The Man in the High Castle

Setting the Standard for the Genre

I don't like alternate history stories, dating back, I think, to when I was a kid and I read those stupid 'What If...' issues published by Marvel Comics. (You know, 'What If Peter Parker hadn't been bitten by the radioactive spider...,''What If Daredevil wasn't blind...,''What If Wolverine shaved his sideburns...,' etc.) The Man in the High Castle, however, was excellent, setting the bar for the genre. The premise is intriguing: suppose an assassination attempt had claimed the life of FDR during his first term as president. As a result, America never fully recovered from the Great Depression, and was unable to arm herself sufficiently to turn the tide of WWII. As a result, the Axis powers were victorious, and occupied a divided United States after the war. Dick ties together his diverse cast of characters with a common fascination with 'The Grasshopper Lies Heavy,' an alternative history book that suggests the Allies would have won the war had FDR lived. Dick's central theme through most of his work has always been the nature of reality and perception, and this book is no exception. This is not a book to skim through for the major plot points -- the plot is actually the least compelling reason to read it. Savor the meditative and philosophical prose instead, and enjoy one of the genre's finest authors in his prime.

8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

the man in the high castle is a life changing read

There are books out there that don't just challenge the reader, there are books that change the reader.

The man in the high castle, by philip k dick is one of those books. This book, like all of dick's writing, is revolutionary. It is challenging. It is completely and utterly bizzare. It is unique, difficult, simple, readable, entertaining, schizophrenic and so much more than any set of adjectives can covey.

This book is not about the plot. It's about what the plot means. The plot, like all of dick's novels, is cohesive and interesting and detailed. It is fully realized and detailed; it is completely authentic. In this world, the axis wins WW 2. The world that results is a world where Japan and Germany have divided the world in two, with the United States serving the role of Germany after our version of WW2. Japan dominates the west coast while Germany lords over the east. Apparently the heartland of America had nothing to offer to either side.

Jokes aside (especially bad jokes), this novel is an utterly amazing and philosophical exploration of the impact of morality on each and every choice. It uses the chaos of the plot to accentuate the moral decisions made by each character. In fact the chaos of the world this novel takes place in works as a sort of synecdoche for each person and each person's choices. The whole world is difficult, and each event impacts a web of other events. The world and it's events mirror each individual person, they stand in the place of each individual person. The plot unfolds through the narration of five people, ranging in importance from a low level worker to an important German politician. Each person makes choices, and each choice has a moral consequence.

read the full review at http://tickleishpickle.blogspot.com/2009/07/man-in-high-castle-is-life-changing.html

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

I expected more

I had never read any of Dick's books, but having seen many movies based on his stories, I thought reading his Hugo award winning novel would be a real treat. The writing style is dull, maybe this was on purpose. The characters seemed strange, not developed well. I'm wondering if he was attempting to write the Japanese characters thoughts & dialogue in a broken form of english.
This "what if" scenario of Japan & Germany winning WWII was written in 1962, at the height of the cold war. I later took this into account when I realized that characters in the 17 years after the end of the war seemed ok with the conquest & division of the U.S. The ending really ruined this book, but I will not let this novel keep me from reading others written by him.

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Read it and think!

Great book! Not too many books actually make you think anymore. This is classic Dick, a throughly original and deeply philosophical novel that makes you question what or whodetermines fate. I feel more enlightened having read this.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Maybe this is too cerebral for today's audience

I'm pretty shocked by some of the negative reviews here. The word that controls most of these reviews is 'boring,' which is odd. I suppose for a generation unable to watch a film that doesn't have an explosion of some sort within the first minute of the movie, a book like this might seem boring (then again, maybe we should be happy that Generation No Attention Span even bothered to pick up a book in the first place!)

This is one of the books PKD is best known for. With good reason. For those of you who didn't "get" what PKD's point was, he is simply asking you to question everything you are told about who the winners and losers in a war are. I think the end of this book is one of the most chilling, disturbing conclusions I have ever read. Literally gave me goosebumps. Then again, I can focus on something for more than three minutes at a time, so maybe, in this day and age, I'm some sort of freak!

2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Another Philip K. Dick Classic

Philip K. Dick is a master of unconventional sci-fi and fantasy genre, and those qualities are clearly exhibited in this work. It is set in 1960s America in a world in which Germany and Japan have won the World War II. US and the rest of the world are divided between those two superpowers, and we follow lives of several ordinary Americans who try to adjust themselves to this reality. The characters in the novel are fully developed in a manner that we've come to expect from Dick's later novels. Their personal struggles are intertwined with the new geopolitical power plays. The title of the novel refers to the sobriquet for Hawthorne Abendsen, a fictional writer of the book "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" which forms a story-within-a-story and a sort of MacGuffin for this novel. This fictional book will also be at the center of the denouement of this novel, and may provide the clue for what this novel was all about.

The Man in the High Castle is another brilliant and thought provoking novel. It is an engrossing and fun read as well, and a true classic of science fiction.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Good story that leaves you wanting more

I really like Philip K Dick but for some reason I had never read this one. I finally picked it up and am glad I did. It's a memorable story with some crazy characters but it's more grounded than some of his other work. I liked the incorporation of the I, Ching and Asian culture in general. My main problem with it was there didn't seem to much of a plot for quite some time. But I can deal with that and go along for the ride. The other thing that some people might not like is that it ends right before things wrap-up. This is typical of Dick and I've come to accept that but it makes your really wish there was a sequel. Overall though, a great book.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

This was one of the worse books I have ever read.  It made no se

This was one of the worse books I have ever read.  It made no sense, it was poorly written and pointless.  The concept was so good but the product was pointless and I was angry that I had wasted my time reading this.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

2 things for everybody

1. Tickleishpickle and tunguz use way too big words.
2. The authors name is hilarious (hilarious doesn't cut it as big word).

1 out of 19 people found this review helpful.

Excellent work

The first time I read this book I didn't really think it was that great. I liked it but I was a little bit confused by it, and I didn't think it measured up to other works by Dick like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? However, I recently re-read it after recieving it as a birthday present, and I must say that it makes much more sense the second time through. I noticed glimpses of Dick's genius that had slipped by me before and finally understood everything that was going on. Not only is the premise extremely interesting, but I also like how it doesn't just get bogged down in the geo-political implications of an Axis victory, but deals more with actual people who live in this strange and different world. At times shocking at others just silly it is a great read that doesn't really require too much thinking, but rather provokes thought on the part of the reader.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What if....

In 1938 (or there about, there was an attempt to kill FDR during his run for re-election), what if he *had* been killed? Only Philip K. Dick (who won the Hugo Award for SF that year for this novel) could answer this question in so intriguing a way. (A short film called 'The High Castle' was made based on it). Enjoy!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Looks good

Looks god

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Hehe

His last name is d.i.c.k

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Love it mother humper

It a good book mayby i like it

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Ewww

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0 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

Excellent

Intoxicating

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A good book, but overrated.

A good book, but overrated.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excelent novel

Great read nice background my new favourite book

Loved it!

Like so many other novels and short stories, PKD leads you into a world of great imagination

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Yo MaMmA

Yo MaMmA iS tOo CeReBrAl FoR tOdAyS aUdIeNcEs

0 out of 18 people found this review helpful.