The Man in the High Castle in Around the Year in 52 Books

Feb 29, 2016 Jacqie rated it really liked it

Although The Man in the High Castle was written 50 years ago, it still feels alarmingly modern. I'm sure I missed some nuances that Dick was trying to communicate, since US culture has changed, but the ideas about empire, authenticity and created reality are still worth ruminating on.

In this alternate history, Germany and Japan won WWII and the USA has been divided up into the eastern, German-controlled region, the midwestern Rockies neutral zone, and the Japan-controlled west coast. We pretty m Although The Man in the High Castle was written 50 years ago, it still feels alarmingly modern. I'm sure I missed some nuances that Dick was trying to communicate, since US culture has changed, but the ideas about empire, authenticity and created reality are still worth ruminating on.

In this alternate history, Germany and Japan won WWII and the USA has been divided up into the eastern, German-controlled region, the midwestern Rockies neutral zone, and the Japan-controlled west coast. We pretty much spend our time on the West Coast and some in the neutral zone. I think Dick's extrapolations about what the Nazis would do once they became a global power were too dark for him to write about. As it is, Africa is a deserted wasteland after its people were exterminated in service of making room for the master race to thoroughly plunder its resources.

Dick seems to have an odd love-hate relationship with the Japanese culture. On the one hand, he seems to think the Japanese are more humane than the Germans( this idea is not borne out by what the Japanese did to people in captured territory in WWII) and also more subtle and cultured. This edges very close to the stereotype of the wise and mysterious Asian, especially since Dick has his characters speak and think in a pseudo-Japanese patois language structure.

Dick is trying to say something in this book about extrinsic vs. intrinsic value. Do we think that a watch is precious for its craftmanship, or value it more because it was carried by a famous historic figure like Churchill? Deception is a big theme in the book, as many of the main characters do not always use their real names. The manufacture of fake Americana like Civil War pistols is a big industry, since the Japanese stationed in America have made collecting pieces of the American past fashionable.

The Man in the High Castle is the author of a book titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. This book is itself an alternate history, an imagining of what would have happened if the Allies had won the war. It was created by the author throwing the I Ching, an oracle used by many characters. It's worth noting that the book is inaccurate to our own world. Is Dick trying to say something about pre-destination vs. free will with this inaccuracy? I'm not smart enough to know. Anyway, the Man is in danger from the Nazis, who have declared possession of his book a treasonous and capital offense. He hides in his High Castle, avoiding any contact with the outside world.

Juliana, the lone female character in the book of any importance, ends up on a pilgramage to meet the Man. She is given his book by a truck driver that she runs across and the book ends up being incredibly meaningful to her because of its message of hope- if not in this world, than in another. Julia is a strange character- almost a living plot device. She doesn't seem to have a lot of conscious volition of her own, but ends up being the author of some extremely important actions. She's sort of a force of nature, a blind fury. It was awkward to root for her because Dick himself didn't seem to think much of her as a person, but yet she possessed a keenness of vision that every other character lacked.

This book is disturbing, kind of like a nightmare in which you have this feeling of dread while dreaming about prosaic things. There's an air of ominousness to it. It's extremely well-written and does an amazing job of piecing together an alternate world through the eyes of the various characters. Lavie Tidhar's "Osama" evokes much of the same sort of nightmarish feeling and revisits some of the same themes. If you can stand another book with this feel, I recommend it. To be clear, these are both extremely good books, but although I am glad I read it, the reading process was uncomfortable. ...more

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Nov 26, 2015 Marta rated it liked it

Shelves: library, dystopia

Speculative, political, ideological, psychological... and murky.

What would have happened if Germany and Japan had won World War II and divided the world and the US between them? Germany had taken Nazism to its ultimate conclusion - eradication of Jews, blacks, Slavs, and enslaving of the rest of mankind. The Japan controlled areas are better off, Japanese rule more subtle yet just as subversive ways. The peace is precarious - factions fight within Germany and the Reich is plotting to overthrow t ...more

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Feb 06, 2017 Cait rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The world is fascinating, but I cannot get past the gross sexism and the fact that Dick appears to have never had a conversation with another human being.

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Jul 27, 2010 Nathalie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016-read

It took me a while to finish this novel.
The reason was a leisurely one. I went to Norway for two weeks and this novel went along.
I thought I might finish this one and a couple more, because that’s what I normally do when I’m on holiday.
But traveling across Norway isn’t like traveling anywhere I’ve been before. I didn’t spend as much time reading as I had intended to. Not that I minded. Usually I was very tired from hiking that I didn’t spend more than half an hour reading each night.
I couldn’ ...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Catherine Trillo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved the book. The alternate history angle was executed in a manner that didn't come across as tired. I also really enjoyed the exploration of authenticity vs. fake, reality vs. fiction, and truth vs. deceit. ...more

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