From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

The Man in the High Castle

Philip K. Dick

Start date: February 21, 2015

Finish date: March 1, 2015

Discussion: AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

Discussion leader: Gertie

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AW BOOK CLUB (spoilers)

* What is a good book for AW discussion? (Nominations pool)
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What Members Thought

Jan 14, 2016 Thee_ron_clark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, science-fiction, political-intrigue

After catching the Amazon series of Man in the High Castle, I felt compelled to read the original story that inspired it. Having never read Philip K. Dick, I did not know what to expect from his style.

The story itself revolves around an alternate history in which the Axis Powers won World War II. Africa has been decimated. Nearly every person of Jewish descent on the planet has been executed. The United States are occupied on the west coast by the Japanese and on the east coast by the Germans. ...more

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Sep 24, 2014 Sarah rated it really liked it

4.5 Stars. This is a book that I wanted to like even more than I did. It starts out as a wonderful speculative, science fiction novel: What if Japan and Germany won World War II? The spec sci-fi portion of the novel receives 5 stars. Philip K. Dick masterfully interweaves the not insignificant changes that might have lead to an Allies defeat in World War II. His descriptions of Nazi horrors left unchecked and the rise of extreme ethnic and racial inequality under imperial Japanese rule thought-p ...more

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Feb 10, 2015 Aimee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brainy-reads, sf-fantasy, award-winners, historical-fiction, fiction

The Man in the High Castle is an excellent alt-history of post-WWII America where the former USA is divided between the Japanese on the west coast and the Nazis on the east coast (with a tiny free zone between in the Rockies and western Great Plains. One of the things I especially liked about it is the presence of an alternate history book (The Grasshopper Lies Heavy) within the main alt-history narrative. Super cool.

Tom Weiner's reading was fantastic. ...more

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Aug 15, 2013 Zac rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks

I just finished this an hour ago and it's the first PKD book I've read. I've found that until the last quarter of the book I struggled to connect with any of the characters or even generally care. This last 20-25% of the book REALLY got interesting and I suspect after a few days of reflection I'll raise my rating to a 4.

The basic formula seems to be 75% of the book is building a deep and rich world - an alternate history recognizable but foreign though very tangible despite my struggle to care ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 Inara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, classics, 2016-challenge, kindle-unlimited, science-fiction

3.5 stars

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Jun 17, 2011 Chris Sachnik rated it liked it

It's going to take me some time to figure out what the central message of this book was. Mostly it confused me. The writing was well done, but I don't think I got the point. ...more

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