no30 's review for:

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

4.25

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Uhhh...what did I just read? I thought I was embarking on an alternative history in which Japan and Germany won World War II but I don't think that's what this book is actually about. A chunk of it was philosophizing about art. What makes art valuable? What is the significance of historical works and renditions vs original creations? Does art need to have a practical purpose? And identity. At the outset I was like, are all these characters rabid racists? Maybe not exactly but they were all wearing so many masks. Like the art, what makes a person a rendition vs an original, authentic human being? Anyway I don't know where I'm going with this because I'm not sure where this book was going...but it was in a very different direction from my previous read (The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt) which was densely descriptive and completely immersive and just sucked me into its world, its characters, etc. The writing here was clipped, the characters felt flat. There was a plot but it was paper thin. And yet the sum of this book still felt greater than its parts. But it's a puzzle. It's a giant mirage metaphor.