Natur.... And, he thought, I know why. They want to be agents, not the victims, of history."

And there's an obsession with objects in the book... with the spiritual 'life' of objects. check this passage:

She said, 'what is "historicity"?'

'When a thing has history in it. Listen. One of those two Zippo lighters was in Franklin D. Roosevelt's pocket when he was assassinated. And one wasn't. One has historicity, a hell of a lot of it. As much as any object ever had. And one has nothing .... You can't tell which is which. There's no "mystical plasmic presence", no "aura" around it...

A gun goes through a famous battle, like the Meuse-Argonne, and it's the same as if it hadn't, unless you know. It's in here." He tapped his head. "In the mind, not the gun"'

good shit. (less)

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Dec 20, 2011

Emanuela rated it

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Shelves: e-book, narrativa-straniera, fantapolitica

Ciò che vorrei dire di questo libro è ancora nebuloso nella mia mente. Vedo un po' se l'idea si dipana e si chiarisce strada facendo.
Si tratta di sciogliere delle sovrapposizioni, di vederle singolarmente e di ricomporle in una sintesi, il tutto senza svelare la trama del romanzo perché toglierei all'eventuale lettore il gusto della scoperta. Incrocio le dita.

Partirei dal titolo: "La svastica sul sole" potrebbe avere come significato "Il sole sul sole ": la...more

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Oct 24, 2008

Werner rated it

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Recommends it for: Science fiction fans

Recommended to Werner by: It was required reading in a graduate-level course in science fi

Shelves: science-fiction, alternate-worlds

It has been said that Dick was the most skeptical writer in the history of science fiction towards the idea that the world of normal human perception actually reflects ultimate reality. After his thought and writing took a more Christian turn in the early 1970s (though he was always a professed Episcopalian) he ultimately came to the belief that the 20th-century world is an illusion caused by Satan and that we are actually living in the period described in the New Testament book of Acts. In thi...moreIt has been said that Dick was the most skeptical writer in the history of science fiction towards the idea that the world of normal human perception actually reflects ultimate reality. After his thought and writing took a more Christian turn in the early 1970s (though he was always a professed Episcopalian) he ultimately came to the belief that the 20th-century world is an illusion caused by Satan and that we are actually living in the period described in the New Testament book of Acts. In this earlier work, the religious influence comes more from Eastern thought, particularly the Hindu-Buddhist idea of maya, the concept that our material world is a veil of illusion masking the true reality. (Dick also refers to the Chinese I Ching, and reportedly used that method to divine the different turns his plot should take.) The alternate world scenario described above is only one competing "reality" in the book. Several of the characters pay a great deal of attention to a novel in which the course of World War II was very different than it was in their world, though not identical to events in our world, either (the author of that novel is the titular "man in the high castle"). At one point, one character temporarily slips into a reality very different from his own; and the reader is always that our own perceptual world is entirely different. Dick's message appears to be that NONE of these worlds (including ours) is any more "real" than the others; all are to some extent illusory fictions.

Even within the context of their own alternate world, Dick structures events and dialogue to make it clear that his characters' perceptions are subject to a very high degree of distortion and illusion. They can be altered by drugs, states of temporary insanity, ideological prejudices, and misunderstandings of other people's speech and behavior. People often lie, to themselves and to each other; supposed valuable antiques (or other treasures) may turn out to be clever fakes, and people's real identities may be hidden.

Though this is a novel of ideas, it has action and incident that keeps the plot moving and holds the attention; the characters are real and evoke our interest, and the prose is vivid and free-flowing. Dick very artfully uses the content of the book to effectively communicate his message by showing, rather than preaching, it. IMO, the literary quality of this work fully merited the Hugo it received!(less)

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Mar 31, 2011

Richard rated it

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Recommended to Richard by: SciFi & Fantasy Group 2010-05 SciFi Selection

Shelves: scifi, bookclub, classic, california, san-francisco

I’ve always enjoyed the idea of Philip K. Dick, but have to admit that I haven’t read as much of his work as I might like. After all, he is a difficult author, so it is easier to enjoy his works in the adaptations of others. I have read some though and, based on that, The Man in the High Castle is the best I’ve read yet.

