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remmslupin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
abandonedmegastructure's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
People like to describe The Man in the High Castle as alternate history first and foremost. This is wrong: it's so wrong that Dick has someone show up in the closing chapters, look directly at the camera (so to speak) and spell out that this work isn't about that.
So what is it about? Many things - predestination, the problem of evil, human nature, historicity, culture, identity and honesty. And racism, of course - the book does the ridiculously impressive thing of presenting points against racial essentialism even as it follows rabidly racist viewpoint characters. It's a work of unquestionable literary merit. Themes are elegantly woven throughout, characters undergo interesting arcs, and every single character comes across deeply (and sometimes horrifyingly) believable. The setting is bleak, realistic enough to serve as a support for the story, and revealed to us cleverly and gradually, and the use of I Ching divination, however implausibly, gives the story an unique and memorable dimension that greatly improves it overall. A few eyebrow-rising elements speak to the genre's scifi roots, but this never really interferes with the story itself.
Of course, this is still a book written in the 60s with a cast that's about half fascist and half fascist-tolerant, so expect some uncomfortable scenes - I'd be surprised if the slur-to-page ratio ever dips below 1, and even sympathetic characters find their thinking warped along racial lines.
As for flaws on the literary level: Dick's unique way of capturing internal monologue through quick, partial sentences is interesting, but starts to grate after some time. The narrative, too, feels abandoned once it's delivered the necessary symbolism - it's not the point, but it still would've been nice to see a cleaner wrap-up of all the plot threads put up.
Aside from some minor flaws, The Man in the High Castle is a masterwork, a milestone of scifi literature with great merit even for those otherwise utterly uninterested in the genre. A pity to see it have inspired so many mindless imitations that didn't grasp what made the original so good.
So what is it about? Many things - predestination, the problem of evil, human nature, historicity, culture, identity and honesty. And racism, of course - the book does the ridiculously impressive thing of presenting points against racial essentialism even as it follows rabidly racist viewpoint characters. It's a work of unquestionable literary merit. Themes are elegantly woven throughout, characters undergo interesting arcs, and every single character comes across deeply (and sometimes horrifyingly) believable. The setting is bleak, realistic enough to serve as a support for the story, and revealed to us cleverly and gradually, and the use of I Ching divination, however implausibly, gives the story an unique and memorable dimension that greatly improves it overall. A few eyebrow-rising elements speak to the genre's scifi roots, but this never really interferes with the story itself.
Of course, this is still a book written in the 60s with a cast that's about half fascist and half fascist-tolerant, so expect some uncomfortable scenes - I'd be surprised if the slur-to-page ratio ever dips below 1, and even sympathetic characters find their thinking warped along racial lines.
As for flaws on the literary level: Dick's unique way of capturing internal monologue through quick, partial sentences is interesting, but starts to grate after some time. The narrative, too, feels abandoned once it's delivered the necessary symbolism - it's not the point, but it still would've been nice to see a cleaner wrap-up of all the plot threads put up.
Aside from some minor flaws, The Man in the High Castle is a masterwork, a milestone of scifi literature with great merit even for those otherwise utterly uninterested in the genre. A pity to see it have inspired so many mindless imitations that didn't grasp what made the original so good.
finestgreen's review against another edition
3.0
Subtle and brilliant, but somehow I couldn't get excited by it. The characters never quite came real (apart from Childan, maybe)
annashiv's review against another edition
2.0
I really struggled with this book. I had to rely on the audiobook to get through it. It was just difficult to follow. Certain things were never explained and you just kinda had to piece it together and do the work yourself, which just really wasn't worth it to me. There were interesting moments, but overall, I feel like I just don't understand what PKD was getting at or why. I'm sure it's great and that there is an audience for this. I am simply not one of them. I'm really disappointed about it since I absolutely love another book by this author and consider it one of my all time favorites (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep). So if you loved that one, maybe skip this one unless you're super sure it's up your alley.
lidotchka's review against another edition
5.0
English review below
|FR|
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ : Parfait, un des meilleurs livres que j'ai lu.
