tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post8420235098464795950..comments2023-09-11T08:32:39.024-05:00Comments on SFF Masterworks: SF Masterwork #73: The Man in the High CastleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-48688059070482373172013-02-03T04:55:08.920-06:002013-02-03T04:55:08.920-06:00I have to say I think you're right,so its almo...I have to say I think you're right,so its almost impossible to argue for a case against your obviously coherent and well meant comments.It's not suprising when you see it on the same shelfs in shops,as the greats of literature!<br /><br />However,I think I can say that its so different to the other two books in tone and emphasise,it can't rellay be compared to those two.Also as you say,it was oiute earlier in his career,written only three years after his first but lesser masterpiece,"Time Out of Joint",so proberly would do an injustice to some brilliant,later books.<br /><br />Some years back when I was rereading all of his books,by the time I came to "Do Androids Dream of Electroc Sheep",I do remember thinking that I thought it was his best one.Whether this was from personal peference or because it really is an exception piece of literature,I don't know,but I did think the prose was very well done,and had something to recommend it as great work.<br /><br />I still think you have a very strong point though.Runciter Associateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03234280426253207412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-16415019787925128842013-02-02T19:07:57.000-06:002013-02-02T19:07:57.000-06:00I would say that the specifics of the alternative ...I would say that the specifics of the alternative history posited in this novel are almost irrelevant to the themes explored. It's obviously more than a plot device, but thinking back on the novel I remember the characters, themes and events more than the actual setting.<br /><br />This was the first PKD I read (other than short stories) and it's set the bar almost impossibly high. Indeed, it almost feels like a different writer to the PKD of Ubik or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? While not as fun or thrilling as those novels, it is more coherent and satisfying and also shows a maturity that is surprising given this is one of his earliest works.banapaulohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14005843719069464523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-54373908066998409722012-03-11T14:15:49.826-05:002012-03-11T14:15:49.826-05:00The Man in the High Castle is a prime example of s...The Man in the High Castle is a prime example of speculative fiction,an unclassified non-genre that combines ekements of science fiction with mainstream fiction,with which it shares the same concerns,such as care for characterisation and prose style or syntax.<br /><br />It explores philishopical and very real themes in an often fully realised and entertaining or humourous fashion laced with a science fictional wine,that is immune to conventions such as real possibilities and alternative history.The novel under discussion then,can be accepted as a rare piece of imaginative ingenuity and insight,as I would expect from a book belonging to the literature under discussion.<br /><br />Olaf Stapleton and J.G.Ballard were prime exponents of this alchemical,creative literature,Ballard himself only recently escaping the blandness of science fiction to be accepted and recognised by the mainstream as an author of unique literary creativeness and disposition.A pity the same can't be said for Philip K.Dick,who seems tied to the same old frontiers,at least in Britain.<br /><br />Please for goodness sake be tolerant and accept the novel for the unique piece of this literature to which it belongs,rather than trying to place it in closed areas.<br /><br />Peace to you all and thank you.Runciter Associateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03234280426253207412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-38523833993492469422010-07-16T10:26:08.532-05:002010-07-16T10:26:08.532-05:00Without debating the specifics of WWII, the Man in...Without debating the specifics of WWII, the Man in the High Castle presupposses a number of differences, not one simple turning point. In Dick's version, Roosevelt was assassinated, the Japanese destoryed the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and Churchill never came into power.<br /><br />And it is an alternate history, its just that the story isn't focused on that. Its obviously a significant factor in the book but its more of a backdrop for what Dick is hoping to accomplish rather than the centerpiece of the book itself. That's all I meant by saying it was not a "what if" novel, which in an of itself was a bit of an overstatement.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03473405698318766392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-3758554606775980862010-07-15T18:49:08.687-05:002010-07-15T18:49:08.687-05:00It is not really a "what if" alternate h...<em>It is not really a "what if" alternate history in my opinion. Actually, the "wrongness" of the world is explicitly stated at a few points.</em><br /><br />Didn't the review just say that it was a 1960s America that was conquered by Nazi Germany and Japan? That's alternate history. <br /><br />My point wasn't that it was just wrong, but that it was so incredibly unlikely for such a situation to occur that it basically wouldn't happen short of Magical Alien Space Bat-style intervention. <br /><br /><em>And I don't think the Germans were as far away from victory as you think they were. The fact that you said that though supports my argument about the threat of Nazi domination no longer resonants the same way as it did in the 50s or 60s. </em><br /><br />The Germans were actually more or less going to lose once they failed to take Stalingrad (and quite likely even then). They didn't have the logistical or military capabilities to defeat Great Britain (particularly not with the British Home Fleet sitting in the North Sea), the Soviets had better leadership, more troops, and eventually better supplies (plus more ground to give up if necessary), and they had nowhere near the logistical capability, let alone the military capability, to even get anything resembling a significant number of troops near the continental US. <br /><br />On top of that, the US was researching nuclear weapons throughout that period, and they managed to successfully test them and get them ready for use not long after Germany surrendered. Still, they were originally intended for Germany, and that's what would have happened had the Germans held out longer - a nuclear strike on Nazi Germany, which almost certainly would have ended the war in Europe. <br /><br />The Japanese were even more limited. Merely striking at Pearl Harbor heavily strained their logistical supply lines for their Navy, and they were also burning up gobs of resources and men trying to hold China during the same period. <br /><br />In effect, Germany lost the war as soon as they went beyond the Sudentanland annexation, into the rest of Czechoslovakia, then Poland. Japan lost as soon as they went beyond Manchuria in China.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741738070067590221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-45924047659740592092010-07-14T22:08:00.707-05:002010-07-14T22:08:00.707-05:00@Roland Thanks! I didn't think it was overly c...@Roland Thanks! I didn't think it was overly clumsy but I did feel like there was some aspect of the text (either Dick's prose style or the age of the language) that made it a little obtuse.<br /><br />@Wise Bass I agree with Roland that the wrongness plays a significant factor. The story isn't merely about exploring what if, it's about analyzing the deep implications of the question. <br /><br />And I don't think the Germans were as far away from victory as you think they were. The fact that you said that though supports my argument about the threat of Nazi domination no longer resonants the same way as it did in the 50s or 60s.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546050685623369173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-3758925844517431942010-07-14T17:40:51.444-05:002010-07-14T17:40:51.444-05:00It is not really a "what if" alternate h...It is not really a "what if" alternate history in my opinion. Actually, the "wrongness" of the world is explicitly stated at a few points.<br /><br />http://rolandscodex.blogspot.com/Simeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11435940295167464898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-5416680988993957352010-07-14T17:11:03.192-05:002010-07-14T17:11:03.192-05:00I'll check it out, but I'm not too enthusi...I'll check it out, but I'm not too enthusiastic. The premise is just so incredibly unlikely and unrealistic, and that usually kills "What if?"-style Alternate History for me.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741738070067590221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7187641567461387320.post-2712439252795297672010-07-14T12:05:15.844-05:002010-07-14T12:05:15.844-05:00Good review! I didn't feel the clumsiness so m...Good review! I didn't feel the clumsiness so much, and besides I usually expect it from Dick. He is not really a big stylist. Still, one of his better books in my opinion.<br /><br />http://rolandscodex.blogspot.com/Simeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11435940295167464898noreply@blogger.com