Dick has several problems as an author. His drug use and chaotic lifestyle are widely accepted explanations for the slap-dash quality of some of his output. It does s...more

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Mar 15, 2009

Steve rated it

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Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, fiction

I'm not going to spend too much time on this one, since folks way more steeped in sci-fi than I am have written some fine reviews on this novel. I do however believe it deserves its fame. On surface the alternative world Dick created is OK. The Germans and Japanese win World War II. (Sounds like a bad novel dream of Newt Gingrich.) The strength of the novel lies with its characters (my favorites were Juliana Frink and Nobuske Tagomi). Possibly because in two remarkable chapters (13 & 14) in t...more

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Jan 01, 2009

Aerin rated it

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Shelves: dystopia, sciencefiction

The Man in the High Castle is almost too strange to be enjoyable. Besides Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, it's probably Dick's most famous novel, and the one that popularized the alternate history genre. I've wanted to read it for awhile, not just because it's one of those Important Sci-Fi Novels That All Fans Must Read, but because it sounded dystopian and interesting. All I knew about it was the premise: the Axis powers win WWII.

Set in the then-present day of 1962, The Man in the High Castle ...more

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Mar 22, 2011

Lynn rated it

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Man, this is one weird book! It's a nightmare-come-true scenario, where the Axis powers - Germany and Japan (Italy has been sidelined) have won the Second WW, and have carved up the globe and run it their way. Only they are at each other's throats, using fair means and foul, to control the world. The Japanese seem to want to atone, for example, by preserving pieces of America's lost heritage, such as a Mickey Mouse watch (!), while the Germans continue their genocidal path, for instance, by d...more

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Dec 14, 2010

Gregory Rothbard rated it

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Cluck It Loud. A Good Book Worth Reading.

Well this book is fully loaded; and my review for it has taken a long time. Part of the reason for the long time, is the fear that I will not quit get the gist of the book, how do I summarize something that is so broad in its perspective.
The first time I saw Blade Runner, and then heard that it was an adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I fell in love with his mind and the time portrayed there, the architecture, and the lov...moreCluck It Loud. A Good Book Worth Reading.

Well this book is fully loaded; and my review for it has taken a long time. Part of the reason for the long time, is the fear that I will not quit get the gist of the book, how do I summarize something that is so broad in its perspective.
The first time I saw Blade Runner, and then heard that it was an adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I fell in love with his mind and the time portrayed there, the architecture, and the lovely cyborgs. I felt "cool" watching it and wanted to walk into that world. I have always been attracted to the foreign feel of new places. The cantina in Star Wars, the hyper reality of Cool World, the funny world found in Tank Girl, were places that I explored in my dreams. I participated in this world once in Israel, at the London Underground, with a few friends from Belgium.
So all of these thoughts and more kept me from writing a review of a good book. But as it is said in the movie Risky Business, "Sometimes you got to say what the... hey."

In some ways the story is an easy go. It takes place in Denver, and San Francisco; in a future reality of 1964 America, but a 1964 America that did not occur. This world is ruled by both Japan and Germany after their winning of World War II (bummer). Denver is in the DMZ, the no man's land between two great powers.
What gets complicated is the premise of the story: "What would happen if...or why we see what we see when we see it?" What is the power that shapes our reality? What happens to the people that are caught between hither and tether, when trifles clutter up a landscape? How does one get out of the flotsam and jetsam universe one is currently a participant in?

Philip K Dick's answer to these questions lies in the infrastructure of ones current reality. If one understands the infrastructure then one is better equipped with dealing with the flow of reality. Thus Robert Childan attempts to hold onto hope through his American Artitistic Handcrafts an American antique business. His creed is that antiques have power to mold reality. He cherishes the former pre-war Americana. e value of the past is weighed in its pragmatic effect on the future. He is in search of the authentic. The authentic anchors the reality of the near future."Art or something not life is long, stretching out endless, like concrete worms. (Dick 184)

The artifact's value is assessed by the historians, critics and curators of antiquities. Alexander pope wrote of this valuable role in his essay on criticism in 1711;
Critic fanned the poet's fire,
And taught the world with Reason to Admire.
Then criticism the muses Handmaid proved
to Dress her charms, and make her more beloved.
The Critic creates a community of enabled others to embrace the art.
The individual does not matter, as long as there are key players to play specific parts. The parts and past actions are only successful by their effect on the future. "What has happened here is justified by what happens later." or Alexander Pope said, "It self unseen, but in the effects remain."
Time itself is the only variable that is not affected by outside forces.Time is played out by it's own rhythm of uncontrollable variables. The role of the artist, is to seize time, freeze time, and make a shrine to that moment in time. The artist provides the public a way to pause and reflect on their experience. "And if one person finds his way-that means there is a way An artist provides a way.

