From the Bookshelf of The Great Hugo Read…

The Man in the High Castle

Philip K. Dick

Start date: February 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2014

Why we're reading this: Awarded the Hugo in 1963 at Discon I in Washington, DC. Here we venture into one of the great tropes of a…more
[close] Awarded the Hugo in 1963 at Discon I in Washington, DC. Here we venture into one of the great tropes of alternate history, looking at the world after an Axis victory in World War II. For all his contributions to the field of science fiction, even now having an award named after him, this is one of only three Philip K. Dick works to be nominated for the Hugo and the only to win.

Other nominees:

* Marion Zimmer Bradley for The Sword of Aldones
* Arthur C. Clarke for A Fall of Moondust
* H. Beam Piper for Little Fuzzy
* Jean Bruller for Sylvia

While a prolific author himself, and an inspiration to 2013 Hugo winner John Scalzi, this marked Piper's only nomination.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: metaphysics, reality-bending, worldbuilding-sf, sci-fi

Re-read 9/18/19:

So, do I have anything I want to say that I didn't say in my original review? Yes. Possibly.

My least favorite section usually involved all the jewelry making and the eventual rise and fall of the metal as a main character in the story. But this time? Maybe I just happened to be in the right mood. Tagomi's crisis in perception was VERY PKD and pretty delightful this time around. The jewelry being a catalyst, a doorway through the Yin into the Yang and vice versa, resonated strang ...more

144 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2023 MD rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Reading this reminded me of reading The Stranger by Camus. It doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter what anyone does. It doesn’t matter what happens. Though for somewhat different reasons for each author. It also reminded me of a quote I used to see in the 80s: Life’s a bitch and then you die.

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 iTZKooPA rated it liked it

Shelves: own-and-read

Interesting weaving of what could have happened.

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2017 Jeff Stockett rated it it was ok

Shelves: hugo-award-winning-novels, alternate-history

I really like Phillip K. Dick. Unfortunately, I found this book somewhat disappointing. It was made more disappointing by my previous enjoyment of the author, and by the highly lauded nature of this book as a classic.

It's certainly an interesting premise. What if the Axis had won WWII? What would our world be like?

The worldbuilding is excellent. It really gives us a glimpse into how terrible it would be to live in a Japanese occupied San Francisco. But the story itself seems to fall flat. It see ...more

Like · see review