Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
G. P. Putnam's Sons (1962), Edition: 1st, 239 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: In this Hugo Award??winning alternative history classic??the basis for the Amazon Original series??the United States lost World War II and was subsequently divided between the Germans in the East and the Japanese in the West. It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In this world, we meet characters like Frank Frink, a dealer of counterfeit Americana who is himself hiding his Jewish ancestry; Nobusuke Tagomi, the Japanese trade minister in San Francisco, unsure of his standing within the bureaucracy and Japan's with Germany; and Juliana Frink, Frank's ex-wife, who may be more important than she realizes. These seemingly disparate characters gradually realize their connections to each other just as they realize that something is not quite right about their world. And it seems as though the answers might lie with Hawthorne Abendsen, a mysterious and reclusive author, whose best-selling novel describes a world in which the US won the War... The Man in the High Castle is Dick at his best, giving readers a harrowing vision of the world that almost was. "The single most resonant and carefully imagined book of Dick's career." ??New York Ti… (more)
Media reviews
New Republic
Dick is entertaining us about reality and madness, time and death, sin and salvation.... We have our own homegrown Borges.
The New York Times Book Review
Philip K. Dick's best books always describe a future that is both entirely recognizable and utterly unimaginable.
Washington Post
Philip K. Dick... has chosen to handle... material too nutty to accept, too admonitory to forget, too haunting to abandon.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ejp1082
I cannot sing the praises of this book highly enough - this is surely Philip K. Dick's best work. The novel, on the face of it, is a dystopian vision of an alternate history where the Axis powers won World War II. It's frighteningly real, the world that PKD paints is full of complex characters and
Of course, in true PKD style, this isn't just an alternate history story; its full of metaphysical philosophy and the author challenges our own view of what reality is. The book is a window, through which we can gain a glimpse at this frightening dystopia - but the characters spend just as much time peering back at us, into our world, wondering what history would be like had events unfolded differently.
I think of all the novels I've read in the last several years, this is the one that made the most impact on me and stuck with me the longest. Altogether, this is an incredibly difficult book to describe or do justice in a review: If you're a fan of Philip K. Dick, or even if you're not, this one won't disappoint you.
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believable relationships, it falls into none of the ridiculous traps that often accompany the portrayal of Nazis in science fiction (in fact, the Nazis play a very small role in the novel overall).Of course, in true PKD style, this isn't just an alternate history story; its full of metaphysical philosophy and the author challenges our own view of what reality is. The book is a window, through which we can gain a glimpse at this frightening dystopia - but the characters spend just as much time peering back at us, into our world, wondering what history would be like had events unfolded differently.
I think of all the novels I've read in the last several years, this is the one that made the most impact on me and stuck with me the longest. Altogether, this is an incredibly difficult book to describe or do justice in a review: If you're a fan of Philip K. Dick, or even if you're not, this one won't disappoint you.
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LibraryThing member ed.pendragon
Authentic. Genuine. How often are these words used, and abused. Clothing stamped with 'authentic', meaning imitation US sports wear. Sweatshop items I remember seeing in the 60s labelled 'genuine imitation leather'.
Authenticity is one of the big ideas residing at the heart of this haunting novel.
Dick explores his theme through the medium of the characters who people his novel; we observe them through their thoughts and actions, sympathising or empathising or cringing at their response to events and situations. There is a wonderful cast, from high-ranking Japanese officials to subversive German agents, from Europeans operating in middle-America to US Jews, from strong-willed women to weak ineffective men. It's hard not to be moved by these often vascillating individuals as they struggle weakly to determine whether they are pawns or players in a universal game.
As to the final apperance of the work's leitmotif, is the conclusion of the novel really the end? Dick apparently planned different sequels to 'The Man in the High Castle' but never completed them; there is a sense that the reader has to either be satisfied with the ending they're presented with or project their own solutions to the enigmas they're left with. I myself am content with Juliana's final musings: 'Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find.'
(There must be a dissertation waiting, if it doesn't already exist, for those searching out the meaning of names in Dick's novels. For example, the 'Swedish' businessman Baynes must surely take his pseudonym from the writer who englished the original German translation of The Book of Changes. Frank Frink becomes the 'contemptible person' that his original surname, Fink, suggests to an American reader. Hawthorne Abendsen, the author of 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy', seems to take his forename from the Hawthorne Effect, the now largely discredited theory that some people tend to work harder and perform better to meet the expectations of the observer when they are participants in an experiment where they're aware their behaviour is being observed; this theory, which Dick must must surely have been aware of, may transmute into the notion that a work of fiction may have an effect on the world it is describing.)
Authenticity is one of the big ideas residing at the heart of this haunting novel.
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Does authenticity reside in objects purporting to be historic relics or in the minds of humans who trade and purchase and use and treasure them? Who really won the last global conflict? What is the significance of the alternate history of the world written by the Man in the High Castle? Is there really a High Castle? Indeed, are the characters we meet really who or what they say they are? Moreover, can writings such as the I Ching truly predict the future, or do they merely offer solace to the humans who use them?Dick explores his theme through the medium of the characters who people his novel; we observe them through their thoughts and actions, sympathising or empathising or cringing at their response to events and situations. There is a wonderful cast, from high-ranking Japanese officials to subversive German agents, from Europeans operating in middle-America to US Jews, from strong-willed women to weak ineffective men. It's hard not to be moved by these often vascillating individuals as they struggle weakly to determine whether they are pawns or players in a universal game.
As to the final apperance of the work's leitmotif, is the conclusion of the novel really the end? Dick apparently planned different sequels to 'The Man in the High Castle' but never completed them; there is a sense that the reader has to either be satisfied with the ending they're presented with or project their own solutions to the enigmas they're left with. I myself am content with Juliana's final musings: 'Truth, she thought. As terrible as death. But harder to find.'
(There must be a dissertation waiting, if it doesn't already exist, for those searching out the meaning of names in Dick's novels. For example, the 'Swedish' businessman Baynes must surely take his pseudonym from the writer who englished the original German translation of The Book of Changes. Frank Frink becomes the 'contemptible person' that his original surname, Fink, suggests to an American reader. Hawthorne Abendsen, the author of 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy', seems to take his forename from the Hawthorne Effect, the now largely discredited theory that some people tend to work harder and perform better to meet the expectations of the observer when they are participants in an experiment where they're aware their behaviour is being observed; this theory, which Dick must must surely have been aware of, may transmute into the notion that a work of fiction may have an effect on the world it is describing.)
