The Man in a High Castle

Written by Ben on June 25, 2018, 6:08 a.m.. Last Edited on June 23, 2020, 6:04 a.m..

- Philip K Dick

Me and Philip K Dick have issues.

I totally agree Philip K Dick deserves his place among the great Sci-Fi writers and I would also agree that The Man in a High Castle is one of his best novels, but that doesn't mean reading his stuff fills me with great joy.

First the novel. A Man in a High Castle is a smart, dystopian novel set in an alternative history timeline where the Nazis and Imperial Japan win World War Two. The United States is no longer and much of Africa and Asia are destroyed by Hitler’s grand schemes taken to fruition.

But the book is shockingly racists—so shockingly racists that I seriously doubt any publisher would have touched it today. The World Philip K Dick built it is so racists in this disturbingly humdrum way I was worried that it would leak off the book and get onto my hands. That is not say that Philip K Dick was racists in any way. One of the major protagonists is a Jewish-American in hiding and even his portrayal of the Imperial Japanese occupiers in San Francisco is broadly sympathetic. In fact, the only group in the book that he seems to have it out for are the Nazis—which who can blame him.

Also there are no heroes. The book is totally post-modern (which is odd to say about something that was written over 50 years ago). He totally avoids all of the modern myth, Neo Classical, hero without a face, Harry Potter-esc tropes where the lone nobody just happens to be a demi-god who, gets the girl, faces down his oppressors, and saves the world. With Philip K Dick, his protagonists are all just nobodies. They don't save the day and they don’t get the girl. They just live their fucked-up lives in his fucked-up worlds, and nothing will ever be okay.

Maybe the problem I have with Philip K Dick is that his stories are too close to reality. I hate to say it, but we are only a few years away from living in one of his fucked-up worlds. So before that happens, do your homework, read The Man in a High Castle, and hope your alternative history turns out better.

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