Once the art is created the critic puts order to the art.Critics frame our world viewpoint. Who/what is the good, the weird, the obscene, and the copied. The holy, the vile and the diabolical are shaped by the words of a critic. The critic/historian shapes how facts are used in the retelling of the stream of time. History is merely a tool, a gun from the Civil War Era, a lighter in the pocket of an assassinated president.

A good but difficult read. I would suggest that anyone interested in how to deal with their conflicting world, should read this book. It gives some outline to the crazy facts we are fearful of today. Give this book to your favorite libertarian so they can reflect and write about today's American Experience.(less)

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Mar 25, 2010

Manny rated it

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Shelves: science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, transcendent-experiences

My favourite parallel universe story. Germany and Japan win World War II, and it has something to do with the I Ching. Much more controlled than the average Philip K Dick - for once, you don't feel that he threw it together in a few weeks to pay for his next batch of drugs. It is in fact quite poetic.

Remarkable that no one has filmed it, considering that it's almost certainly his best novel and many others have become movies.

___________________________________________
...more

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Feb 25, 2009

Eric rated it

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I'll start with the positives.

The alternate reality of a world where the Axis won WWII is very interesting and well thought out in my opinion. Also, the characters in this book seem realistically complex and deep, especially when compared to those in the other books I've read recently (Snow Crash and Neuromancer). Juliana was particularly interesting and her scenes were very well written. Generally the plot line is pretty good.

But as good as the characters are, I did fin...more

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Jul 27, 2007

Dr M rated it

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Shelves: science-fiction

This is an alternative-history novel with a twist. It is the 1960s in North America, and after the axis powers won World War 2, the former United States is divided into Japanese-controlled Pacific States of America on the west coast, the German-controlled United States on the east coast, and the neutral Rocky Mountain States in between. In this neutral zone lives The Man in the High Castle, the writer of an alternative-history novel describing the world as it would have been if Germany and Japan...moreThis is an alternative-history novel with a twist. It is the 1960s in North America, and after the axis powers won World War 2, the former United States is divided into Japanese-controlled Pacific States of America on the west coast, the German-controlled United States on the east coast, and the neutral Rocky Mountain States in between. In this neutral zone lives The Man in the High Castle, the writer of an alternative-history novel describing the world as it would have been if Germany and Japan had lost the war.

Mostly, "The Man in the High Castle" is a book about issues such as culture-dependent human interactions, colliding cultures, racism etc. To a lesser extent, it also deals with the evils of totalitarian societies, but also emphasizes how different the societies of the P.S.A. and the Reich U.S. have become, despite being in their own ways totalitarian. It is also very much a story of views of reality and in particular East-Asian mysticism. The alternative history within the alternative history plays a surprisingly small role both in the plot as a whole (being truly relevant only to one of three parallel sub-plots), and in the ideas presented in the novel.

The story is told in an erratic manner, with quick changes between and within subplots. The story is told entirely through the characters, with very little descriptions in between. Much of the describing is done by the method of internal monologues of the characters.

"The Man in the High Castle" is a widely praised science-fiction classic. I wish I could join the cheering crowd, but I cannot. For me this is an interesting novel, but ultimately one that never really "gets there" for me. One problem is that I don't find the insights presented in the book very... well, insightful, with a few notable exceptions. In particular I cannot stand Dick's almost fetischist interest in eastern mysticism and fortune telling, and I really expected Dick to make much, much more of the extremely intriguing idea of alternative history within alternative history. Also, I find Dick's language irritating. He tends to write in short, erratic sentences, and after a while this becomes an annoyance and an impediment to the reading. What is much worse though is his use of "Japanese English". It is all well and good when the Japanese characters speak their broken English, with missing articles and what not, but when the characters think, we get long monologues in the imitation of a Japanese accent. Not only is this unnecessarily hard to read, it also breaks the illusion, since native speaker of Japanese would hardly formulate his internal thoughts in broken English, but rather in fluent Japanese (which must the be rendered as fluent English). Finally, the abrupt ending is characteristic of Dick, as I understand, but in my book that is not an excuse for it being too abrupt and leaving just too many thoughts half-thought.