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LibraryThing member baswood
There are fourteen novels by Philip K Dick in the Science Fiction Masterwork series, totalling now at 193. This 1962 novel was the breakthrough novel for Dick it won the Hugo award in 1963 and was the next one on my list to read. It is an alternative history novel. In Dick's imaginary world; the
Dick tells of several American characters attempting to secure a living in these changed times. Robert Childan runs an antique shop in San Francisco which is now part of the Pacific States of America under Japanese Control. He is riding a wave of Japanese interest in American items which were in use before the war: many of the artefacts were destroyed in the war and have become a rarity. He has important Japanese customers who are collectors and he must adapt to their cultural mores as well as securing the items that will satisfy their cravings. Frank Fink who keeps his jewish ancestry secret has recently been fired from his job as a machine tool expert and has recently supplied to Robert Childan a counterfeit colt 44 that he has made in his workshop. He is now going into the business of making modern contemporary American jewellery. Julia Frink the estranged wife of Frank has recently met Joe CInnadella who has promised that he will take her on the trip of her dreams and shows her large bankrolls of money to fund their extravagance. All the characters frequently consult the I-Ching when making decisions and must interpret the weird statements that the I-Ching devines to them. Joe and Julia become avid readers of a novel that is sweeping America called 'The Grasshopper lies Heavy' by Hawthorne Abendsen which tells of an alternate history which bears more resemblance to our own history for example in the 'Grasshopper lies Heavy' the allies won the second world war and America became the most powerful country. Abendsen is the Man in the High Tower and Julia becomes suspicious that Joe is an assassin who is using his relationship with her as cover so that he can murder Abendsen.
If this sounds complicated then I can vouch for it being even more complicated because throughout the novel references are made to the history of the German victory in the second world war and the subsequent progroms carried out by the Nazi's that resulted from it. At the current time of the novel there is a power struggle going on in Berlin. Martin Boorman who succeeded Hitler has recently died and Joseph Goebbels is launching a bid for power with the prospect of more ethnic cleansing with his project Dandelion. Agents from the Nazis are meeting Japanese officials as part of the power struggle. Americans are standing helplessly by, hoping that a more liberating clique seizes power in Berlin, but are hedging their bets with the officials with whom they come into contact. Of course a story as complicated as this will have plot holes, but this is science fiction where plot holes are almost de rigueur. Dick's characterisation is good for this genre and there is little evidence of racism and misogyny from the hands of the author. It is dark, it is a little weird, but Dick creates an atmosphere that can grip the reader right to the end of the story, even in a story like this one, that is open ended. 4 stars.
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Germans under Adolph Hitler had won the second world war some fifteen years ago in 1947 and now in 1962 America was suffering under the rule of Nazi Germany and the Imperial state of Japan, both nations having influence in various parts of the USA. Nazi Germany has pushed on with technological developments that has resulted in rockets now able to reach Mars and Venus. They are the most powerful of the two nations that control the rest of the world. American citizens are of a third world status and are trying to come to terms with the struggle to survive under the yoke of the leading two powers. Dick tells of several American characters attempting to secure a living in these changed times. Robert Childan runs an antique shop in San Francisco which is now part of the Pacific States of America under Japanese Control. He is riding a wave of Japanese interest in American items which were in use before the war: many of the artefacts were destroyed in the war and have become a rarity. He has important Japanese customers who are collectors and he must adapt to their cultural mores as well as securing the items that will satisfy their cravings. Frank Fink who keeps his jewish ancestry secret has recently been fired from his job as a machine tool expert and has recently supplied to Robert Childan a counterfeit colt 44 that he has made in his workshop. He is now going into the business of making modern contemporary American jewellery. Julia Frink the estranged wife of Frank has recently met Joe CInnadella who has promised that he will take her on the trip of her dreams and shows her large bankrolls of money to fund their extravagance. All the characters frequently consult the I-Ching when making decisions and must interpret the weird statements that the I-Ching devines to them. Joe and Julia become avid readers of a novel that is sweeping America called 'The Grasshopper lies Heavy' by Hawthorne Abendsen which tells of an alternate history which bears more resemblance to our own history for example in the 'Grasshopper lies Heavy' the allies won the second world war and America became the most powerful country. Abendsen is the Man in the High Tower and Julia becomes suspicious that Joe is an assassin who is using his relationship with her as cover so that he can murder Abendsen.
If this sounds complicated then I can vouch for it being even more complicated because throughout the novel references are made to the history of the German victory in the second world war and the subsequent progroms carried out by the Nazi's that resulted from it. At the current time of the novel there is a power struggle going on in Berlin. Martin Boorman who succeeded Hitler has recently died and Joseph Goebbels is launching a bid for power with the prospect of more ethnic cleansing with his project Dandelion. Agents from the Nazis are meeting Japanese officials as part of the power struggle. Americans are standing helplessly by, hoping that a more liberating clique seizes power in Berlin, but are hedging their bets with the officials with whom they come into contact. Of course a story as complicated as this will have plot holes, but this is science fiction where plot holes are almost de rigueur. Dick's characterisation is good for this genre and there is little evidence of racism and misogyny from the hands of the author. It is dark, it is a little weird, but Dick creates an atmosphere that can grip the reader right to the end of the story, even in a story like this one, that is open ended. 4 stars.
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LibraryThing member RandyStafford
My reactions to reading this novel in 1989.
A wonderful, intriguing, and at times enigmatic novel. Dick, as usual, exhibits his remarkable powers of characterization. Here he largely uses the technique of entering into a character's thoughts. Often we go along rather like a character until we come
As usual, there are one or too entirely good major characters, and here, as often in Dick's work, one is a craftsmen, Frank Fink. The other is Mr. Tagomi.
One of the major strengths of this novel was showing the many facets of the relationship between conquerors and the conquered: Dick portrays the admiration, revulsion, and mystification suffered under the yoke of the Japanese and Germany. Dick provides succinct and true portrayals -- usually uncomplimentary -- of Japanese and German (again an unflattering reference to Germany) national character.
As usual there is suspense aided by Dick's usual plethora of fakes, counterfeits, illusions, and simulacra. Here Dick uses these elements for wit and philosophy. (I liked W. M. Mason complaining about his mistress' babbling about The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and other bits of the usual Dickian black humor.) Dick questions, in his fake historical artifacts, the principle of historicity which ironically plays off the fake history of Hawthorne Abendsen's alternate history, and the book a also shows the power and hold an alternate history can hold over the mind.
I also liked the portrayal of the Nazi commando who can't seem to comprehend why Julianna Fink fights him or his own imminent death. As Dick says about Germans, they have trouble with actuality. (Juliianna's behavior then is never explained: madness or drug intoxication?) The book has a light, airy, fascinating air about it like the silver triangle Mr. Tagomi contemplates. (Mr. Tagomi's peculiar, sometimes stilted dialogue may be a sometimes amusing attempt at non-native English and/or the result of what seems to be, at times, bad proofreading.). The philosophy of the Tao and the I Ching hover over all the book and inform its reading. The characters contemplate fate, destiny, faith, and how to deal with evil (and , in the poignant case of Mr. Baynes and Tagomi, choose between evils).
Like most of Dick's novels I've read, things seem to end in midstream, mid-air. The "big" question here is if another world war can be averted. But the real story is how the characters, like all people, will cope with their world and each finds the Way. I can't, on one reading, completely appreciate their discoveries. Dick's novel is subtle. As an alternate world, the novel works quite well.
Dick actually creates two interesting alternate histories. It was quite interesting to see the fate Dick postulated for various Nazis -- some I hadn't heard of until I read Dick's reference work: William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The final touch, our world's existence enigmatically hinted at in Tagomi's vision and, possibly, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, was rather disturbing and comforting. As in The Penultimate Truth, the nuclear doom spirit of the sixties looms over the novel but fails to crush the characters spirit. They endure and grow.
