book data
3206 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 252 reviews
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book data
all editions
3206 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 252 reviews
this edition
1 rating,
5.00 average rating, 0 reviews
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29%
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38%
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published
July 1995
(first published 1962)
by Minotauro
binding
Hardcover
characters
literary awards
Hugo Award for Best Novel (1963)
isbn
8445072110
(isbn13: 9788445072110)
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(showing 1-20 of 4116)
it's difficult to write about this book... the plot is simple enough: an alternate history detailing what would happen had the axis powers won the second world war. thankfully, there is very little of that obvious and dull government intrigue and new-world-order shit that lesser writers focus on -- rather, Dick takes on the spiritual life of the individual in a totalitarian society as his main concern... it's a wonderfully messy jumble of ideas and ruminations on race and history and human conn...more
it's difficult to write about this book... the plot is simple enough: an alternate history detailing what would happen had the axis powers won the second world war. thankfully, there is very little of that obvious and dull government intrigue and new-world-order shit that lesser writers focus on -- rather, Dick takes on the spiritual life of the individual in a totalitarian society as his main concern... it's 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, that they somewhat take over the novel... his characterizations, on the other hand, are not as strong as they should've been; 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 i got that. but i didn't expect such a human and humane novel. that, i think, is what ultimately makes it classic.
well, there's only so much i can 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
bookshelves:
science-fiction
Read in March, 1996
recommended to Werner by:
It was required reading in a graduate-level course in science fi
recommends it for:
Science fiction fans
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...more
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 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
bookshelves:
science-fiction
Read in July, 2007
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...more
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 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
bookshelves:
currently-reading
Read in August, 2007
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-Fi fan ...more
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-Fi fan but Philip K. Dick is an amazing narrator and I have a hard time putting this down. I plan on reading more of his stuff in the near future, before the nazis come again and make his books "verboten".
...less
bookshelves:
my-books
Although this is the Novel Dick won the Hugo award for, I always felt it didn't quite live up to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or even some of his short stories (all that I had read of his up to the point of reading this). That said, the alternate reality presented here (if the USA lost World War II and control was divided by Japan in the West and the Nazis in the East - divided much like Germany itself was), is an interesting premise. Dick's common theme of a paranoid dystopian future is ...more
Although this is the Novel Dick won the Hugo award for, I always felt it didn't quite live up to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or even some of his short stories (all that I had read of his up to the point of reading this). That said, the alternate reality presented here (if the USA lost World War II and control was divided by Japan in the West and the Nazis in the East - divided much like Germany itself was), is an interesting premise. Dick's common theme of a paranoid dystopian future is always interesting, although it doesn't quite live up to the pinnacle set forth in Orwell's 1984 in this case. I feel like the alternate reality could have been expanded upon more to comment on our society, but ultimately, was a let down....less
bookshelves:
scifi-fantasy-horror
Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
Harry Turtledove fans, WWII geeks
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
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 pointless thread about a cult book that outlines a parallel history where the Allies win the war, and then the whole thing just kind of stops, as if nothing ever happened.
Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe I didn't really read it after all....less
This was the very first book by Philip K. Dick I ever read-- it was provided to me back in 1979 by the publisher for whom I was illustrating a cover for a hard cover edition. It grabbed me and I've been in a mutual embrace with the writer ever since. This is arguably Dick's finest-wrought story line, intricate, intriguing and even logical (not always something you can say about a PKD plotline) but still with the kind of "Huh? Wait a minute!" ending that you come to expect (and accept w...more
This was the very first book by Philip K. Dick I ever read-- it was provided to me back in 1979 by the publisher for whom I was illustrating a cover for a hard cover edition. It grabbed me and I've been in a mutual embrace with the writer ever since. This is arguably Dick's finest-wrought story line, intricate, intriguing and even logical (not always something you can say about a PKD plotline) but still with the kind of "Huh? Wait a minute!" ending that you come to expect (and accept with a shrug and a laugh) from his books. ...less
Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone
One of Phil Dick's best. Written by using a fortune-telling device, The Oracle. It is an alternate history following several loosely related characters in a whold ruled by Japan and Nazi Germany:
Frank Frink has just lost his job and ponders a new venture... the oracle forecasts a huge success for his new buisness while at the same time revealing a huge disaster for everyone.