"The Man in the High Castle" is worth reading simply for being an interesting classic, it is well worth the time and effort. It is, however, not as full of interesting ideas as one might expect, and there are some flaws in the language and the plot that I simply cannot ignore. Therefore, three stars.(less)

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Jan 24, 2009

Kallierose rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 20, 2008

Ruka rated it

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Recommends it for: Harry Turtledove fans, WWII geeks

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror

High-concept, low return what-if alternate history. The idea is interesting, if a little tired: what if the Axis won World War II and divvied up the world between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan? The answer is, not much, apparently. This new world order only really serves as a backdrop for Dick's slightly skewed storytelling, which jumps between the more interesting plot of a shadow conspiracy to nuke Japan, and a painfully tiresome tale of modern-day antiquing. Somewhere else in there is a ...more

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Sep 15, 2011

Olinda P. Gil rated it

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Gostei muito deste livro, e considero-o próximo de outros como 1984 de George Orwell e Fahrenheit 451 de Ray Bradbury.

A leitura é um pouco difícil de início, dada a multiplicidade de perspetivas narrativas. Assim que se ultrapassa este obstáculo, essa mesma perspetiva narrativa torna-se um dos aspetos mais interesssantes do livro.

Reflete sobre a construção de uma narrativa de ficção científica (e sobre o que é, de facto, ficção científica), a partir de um romance que as p...more

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Aug 09, 2007

Joao DaSilva rated it

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Recommends it for: Marty McFly

This is my first Philip K. Dick novel. I have seen most of the movies based on his books but never bothered to pick any of them up until I ran into this one at a local used book store.
The story is set in a post WWII world where the Axis won the war. The U.S. is divided up into two different territories, the East is under the nazis, the west under Japan. Slavery is legal and most minorities are pretty much extinct with the exception of a few jews who live in hiding.
I'm not a big Sci...more

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Apr 09, 2009

Margaret rated it

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Shelves: sci-fi

I was amazed by the detail into which the author went when creating his alternate universe. It was not only chilling, but so very real.
I am confused by the end...anyone willing to discuss/explain/interpret?

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Mar 02, 2009

Tom Meade rated it

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Shelves: meta-fiction, science-fiction

While I've read a lot of Dick's short stories, this is only the second novel of his which I've finished (I started A Scanner Darkly and then got distracted, and I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep for a book club). As a consequence, the first thing that strikes me about this book is how sane and not at all ridiculous it is. Dick puts a lot of effort into building-up a very believable universe for his characters, and the plot never really veers off into camp and absurdity as it has a tende...more

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Feb 07, 2009

Dan rated it

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Outside the circles of serious science fiction fans, Philip K. Dick is mostly known as the author of the books that the movies Blade Runner and Minority Report were based on. Science fiction fans know him as one of the most inventive and best writers in the genre. I would go a step further and say that he is one of the most important writers of his era, which is the early 1960s through the early 1980s.

It has always been a bit of a puzzle to me that science fiction authors are always ...more

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Jan 31, 2009

Cameron rated it

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It’s 1962, fifteen years after the conclusion of World War II, and the Nazis are preoccupied with the colonization of Mars.

“While the Germans were busy bustling enormous robot construction systems across space, the Japs were still burning off the jungles in the interior of Brazil, erecting eight-floor clay apartment houses for ex-headhunters. By the time the Japs got their first spaceship off the ground the Germans would have the entire solar system sewed up tight. Back in the quaint o...more

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Jan 09, 2012

ambyr rated it

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Shelves: acquired—bought-used, author—male, genre—alternate-history, own—previously, protagonist—male, stand-alone-novel

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this book.

