The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick

[Lone Ranger]

First, let me confess something. When it comes to science fiction, I am a total neophyte, I’ve read a decent amount but not enough to be familiar with all of the patterns of the genre but I think I have an ok sense of good sci-fi vs. bad sci-fi.

My Dad is a huge sci-fi nut, so I grew up in a house full of Asimov, Dick and Bradbury. I’ve read sample of each but never really took advantage of the mother lode in our basement. So, I’m starting to play catch up, and it has been enjoyable.

The Man in the High Castle is probably the 4th or 5th Philip K. Dick book I’ve read, and I must admit that it has made quite an impression. I’ve just finished this book, and I must say that my head is still spinning a little bit so this post may not be 100% coherent.

There are a few topics I was hoping to discuss with those who have contemplated this book, and who may have an idea of where Dick was going with some of the concepts and themes.

SPOILER ALERT !!!

For those who haven’t read the book – My questions and the discussion flowing from those questions will likely contain details that may hinder your enjoyment of the book.

Alternate Realities
Ok – so this sets up like a decent What If?/Elseworlds situation where the Allies have lost the war and life under the victors sucks. It’s well played out, especially the tension between the Japanese and the Germans. At the end of the novel, we learn that the characters may not be living in the ‘true’ reality. We see this after Juliana consults the Oracle with Abensen, although that topic ends abruptly with the end of the book. We also get a glimpse of this when Mr. Tagomi seems to be lost in a different San Francisco, where people do not defer to the Japanese.

This topic isn’t explored by Dick (I imagine that was intentional), and I am left wondering – are the folks in ‘The Man’ living in a fictional world, or are they simply made aware of a parallel reality? Has anyone given this issue much thought?

Collectibles
I find it interesting that in the early 60s, Dick envisioned a future where so much value was placed in the trinkets of the past. The Japanese seem obsessed with American Culture, and yet I wouldn’t say that, throughout world history, conquerors have taken a great deal of interest in the culture of the conquered. The whole notion of counterfeit goods and authenticity never really plays out. In the middle of the book, it seemed like a major plot development would have been the revelation that most of the ‘antiques’ are fake and that the market would crash, but that never materialized. I am left to wonder what Dick is getting at. Was he making a statement about how we place value on things in an irrational manner or was this industry simply a way of bringing some of the central characters together.

Multiculturalism
The divide between American, German and Japanese seems to be enormous and the characters appear to be constantly struggling to determine how best to act in the presence of someone from a different background. From dinner parties to official diplomatic communications, each character is conscious of every move that they make, so as to appease the other party.

Is Dick making a statement that cultural assimilation is impossible, or is the cultural divide simply the design of the Japanese and Germans? At one point, Mr. Childan gains a degree of confidence by acting more “American” – why do you think Dick chose to showcase that transformation? Was that another possible peek into the window of the alternate world?

Edfrank’s Jewelry
This is probably what I struggled with the most. I don’t really understand the mysticism around the jewelry. It seems that this jewelry possessed some sort of soul, or at least created a connection to the soul, whereas the ‘historicity’ of the antiques really only had monetary value. I wasn’t so sure how this jewelry suddenly made otherwise rational men behave strangely, and it was the element of the book that sat the least well with me. What do others think? What did Dick mean by using this jewelry to have such impact?

Anyhow – those are just a few questions that popped into my mind today as I pondered the book. I’d be really interested in what people have to say about the book and any other ‘big ideas’ they saw emanating from the book.

[Tobias March]

I read the book some time ago, but I think this fits in with Dick's theme of what we perceive as this world around us may not be real. So that in The Man in the High Castle characters perceive that their world may be either an 'Earth 2', if you like or indeed fictional. The importance of I Ching in the book hints at a pre-established narrative which we would normally attribute to fate, but in the novel the characters begin to realize they're in fiction.

Read the Divine Invasion. It's fantastic. Also Clans of the Alpane Moon.

[Push You Down]

Collectibles
I find it interesting that in the early 60s, Dick envisioned a future where so much value was placed in the trinkets of the past. The Japanese seem obsessed with American Culture, and yet I wouldn’t say that, throughout world history, conquerors have taken a great deal of interest in the culture of the conquered. The whole notion of counterfeit goods and authenticity never really plays out. In the middle of the book, it seemed like a major plot development would have been the revelation that most of the ‘antiques’ are fake and that the market would crash, but that never materialized. I am left to wonder what Dick is getting at. Was he making a statement about how we place value on things in an irrational manner or was this industry simply a way of bringing some of the central characters together.