Juliana Frink has started dating a mysterious man who wants to spend tons of money on her. His temper and war s...more
One of Phil Dick's best. Written by using a fortune-telling device, The Oracle. It is an alternate history following several loosely related characters in a whold ruled by Japan and Nazi Germany:
Frank Frink has just lost his job and ponders a new venture... the oracle forecasts a huge success for his new buisness while at the same time revealing a huge disaster for everyone.
Juliana Frink has started dating a mysterious man who wants to spend tons of money on her. His temper and war stories terrify her. He's the one that should be scared.
Mr R Childan is an antiques dealer. He's a small minded, racist and intolerant man who is about to find something greater than himself.
Mr Tagomi is a mid level administrator for the Japanese. He's on the verge of making a big deal to acquire new patent rights... But the Oracle tells him his new partner is not what he seems.
Each of these character is living in hell and has simply adapted to it. Each of them finds redemption in an incredibly touching personal way for them. They are offered a glimpse of the true world. When given the choice between the world they know and taking a way out of the looming disaster what will they do?
In the world of the man in high castle evil is all around the characters.. they are permeated in it but somehow they keep their humanity. They inspire each other and this book inspires me....less
bookshelves:
book-club
Read in September, 2008
I'm not completely sure what I just read, but I didn't want to put it down, and that counts for something.
Published in 1962, 'The Man in the High Castle' presents an alternate version of history, in which Japan and Germany won World War II and jointly control the United States. The story is told from the viewpoints of several characters whose lives intersect, but the storylines never completely converge. The lack of clear resolution to any of the stories ought to feel unsatisfying, yet the...more
I'm not completely sure what I just read, but I didn't want to put it down, and that counts for something.
Published in 1962, 'The Man in the High Castle' presents an alternate version of history, in which Japan and Germany won World War II and jointly control the United States. The story is told from the viewpoints of several characters whose lives intersect, but the storylines never completely converge. The lack of clear resolution to any of the stories ought to feel unsatisfying, yet there's something hypnotic about the prose. None of the characters are in control of their own fates -- and at least one of them is manifestly insane (though even this isn't clear until late in the book.) They're spun around like pinballs, making the best of bad situations. The only thing they all seem to have in common is that they're fascinated by a novel which provides its own alternate history of a world in which Germany and Japan had lost the war (though, from what we see of the book, it's not exactly the same as our real world, either).
In the course of talking about the fictional novel, Dick has a character hint at the old adage that all fiction is really about the time and world that it's written in. So if the fictional novel was commenting on TMitHC's internal 'real' world, presumably this real novel was meant to say something about Dick's perception of the real 1962. Reading this in 2008, though, it's difficult to figure out what that might have been. Something about the Cold War, American imperialism, racism, space travel? Damned if I know. Still, this was a fascinating work by an acknowledged American master, and I expect that Dick's haunting mirror universe will linger with me for a while. ...less
Read in August, 2008
"Do you want me to autograph a copy of The Grasshopper for you?"
Egads. What an awful cover! Hideous. Dreadful! The inside flap says "book design by Debbie Glasserman." Are we just going to let this go unpenalized, hum?
I was weary of reading this one. The premise-- what if the Axis had won WWII?-- is not a premise I care to visit. And the cover was eighties gradient soup. Please, not an alternate history novel. No, no, no, wait, see here, that is not the premis...more
"Do you want me to autograph a copy of The Grasshopper for you?"
Egads. What an awful cover! Hideous. Dreadful! The inside flap says "book design by Debbie Glasserman." Are we just going to let this go unpenalized, hum?
I was weary of reading this one. The premise-- what if the Axis had won WWII?-- is not a premise I care to visit. And the cover was eighties gradient soup. Please, not an alternate history novel. No, no, no, wait, see here, that is not the premise, it turns out. Allow me to try this again.
It is-- what if the Axis had won WWII and everyone was reading a book about our alternate, real history, where the Nazis lost. An alternate history novel nested within an alternate history novel. Okay! Not bad!
And PKD uses this setting to go off on a number of really great, surprising themes. You'd think the book would be about racism and war and how bad the Nazis sucked. Sure it is. But it's more about reading books and how effected we are by what we think we're getting out of our reading. I'm serious! That's what it's about! I'd hazard.
And really there are two books inside here. The I Ching, which is constantly consulted to determine the future. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, to consult what could have been. The dependance on these books really doesn't seem far fetched. Everyone has their holy books, their self-help books, their rules and regulations and instructions. We think these books are only incidental. After all, they stay on the shelf. I think they are more than that. They put us in a state.
