𝄞𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖆 (@annamaria)

finished reading The Man In The High Castle - Philip K Dick

PKDs 1962 alternate history depicts a world where the Axis powers won WW2, & his vision of America under joint Nazi/Japanese rule is vivid & gripping. The book is about the lives of ordinary people - there is no grand narrative of war or rebellion. The plot is deeply compelling, however, & completely unpredictable. Not much happens in the book overall, but he draws you in despite this, without your noticing, & you will find yourself addicted - all of a sudden halfway or two-thirds through.

Thinking about it, I think Nazi Germany is a natural setting for PKD. His characters are immersed in the madness & paranoia of the Nazi empire, in the destabilizing way so characteristic of PKD. He writes panic so well! At several points I was chilled. He writes so you are unsure if the characters' mind is coming apart, or the entire world.

Part of what I think makes The Man In The High Castle feel realistic is the characters' genuine struggle to exert control over their own futures. Often they don't even understand what they are struggling against. Symbolizing this helplessness, many characters throughout the novel consult the I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination book. And PKD also consulted the I Ching when creating the plot - probably contributing to it's tightly knotted & unpredictable plot.

From a 1974 interview with Vertex Magazine:

(philipdick.com/literary-criticism/frank-views-archive/vertex-interview-with-philip-k-dick/)

VERTEX: Do you use the I Ching as a plotting device in your work?

DICK: Once. I used it in The Man in the High Castle because a number of characters used it. In each case when they asked a question, I threw the coins and wrote the hexagram lines they got. That governed the direction of the book. Like in the end when [redacted] is deciding whether or not to tell [redacted] [redacted], the answer indicated that she should. Now if it had said not to tell him, I would have had her not go there. But I would not do that in any other book.

VERTEX: What is the importance of the I Ching in your own life?

DICK: Well, the I Ching gives advice beyond the particular, advice that transcends the immediate situation. The answers have an universal quality. For instance: “The mighty are humbled and the humbled are raised.” If you use the I Ching long enough and continually enough, it will begin to change and shape you as a person. It will make you into a Taoist, whether or not you have ever heard the word, whether or not you want to be.

VERTEX: Doesn’t Taoism fuse the ethical and the practical?

DICK: This is the greatest achievement of Taoism, over all other philosophies and religions.

In my opinion, The Man In The High Castle is one of his best books.