A wonderful, intriguing, and at times enigmatic novel. Dick, as usual, exhibits his remarkable powers of characterization. Here he largely uses the technique of entering into a character's thoughts. Often we go along rather like a character until we come
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across a jarring, despicable thought. The portrayal of antique dealer Robert Childan. We like him just fine until we find out he approves of genocide against the Jews. Even Reinhard Heydrich has his good side in working against attacking the Japanese. Julianna Fink is one of Dick's rather neurotic women who must almost obsessively flit from man to man (her husband has some unkind things to say about women's "babyish" nature and extreme craving for attention -- perhaps Dick's unhappy experience with women is reflected here).As usual, there are one or too entirely good major characters, and here, as often in Dick's work, one is a craftsmen, Frank Fink. The other is Mr. Tagomi.
One of the major strengths of this novel was showing the many facets of the relationship between conquerors and the conquered: Dick portrays the admiration, revulsion, and mystification suffered under the yoke of the Japanese and Germany. Dick provides succinct and true portrayals -- usually uncomplimentary -- of Japanese and German (again an unflattering reference to Germany) national character.
As usual there is suspense aided by Dick's usual plethora of fakes, counterfeits, illusions, and simulacra. Here Dick uses these elements for wit and philosophy. (I liked W. M. Mason complaining about his mistress' babbling about The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and other bits of the usual Dickian black humor.) Dick questions, in his fake historical artifacts, the principle of historicity which ironically plays off the fake history of Hawthorne Abendsen's alternate history, and the book a also shows the power and hold an alternate history can hold over the mind.
I also liked the portrayal of the Nazi commando who can't seem to comprehend why Julianna Fink fights him or his own imminent death. As Dick says about Germans, they have trouble with actuality. (Juliianna's behavior then is never explained: madness or drug intoxication?) The book has a light, airy, fascinating air about it like the silver triangle Mr. Tagomi contemplates. (Mr. Tagomi's peculiar, sometimes stilted dialogue may be a sometimes amusing attempt at non-native English and/or the result of what seems to be, at times, bad proofreading.). The philosophy of the Tao and the I Ching hover over all the book and inform its reading. The characters contemplate fate, destiny, faith, and how to deal with evil (and , in the poignant case of Mr. Baynes and Tagomi, choose between evils).
Like most of Dick's novels I've read, things seem to end in midstream, mid-air. The "big" question here is if another world war can be averted. But the real story is how the characters, like all people, will cope with their world and each finds the Way. I can't, on one reading, completely appreciate their discoveries. Dick's novel is subtle. As an alternate world, the novel works quite well.
Dick actually creates two interesting alternate histories. It was quite interesting to see the fate Dick postulated for various Nazis -- some I hadn't heard of until I read Dick's reference work: William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The final touch, our world's existence enigmatically hinted at in Tagomi's vision and, possibly, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, was rather disturbing and comforting. As in The Penultimate Truth, the nuclear doom spirit of the sixties looms over the novel but fails to crush the characters spirit. They endure and grow.
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LibraryThing member jcmontgomery
This isn’t the type of science fiction I was expecting. In fact, I looked up the meaning of the term and found that I was a bit off the mark. To quote the famous science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein:
"Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the
Philip K. Dick’s book is just as Heinlein says, for he takes “the real world as we know it” and “speculates” what would happen if one set of events happened instead of another. In his story, Germany and Japan were the victors of World War II. His imagined society is well researched and worked out. Not only on the surface, but deep down within the personalities of his characters.
And this is what makes The Man In The High Castle such an intriguing read. The interactions between races, genders, and social classes are real, enlightening, and disturbing. The author’s skill is showing us that no matter what reality in which people live, their humaness prevails; the good, the bad, all of it. He offers us glimpses of what could be, and makes it seem plausible.
But then again, this is what science fiction is supposed to be. And it explains why many of Dick’s works have been adapted to film: “Blade Runner” (from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), “Total Recall” (from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale), “Minority Report”, “Screamers” (from Second Variety), and “A Scanner Darkly” to name a few.
Thanks to a fellow bibliophile, I am slowly being reintroduced to a genre I set aside years ago and am happy to have discovered it again.
I highly recommend this book as not only an introduction (or reintroduction) to science fiction, but to Philip K. Dick. I can’t wait to get my hands on his other stories. Especially Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies and I feel confident the book will just as good, if not better.
"Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the
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real world as we know it, including all established facts and natural laws. The result can be extremely fantastic in content, but it is not fantasy; it is legitimate–and often very tightly reasoned–speculation about the possibilities of the real world. This category excludes rocket ships that make U-turns, serpent men of Neptune that lust after human maidens, and stories by authors who flunked their Boy Scout merit badge tests in descriptive astronomy." – from: Ray Guns And Spaceships, in Expanded Universe, Ace, 1981Philip K. Dick’s book is just as Heinlein says, for he takes “the real world as we know it” and “speculates” what would happen if one set of events happened instead of another. In his story, Germany and Japan were the victors of World War II. His imagined society is well researched and worked out. Not only on the surface, but deep down within the personalities of his characters.
And this is what makes The Man In The High Castle such an intriguing read. The interactions between races, genders, and social classes are real, enlightening, and disturbing. The author’s skill is showing us that no matter what reality in which people live, their humaness prevails; the good, the bad, all of it. He offers us glimpses of what could be, and makes it seem plausible.
But then again, this is what science fiction is supposed to be. And it explains why many of Dick’s works have been adapted to film: “Blade Runner” (from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), “Total Recall” (from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale), “Minority Report”, “Screamers” (from Second Variety), and “A Scanner Darkly” to name a few.
Thanks to a fellow bibliophile, I am slowly being reintroduced to a genre I set aside years ago and am happy to have discovered it again.
I highly recommend this book as not only an introduction (or reintroduction) to science fiction, but to Philip K. Dick. I can’t wait to get my hands on his other stories. Especially Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies and I feel confident the book will just as good, if not better.
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LibraryThing member conformer
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member bamajasper53
I read this as a teenager around 1970, when I was reading a lot of alternative history books such as If the South had won the Civil War and On the Beach. It led me briefly to investigate the I Ching, but I lost interest in that, as I have a disinclination concerning supernatural divination. Now
Over 40 years have passed and I see layers of meaning that I completely missed. The concepts of wabi and wu, the reactions of the characters to craftsmanship and Art, and the providence of artifact and value completely went over my head back then. This time, I found myself pondering Dick's themes. It surprised me that these are still Creativity conversations 50 years later. (The Mickey Mouse watch scene could be enacted today with no loss of irony).
On a stylistic note: I have been teaching many Asian exchange students over the past decade. One of the hardest writing concepts that we have grappled with is the use of the definite and indefinite articles, as they seem to be lacking in their languages. I noticed that Dick also eliminated them from his narrative. It was a good choice on his part for this story, but I kept wanting to grab my red pen and insert them!
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about to turn 60, I've been rereading some of my childhood/teen-aged books to see how they affect me now. Over 40 years have passed and I see layers of meaning that I completely missed. The concepts of wabi and wu, the reactions of the characters to craftsmanship and Art, and the providence of artifact and value completely went over my head back then. This time, I found myself pondering Dick's themes. It surprised me that these are still Creativity conversations 50 years later. (The Mickey Mouse watch scene could be enacted today with no loss of irony).