Ce que j'ai aimé :
Ce qui rend ce livre si génial, ce sont ses personnages. C’est grâce à eux qu’on arrive à comprendre les enjeux de ce monde et ce qu’il est arrivé aux populations que les nazis avaient promis d’éradiquer. C’est aussi par eux qu’on comprend la façon de penser des différentes classes de la population. Par exemple, les américains sont ici opprimés par l’occupant japonais, ce qui est, vous l’aurez compris, un miroir de la situation des japonais d’après-guerre.
Tous les personnages sont très développés et sont aussi indépendants les uns des autres, ce qui est quand même quelque chose qu’on voit assez rarement pour le noter. Ecrire un roman avec autant de personnages principaux et parvenir et les maintenir au même niveau de développement, c’est extrêmement dur.
L’univers du livre est absolument incroyable et tout y est décrit dans les moindres détails, ce qui rend l’ensemble très réaliste mais aussi effrayant.
Un autre point intéressant, le « Poids de la Sauterelle » ne décrit pas notre monde, mais une autre réalité encore différente où la guerre aurait été remportée par les Alliés encore différemment. Pour preuve : à aucun moment de l’histoire n’est énoncé la possibilité selon laquelle l’URSS serait une puissance dominante au sortir de la guerre. En fait, je pense que le message qu’essaie de faire passer l’auteur, c’est que peu importe qui aurait gagné cette guerre, les puissances sortantes auraient dans tous les cas mené une guerre froide.
« Le Poids de la Sauterelle » est au centre du roman et lie en quelques sorte tous les personnages entre eux. Mais c’est aussi une mise en abîme qui nous amène même à nous questionner sur l’existence même de notre réalité. C’est en fait de là que vient la partie science-fiction du roman.
Ce que je n'ai pas aimé :
Ce point n'était pas vraiment un problème pour moi, étant donné que je suis passionnée d'histoire. Mais, je préfère vous prévenir, il faut un minimum de culture historique pour comprendre les tenants et les aboutissants du roman : si le nom de Goebbels vous est inconnu et si vous n’avez jamais entendu parler du Kempeitai ou de l’Abwehr, ça risque d’être un peu compliqué.
|EN|
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ : Perfection, one of the best books I've ever read.
What I liked:
What makes this book so great is indubitably the characters. It is thanks to them that we can understand the issues of their world and what happened to the people the Nazis promised to exterminate. It is also thanks to them that we understand the way of thinking of the different social classes; for example, the Americans are here feeling inferior to the Japanese.
All the characters are very detailed but also very independent of each other, that is something I have rarely seen in other books. Writing a story with so many different main characters and being able to maintain them at an equal level of development is truly genius.
The world of this book is absolutely incredible, there are so many details on everything, it is very realistic but also kind of scary.
Another interesting point is that “the Grasshopper Lies Heavy”, the novel written by the man in the High Castle, doesn’t describe our world but an alternative reality where the Allies have won WW2 differently. I think it is also important to mention that in this book, it is never written nor supposed that the USSR became one of the main power after the war. I think the author just wants to tell us that no matter who would have won the war, a cold war would have been unavoidable.
“The Grasshopper Lies Heavy” is at the center of this book and is creating a link between all the characters. Moreover, it is also a mise en abyme which makes us wonder if our reality exists or not; and I think that is the science-fiction part of the novel.
What I disliked:
It is not really a negative point in my opinion, at least not for me, but I think it is important to know that it requires some historical general knowledge to fully understand this book: if you have no idea who Goebbels is and you have never heard of the Kempeitai or the Abwehr, it will be a little bit complicated.
|FR|
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ : Parfait, un des meilleurs livres que j'ai lu.