It's been a long time since I've read this book but I think I can tackle atleast this portion a bit. The Japanese, in general, are an "obsessive" people. I could see the conquering Japanese taking a special interest in American antiques (weren't they especially interested in Colonial american and Civil War ear items) because the enormyity(sp) of their victory, defeating a larger and stronger foe, would make them want to learn more about the defeated. That could then extend to OWNING the past of the defeated. So the interest in the American antiques is also a sign of Japanese dominance.

[Roquefort Raider]

My Dad is a huge sci-fi nut, so I grew up in a house full of Asimov, Dick and Bradbury. I’ve read sample of each but never really took advantage of the mother lode in our basement. So, I’m starting to play catch up, and it has been enjoyable.

You're in for a good time! I look forward to the day my kids will do the same with my own books (including the comics, both American and European).

Alternate Realities
At the end of the novel, we learn that the characters may not be living in the ‘true’ reality. (...)

This topic isn’t explored by Dick (I imagine that was intentional), and I am left wondering – are the folks in ‘The Man’ living in a fictional world, or are they simply made aware of a parallel reality? Has anyone given this issue much thought?

Many possible options, here: (a) they're characters in a novel, so to us they're naturally living in a different reality (and taking a shot at the fourth wall, not unlike Superboy-prime). But even though their reality is, to us, fictitious, it must be quite real to them. What, then, is reality? Is it as flimsy as the pages of a novel?

(b) They, like us, have no way of knowing if they're living in the "real" world or are just part of a simulation (just to show that Grant Morrison didn't invent that stuff). And just like us, all they can do is deal with the reality they find themselves in.

(c) They may indeed be part of a multiverse. But what's to be done? It's not as if we can travel between parallel universes.

Collectibles
I find it interesting that in the early 60s, Dick envisioned a future where so much value was placed in the trinkets of the past. The Japanese seem obsessed with American Culture, and yet I wouldn’t say that, throughout world history, conquerors have taken a great deal of interest in the culture of the conquered.

It depends on the circumstances, I suppose. The Mongols were so taken by Chinese culture that they turned Chinese within two generation after conquering the Middle Empire. When Napoleon had the disastrous idea of adding Egypt to the nascent French empire, he didn't bring in much land or riches to the Hexagon... but he did introduce a very important fad of Egyptophilia.

To me, though, Dick introduced this aspect in his book to show how American culture had been diminished by the circumstances of his book; how it had turned from a worldwide trend-setting phenomenon to the humiliating position of memorabilia.

Multiculturalism
The divide between American, German and Japanese seems to be enormous and the characters appear to be constantly struggling to determine how best to act in the presence of someone from a different background. From dinner parties to official diplomatic communications, each character is conscious of every move that they make, so as to appease the other party.

Is Dick making a statement that cultural assimilation is impossible, or is the cultural divide simply the design of the Japanese and Germans? At one point, Mr. Childan gains a degree of confidence by acting more “American” – why do you think Dick chose to showcase that transformation? Was that another possible peek into the window of the alternate world?[/quote]

Personally, I think Dick just emphasized how hard it is to deal with the Other, even when we're just separated by something as apparently trivial as culture. What would it be if we met something truly alien? I think it also stresses the terrible risk we face when cultures go at war with each other: when considering all the troubles, it's no wonder that some people finally declare "we should just wipe them off the face of the Earth"! It's a very scary thought.

Edfrank’s Jewelry
This is probably what I struggled with the most. I don’t really understand the mysticism around the jewelry. It seems that this jewelry possessed some sort of soul, or at least created a connection to the soul, whereas the ‘historicity’ of the antiques really only had monetary value. I wasn’t so sure how this jewelry suddenly made otherwise rational men behave strangely, and it was the element of the book that sat the least well with me. What do others think? What did Dick mean by using this jewelry to have such impact?
[/QUOTE]

D-Oh!!! The 25 year gap since I read the book finally took their toll! I don't recall that jewelry at all!!!

[Lone Ranger]

To me, though, Dick introduced this aspect in his book to show how American culture had been diminished by the circumstances of his book; how it had turned from a worldwide trend-setting phenomenon to the humiliating position of memorabilia.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I found your thought above to be of particular interest, Ben.