On a stylistic note: I have been teaching many Asian exchange students over the past decade. One of the hardest writing concepts that we have grappled with is the use of the definite and indefinite articles, as they seem to be lacking in their languages. I noticed that Dick also eliminated them from his narrative. It was a good choice on his part for this story, but I kept wanting to grab my red pen and insert them!
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
I kind of always had this idea PKD would be a bit underwhelming, so probably I shouldn't have started with this one, because I've got all kinds of--UGH, I GUESS--fanboyish high strung sensitivities and preferences as far as alternate history goes; but I am also a students of litretchah, and so in
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principle a good weird artful yarn should take precedence over a small verisimilitude (because make no mistake this world divided between Germany and Japan--two totalitarian geopolitical behemoths, undercutting e'en Orwell!--with Nazis on Mars in the sixties could never have happened); but there's more about it that's offputting: as a lover of Japan, I should again be open to Dick's take here where the Japanese are basically the good guys despite massacres and slaves, a weird Orientalist Asia-Pacific empire where everyone speaks in me-so-solly and is enlightened like Spock (atrocities notwithstanding) and consults the I Ching. The idea of an Asian–American hybrid culture emerging PERHAPS 100 years avant la lettre is a great one but the execution is wonky, and the nostalgia for pre–war to end all wars US frontier shit that is a huge plot point sort of works but has these weird notes of that whole post(real)WWII thing where "they love all our cultural detritus in Japan." It has moments of appeal but then you remember how totally unlike any of this, and totally awful, early-Showa Japan was and it gets offputting. As for the Nazis, Dick was obviously familiar with the idea that the Reich was a "weak dictatorship" where the centre did not hold and each sinister bureaucracy in the military and police and security services and military police and secret police and security services for the security services pursues its own agenda, but, well ... so what? If you're looking for insight into Nazism you won't get it here, it's bog-standard Reich-on-Reich intrigue. And um then there is a woman written like a mid-twentieth-century sci-fi woman (she loves to shop!) but also, which is nice, a judoka and finally a reluctant action hero, and then at the end she goes to one deceptively normal suburb and everything gets Lynchian-with-a-flash-of-2001-odyssean and then it ends. To me, it doesn't amount to much. Show Less
LibraryThing member mahsdad
I mostly love PKD's short stories and haven't read many of his novels. His work is the source material for seemlingly half of all movies made in Hollywood over the last 30 years (seriously, there are 13 TV and Film adaptations of his work, and that's pretty darn impressive). I've had this book on
That is, its an alternate history of the US, set in San Fransico, in a divided North America. Japan and Germany have won WWII and occupy the West and East Coasts (respectivly) of America. The story deals with an interconnected cast of characters, from the head of the Japanese trade mission, an antiques dealer selling old Americana to the Japanese tourists. A Jewish American veteran making jewerly in a society that favors the old, not the new and his ex-wife, who is a judo instructor in the neutral Mountain States Zone.
Possibly the 2 biggest characters in the book, are books. One is the I,Ching, a kind of choose your own prediction book, where the reader generates random numbers in some fashion and looks up their fortune in the book. It is used by practically everyone on the Pacific States of America (PSA) to influence all challenging decisions. The other book is a widely banned novel in the world of Castle, called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. It is an alternate history where the allies did win the war. But its not our history, this is an alternate within an alternate. The title of our book refers to the reclusive author of Grasshopper, who supposedly lives in a fortress-like estate called the High Castle. As with a lot of PKD's work, it is weird, twisted and very compelling. Now I can watch the TV series on Amazon.
Recommend.
8/10
S: 5/21/16 - F: 6/3/16 (14 Days)
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the shelf for years, and probably have read it, but didn't remember much, other than the basic premise.That is, its an alternate history of the US, set in San Fransico, in a divided North America. Japan and Germany have won WWII and occupy the West and East Coasts (respectivly) of America. The story deals with an interconnected cast of characters, from the head of the Japanese trade mission, an antiques dealer selling old Americana to the Japanese tourists. A Jewish American veteran making jewerly in a society that favors the old, not the new and his ex-wife, who is a judo instructor in the neutral Mountain States Zone.
Possibly the 2 biggest characters in the book, are books. One is the I,Ching, a kind of choose your own prediction book, where the reader generates random numbers in some fashion and looks up their fortune in the book. It is used by practically everyone on the Pacific States of America (PSA) to influence all challenging decisions. The other book is a widely banned novel in the world of Castle, called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. It is an alternate history where the allies did win the war. But its not our history, this is an alternate within an alternate. The title of our book refers to the reclusive author of Grasshopper, who supposedly lives in a fortress-like estate called the High Castle. As with a lot of PKD's work, it is weird, twisted and very compelling. Now I can watch the TV series on Amazon.
Recommend.
8/10
S: 5/21/16 - F: 6/3/16 (14 Days)
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LibraryThing member jms001
In anticipation of watching the new Amazon show of the same name, I decided to read this interesting PKD book.
Having heard about this book, I had some set expectations about what an adventure it would be. But at the same time, having read other Philip K. Dick books, I already had an expectation for
Don't start reading this expecting it to be similar to the new show. However, do expect another oddly interesting and spectacular writing from the renowned Philip K. Dick. You'll be glad you did.
Having heard about this book, I had some set expectations about what an adventure it would be. But at the same time, having read other Philip K. Dick books, I already had an expectation for
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all the weirdness that comes with his writing. By that measure, I was set. In The Man in the High Castle, you are walked through the lives of five main point of view characters as they live through and understand what it means to live in a society where the Axis won World War II. The book is less on the explosions and gun battle side, and more on the psychological impacts that such a society would have on them. And amidst all the drama, one realizes that fate in inevitable. As ambiguous as certain scenes were, I think I'm finally starting to understand the benefit of the way it ended.Don't start reading this expecting it to be similar to the new show. However, do expect another oddly interesting and spectacular writing from the renowned Philip K. Dick. You'll be glad you did.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle is one of those classic science fiction novels that I've been meaning to read for ages but for one reason or another never quite got around to. Recently, though, the novel seems to be popping up wherever I turn: Viz Media's speculative fiction imprint
After being defeated, the United States of America was divided into three political entities at the end of World War II. The Pacific States of America is overseen by Japan and the Eastern United States is occupied by Germany while the central third of the country, the Rocky Mountain States, remains an independent buffer zone. Less than two decades have passed since the end of the war. Nazi Germany, having become a major power, continues to dominate and conquer the rest of the world and has even extended its reach to space. However, internal power struggles threaten to throw the precariously-balanced international political landscape into war and turmoil once again. In the meantime, Americans have had to either learn to adapt to their occupiers' whims or to flee their homeland. The Japanese rule is fairly benign, especially when compared to that of the Germans, but it is still grating and demeaning for the Americans who are slowly losing their national identity along with the freedoms and respect that they once enjoyed in the past.
