I'm back on the Hugo Awards as I complete a reading prompt for my local bookstore's reading challenge. This prompt was for a Classic. While The Man in the High Castle might not come to mind as rapidly as Pride and Prejudice, it is most assuredly a classic of Sci-Fi.
Frankly, I am learning I'm not a big fan of early Sci-Fi. It's really a strange mash up of male insecurity, weird obsessions and a heavy dose of the times in which the writers were living. These guys were inventive, but it's clear their imagination didn't go as far as I originally thought. Even with Space Travel as a part of the novel, the entire imagining of space travel was pretty nebulous. And I suppose that's fair, given that travel on airplanes itself was generally priced for only the wealthy and business class at that time. I can see that imagining a future where cargo was carried all over the place without a blink of an eye wasn't top of mind. It is always interesting to see how we imagine the future world. In Dick's case, it's one where Germany can colonize Mars, but secret info is still passed on by Photostat. Since currently, we can not colonize Mars, but have well outgrown a photostat, the juxtaposition is jarring.
I didn't love this book, but I also did not hate it. Readers follow several main characters who are all pieces of literary art. We have:
I could likely write a post about the motivations, emotions and representations of all the characters. But, I'm not that kind of book reviewer! What I found interesting, was that the characters didn't all come together in one defining moment. Instead they all seem to share in common a loss of identity and a seeking for meaning in life. They are all passionate, but- they aren't finding satisfying outlets for their passion.
Juliana was a fascinating character- at once shallow- concerned about wardrobe, getting a nice meal or hotel, and on another level, literally murderous when protecting people- who are really representatives of ideals she holds dear. She definitely doesn't totally understand her own actions.
The shared passion and seeking is what unites the characters, even though some of them never interact at all.
There is no Hero's arc here. PKD leaves us all sort of feeling drained and fizzled out there at then end, wondering what the point of these semi-intersecting stories was. I think Dick maybe meant for us to sit and stew in that for a bit. I definitely have been thinking about the book in the days since I finished it.
I'm not sure the whole story works for me, but the characters he created are amazing and worth the read.
STATS
First Published 1962
Pages: 240
Available as an Audio Book : ~9 hrs
Trigger Warnings: violence, racism, weird I-ching consultations, murder, sexism
(this is not a full list, read responsibly)
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