OTF's Blue Publication June 2017
Philip K. Dick's 1962 novel THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE is currently being adapted into a popular TV series. But before checking out the show, I decided to read the Hugo award-winning book by one of the world's most acclaimed science fiction authors.
This imaginative and riveting work, about an alternate reality in which the Nazis and Japanese won World War II, is still just as relevant today as when it was published, if not more so. The story chronicles the lives of various people living in a nightmarish America which has been divided up between the Nazis and Japanese into areas which they control. There is also a relatively free neutral zone in Colorado, which is under the control of neither power. Frank Frink is a Jewish man living in the Japanese zone, who would surely be sent to an extermination camp if he were to venture into the Nazi-controlled area. Life is relatively peaceful for him in the Japanese-controlled area, where he works as a maker of handcrafted jewelry. His ex-wife Juliana lives in the neutral area of Colorado, where she is a judo instructor. She meets up with Joe Cinnadella, who convinces her to go with him on his journey to try and meet Hawthorne Abendsen, "the man in the high castle", author of a best-selling book which is banned in the Nazi-controlled region, titled "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy", which tells of an alternative history where the Nazis and Japanese lost the war, and America, The U.K. And Russia were victorious. Unbeknownst to Juliana, Joe has actually been paid by the Nazis to assassinate Abendsen. Meanwhile, the chancellor of the Nazi empire, Martin Bormann, successor to Adolf Hitler (now suffering from dementia due to syphillis), has died. Goebbels has been chosen as the new chancellor. Soon thereafter, a Nazi operation against the Japanese-controlled area ordered by Goebbels triggers a series of events, as German anti-Nazi operative Wegener (posing as a neutral Swede under the name Baynes), helps the Japanese leadership in their struggle against the Nazis.
THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE is one of Philip K. Dick's most acclaimed novels. It helped to usher in a new era in which science-fiction literature came to be seen by critics and readers as capable of tackling big social and humanitarian ideas, while still telling an entertaining adventure story. It helped bring the science fiction genre into the mainstream. It seamlessly blends fact and fiction, creating a nightmarish vision of "what if?". The Nazi leaders mentioned in the book are all real historical figures who were part of Hitler's inner circle. However, despite the pervading sensation of hopelessness, the story also offers a glimmer of hope. It just might be possible to break free from the nightmare.
As an unparalleled work of speculative dystopian fiction, this book should be on the reading list of any fan of sci-fi literature.