The alternate history that Dick envisions in The Man in the High Castle is honestly terrifying and horrifying. Under the global influence of a fascist, totalitarian regime, extreme racism and prejudice is rampant and genocide isn't a thing of the past but of the present and future. People live in a world in which insidious fear, hatred, anger, and uncertainty have come to dominate. The Man in the High Castle follows several different and fairly ordinary characters from a variety of backgrounds who are all ultimately connected to one another, either directly or tangentially: an antiques dealer making his living selling Americana to Japanese clients, an American craftsman and jewelry maker who must hide his Jewish identity and heritage, a Japanese trade official stationed in what was once California, an American woman who teaches judo in the Rocky Mountain States, and a Nazi defector trying to prevent impending atrocities from becoming a reality. By the end of the novel, both together and separately, they have all taken a stand against the status quo and have made a difference, however small, in the world around them.
In addition to being a work of alternate history itself, there is a novel within The Man in the High Castle—The Grasshopper Lies Heavy—which explores yet another potential reality. That novel plays a pivotal role as does the Chinese classic the I Ching which many of the characters consult as an oracle or use to make major decisions and which Dick himself used to guide the story and plot of The Man in the High Castle. The writing style of The Man in the High Castle did take some time for me to get used to. Much of the novel consists of the characters' internal monologues and thought processes, resulting in a work that frequently feels like fragmented stream-of-consciousness. Parts of the novel are also written in deliberately stilted English which, while clever and effective (and while I can understand and appreciate Dick's intentions), doesn't necessarily always make for the most pleasant reading experience. However, the underlying ideas and themes behind The Man in the High Castle are tremendous. Ultimately, The Man in the High Castle is a fascinating and chilling read, and a novel that is remarkably relevant and thought-provoking even today.
Experiments in Manga
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Haikasoru takes its name from the title; it was mentioned multiple times in the tenth volume of Mechademia which I read not too long ago; and in 2015 it was adapted as a live-action television series. Originally published in 1962, The Man in the High Castle can be counted as among the first major works of fiction written in English to examine an alternate history in which Germany and Japan emerged victorious from the Second World War, a historical turning point which has since become one of the most popular for the subgenre to explore. Winning the Hugo Award for best novel in 1963, The Man in the High Castle is also regarded as one of Dick's most well-known and highly-acclaimed works. The novel has been re-published around the world numerous times with the most recent US edition scheduled to be released in 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.After being defeated, the United States of America was divided into three political entities at the end of World War II. The Pacific States of America is overseen by Japan and the Eastern United States is occupied by Germany while the central third of the country, the Rocky Mountain States, remains an independent buffer zone. Less than two decades have passed since the end of the war. Nazi Germany, having become a major power, continues to dominate and conquer the rest of the world and has even extended its reach to space. However, internal power struggles threaten to throw the precariously-balanced international political landscape into war and turmoil once again. In the meantime, Americans have had to either learn to adapt to their occupiers' whims or to flee their homeland. The Japanese rule is fairly benign, especially when compared to that of the Germans, but it is still grating and demeaning for the Americans who are slowly losing their national identity along with the freedoms and respect that they once enjoyed in the past.
The alternate history that Dick envisions in The Man in the High Castle is honestly terrifying and horrifying. Under the global influence of a fascist, totalitarian regime, extreme racism and prejudice is rampant and genocide isn't a thing of the past but of the present and future. People live in a world in which insidious fear, hatred, anger, and uncertainty have come to dominate. The Man in the High Castle follows several different and fairly ordinary characters from a variety of backgrounds who are all ultimately connected to one another, either directly or tangentially: an antiques dealer making his living selling Americana to Japanese clients, an American craftsman and jewelry maker who must hide his Jewish identity and heritage, a Japanese trade official stationed in what was once California, an American woman who teaches judo in the Rocky Mountain States, and a Nazi defector trying to prevent impending atrocities from becoming a reality. By the end of the novel, both together and separately, they have all taken a stand against the status quo and have made a difference, however small, in the world around them.
In addition to being a work of alternate history itself, there is a novel within The Man in the High Castle—The Grasshopper Lies Heavy—which explores yet another potential reality. That novel plays a pivotal role as does the Chinese classic the I Ching which many of the characters consult as an oracle or use to make major decisions and which Dick himself used to guide the story and plot of The Man in the High Castle. The writing style of The Man in the High Castle did take some time for me to get used to. Much of the novel consists of the characters' internal monologues and thought processes, resulting in a work that frequently feels like fragmented stream-of-consciousness. Parts of the novel are also written in deliberately stilted English which, while clever and effective (and while I can understand and appreciate Dick's intentions), doesn't necessarily always make for the most pleasant reading experience. However, the underlying ideas and themes behind The Man in the High Castle are tremendous. Ultimately, The Man in the High Castle is a fascinating and chilling read, and a novel that is remarkably relevant and thought-provoking even today.
Experiments in Manga
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LibraryThing member ToxicBooks
The premise of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, like his other novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, is that things are not always what they seem, and indeed that the very nature of reality is loosely defined. This is exemplified in the book's strange ending, in which the reader
The 'thinking moments' of the book are overwhelmed by the random parts of the book though. Having said that though, the most profound parts of the book are when Dick returns to the central theme of questioning reality: namely the parts dealing with the forgery of Civil War era artifacts. Indeed, Dick asks, if the viewer cannot discern fake from real with his senses, then how can one ever know what is real?
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returns to a reality more closely related to our own (in fact, it probably is our own!). The 'thinking moments' of the book are overwhelmed by the random parts of the book though. Having said that though, the most profound parts of the book are when Dick returns to the central theme of questioning reality: namely the parts dealing with the forgery of Civil War era artifacts. Indeed, Dick asks, if the viewer cannot discern fake from real with his senses, then how can one ever know what is real?
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LibraryThing member santhony
Philip Dick is one of the most influential writers in science fiction history. After penning numerous magnificent novels, he gradually spiraled into depression and ultimately insanity. Much of his later work is simply unreadable by mere mortals such as me.
This is a relatively short (235 pages) work
Much of the writing and storytelling is simply brilliant. There are several different threads involved, including a Jewish jewelry maker in the PSA (Pacific States of America), a dealer in American antiquities who struggles to interact with his Asian overlords, a divorced woman in the Rocky Mountain States, a Japanese Trade representative, a German spy operating in Japanese territory on the West Coast. The political and social landscape is rich with satire and extremes. For example, the technocratic Germans have established bases on Mars, but elimination of most of the world’s Jews has resulted in a world where America has no commercial television or entertainment industry.
Much of the story revolves around a renegade American author, holed up in his Rocky Mountain fortress (The Man in the High Castle) who has published a controversial novel (banned in the German controlled eastern United States). The novel is a work of alternative history in which the United States wins the war and splits governance of the world with the British Empire. So, you’re reading a book of alternative history which features a work of alternative history, such history largely mirroring the world in which we live. How clever.
Very short; very witty; quite enjoyable. No masterpiece, but well worth the effort.
