The Man in the High Castle in War Nerd Reading List

Feb 18, 2020 Rashid Yasin rated it really liked it

Impeccably-written and short enough to give a brief glimpse into a lot of different aspects of authoritarianism and cultural hegemony without overstaying its welcome in indulging in too many flights of fancy. I found it fascinating that, for a book about the Axis winning WWII, you don't actually have any scenes in the Nazi-controlled regions of Europe/the Eastern USA. Instead, the Nazi regime is only present as a malevolent "other" across the mountains/ocean. Similarly, while the Nazis were ofte Impeccably-written and short enough to give a brief glimpse into a lot of different aspects of authoritarianism and cultural hegemony without overstaying its welcome in indulging in too many flights of fancy. I found it fascinating that, for a book about the Axis winning WWII, you don't actually have any scenes in the Nazi-controlled regions of Europe/the Eastern USA. Instead, the Nazi regime is only present as a malevolent "other" across the mountains/ocean. Similarly, while the Nazis were often viewed as degraded or immoral, many of the Americans or Japanese in the book respect their ruthless efficiency and their strength in effectively committing genocide of Jews and Africans (just like the Americans did to the indigenous population in the US, as one character notes).

Dick's surreal viewpoint on the world helps keep the story feel allegorical. An alternate history book inside this alternate history book tells of a world where the Allied powers won, and throughout the text, a Taoist philosophy book successfully holds the secrets of the future, as divined by sticks and dice. The fact that the book itself is fiction is even hinted at toward the end of the book where the 4th wall is not quite broken, but is peered at by some of the characters.

We get a glimpse into the banality of evil though various characters' acquiescence or approval of the Nazi regime's crimes. We also see the structural folly of a fascist government as infighting and factionalism start to rip that empire apart. Simultaneously, the presence of Japanese cultural hegemony shows a surprisingly incisive glimpse into the racial hierarchies we deal with in the USA on a day-to-day basis. The self-hatred created by the perceived helplessness and degraded sociopolitical position of subjugated individuals is something hard for white audiences to understand, but by placing white Americans in that position, it becomes much more tangible. The adoration of the conqueror and exaltation of the powerful overlaid with hate and envy is an important view to understand some of the perspective of minorities and downtrodden people across the globe.

It's top-notch science fiction; the type of stuff this genre exists for. ...more

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