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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In Dick's alternate 1962, Germany and Japan won World War II and have occupied the United States jointly, with the Germans controlling the East Coast and the Japanese the West. The eponymous "man in the high castle", author Hawthorne Abendsen, has written a seditious book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, describing what would have happened if the Allies had won the war, and Dick brilliantly uses this as well as the I Ching to illuminate and crystallize his characters' thoughts and feelings about their reality. He follows various characters through various conflicts, and though there isn't a lot of action, and nothing is really resolved at the end, that's not the point: it's really about the inner lives of the novel's people, and their individual responses to their world.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
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:
No
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not terribly written, just boring. I actually didn't finish it because I didn't care about anything that was happening. I got 70% through and realized I don't care about the characters.
I do not suggest reading this after watching two seasons of the show on Amazon...:/
I do not suggest reading this after watching two seasons of the show on Amazon...:/
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t know if there’s some great metaphor, meaning or takeaway that’s supposed to be derived from The Man in the High Castle. Part of me feels like there is, but if it’s there, I didn’t discover it. I didn’t even understand the big, completely unexplained, reveal in the last couple of pages. But I really don’t care; I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite all that.
The character work and relaxed pacing of this novel is what drew me in and kept me engrossed. Philip K. Dick drops the reader mid-story into the lives of umpteen characters and then allows us to live with each of them while we slowly put together what each life comprises, and how they are all intertwined with each other. Dick is able to elicit in the reader a very different and vivid emotional connection with each character. You truly feel you get to know these people. And that’s the crux of it right there; these don’t remain characters; they become people to you.
It’s hard to even describe this book as having a narrative. There’s no real beginning, and only a sort of ending. This thing is all middle. It’s a snapshot in time, a glimpse into lives. The prose is meandering, ponderous and even inconsequential, and it’s a beautiful read because of it. I loved my time within these pages and with these incredibly real characters.
The character work and relaxed pacing of this novel is what drew me in and kept me engrossed. Philip K. Dick drops the reader mid-story into the lives of umpteen characters and then allows us to live with each of them while we slowly put together what each life comprises, and how they are all intertwined with each other. Dick is able to elicit in the reader a very different and vivid emotional connection with each character. You truly feel you get to know these people. And that’s the crux of it right there; these don’t remain characters; they become people to you.
It’s hard to even describe this book as having a narrative. There’s no real beginning, and only a sort of ending. This thing is all middle. It’s a snapshot in time, a glimpse into lives. The prose is meandering, ponderous and even inconsequential, and it’s a beautiful read because of it. I loved my time within these pages and with these incredibly real characters.
challenging
dark
reflective
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:
Complicated
Kuulasin heliraamatus. Võib-olla oli asi raamatu lugejas, aga hoolimata huvitavatest karakteritest, ei pakkunud nende seiklused mulle eriti huvi. Raamatu ootamatu lõppu järel oli esimene mõte, et kas see oligi kõik?
Aga siiski oli loodud väga hästi läbimõeldud alternatiivajalugu, kus liitlased kaotasid teise maailmasõja. Idee oli hästi kirjeldatud, aga tegevus selles maailmas valmistas kerge pettumuse.
Aga siiski oli loodud väga hästi läbimõeldud alternatiivajalugu, kus liitlased kaotasid teise maailmasõja. Idee oli hästi kirjeldatud, aga tegevus selles maailmas valmistas kerge pettumuse.