It's not that I don't think it's a good book. Dick's writing flows smoothly (though occasionally I get stuck on some of the choppier sentence fragments), the plot seems to be headed in interesting and unexpected places, the characters read like real people. . .everything is there for an engaging and thought-provoking read. But the setting makes me deeply uncomfortable in two ways, and I don't think I'm going to be able to get past ...moreI don't think I'm going to be able to finish this book.

It's not that I don't think it's a good book. Dick's writing flows smoothly (though occasionally I get stuck on some of the choppier sentence fragments), the plot seems to be headed in interesting and unexpected places, the characters read like real people. . .everything is there for an engaging and thought-provoking read. But the setting makes me deeply uncomfortable in two ways, and I don't think I'm going to be able to get past that.

The first is a minor quibble, though still one that drags at my enjoyment of the book. I spent rather a lot of time in college studying Japan and World War II, and I simply cannot believe that the situation Dick describes would lead to them winning the war. Further, though I think it's inevitable given the years when Dick wrote the novel, I find the white-washing of the Japanese war crimes off-putting; the Co-Prosperity Sphere as described resembled wartime Japanese propaganda very much and the ways the Japanese actually ran their occupied territories very little. It's also curious that while Dick sprinkles his brief mentions of the Reich with the names of historical Nazis, by page 100 I have yet to hear about a single historical Japanese political or military leader; the Japanese political scene as described is vaguely shadowed in passive voice and group decisions, which I suppose suits certain cultural stereotypes but doesn't mesh well with what I tend to see as a fairly personality-driven political era. I like my alternate history either well-grounded in real history, or based on events that I know little about and can therefore take at more or less face value while I'm reading the story.

That's the intellectual objection. The emotional objection is much stronger, and conversely one I didn't anticipate being nearly as much of a problem. I cannot read an account in which the Nazis won World War II without rather viscerally recalling what my relatives went through; the sensation is strong enough that I found myself nearly crying on the metro over a few sentences of rather bland description. It feels a bit like karma after all the time I spent disputing the theory of inherited trauma in my Japanese history classes. Oddly, I don't have this strong of a reaction to reading about what the Nazis actually did; I cry my way through the Holocaust museum, and Schindler's List, and other works intended to evoke emotion, but I can get through text books and even the flatter first-hand accounts dry-eyed.

I kick myself a bit for being put off by this, because I do think part of the role of fiction is to stretch you outside your comfort zone and force you to encounter new ideas. On the surface, the puzzle of "what might have been" is an appealing one. Digging deeper, though, I get stuck in the horror of it, too much so to follow the story that Dick wants to tell.

Perhaps I'll pick the book up later; perhaps I just need to read it in small pieces. In the meantime, I think I'll set it aside. I've had Yamashita's Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies waiting for some time, and however horrifying some of its contents are, they have the comforting benefit of being real. I know the world keeps on spinning afterwards.(less)

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Jan 07, 2012

Hilson rated it

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This book was intersting. Having never read anything by Dick I approached this with perhaps too much enthuasim as I know he has a pretty dedicated legion of fans. It is a very interesting premise, and I enjoyed some of the dialogue and one-ups about the potential conformity of all cultures in a post-apozalyptic world, but the fractured nature of the book and the fact that I think I was expected not to care about the characters made it difficult to really engage in the novel. I found myself strug...more

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Jan 05, 2012

Keith Stevenson rated it

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On the surface, The Man in the High Castle is another alternative history. In it, the Axis powers have won the war, and America is fragmented, with the eastern states ruled by Nazi Germany, an autonomous Rocky Mountain State, which acts as a demilitarised buffer zone, and Pacific Seaboard America, governed by the Japanese. An uneasy peace hangs over the world, with Germany undergoing internal political struggles while waging a prolonged cold war against Japan. These events, and their effects on ...more

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Dec 22, 2011

Nicholas Karpuk rated it

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This is the first actual book of Philip K Dick I’ve ever read, but the man’s shadow looms ridiculously large over most of science fiction. Hollywood directors have a hunger for Dick that’s unmatched by most science fiction writers.

I don’t know how much alternate history fiction existed at the time he wrote this book, but it seems like it was a pretty fresh take on the idea. While I’m sure he wasn’t the first person to speculate about a World where the Axis powers triumphed, he plays t...moreThis is the first actual book of Philip K Dick I’ve ever read, but the man’s shadow looms ridiculously large over most of science fiction. Hollywood directors have a hunger for Dick that’s unmatched by most science fiction writers.

