Book Review: The Man In the High Castle

Before the book review, understanding the meaning of Philip K. Dick's writing is important, I don't mean the writing style or anything as such, I mean the message behind the writing which is the basis of the writing.

Philip K. Dick is known for writing novels that are bizarre and challenge the authenticity of our reality, meaning if our reality is true at all. Philip K. Dick often raised questions such as that in his books and The Man In the High Castle does the same.

The book is based on an alternate reality where the Nazis have succeeded in defeating the Allies. In this novel, Japan and the Nazis have taken over the world, the book talks about the life of the citizens of this world, their everyday life, and struggles.

Unlike any other well-known books by Dick, this book doesn't hold any concrete elements of science fiction, it is strictly a philosophical and historical novel. Nothing more and nothing less.

The synopsis of the book is about a group of people searching for Hawthorne Abendsen, the author of a risky book that is called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, a book about an alternate reality where the Allies have won World War Two.

History tells us that Nazi Germany had strict censorship on their culture and writing books like this would've had terrible consequences, such as death.

The philosophical element of the book comes with the I Ching, an ancient book of divination used several times in the book; it was used by Dick on several occasions when he was researching the book. Abendsen did the same with The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, people in the area—such as California—which is taken over by the Japanese, learned to use it and depended on it to tell their faith.

Would they be able to find Abendsen and seek out the ultimate truth of their reality?

Dick is well known for writing mind-bending science fiction novels like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?The Man In the High Castle is definitely an exception, but it is nothing short of a triumph, based on what he was trying to do.

The research done by Dick is clear, he puts himself into the perspective of one of the most notorious and stone-hearted leaders of Nazi Germany, Reinhard Heydrich and plans everything that forms the setting of his story.

The flaw of this book included its lack of climax. The focus of the author was to deliver a very accurate setting and seemingly didn't pay heed to the plot of the novel, another flaw was the sloppy ending of the book, it was an unacceptable conclusion for a book that had huge potential.

Dick had planned a sequel but stated that he didn't have the will to go through the damage he had while writing the first one, he didn't have the will to put on a mask and think like the leaders of Nazi.

"If anyone wants a sequel, someone has to write it with me."

He had little success writing the sequels. Two proposed chapters of the sequel were published on The Shifting Realities Of Philip K. Dick, the summary of the two chapters was about Nazi soldiers traveling into an alternate reality where the Allies had won the War. Could this have been our reality?

Even though we weren't able to see the version of the sequel, The Man In High Castle is a treat for the history buffs but could be a struggle for those who are used to the more creative side of Philip K. Dick.

Book, Science

The bizarre imagination of a writer, influenced by varies of psychedelics, writes a book about an alternate reality which challenges the authenticity of the world he resided.