This is a relatively short (235 pages) work
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of alternative history, in which Franklin Roosevelt is assassinated in the first year of his first term. He is succeeded by a collection of mediocrities, ensuring world domination by the Germans and the Japanese. In the year 1962, The United States is split into spheres of influence, with the East Coast the dominion of the Germans and the West Coast dominated by the Japanese. The American heartland is largely ignored. Much of the writing and storytelling is simply brilliant. There are several different threads involved, including a Jewish jewelry maker in the PSA (Pacific States of America), a dealer in American antiquities who struggles to interact with his Asian overlords, a divorced woman in the Rocky Mountain States, a Japanese Trade representative, a German spy operating in Japanese territory on the West Coast. The political and social landscape is rich with satire and extremes. For example, the technocratic Germans have established bases on Mars, but elimination of most of the world’s Jews has resulted in a world where America has no commercial television or entertainment industry.
Much of the story revolves around a renegade American author, holed up in his Rocky Mountain fortress (The Man in the High Castle) who has published a controversial novel (banned in the German controlled eastern United States). The novel is a work of alternative history in which the United States wins the war and splits governance of the world with the British Empire. So, you’re reading a book of alternative history which features a work of alternative history, such history largely mirroring the world in which we live. How clever.
Very short; very witty; quite enjoyable. No masterpiece, but well worth the effort.
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LibraryThing member Nickidemus
The Basics
An alternate history wherein Japan and Germany won World War II. And things are as dystopiate (is that a word? I just invented it) as one would expect.
My Thoughts
The thing one must realize when approaching a Philip K. Dick novel is that he doesn’t write normal stories. In the slightest.
I started off feeling some momentum, but I ended up feeling unfulfilled and confused and generally… not entertained. There were some strong characters here that I got attached to (with the exception of Childan, who I couldn’t stand from the very beginning), but the story was so unorganized and spontaneous in a bad way.
I think I also went into this book with false expectations. The last book I’d read by him was Ubik, and it blew me away. It was so adventurous, cinematic, and exciting. This book’s tone is entirely different, and when I’d heard the premise, somehow I expected it would be more kinetic. So when we’re treated to plots about fake memorabilia and jewelry making that seem to drag and lead nowhere, I was disappointed.
This book was trying to say something, and I feel I missed the point entirely. I can’t tell if that’s my fault or not. Maybe my lack of interest in heavily political plots has something to do with it. Or my expectations. Or PKD’s habit of taking rabbit trails that don’t serve the story. Either way, this didn’t live up to the extreme hype surrounding it.
Final Rating
2.5/5
An alternate history wherein Japan and Germany won World War II. And things are as dystopiate (is that a word? I just invented it) as one would expect.
My Thoughts
The thing one must realize when approaching a Philip K. Dick novel is that he doesn’t write normal stories. In the slightest.
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He doesn’t always write in a fashion that entirely makes sense. He often goes inside a character’s head, into not just their thoughts but their very meat, and struggles to find his way back out. I thought I was ready for that here, but in the end, I think this is why the book lost me. I started off feeling some momentum, but I ended up feeling unfulfilled and confused and generally… not entertained. There were some strong characters here that I got attached to (with the exception of Childan, who I couldn’t stand from the very beginning), but the story was so unorganized and spontaneous in a bad way.
I think I also went into this book with false expectations. The last book I’d read by him was Ubik, and it blew me away. It was so adventurous, cinematic, and exciting. This book’s tone is entirely different, and when I’d heard the premise, somehow I expected it would be more kinetic. So when we’re treated to plots about fake memorabilia and jewelry making that seem to drag and lead nowhere, I was disappointed.
This book was trying to say something, and I feel I missed the point entirely. I can’t tell if that’s my fault or not. Maybe my lack of interest in heavily political plots has something to do with it. Or my expectations. Or PKD’s habit of taking rabbit trails that don’t serve the story. Either way, this didn’t live up to the extreme hype surrounding it.
Final Rating
2.5/5
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LibraryThing member edgeworth
The Man In The High Castle was one of the first alternate history novels to ever gain wide appeal. It tells the story of an alternate world in which the Allies lost the war, and the world is now controlled by the Japanese and Germans. The United States has been divided into three parts: the east
This was the first novel by Dick I've ever read, though I have read some of his short stories, and although the concept is intriguing I didn't much care for his writing style. The narratorial voice is far too deeply entrenched inside the character's heads, detailing every little thought and engaging in time-consuming and tedious interior monologues. Also, for a novel that is supposed to be examining the society of an alternate world, he spends a bizarrely large amount of time discussing jewellry and antiques.
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coast, controlled by the Nazis; the west coast, controlled by Japan; and the Midwest, a neutral buffer zone under its own authority.This was the first novel by Dick I've ever read, though I have read some of his short stories, and although the concept is intriguing I didn't much care for his writing style. The narratorial voice is far too deeply entrenched inside the character's heads, detailing every little thought and engaging in time-consuming and tedious interior monologues. Also, for a novel that is supposed to be examining the society of an alternate world, he spends a bizarrely large amount of time discussing jewellry and antiques.
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LibraryThing member JollyContrarian
With works like this and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" it is odd that Phillip K Dick is not more widely read than he is, as his books rate for the most part with the doyens of American 20th century literature. This is the curse, I guess, of being branded a Sci-Fi Writer. It's embarassing
The Man in the High Castle is superbly realised and depicted, and as with most of Dick's fiction, the outward subject of the book (in this case an alternative history of the 20th Century in which the Axis won the war and Japan and Germany conquered America) is only really the setting for a fascinating examination of the human protagonists, and the dilemmas of life they face inside it.
For this reason alone, his books have tended not to date; the particular issues they address are not of technology or history, but largely of personality and "spirituality" (for want of a better word).
The Man In The High Castle is also very well observed - in partiucular the ever-so slightly contorted constructions of Japanese English emanating from those in the Pacific States (whether Japanese or not) are very cleverly done. It is noteworthy that Dick doesn't stoop to make soft scores: there is little overt reference to the atrocities of the Second World War, and neither the German not the Japanese occupations are depicted as wholly brutal or totalitarian regimes - this is implied to an extent for the German regime, but none of the action really takes place there, and the Japanese government is portrayed surprisingly sympathetically, particularly at an individual level.
Ultimately, The Man In The High Castle descends out of focus and into incoherency, but as mentioned above, plot wasn't really what interested Dick, and this tends to be a characteristic of his novels.
Recommended.
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to admit you like Sci-Fi.The Man in the High Castle is superbly realised and depicted, and as with most of Dick's fiction, the outward subject of the book (in this case an alternative history of the 20th Century in which the Axis won the war and Japan and Germany conquered America) is only really the setting for a fascinating examination of the human protagonists, and the dilemmas of life they face inside it.
For this reason alone, his books have tended not to date; the particular issues they address are not of technology or history, but largely of personality and "spirituality" (for want of a better word).
The Man In The High Castle is also very well observed - in partiucular the ever-so slightly contorted constructions of Japanese English emanating from those in the Pacific States (whether Japanese or not) are very cleverly done. It is noteworthy that Dick doesn't stoop to make soft scores: there is little overt reference to the atrocities of the Second World War, and neither the German not the Japanese occupations are depicted as wholly brutal or totalitarian regimes - this is implied to an extent for the German regime, but none of the action really takes place there, and the Japanese government is portrayed surprisingly sympathetically, particularly at an individual level.
