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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
'Alternate history' genre, based upon the premise that the Axis Powers won World War II; the US is divided into multiple vassal states dominated by Germany and Japan. The book seemed to 'meander' a lot, and wasn't very focused. I also found the climax to be fairly unsatisfying.
Not a complete waste of time, but not recommended.
Not a complete waste of time, but not recommended.
this was absolutely not for me
like at all
this book made me so confused all the time
i accually liked the writing style, the mix of narration was quite nice but the plot in itself made no sense for me
i don't think i'm smart enough to understand this
the characters' reflection made me feel like i was reading in a foreign language (which in a sense, i was since english is not my first language but you get what i'm saying)
i understand that this is a classic book, but i'd rather read an entertaining book than a book designed to make me feel confused and dumb all the time
the end was so weird as well, i feel like nothing was resolved
also, i was misled by the summary because i expected this book to be from the pov of the author and it's actually not, which enhanced my confusion (also we only start talking about him from the middle and only meet him and at the end)
anyway, i appreciate this book for its innovation in the dystopy genre, but it's not one i enjoyed
like at all
this book made me so confused all the time
i accually liked the writing style, the mix of narration was quite nice but the plot in itself made no sense for me
i don't think i'm smart enough to understand this
the characters' reflection made me feel like i was reading in a foreign language (which in a sense, i was since english is not my first language but you get what i'm saying)
i understand that this is a classic book, but i'd rather read an entertaining book than a book designed to make me feel confused and dumb all the time
the end was so weird as well, i feel like nothing was resolved
also, i was misled by the summary because i expected this book to be from the pov of the author and it's actually not, which enhanced my confusion (also we only start talking about him from the middle and only meet him and at the end)
anyway, i appreciate this book for its innovation in the dystopy genre, but it's not one i enjoyed
Very interesting premise, as always with Mr Dick. Well written, interesting characters. This wasn't at all what I expected, but I really enjoyed the novelty of it. Great willing suspension of belief. I can't wait to see the TV adaptation of this
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
I found it very odd…. characters that I didn’t connect with and made very little sense, meandering plot lines, kind of a surreal ending…. It wasn’t necessarily bad, and some of the ideas are interesting, but the execution was poor and it just wasn’t for me.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[17/166]
Keeping dystopians simple is a way to really emphasize the concept behind them. 1984 follows Winston, the mechanics of the world intertwine with his personal journey and as a result things feel cohesively explored. So it goes. This is not the case with The Man in the High Castle, which has about five perspectives which I equally do not care about. Childan is a terrible racist, which is the point, but so much of the book is just him lingering around being awful. Frink is passive. Most of the other characters are window dressing. I was only not repulsed by Juliana's manic pixie dream girl routine at the end where Hawthorne gives an impression more along the lines of "a wandering spirit". Which I can imagine. She's at her best when she's finally doing something. Speaking of doing something. Does not happen much in this book. You'd think this would leave room for a lot of worldbuilding but... eh? The conflation of Japanese and Chinese concepts doesn't read as particularly truthful to me, just in regards to what would happen in this alternate timeline? I mean, I like the I Ching as representing the randomness of fate (get it alternate history book) but that's the only interesting thing I'm drawing from a central conceit of the book. I guess it just didn't click with me to such an extent that the whole experience felt tedious.
Keeping dystopians simple is a way to really emphasize the concept behind them. 1984 follows Winston, the mechanics of the world intertwine with his personal journey and as a result things feel cohesively explored. So it goes. This is not the case with The Man in the High Castle, which has about five perspectives which I equally do not care about. Childan is a terrible racist, which is the point, but so much of the book is just him lingering around being awful. Frink is passive. Most of the other characters are window dressing. I was only not repulsed by Juliana's manic pixie dream girl routine at the end where Hawthorne gives an impression more along the lines of "a wandering spirit". Which I can imagine. She's at her best when she's finally doing something. Speaking of doing something. Does not happen much in this book. You'd think this would leave room for a lot of worldbuilding but... eh? The conflation of Japanese and Chinese concepts doesn't read as particularly truthful to me, just in regards to what would happen in this alternate timeline? I mean, I like the I Ching as representing the randomness of fate (get it alternate history book) but that's the only interesting thing I'm drawing from a central conceit of the book. I guess it just didn't click with me to such an extent that the whole experience felt tedious.
2 stars because 1 star I reserve for DNFs. An interesting premise but objectively terrible writing and plot.
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not very weird by PKD's standards, although he does eschew the standard 'nazis won the war' plot to go off on a completely different tangent and make it very much his own. This was the first PKD novel I ever read and as far as I recall it was the only one (notwithstanding some short fiction e..g. "The Days of Perky Pat") until reading Ubik recently.