I don’t know how much alternate history fiction existed at the time he wrote this book, but it seems like it was a pretty fresh take on the idea. While I’m sure he wasn’t the first person to speculate about a World where the Axis powers triumphed, he plays through the scenario in a way that seems natural and unforced even this many years afterwards. The various stories unfold without a false note of drama, not going for the most action-packed scenario at every turn.

And of course, since he’s got to add a layer of mind-screwery to the mix, Dick includes a character who’s written an alternate history novel about the Allies winning the war. And of course that outcome doesn’t resemble our world either. I imagine if Dick had written a story about a world like The Matrix it would have contained a virtual world inside itself. Some people just can’t stop.

But the philosophy can be a bit much in spots. Occasionally the story will come screeching to a halt as virtually every character has some internal philosophical debate that doesn’t appear to go much of anywhere. Dick doesn’t linger on these too long, but it always felt like a stick shoved in my bicycle tires when some character would spend a page debating on the flow of reality or some such esoteric nonsense.

And the clipped way certain character talk to denote Japanese influence felt forced and a bit racist. Racism towards the Japanese seemed like fair game to Americans well through the 80’s, so expecting some of it not to trickle into a book written in the 60’s may be asking for too much, but having to read through those sections still took getting used to. I don’t care where a character comes from, they probably don’t speak stilted English inside their own head.

I don’t know if I’ll make Dick a habit, but starting with his Nebula award winning book turned out to be a decent starting point. His brand of paranoia and overthinking might prove tiresome though.

Or would it!?(less)

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Dec 16, 2011

Gina rated it

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‘What if?’ is a question which permeates history. Even the simplest analysis must take into account that events are not pre-ordained, and an infinite number of factors combine to create an outcome. Dick’s question is one that has exercised many authors: what if the Axis powers won the Second World War? Rather than focus on one particular aspect, however, Dick’s setting allows both a macro- and micro-level view of the 1960s through a totalitarian looking glass.
America is a defeated, divide...more‘What if?’ is a question which permeates history. Even the simplest analysis must take into account that events are not pre-ordained, and an infinite number of factors combine to create an outcome. Dick’s question is one that has exercised many authors: what if the Axis powers won the Second World War? Rather than focus on one particular aspect, however, Dick’s setting allows both a macro- and micro-level view of the 1960s through a totalitarian looking glass.
America is a defeated, divided land; the east coast belongs to the Japanese, the west to the Nazis and the Rocky states form a buffer zone between these two continent straddling empires. Within this framework, Dick’s narrative concentrates on the little people, going about their daily lives, living under the auspices of Japanese or Nazi rulers. Here lies the book’s first strength, these are normal people, well drawn, well rounded, with all the hopes and flaws so often ignored in science-fiction in favour of technological MacGuffins. Into their world is inserted a work of fiction, Shakespeare’s play-within-a-play, called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, penned by the titular man in a high castle in the Rockies. This recounts an alternative world, one where the Allies prevailed with Rommel defeated in Africa, Hitler in Europe and Hirohito in Japan. Dick’s book-within-a-book asks profound questions and its inclusion is a post-modern masterstroke.

Throughout, many of the characters use the I Ching, an oracular Chinese work, to inform their decisions. It is the inclusion of this work, present in both Dick’s world and the real, that reifies his fiction. Such is the intertextuality of the two works in The Man in the High Castle that they combine to break literature’s fourth wall in an unconventional metaphysical move. In exploring the themes of totalitarianism and Taoism, the nature of reality and the abuse of power, real people, with real lives are subjected to an unreal world in a triumph of fiction, philosophy and metaphysics. This is not just one of Dick’s best novels, or one of the finest examples of science-fiction, but a ground-breaking work tingling with provocation. The Man in the High Castle invites the reader to pose ‘what if?’ questions of both our reactions to their world, and to the very nature of the real. This is Dick’s magnum opus, and a richly rewarding masterpiece.(less)

