After reading ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’, which explores the definition of humanity and the importance of empathy, I knew I wanted to read more of Dick’s work. As a writer who specialises in the sci-fi genre, his ability to immerse the reader in his creative worlds is impressive and this is not any different in ‘The Man in the High Castle’. Set in a post-world war II world, the novel explores an alternate reality where Japan and Germany won the war and simultaneously control both the East and the West coast of Northern America.
One of the interesting details of the novel is how the physical book, ‘The Man in the High Castle’ is paralleled by ‘The Grasshopper Lies Heavy’, which is a prevalent book in the novel. This book talks about how, France, Britain and North America won the Second World War, which of course is not accurate in their own history. In essence, the novel represents our own reality as a theory, as a possible outcome if the Allies had won ww2. “But,’ Paul said, ‘it deals with alternate present. Many well-known science fiction novels of that sort’ (109). Here, the character Paul, talks directly about the issue of duel present tense and I think Dick enjoys teasing the reader with this possibility. He also uses it to challenge stereotypes of his own genre, sci-fi, by questioning what the criteria of the genre is.
Nationality also plays a large part in the novel and the reader senses that sometimes the gap between them is too large to bridge. This is predominantly because nationality and culture are strongly linked and the multiple cultures seem unable to understand each other’s way of life. Often we witness this through scenes between Robert Childan and his customer Paul, ‘Their brains were different. Souls likewise’ (112). I enjoyed reading about this conflict of culture because this problem is so present in our own society today.
The novel is a fast read as the language is often paraphrased, ‘much confusion and intriguing’, which seems to be a secondary result of this alternate world. But like most effective sci-fi novels, you want to carry on reading about this world that you have invested your time to understand and become fascinated by. Dick uses the genre so subtly, that the reader often forgets they are reading anything other than reality. The reader feels that this place must exist somewhere in the world and we are only reminded that it is not by a distraction in our own world that inevitably, makes us close the page.
The novel has also been adapted to an Amazon Prime, original series. So check that out also if you are interested.
Speed of Read: Fast
Length of Novel: Medium
Genre: Sci-fi
Author Origin: Chicago, North America