I admit to being put off by some subplots and characters. The travels of Joe and Julianna were kinda lame. Huff huff, is he ever going to take me out for a real night on the town? Am I strong enough to kick him over with my Judo For Women? Did I lose my amazing half-bra? They tired me. But, he had a place he needed to go with them. And even though he rushed them out to the desert, it worked okay I guess.
So, yes. I've been wanting to like PKD. Electric Sheep and Flow My Tears didn't suck me in as I'd hoped. But this one and Palmer Eldritch were the angle I needed. Criticisms aside, I was glued to this....less
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in July, 2008
This is the first book I have read by Phillip K. Dick and is also the first of the genre of "alternate-history," that I have read (which he supposedly originated with this classic.) The book has an amazingly exciting premise, what if The Axis Powers won WW2? With a great author and an awesome premise this must be amazing! Well, it wasn't amazing. The premise that Dick used for this book gave him so much to work with, however, he doesn't utilize any of the interesting ways that the worl...more
This is the first book I have read by Phillip K. Dick and is also the first of the genre of "alternate-history," that I have read (which he supposedly originated with this classic.) The book has an amazingly exciting premise, what if The Axis Powers won WW2? With a great author and an awesome premise this must be amazing! Well, it wasn't amazing. The premise that Dick used for this book gave him so much to work with, however, he doesn't utilize any of the interesting ways that the world now works in his book. Apparently slavery is now illegal, but there is no word of it throughout the book. Apparently Germay controls most of the east coast, but there is hardly any word of it throughout the book. Apparently Japan now controls the westcoast, but there is hardly any mention of restrictions or laws that Americans are now under by Japan controlling he westcoast, as well as Germany controlling the east coast. So what does this book talk about if it's not the state of the U.S. under Axis Power control, besides the midwest which is free but this isn't quite clear or described either. Well the book is mainly about characters and their spiritual journeys. The characters aren't very interesting and their spirtuality is based upon an "oracle" which is just flipping three coins and reading the "I Ching." There's so much Dick could have done here that he missed out on. I was very disappointed by this book but I will not give up on Dick yet, since lots of his books are on my list to read this year. I don't recommend this book, unless you feel the urge to read most all "classics" or genre "originators." I'm sure there's much more interesting Alternate-History books out there than this. I give it an average rating because he writes deeply and has an intriguing style that kept me reading, despite the boringness of his plot. The ending is the best part of the book and slightly may justify Dick not describing the way the world works under Axis control, but it's just not enough to make this a great book in my opinion. ...less
bookshelves:
sci-fi
Read in July, 2008
This book had quite a different feel from other books by the same author. I really enjoy Philip's writing because he's always asking the same question: "What is real?" He's pretty obsessed with that question, and if you know about his personal life it makes sense. The thing about this book is that I enjoyed it, but I want to read it again, more carefully, now that I have a sense of it. It's a book that I would've like to have read in a college level course so that I could hear the prof...more
This book had quite a different feel from other books by the same author. I really enjoy Philip's writing because he's always asking the same question: "What is real?" He's pretty obsessed with that question, and if you know about his personal life it makes sense. The thing about this book is that I enjoyed it, but I want to read it again, more carefully, now that I have a sense of it. It's a book that I would've like to have read in a college level course so that I could hear the professor's thoughts on it and the student discussion.
In short, it's an alternate history: what if the Axis powers had won WWII? But like I said, it's really about what is real. I was lost at the conclusion, but only because I wasn't willing to embrace my interpretation of it without it being supported by others. The thing is, I know Philip pretty well, and I thought I knew where he was going. Seems that I pretty much had the widely accepted interpretation.
Apparently this book gave the alternate history premise its start. It's kind of a big deal.
If you read it, I suggest focusing on what is real/true/actual versus what is fake/false/fictional and all the ways those two are set up against each other in the novel.
It's interesting....less
Read in June, 2008
Philip K. Dick looms fairly large in the sci-fi genre, but I had never read anything by him before, despite a great deal of affection for the most famous adaptation of his work, Blade Runner. Then I started taking the Neverending Book Quiz here on GoodReads, and found out that Dick wrote The Man in the High Castle basically by using the I Ching to determine the plot development as he went along (I wildly and correctly guessed that the book and the how-was-it-written story went together.) That ...more
Philip K. Dick looms fairly large in the sci-fi genre, but I had never read anything by him before, despite a great deal of affection for the most famous adaptation of his work, Blade Runner. Then I started taking the Neverending Book Quiz here on GoodReads, and found out that Dick wrote The Man in the High Castle basically by using the I Ching to determine the plot development as he went along (I wildly and correctly guessed that the book and the how-was-it-written story went together.) That was intriguing enough for me to hunt down a copy of the book at the library.