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Sep 07, 2011

Dan Keating rated it

· review of another edition

Cast as a deeply philosophical work of science fiction, Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle rings more of surrealistic 20th Century literature than the average science fiction novel. Dick's depiction of the world ruled jointly by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany is incredibly vivid in its detail, human in its characterization and narrative, intellectual in its constant introspection (both overt and subtle - more on that to come), and disturbing in the lilting, nightmarish progression of a...moreCast as a deeply philosophical work of science fiction, Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle rings more of surrealistic 20th Century literature than the average science fiction novel. Dick's depiction of the world ruled jointly by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany is incredibly vivid in its detail, human in its characterization and narrative, intellectual in its constant introspection (both overt and subtle - more on that to come), and disturbing in the lilting, nightmarish progression of a plot which is at once completely feasible based on the premise and completely unbelievable to the average rational, moral human being. The Man in the High Castle is quite an achievement.

First, a word on characterization - while Dick doesn't do a lot to vary the voices of his characters, what he does do suffices. And, in the end, the characters emerge from behind the subtlety of their vernacular differences to showcase a great deal of depth. Each character in the novel becomes, at some point, deeply introspective, reflecting at great length on concepts as far reaching as the idea of cultural insanity, the true role of justice in a stratified society, and even the value of indigenous art. The introspective passages can occasionally drag a bit, and there are definitely a few points at which it feels like the author is meandering away from the story, but for the most part the story moves well and the characters are sympathetic and unique. More to the point, it is possible to watch them evolve throughout the story; some, such as Julianna Frink and Mr Tagomi, don't fully come into their own until near the end of the novel, but even near the beginning they are still engaging and likable.

Second, a look at theme/style. Dick interweaves the literal plot of The Man in the High Castle with the constant idea that history is itself an indistinguishable factor, presented at first subtlety and then with greater and greater intensity until, by the end of the novel, the novel has diagnosed itself as "untrue" in the most literal of senses but nonetheless valid as an exploration of the concepts of fear and helplessness. The book is, in this manner, nothing short of completely brilliant.

Best of all, Dick avoids many of the cliches and stereotypes which rum rampant throughout many works of science fiction. While the novel has the potential to fall into a derivative, mind-numbing pile of drivel, it never does - whatever else the book does, it does so without resorting to cliche. It is by no means perfect in its presentation and style, and can even at times be seen to be a little lowbrow in its straightforward narrative style, but at no point in reading the book did I find myself thinking, "Wow, he totally ripped that off from elsewhere" or "That's an empty cliche." That is one of the most impressive things that can be said for a book.

All in all, I would heavily recommend The Man in the High Castle. It's a little thick at times, but wade through - the result is a supremely intellectual experience which challenges the mind and the spirit in near-equal measure.

(less)

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Aug 10, 2011

Akshay rated it

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As I read this story I was again amazed by the ability of this writer among writers to create the most amazing tales to fascinate, excite, mislead, draw-in, confuse and bring revelation.
Always a favourite of mine, I have to admit that this essentially non-science fiction tale by PKD is something everyone should read bar none.
Poignant and filled with a gloomy pathos that silently but unfailingly fills the pages of this alternate history story about a world where the Axis powers won World War 2 n...more

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Jul 19, 2011

Zack rated it

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about a quarter of the way into this book, i was totally ready to crush PKD for being a terrible novelist. i love his short stories, but DO ANDROIDS... was so incredibly uninvolving for me, that i was expecting more of the same from HIGH CASTLE. i was incorrect.

the story briefly involves an alternate history where the axis won the war, and the western united states is under japanese rule - an antiques dealer comes across 2 american jewelry designers creating the first new american ar...more

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Jul 12, 2011

Anthony rated it

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Every thing we take for granted has been a result of the efforts of our past. America’s status as world super power was a result of D-day and the A-bomb granting US victory over Nazi Germany and Axis Japan. The development of the 1950’s suburban middle class and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s would not have occurred if the depression era wasn’t overcome by our victory in WWII. Now imagine a world were that victory hadn’t occurred. A world where FDR was assassinated before Germany in...moreEvery thing we take for granted has been a result of the efforts of our past. America’s status as world super power was a result of D-day and the A-bomb granting US victory over Nazi Germany and Axis Japan. The development of the 1950’s suburban middle class and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s would not have occurred if the depression era wasn’t overcome by our victory in WWII. Now imagine a world were that victory hadn’t occurred. A world where FDR was assassinated before Germany invaded Poland and a world were all of our Pacific naval fleet was destroyed at Pearl Harbor. This would be a world dominated by Nazi Germany with global eradication of the Jewish race and an expansion of Japanese Empire onto our Pacific Western Coast. This is the backdrop for Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle.

