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The Man in the High Castle (Vintage)| Media: | Paperback | | Author: | Philip K. Dick | | Publisher: | Vintage | | Release date: | 30 June, 1992 | | List price: | $12.00 |
| Our price: | $9.60 that is 20% off! |
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| The Man in the High Castle (Vintage) |
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The ULTIMATE DECONSTRUCTIONist Novel |
THE MAN in the HIGH CASTLE is the novel still ahead of its time. Philip K. Dick's premise of alternate World History where Nazism is triumphant and effete "Japanese"ethos battles to maintain a feckless humanity lacking both Faustian strength of The West or Grasshopper Zen implacability(hence:"The Grasshopper Lies/Dies Heavy")of the Inscrutable East is THE ULTIMATE DECONSTRUCTIONIST novel(PM Apocalypse)...
LOGOS...subsistent ground/guarantor of JUSTICE/Truth & Life[En arche en ho LOGOS...In the Beginning was THE WORD]...has been destroyed by a truly apocalyptic WW II, wherein Christian America ("Mankind's last,best hope,"as President Lincoln presciently observed)has been conquered. Nazi genocide projects[radical abortion;euthanasia;eugenic"purity" holocausts...Africa has been atom bombed out of existence]comprise THE NEW ORDER OF THE AGES. In the novel's--to some readers-- surprisingly "tepid" anti-climax, HUMANITY is actually threatened with the most final of FINAL SOLUTIONs: a planetary murder/suicide pact,planned by Nazi ubermenschen as World/Age Ectopyresis...annihilation in flames of thermonuclear armageddon.
PKD never mentions The Western Judaeo-Christian Traditon. Yet his characters are obsessively preoccupied with I Ching(as substitute Bible).Culturally, it has been apotheosized as THE WORD and employed as occult,anti-crossword puzzel with "sacred" hexagrams ritually cast/consulted like the world's Ouija Board.
Irony of this last desperate measure in Idolatry is pathetic; hilarious and prophetically terrifying. Whether PKD was familiar with Nazi ontologist Martin Heidegger,the thematic "Center-will- not-hold"(Yeats)center of THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE both warns and challenges PM nihilism that COULD produce terrors more fantastic and evil than Nazism's totalitarianism with its concomittant Death Wish for all Mankind.
PKD's main character is an antique dealer of "Americana" good,bad or ugly. This is plot device of profound ingenuity. Man must have MEANING.His attempts to imbue his own creations(furniture to comic books)without Divine Reference or true LOGOS is both tragic and sadly laughable(Witness today's Yuppsters buying fake FORD-made Jaguars; and those ridiculous bloated cereal box-on-wheels,Hummers).Readers who don't"get it"or find the novel boring(for obtuse reasons)miss a radical fundamental of Philip K. Dick's exploration of universal theme:ennui--cosmic Boredom--not malice, is essence of the Death Wish.A world without God(the "true" alternate Universe of TMITHC)is teleologically joyless. ["What do BOYS will all the TOYS do?" Ultimately: they smash them...and everyone else's into THE WALL.] For readers who do not accept this "reading",check-out PKD's THE DIVINE INVASION.
Mr.China Mieville(Perdido Station;The Scar;The Iron Council)with his(St.Augustine referenced"City of God againstThe Pagans")epics of New Crobuzon is worthy inheritor of Philip K. Dick's mantle as master of philosophical,anti-mythological science-fiction. I prefer Ray Bradbury or Frank Herbert(DUNE).But as difficult as it may be to"savor",THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE uniquely explores the disaster of PM's assault on Life(its Culture of Death)and meaning.It remains premier DECONSTRUCTIONIST novel and worthy of acclaim.(4 & 1/2 stars)
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| The Man in the High Castle (Vintage) - Philip K. Dick |
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Fascinating but ultimately lacking |
Great alternate history milieu crafted around the idea "What if the Nazis had won?" Wonderful details of how Germany, Italy, and Japan share the spoils of war and the frightening persistence of a Nazi superpower. Lacks a strong climax and resolution--perhaps in tune with the themes of Zen, Eastern religions, and mysticism. Leaves the reader hanging upon uncertain implications...
Definitely worth a read, but don't expect much from the plot. |
| Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle (Vintage) |
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How can the Man in the High Castle Escape Prosectution? |
An alternative history of World War II. Japan and Germany have won and the Japanese occupiers of San Francisco admire Colt revolvers, Mickey Mouse watches and other idiosyncratic artifacts of a (shudder) second rate America. The `man in the high castle' lives in relatively unoccupied Colorado where he has written an alternative history where `unbelievably' the US has won World War II. Juliana must go meet this incredible visionary. She wonders- why hasn't his `sedition' landed him in deep doo-doo? When she does encounter the man, the story takes a startling turn. Note: the I Ching plays a key role in the story--everyone turns to it it for sage advice...
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