The intrigue factor was just about enough to get me through the book, too (and for that I'm grateful). The premise of the book is a pretty standard sci-fi trope: what if President Roosevelt had been assassinated in the 1930's, and with different leadership America had played a different role in WWII, and as a result the Axis powers won, and Nazis ruled the world? At this point the expectation might be that a defiant American resistance would form and the Nazis would ultimately and gloriously be defeated by homegrown sons of liberty, etc. etc. But Dick doesn't go down that road. His novel is a tale of conquered peoples. Some Americans try to ingratiate themselves to the ruling class (Germans on the East Coast, Japanese on the West), some are resentful, but by and large people are just living their lives against a very different (or is it?) cultural and political backdrop. And those lives are pretty boring and run-of-the-mill. The story weaves back and forth among several characters, and only one of them has a plot which involves any amount of intrigue from the outset, while another has a shining few moments of pulpy goodness towards the end. The Man in the High Castle is subversive from top to bottom, thwarting expectations about a war story involving Nazis in America, and expectations about how a book should be written, and so on.
But by the very end, it becomes more evident what Dick has been getting at all along, in a broader commentary on the nature of reality, fate, and human self-awareness. It's quite a neat trick to pull off, and completely justified the sometimes tedious slog through the mundane lives of an antique dealer or metalworker. That's the upside of my commute situation, I suppose: I have absolutely nothing else to do on the bus and train than read, and once I pack a book in my briefcase I will tough it out until I finish it and move on to the next one. Lots of times that leaves me saying, "Well that was pointless, but at least it passed the time." But every once in a while it means finding some treasure I might otherwise have dismissed as chaff....less
bookshelves:
alternate-history,
dystopia-fiesta-,
mo-shelf,
teej-s-favourites
Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
alternate history enthusiasts, nerds, and peole that like the I Ching
This is not a perfect book, but it is a brilliant one. That earns it the fifth star. :)
Philip K. Dick apparently utilized the I Ching himself; it's a well-done conceit, as the novel itself details a cast of characters dependent on the Book of Changes for their every decision. In short, it's the early 1960's, the United States stayed neutral in WWII, and subsequently suffered massive defeat and partition at the hands of both Hitler's Reich ...more
This is not a perfect book, but it is a brilliant one. That earns it the fifth star. :)
Philip K. Dick apparently utilized the I Ching himself; it's a well-done conceit, as the novel itself details a cast of characters dependent on the Book of Changes for their every decision. In short, it's the early 1960's, the United States stayed neutral in WWII, and subsequently suffered massive defeat and partition at the hands of both Hitler's Reich and the Japanese Empire.
Dick's work takes place in a Japanese occupied San Francisco. He takes care to describe the life and patterns of occupied, cowed Americans under a Japanese administration and a new global order in which they are simply not a part. The resentment and anger beneath eh surface is well-written, as well as the overwhelming that something is just wrong. Overall, it's a clever, deep read that touches on human loneliness and long-lasting hope.
The end of the novel grows a bit rambling, but it's a clever, well done work well worth a read. Certainly in my Top Ten of books....less
Read in August, 2008
This book was an interesting one and really difficult for me to write about because I'm still not sure really what I think. I might come back and revisit my rating and review after I've thought about it some more, but I wanted to write down some of my initial thoughts.
The Man in the High Castle deals with an alternative history in which the Axis powers defeated the Allies and the US is basically split between German and Japanese occupation. What I did like about the book was the way Dick f...more
This book was an interesting one and really difficult for me to write about because I'm still not sure really what I think. I might come back and revisit my rating and review after I've thought about it some more, but I wanted to write down some of my initial thoughts.
The Man in the High Castle deals with an alternative history in which the Axis powers defeated the Allies and the US is basically split between German and Japanese occupation. What I did like about the book was the way Dick focused on the characters themselves throughout the novel and the different ways they dealt with the clash of cultures, the rigors of occupation and, on the Japanese side, finding place in society, the struggle of individuals living in a totalitarian state and how they try to keep both their sanity and individuality while being pressured in various ways, violent or subtle, to change and conform - are all very well done and sets the novel apart from other types of geopolitical intrigue books that say the Ender's Game series kind of encapsulates. The characters are all well developed and dynamic, coming to life-altering realizations throughout the course of the book that give hope to an optimistic view of humanity in the face of unspeakable horrors (German development of the H-Bomb, the completion of the Jewish Holocaust and the carrying out of an African Holocaust).