What was interesting about this novel is that Dick doesn’t focus too much on going into excessive detail about structure of the world run by Japan and Germany. Of course there are differences with Japanese merchants in the West being a higher class than whites, the reinstatement of slavery, Germany’s totalitarian presence in the East and commentary about German ingenuity and the Eastern philosophies of Buddhism and the I Ching. Dick is a confident enough writer to not get caught in these details of social fantasy. The backdrop of an alternate history allows The Man in the High Castle to be a novel about ideas, place, and the circumstances of time. These themes are most clearly displayed in many of the character’s fascination with a novel within the novel that proposes an alternate history where the US and England win the war and are now fighting to suppress communism. This novel is an underground hit and the Nazi powers have banned its circulation. Its readers are motivated to question their reality and recognize that their lives are dominated not by German or Japanese superiority, but by circumstance.

The plot of The Man in the High Castle does begin awkwardly with one of the main character’s acting as a dealer in American antiquity to high class Japanese merchants, but it soon becomes clear that the Japanese interest and obsession with antiquated American ingenuity becomes a thematic point about the concepts of historical value and authenticity. These concepts become pervasive throughout the novel as several of the characters live with false faces, false names, and conduct activities with duplicitous motives. Even the novel’s title The Man in the High Castle is a fallacy: the title is based on the myth that the author of the novel within the novel lives in a fortress called the High Castle but we later learn that this author had moved from his fortress into a simple home with open doors willing to allow strangers to converse freely rather than live locked up hiding away from Nazi retaliation. As much as fallacy is a theme, there is a sacredness placed wtihin true authenticity as evidenced by an odd moment when a Japanese character becomes so focused on a small piece of modern American jewelry that it appears that he is momentarily transported into our reality, as evidenced by his recognition of the Embarcadero freeway for the first time (the use of the word freeway is important because all other highways in the novel were referred to as autobahns). This moment passes as he loses the authentic object and he seems to be transported back to the Japanese dominated San Francisco of his reality.

Although the novel is an alternate history, I found that it was somewhat dated, as evidenced by some blatant 1960’s perceptions about technology that we know have changed in modern times. The America of the 1960’s viewed Japanese products as inferior and I think that Dick’s characterization of the Japanese as lacking ingenuity and being so engrossed with Americana is based on this dated perception. I wonder how Dick would have written this same story if he lived through Japan’s economic expansion of the 1980’s. However, I recognize that my criticisms are based upon my perceptions developed through the history that I know and have lived through. In that affect, Dick has succeeded in allowing me to question the circumstances of my reality.(less)

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Jul 10, 2011

Nathaniel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This is one of the very best science fiction books I've ever read, easily up there with Dune and A Canticle for Leibowitz. In fact, it may be the best science fiction book I've ever read, but I'll have to let my impressions stew for a while before I decide on that one.

I recommend this book to everyone, because it's not a very "science fiction-y" sort of book. Like Ishiguro Kazuo's wonderful Never Let Me Go, the book is definitely science fiction in that it deals with both a...more

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Jun 30, 2011

Bob rated it

· review of another edition

At one point Dick has two of his Japanese characters discuss (in slightly stilted English) the book within the book with which many of the characters in this novel are obsessed.

"Not a mystery...On contrary, interesting form of fiction possibly within science fiction."
"Oh no," Betty disagreed. "No science in it. Nor set in future. Science fiction deals with future, in particular future where science has advanced over now. Book fits neither premise."
...more

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About Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick was born in Chicago in 1928 and lived most of his life in California. He briefly attended the University of California, but dropped out before completing any classes. In 1952, he began writing professionally and proceeded to write numerous novels and short-story collections. He won the Hugo Award for the best novel in 1962 for The Man in the High Castle and the John W. Campbell Memo...more

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