Reminds me a bit of Ozymandias.

[Fenris]

Alternate Realities
Ok – so this sets up like a decent What If?/Elseworlds situation where the Allies have lost the war and life under the victors sucks. It’s well played out, especially the tension between the Japanese and the Germans. At the end of the novel, we learn that the characters may not be living in the ‘true’ reality. We see this after Juliana consults the Oracle with Abensen, although that topic ends abruptly with the end of the book. We also get a glimpse of this when Mr. Tagomi seems to be lost in a different San Francisco, where people do not defer to the Japanese.

This topic isn’t explored by Dick (I imagine that was intentional), and I am left wondering – are the folks in ‘The Man’ living in a fictional world, or are they simply made aware of a parallel reality? Has anyone given this issue much thought?

It's been a while since I read MITHC, so bear with me. :)

I'm under the strong impression that their world is actually false, and not just an equally-valid alternate universe. That's the implication of the I Ching reading at the end, after all.

And it fits in with the general theme: it's a world of counterfeiters, spies with secret identities, lying salespeople and so forth. The book is about a world of falsehoods, and what happens when authenticity unexpectedly starts breaking in on them.

(I think that's the point of the jewelry, late in the book. It moves people because it's real American jewelry; it's the only authentic thing they've ever seen.)

I don't know if you've ever read this: it's a famous speech that Dick gave in 1978. He says:

But I consider that the matter of defining what is real—that is a serious topic, even a vital topic. And in there somewhere is the other topic, the definition of the authentic human. Because the bombardment of pseudo-realities begins to produce inauthentic humans very quickly, spurious humans—as fake as the data pressing at them from all sides. My two topics are really one topic; they unite at this point. Fake realities will create fake humans. Or, fake humans will generate fake realities and then sell them to other humans, turning them, eventually, into forgeries of themselves. So we wind up with fake humans inventing fake realities and then peddling them to other fake humans. It is just a very large version of Disneyland. You can have the Pirate Ride or the Lincoln Simulacrum or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride—you can have all of them, but none is true.

... Which I think is what High Castle is ultimately all about.

(He also talks about his conviction that it's presently 50 AD; that all the world's history since then has been nothing but a kind of mass hallucination, and we're still living in the generation of Christ. Which is neither here nor there, really, except in that it relates to what Dick did consider reality to be.)

õ
Red pill, indeed!

[Phrozen]

A much simpilier explanation for American collectibles becoming fashionable in Japan is that the Japanese have and do have a fascination with American culture and that when Japanese tourists or others go abroad they bring back a cliched object to use as a conversation piece in their homes. So, naturally the Japanese would be interested in Old West memoribilia from what was the Old West. It would be a conversation piece for when vistors come to their homes. A similar thing would be if a Japanese person went to Germany and brought back a beer stein or went to NYC and brought back a Statue of Liberty statuette.

[Roquefort Raider]

Norman Spinrad wrote a short story titled A thing of beauty where we have the same idea of Japanese zillionaires buying pieces of American memorabilia (such as the Yankees stadium, which gets moved to Japan piece by piece). It has a melancholy feel of fallen glory.

Maybe it was part of the 60s zeitgeist to envision America as being an empire soon to be supplanted by far east powers.

The future ain't what it used to be in the 60s; no Japanese world empire, no flying cars, no lunar vacation, and thankfully no ubiquitous polyester bellbottom pants.

[Lone Ranger]

The book is about a world of falsehoods, and what happens when authenticity unexpectedly starts breaking in on them.

(I think that's the point of the jewelry, late in the book. It moves people because it's real American jewelry; it's the only authentic thing they've ever seen.)

Ooohh

I like that analsis, Richard. I like it a lot.

Thanks for the link, too.

I agree about the Japanese interest in American culture. I thought we really saw a lot of that in the 80s.

I guess I was thinking that it was perhaps not prevalent in the early 60s, and that Dick comes across as quite prescient in discussing the topic. Anyone know when it started in real life?

[Phrozen]

It probably started during the Meiji restoration. Many influential advisors, teachers and even military officers were American or went to America to study the outside world. This trickled down to the populace as the students of these advisors, teachers, and officers became ingrained into Japanese society. Even though Britain and the Dutch had colonies closer, the Japanese learned most from Americans and sent many more officals and students to America. They are simply I think more comfortable with it.