The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick was first published in 1962 and won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963. It was his first novel to win a major award.

The story is mostly set in San Francisco, about 15 years after the end of World War II in 1947. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had won the war and jointly run the world. This includes the US, which has been partitioned with the East Coast under Japanese administration.

The narrative is written in third-person omniscient voice and uses multiple viewpoint characters. A few characters discuss a novel titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy by Hawthorne Abendsen who is said to live in a fortress as protection against possible assassination. This is because his novel tells of a world in which Germany and Japan lost the war. Nazi Germany has banned the book whereas the Japanese permit it.

The main characters are as follows, in order of first appearance:

• Robert Childan owns and runs American Artistic Handcrafts Inc., a shop that sells antiques to collectors, mostly catering to the Japanese.

• Tagomi is a diplomat and has to deal with Baynes, a Swedish man who runs a plastics business and who has come to San Francisco to meet with Tagomi and another Japanese official for an important matter.

• Frank Frink is fired from his job and goes into the jewelry business with his colleague, Ed. They were skilled at making replicas of antiques or historic items, flooding the market with counterfeit items.

• Meanwhile, Frank’s ex-wife, Juliana, is in Colorado working as a Judo instructor. She meets Joe, an Italian truck driver, who introduces her to The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.

Having multiple viewpoint characters helps keep things fresh, but as their connections to each other are loose, the story can feel a little unfocused in terms of plotting. That said, the author has used them effectively for worldbuilding, since their very different social positions help paint a different part or layer of the world.

The work is not strongly plot-driven. The plot essentially follows two things: the political intrigue that Togomi has to deal with; and how the characters, or at least one of them, try to uncover the mysteries behind the novel The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and Abendsen.

As an alternative history story, reality (or the perception thereof) is obviously a theme, which is common in Dickian works. However, it is not as intensely surreal or trippy as some of his other works.

Nevertheless, the premise and worldbuilding are moderately intriguing, enough to draw the reader in and maintain interest. Spirituality is also a common theme in Dickian works and in this world, many, including some of the main characters, resort to I Ching for insights regarding their choices.

Despite the title and premise, do not expect an intense political/spy-thriller even if there are elements of one. Tagomi’s thread regarding the political intrigue, even if it is limited to his perspective, could go further.

Although sci-fi elements are common in Dickian stories even if they are not necessarily intended to be sci-fi, there is little in this novel. In this world, Germany has advanced technologically more so than Japan, going to other planets of the solar system and providing rocket travel on Earth. But these things are mostly in the background.

Interestingly, in The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, the US uses cheap labor to manufacture and then flood the East with “cheap one-dollar … television kits” that are small and have their own “built-in power supply”. These units receive instructional videos. Obviously, these sound like a tame version of people watching YouTube on their phones.

On balance, it is an interesting enough novel and it is easy to read and follow. However, it lacks the cool if not mind-blowing twists Dick is known for, and there can be a little more clarity regarding how the characters tackle their situation in the conclusion. As already mentioned, Tagomi’s plotline could be more developed, and although Abendsen is meant to be a mysterious character, it would be a more captivating story if he featured more (actively) in the plot.

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