re:mote voices

Title: The Man In The High Castle
Author: Philip K. Dick
Publisher: Penguin

After the end of the second world war, America was split down the middle. The German's taking the West Coast, the Japanese the East. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a controversial novel by a writer in the Japanese territory, which has been banned in all the German territories, but which the Japanese are more ambivalent about. The author of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy has holed up in a heavily defended house according to his bio, which has gained him the nickname of "the man in the high castle". The reason that The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is so inflammatory is because it takes the events of the war and speculates what might have happened if certain events had gone slightly differently, and as a result Germany and Japan had lost the war.

This ironic premise is behind one of Philip K. Dick's most readily available novels. The approach is considerably subtle - the man in the high castle being almost secondary to what actually happens, and the reactions of the people reading his book. Rather it concentrates on a range of characters in the Japanese half of America - from the Jew living incognito, through the American trying to mimic his occupier's manner, to the Japanese ambassador living as an occupier. Through which we get a sense of a world under Nazi rule - genocide in Africa, obsession with the space race, and the increasing discomfort felt by their Japanese allies.

Dick binds his characters in one way, by having them all read the controversial novel. Additionally as The Man In The High Castle evolves, each character plays their part as events take over, upheaval stemming from the death of the latest German leader and the upset that causes. Philip K. Dick is particularly ironic and of form with The Man In The High Castle. Stylistically this is most evident through the switching character voices - the way in which the narrative switches between western and eastern tonalities depending on which character is being focused on - particularly effective with the antiquities dealer who is trying so hard to fit into a Japanese America that his entire phrasing of thoughts has been transformed. An idea which is backed up by the pervasive effect of the I-Ching in providing guidance to so many of the characters.

With The Man In The High Castle, Dick proves his brilliance, and it is a highly recommended novel.