Ce que j'ai aimé :
Ce qui rend ce livre si génial, ce sont ses personnages. C’est grâce à eux qu’on arrive à comprendre les enjeux de ce monde et ce qu’il est arrivé aux populations que les nazis avaient promis d’éradiquer. C’est aussi par eux qu’on comprend la façon de penser des différentes classes de la population. Par exemple, les américains sont ici opprimés par l’occupant japonais, ce qui est, vous l’aurez compris, un miroir de la situation des japonais d’après-guerre.
Tous les personnages sont très développés et sont aussi indépendants les uns des autres, ce qui est quand même quelque chose qu’on voit assez rarement pour le noter. Ecrire un roman avec autant de personnages principaux et parvenir et les maintenir au même niveau de développement, c’est extrêmement dur.
L’univers du livre est absolument incroyable et tout y est décrit dans les moindres détails, ce qui rend l’ensemble très réaliste mais aussi effrayant.
Un autre point intéressant, le « Poids de la Sauterelle » ne décrit pas notre monde, mais une autre réalité encore différente où la guerre aurait été remportée par les Alliés encore différemment. Pour preuve : à aucun moment de l’histoire n’est énoncé la possibilité selon laquelle l’URSS serait une puissance dominante au sortir de la guerre. En fait, je pense que le message qu’essaie de faire passer l’auteur, c’est que peu importe qui aurait gagné cette guerre, les puissances sortantes auraient dans tous les cas mené une guerre froide.
« Le Poids de la Sauterelle » est au centre du roman et lie en quelques sorte tous les personnages entre eux. Mais c’est aussi une mise en abîme qui nous amène même à nous questionner sur l’existence même de notre réalité. C’est en fait de là que vient la partie science-fiction du roman.
Ce que je n'ai pas aimé :
Ce point n'était pas vraiment un problème pour moi, étant donné que je suis passionnée d'histoire. Mais, je préfère vous prévenir, il faut un minimum de culture historique pour comprendre les tenants et les aboutissants du roman : si le nom de Goebbels vous est inconnu et si vous n’avez jamais entendu parler du Kempeitai ou de l’Abwehr, ça risque d’être un peu compliqué.
|EN|
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ : Perfection, one of the best books I've ever read.
What I liked:
What makes this book so great is indubitably the characters. It is thanks to them that we can understand the issues of their world and what happened to the people the Nazis promised to exterminate. It is also thanks to them that we understand the way of thinking of the different social classes; for example, the Americans are here feeling inferior to the Japanese.
All the characters are very detailed but also very independent of each other, that is something I have rarely seen in other books. Writing a story with so many different main characters and being able to maintain them at an equal level of development is truly genius.
The world of this book is absolutely incredible, there are so many details on everything, it is very realistic but also kind of scary.
Another interesting point is that “the Grasshopper Lies Heavy”, the novel written by the man in the High Castle, doesn’t describe our world but an alternative reality where the Allies have won WW2 differently. I think it is also important to mention that in this book, it is never written nor supposed that the USSR became one of the main power after the war. I think the author just wants to tell us that no matter who would have won the war, a cold war would have been unavoidable.
“The Grasshopper Lies Heavy” is at the center of this book and is creating a link between all the characters. Moreover, it is also a mise en abyme which makes us wonder if our reality exists or not; and I think that is the science-fiction part of the novel.
What I disliked:
It is not really a negative point in my opinion, at least not for me, but I think it is important to know that it requires some historical general knowledge to fully understand this book: if you have no idea who Goebbels is and you have never heard of the Kempeitai or the Abwehr, it will be a little bit complicated.
kimcheel's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
terminus1066's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting examination of "historicity" and "authenticity" of artifacts, in the context of an alternate timeline where America lost WWII.
cw_mck's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
toniherrero's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Interessant premissa ucrònica que no m'ha arribat a atrapar a causa dels personatges, dels quals en salvo només un grapat; la resta, els que estan immersos en la conxorxa política, no m'han interessat gens. Els elements de l'oracle i el llibre que relata una realitat alternativa, en canvi, m'han semblat d'allò més atractius.