There was little tension in the book however and for sections it was given over to lengthy philosophizing that, while enlightening, was also often tedious. Philip K. Dick has a great respect for the I Ching and it shows as he uses it as the basic plot device throughout the novel. All of the major characters consult the oracle to gain insight into their lives and choices, which could be commentary on man's inability to take responsibility for personal action, a theme which appears in many scenes related to the Japanese occupation and social structure in the Pacific States of America. To be nitpicky, that's where things get dicey for me. The I Ching is a book of Chinese philosophy, which according to the story the Japanese adopt and spread to all the occupied areas and which occupied people adopt as part of their culture. Gone are all traces of the Christian religion or Western philosophy and rationality, in the space of about 20 years of the war's conclusion. This stretches believability even for a sci-fi-ish novel for me as it is supposed to be grounded in the realm of the plausible, and to my knowledge the Japanese have never been great followers of the 5,000 year old Chinese oracular system.
The real tension in the story, the political intrigue and the possibility of nuclear holocaust and armageddon doesn't really pick up until the last 50 pages or so when you finally learn the connection between many of the characters. In my opinion, this tension should have been built slowly throughout. I kind of meandered through until about the last 50 pages when I finally started to focus with rapt attention.
Another annoying thing to me was the use of stuttered grammar, especially in the sections dealing with Robert Childan and his dealings with his various Japanese clients. It's like he purposely left out words to give the impression of haltingly spoken English - but he did it in the narration too! And when Childan, an American, spoke! I don't know why, it just bothered me.
That said, characters' reliance on the oracle also lends the story a sort of out-of-joint, other-worldly feel that was really cool. Even the characters reflect that the world is wrong somehow and that nature, mystical in some respects, is trying to tell them that this is not the way things should have unfolded, and it is The Man in the High Castle himself, the author of the enormously popular The Grasshopper Lies Heavy who serves as a catalyst for these ruminations and self-doubt on the part of the primary actors in the story.
This is much more than alternative history geopolitical drivel in that it is character driven and focuses on insight and self-actualization. ...less
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 find that the main ...more
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 find that the main male characters Frank, Mr. Childan, and Mr. Tagomi to be very similar, with all of them seeming to be just various degrees of nervous/paranoid for most of the book.
And lastly the ending. I was convinced the first time I read it that I must have missed something and reread the last chapter. Nope. I didn't miss anything, the ending just takes an abrupt left turn and sails off a cliff. If you really think about it afterward and reread certain parts of the book, you can kinda make it make a little bit of sense. But generally I just thought that the ending was bad and a bit of a cop-out. It's not even the ending itself, so much as the way it is presented and the lack of evidence to support it.
Overall I would want my friends to read this, just so we can share in the "WTF?" moment at the end....less
Read in April, 2008
I have never been much of a fan of 'alternate reality' fiction, and as such it took me a long time to get around to reading this Philip K. Dick novel, written in the early 60's. I have to admit, the only reason I read it is because it was the only of Dick's works to win a Hugo award, and so I figured there had to be something special about it.
As it turns out, the book was well worth my time, although it's not a book for everyone. Set in the 60's, the book examines a world in which Japan an...more
I have never been much of a fan of 'alternate reality' fiction, and as such it took me a long time to get around to reading this Philip K. Dick novel, written in the early 60's. I have to admit, the only reason I read it is because it was the only of Dick's works to win a Hugo award, and so I figured there had to be something special about it.
As it turns out, the book was well worth my time, although it's not a book for everyone. Set in the 60's, the book examines a world in which Japan and Germany won World War II, and characters are forced to live in a United States that has been divided up into different occupation zones. It inadvertantly addresses issues of race relations and moral relativity as the characters struggle to survive in a surreal world.