Ultimately, The Man In The High Castle descends out of focus and into incoherency, but as mentioned above, plot wasn't really what interested Dick, and this tends to be a characteristic of his novels.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member ladycato
I was happy to grab this ebook on a good sale. I watched the first season of the series on Amazon Prime a few months ago, and I was curious about how the two mediums compared. The contrast is quite stark. The series uses the basic setting--one where Nazi Germany and Japan won World War II and have
I won't go into details about how the characters differ, as I don't want to spoil that for readers or viewers, though I will say that Mr. Tagomi remains my favorite character in both versions of the story. He is a man of peace amid very difficult circumstances.
In all, I enjoyed the book in its differences. It's a short, fast read, carried along by sly tension. It doesn't need big, grand explosions--it's about little explosions in short conversations. Most of all, it's a book that makes you think--and I believe the series is doing that, too, even as it takes the basic story in an entirely different direction.
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effectively divided America--and character names and some of their back stories. The series goes much deeper into the changes to American culture and takes the plot in entirely new directions, though there are a few particular scenes that are directly from the book. The book is much darker, really. The Nazis have committed genocide against Africa, slaughtering everyone, and blacks in America are slaves. Occasional hints about events in Russia and eastern Europe show they have it little better. The Nazis are also traveling to the moon, Mars, and beyond--and they have a war eye on Japan here on Earth.I won't go into details about how the characters differ, as I don't want to spoil that for readers or viewers, though I will say that Mr. Tagomi remains my favorite character in both versions of the story. He is a man of peace amid very difficult circumstances.
In all, I enjoyed the book in its differences. It's a short, fast read, carried along by sly tension. It doesn't need big, grand explosions--it's about little explosions in short conversations. Most of all, it's a book that makes you think--and I believe the series is doing that, too, even as it takes the basic story in an entirely different direction.
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LibraryThing member RaceBannon42
"It is 1962 and the Second World War has been over for seventeen years: people have now had a chance to adjust to the new order. But it's not been easy. The Mediterranean has been drained to make farmland, the population of Africa has virtually been wiped out and America has been divided between
The Man in the High Castle won the Hugo award in 1963. This alternative history story is an amazing vision of what if. But its much more than that. It's a story of a book with in a book. One of the cornerstones of the story is a book titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy by Hawthorne Abendsen, who is the Man in the High Castle. Grasshopper is itself an alternate history book in which Germany and Japan did not win WW2.
Dick is a master of the esoteric in this book. He weaves a tale worthy of the title "Masterwork". For a work over 40 years old it does not feel dated. Characterizations are well developed for a book if this modest length. I found myself re-evaluating my opinions of the protagonists, most especially Juliana, several times as I read. This is a must read for any fan of speculative fiction.
9 out of 10
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the Nazis and the Japanese. In the neutral buffer zone that divides the two superpowers lives the man in the high castle, the author of an underground bestseller, a work of fiction that offers an alternative theory of world history in which the Axis powers didn't win the war." The Man in the High Castle won the Hugo award in 1963. This alternative history story is an amazing vision of what if. But its much more than that. It's a story of a book with in a book. One of the cornerstones of the story is a book titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy by Hawthorne Abendsen, who is the Man in the High Castle. Grasshopper is itself an alternate history book in which Germany and Japan did not win WW2.
Dick is a master of the esoteric in this book. He weaves a tale worthy of the title "Masterwork". For a work over 40 years old it does not feel dated. Characterizations are well developed for a book if this modest length. I found myself re-evaluating my opinions of the protagonists, most especially Juliana, several times as I read. This is a must read for any fan of speculative fiction.
9 out of 10
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LibraryThing member write-review
When Ambiguity Is the Point
Perhaps quoting from Freddie Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” best puts what many consider the finest of Philip K. Dick’s works into perspective: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” Ambiguity threads its way throughout The Man in the High Castle,
The Man in the High Castle tells two alternative histories to what we accept as our reality. First is that which seems like reality to the characters and to readers. The Axis powers won WWII, they have divided the U.S. into the Pacific States of America (Japan), the Eastern States (Germany), and the Rocky Mountain buffer zone; further, Germany still seeks out Jews for extermination, and have pretty much killed everybody in Africa, as well as the Slavs. Roma, etc.; and they have an active space program, to boot. The second alternative history has the Allies winning WWII. However, the new order does not resemble the reality we known. America has resolved many of its problems, including its inherent racism. Great Britain, now both racist and expansionist, reigns as America’s rival. The Soviet Union has collapsed.
Readers experience this reality through the eyes and thoughts of the main characters: Robert Childan, owner of an American antique shop in San Francisco, who finds himself constantly kowtowing to his new masters, the Japanese; Nobusuke Tagomi, head of the Japanese trade mission, who, like many occupiers, is fascinated by American artifacts and buys from Childan; Frank Frink, whose real name is Fink, a Jew in hiding, a master artisan of fake antiques, who launches his own company; Baynes, who actually is Rudolf Wegener on a mission to reveal to the Japanese the German plans to nuke the Home Islands; and Juliana Frink, who lives in Colorado, where she hooks up with Joe Cinnadella, a Nazi assassin sent to kill Hawthorne Abendsen, author of the alternative history within this alternative history, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.
You certainly can read much into the story Dick weaves, and many have. Dick constantly asks us to ponder what is real and what isn’t. He doesn’t explicitly ask the question, but this theme runs throughout the novel. For instance, a customer complains that Childan has sold him a fake antique gun as an original. Childan discovers that his supplier is fabricating items to appear as antiques. What’s real and what isn’t, and, more perplexing, does knowing matter? On a larger scale, by the end we’re challenged to wonder which is reality, the story we have read, or the one we’ve glimpsed in excerpts and discussions of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy? Have we crossed over into another reality when we follow Julianna into Abendsen’s home, which turns out to be anything but a fortress.
Then there are the issues of chance and change, the ideas the future lived by the characters was somehow ordained and immutable, much as we might believe the outcome of WWII could not have been other than it was because it is our reality. Dick has the various characters addressing these questions of reality by resorting to the I Ching for answers about the fortuity of an event, or what might await them should they take one action or another. Frank Frink, for instance, tries to determine if he should start his own business. He receives an answer that appears contradictory; in other words, ambiguous.
Finally, why does any of it matter anyway, what the characters do, what we ourselves do? Look to the book title The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. It compresses the ideas expressed in Ecclesiastes 12:5 into a short phrase, those ideas being: All things come to an end, the world we know moves on, and can become a world different from what we know.
So, fellow readers, enjoy the ambiguity that is The Man in the High Castle.
Perhaps quoting from Freddie Mercury’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” best puts what many consider the finest of Philip K. Dick’s works into perspective: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” Ambiguity threads its way throughout The Man in the High Castle,
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because ambiguity is the whole point of the novel. Is the timeline followed by the characters in the novel reality? Or, is true reality, as Juliana comes to believe, that expressed in the alternative reality book most in the novel are reading, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy? Perhaps chance dictates the path of a life or a country, and divining what’s to come means foreseeing with mystical help, as, again, most of the characters do employing I Ching (Book of Changes). The layering Dick accomplishes makes The Man in the High Castle a terrific reading experience, a novel guaranteed to elevate a person’s anxiety level.The Man in the High Castle tells two alternative histories to what we accept as our reality. First is that which seems like reality to the characters and to readers. The Axis powers won WWII, they have divided the U.S. into the Pacific States of America (Japan), the Eastern States (Germany), and the Rocky Mountain buffer zone; further, Germany still seeks out Jews for extermination, and have pretty much killed everybody in Africa, as well as the Slavs. Roma, etc.; and they have an active space program, to boot. The second alternative history has the Allies winning WWII. However, the new order does not resemble the reality we known. America has resolved many of its problems, including its inherent racism. Great Britain, now both racist and expansionist, reigns as America’s rival. The Soviet Union has collapsed.
Readers experience this reality through the eyes and thoughts of the main characters: Robert Childan, owner of an American antique shop in San Francisco, who finds himself constantly kowtowing to his new masters, the Japanese; Nobusuke Tagomi, head of the Japanese trade mission, who, like many occupiers, is fascinated by American artifacts and buys from Childan; Frank Frink, whose real name is Fink, a Jew in hiding, a master artisan of fake antiques, who launches his own company; Baynes, who actually is Rudolf Wegener on a mission to reveal to the Japanese the German plans to nuke the Home Islands; and Juliana Frink, who lives in Colorado, where she hooks up with Joe Cinnadella, a Nazi assassin sent to kill Hawthorne Abendsen, author of the alternative history within this alternative history, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.
You certainly can read much into the story Dick weaves, and many have. Dick constantly asks us to ponder what is real and what isn’t. He doesn’t explicitly ask the question, but this theme runs throughout the novel. For instance, a customer complains that Childan has sold him a fake antique gun as an original. Childan discovers that his supplier is fabricating items to appear as antiques. What’s real and what isn’t, and, more perplexing, does knowing matter? On a larger scale, by the end we’re challenged to wonder which is reality, the story we have read, or the one we’ve glimpsed in excerpts and discussions of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy? Have we crossed over into another reality when we follow Julianna into Abendsen’s home, which turns out to be anything but a fortress.
Then there are the issues of chance and change, the ideas the future lived by the characters was somehow ordained and immutable, much as we might believe the outcome of WWII could not have been other than it was because it is our reality. Dick has the various characters addressing these questions of reality by resorting to the I Ching for answers about the fortuity of an event, or what might await them should they take one action or another. Frank Frink, for instance, tries to determine if he should start his own business. He receives an answer that appears contradictory; in other words, ambiguous.
Finally, why does any of it matter anyway, what the characters do, what we ourselves do? Look to the book title The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. It compresses the ideas expressed in Ecclesiastes 12:5 into a short phrase, those ideas being: All things come to an end, the world we know moves on, and can become a world different from what we know.
So, fellow readers, enjoy the ambiguity that is The Man in the High Castle.
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LibraryThing member threadnsong
For its time, it is a brilliant piece of what is now considered historical fiction. From the audiobook perspective, it was a bit dull and the characters leapt out of the pages of the 1950's. Though there was one strong female character who was the most fleshed out of them all, the inner dialogue
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more than the actions were the most gripping parts. The speculation that Dick had about how the US was divided up between the Nazis and the Japanese and what had happened to the other countries of the world was sheer brilliance, and there but for a single bullet could have happened. Unfortunately, was not thrilled with the narrator's delivery; I may re-read again in the future (but which future!?). Show Less
LibraryThing member Explorations
The fascinating alternate history presented is the setting of the novel, not the subject; what I found the most striking were the occasionally somewhat rambling passages about the authenticity of 'historical' objects and works of art, presented in the dialogues between the artists/salesmen and the
Of course, one cannot help but be intrigued by the glimpses offered of the historical events; difficult though it is to avoid spoilers, we are also given hints of a different future altogether - a future which is remarkably familiar.
Although the novel is definitely not subtle in making some of its observations, I did find it very thoughtful and well written. I just wish there was more of it!
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Japanese government. Of course, one cannot help but be intrigued by the glimpses offered of the historical events; difficult though it is to avoid spoilers, we are also given hints of a different future altogether - a future which is remarkably familiar.
Although the novel is definitely not subtle in making some of its observations, I did find it very thoughtful and well written. I just wish there was more of it!
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LibraryThing member amcheri
I struggled to finish this book. The story didn't grab me and I didn't really care about what was going on until about 90% into it. All in all, I found it terribly unsatisfying and disappointing.
LibraryThing member bililoquy
PKD's very best--highly rewards the rereader. I would argue that this is Dick's most coherent and fully realized novel. Dick novels are chiefly concerned with ideas, but this one manages to juggle those ideas with fine and convincing characters.
LibraryThing member ragwaine
Asian etiquette and I Ching were cool. The fact that the author of 'Grasshopper' was an ass was cool. Good Writing. Not much action, nothing fantastical.
LibraryThing member ElspethW
This is one of those books where a rating isn't enough to explain how I felt about it. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just that even trying to willfully disregard the 60's era racism it left me feeling icky.
Now, don't get me wrong. In an alternate history book where the Nazis won WWII it would
I did like how the one female character went from being a whiny damsel in distress to taking agency in a dramatic way, even if she did have to lose her mind and act like a lost little girl to do it.
And I really liked Tagomi's inner monologue, how he described his emotional and physical state all the time. There was some really nice language in this book and, as you'd expect with PKD, some interesting philosophical discussions.
I have a really hard time with Philip K. Dick because I really really want to like his work but what I've read of him so far has left me pretty cold. He clearly had a brilliant mind and I enjoy experiencing his weird view of the world, but his characters are always too underdeveloped and cartoonishly bigoted that I just can't. I can excuse a lot based on PKD being a product of his time but not everything. The lack of empathy and emotional connection he had with his non-white and female characters always comes through even when he's trying to be "woke".
But I'll keep reading a few more of his "classics" just in case I'm missing something.
Now, don't get me wrong. In an alternate history book where the Nazis won WWII it would
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be shocking if there wasn't any mention of racism. It's just that Philip K. Dick never really makes any point about that racism, he just has his characters act and talk completely racist and therefore makes them very unlikeable. None of the characters were well-rounded, even the two Jewish characters who were really underutilized and one-dimensional.I did like how the one female character went from being a whiny damsel in distress to taking agency in a dramatic way, even if she did have to lose her mind and act like a lost little girl to do it.
And I really liked Tagomi's inner monologue, how he described his emotional and physical state all the time. There was some really nice language in this book and, as you'd expect with PKD, some interesting philosophical discussions.
I have a really hard time with Philip K. Dick because I really really want to like his work but what I've read of him so far has left me pretty cold. He clearly had a brilliant mind and I enjoy experiencing his weird view of the world, but his characters are always too underdeveloped and cartoonishly bigoted that I just can't. I can excuse a lot based on PKD being a product of his time but not everything. The lack of empathy and emotional connection he had with his non-white and female characters always comes through even when he's trying to be "woke".
But I'll keep reading a few more of his "classics" just in case I'm missing something.
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Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1963)
Nagroda SFinks (1997)
Locus All-Time Best (Science Fiction Novel — 18 — 1998)
The Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
Language
Original publication date
1962
1961-11-29 (manuscript)
Physical description
239 p.; 8.3 inches
ISBN
0244151806 / 9780244151805