Most astounding about the book, and a theme that resonates with most of PKD's works, are the personal stories of the characters. It would have been all too easy to focus on the setting of the novel, but instead Dick uses it as a backdrop to tell the stories of a group of characters. Not everyone will appreciate PKD's style of story telling, but to me it struck a chord and I did like the way that he left the ending open. Instead of ending the book with the characters all resolving their problems, he ends with them figuring out what their problems are and how they're going to face them. A different method of story telling, but a method I liked....less
bookshelves:
fiction-read
Read in January, 2008
Dick is generally known for his science fiction that blends mysticism and philosophy in a dystopian future. His novels and stories are products of his neurosis (he was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic and his condition was exasperated by amphetamine abuse) and his reaction to the rise of technology in the human condition. Generally, Dick's novels ask serious questions about humanity and consciousness, hence is plays on perspective and sometimes the unraveling of entire plots as the narrative c...more
Dick is generally known for his science fiction that blends mysticism and philosophy in a dystopian future. His novels and stories are products of his neurosis (he was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic and his condition was exasperated by amphetamine abuse) and his reaction to the rise of technology in the human condition. Generally, Dick's novels ask serious questions about humanity and consciousness, hence is plays on perspective and sometimes the unraveling of entire plots as the narrative calls into question the entire experience described by the narrator.
In The Main in the High Castle, you won't encounter any schizophrenic episodes, or instances were the reality experienced by the protagonists may (or may not be) elaborate illusions, but you will get an alternative history that calls question to perspective via culture rather than psychosis.
The novel centers around the experiences of people living in the United States post World War II, but after being defeated by the Japanese and the German Armies. The Axis has risen as a world power, and the West Coast U.S. is under the control of Japan, the East Coast is under Germany's rule and the Mid-West is essentially an independent zone.
Most of the reader's first-hand experience is in the west, and it's interesting to watch U.S. natives adapt to Japanese customs as it is not the dominant cultural force (think of the rest of the world adapting to the West under post-modern globalism). The cast in this novel is a mixture of Japanese and western characters, and this gives Dick the ability to play with interpretations of events from different cultural perspectives. Again, this serves to serve lucidity into the reading experience as several scenes are described, but from a different character's (and therefor cultural) perspective.
I wholly recommend this book to Dick fans, and as an introduction for non-Dick fan's as it maintains a more concrete narrative than his other works....less
Read in January, 2008
An alternate history with a science-fiction twist! The author explores a victory in World War II by Germany and Japan, with most of the United States under Reich or "Home Islands" control. There are a lot of ideas packed into this novel, about history, time, authoritarianism, art and artifact, identity, human relations, cultural conflict, etc. The Man in the High Castle won a Hugo award for SF, and it is easy to see why. The end of this book keeps you going through the last page. I fou...more
An alternate history with a science-fiction twist! The author explores a victory in World War II by Germany and Japan, with most of the United States under Reich or "Home Islands" control. There are a lot of ideas packed into this novel, about history, time, authoritarianism, art and artifact, identity, human relations, cultural conflict, etc. The Man in the High Castle won a Hugo award for SF, and it is easy to see why. The end of this book keeps you going through the last page. I found myself sitting there at the conclusion of the book, re-reading the final passages, and trying to figure it out. The denouement might be three paragraphs. I'm still thinking about it. This is one masterful novel, and (as you might guess from previous reviews) Philip Dick is one of my favorite storytellers in the science fiction genre.
It is also interesting to compare and contrast the alternate history presented here with those played out in Michael Chabon's "Yiddish Policemen's Union" and Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America," two books I've read within the last year. All deal with the impact of successful Nazism/Fascism on the United States, and each has a different angle....less
bookshelves:
scifi
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
classic sci fi lovers
When I was first getting into scifi, way back sometime around the Norman invasion (or was it the signing of the Magna Carta?), I heard from some review or something that Philip K Dick was a terrible misogynist. Thus, I never wanted to read his books. Then, in my senior year of college, I watched Blade Runner in one of Geller's classes (cause she is awesome) and decided to read the book it was based upon. What a great book! I looked around for misogyny but it didn't seem any worse than your u...more
When I was first getting into scifi, way back sometime around the Norman invasion (or was it the signing of the Magna Carta?), I heard from some review or something that Philip K Dick was a terrible misogynist. Thus, I never wanted to read his books. Then, in my senior year of college, I watched Blade Runner in one of Geller's classes (cause she is awesome) and decided to read the book it was based upon. What a great book! I looked around for misogyny but it didn't seem any worse than your usual classic scifi/fantasy author.
Long story short, that is why I haven't read this book until now. It's a wonderful book, with an amazing, fully-realised premise and the ultimate set up. And then, in a classic feat of writing that always makes me happy, the book doesn't bother to focus upon the important people. Sure, there is a subplot that hints at it -- but mostly it's a book about ideas and the common man. My only reason for giving it 4 stars is because of how it ends, which I obviously can't tell you about, because you should just read it....less
