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The Man in the High Castle

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
AuthorPhilip K. Dick
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Alternate history
PublisherPutnam
Publication date1 January 1962
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages239 pp
OCLC145507009

The Man in the High Castle is a 1962 alternate history novel by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view G P Putnam's Sons was a major United States Book publisher based in New York City, New York. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. The novel is set in the former United States, in 1962, fifteen years after the Axis Powers defeated the Allies in World War II and the U. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including S. surrendered to Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Empire of Japan ( {{unicode|Kyūjitai}}: ja 大日本帝國 Shinjitai: ja 大日本帝国 pronounced Dai Nippon Teikoku [1]

While not the first piece of alternate history fiction, the novel helped to define this type of story as a serious literary genre. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set It won the prestigious Hugo Award and helped make Dick well-known in science fiction circles. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year It is one of Dick's most tightly-structured and character-focused novels — he spent most of his life writing to pay bills, and so wrote quickly. This was the only novel for which he had the luxury of writing several drafts.

Contents

Plot summary

Back story

The Man in the High Castle's point of divergence from our own world occurred when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated in 1933. In discussion of Counterfactual history, a divergence point (DP also referred to as a departure point or point of divergence ( POD) is a historical The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. He was succeeded by Vice President John Nance Garner, who was subsequently replaced by John W. Bricker. The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death John Nance Garner IV nicknamed "Cactus Jack" (November 22 1868 &ndash November 7 1967 was the forty-fourth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John William Bricker ( September 6, 1893 March 22, 1986) was a United States Senator and Governor of Ohio. Neither man was able to revive the nation from the Great Depression, and both clung to an isolationist policy regarding the approaching war. The diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense has had a long history World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

The USSR collapsed in 1941 and was occupied by the Nazis, while most of the Slavic peoples were exterminated. The Slavic survivors of the war were confined to "reservation-like closed regions". The Japanese completely destroyed the United States' Pacific fleet in a much more expansive attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by Due to Japan's expanded military capabilities, it was able to invade and occupy Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and the Southwestern Pacific in the early forties. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island After this, the United States fell to the Axis, with many important cities suffering great damage.

By 1948, Allied forces had surrendered to Axis control. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Eastern Seaboard was placed under German control while California and other western states ceded to Japanese rule. The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard" refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The " West Coast " " Western Seaboard " or " Pacific Seaboard " are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States The Rocky Mountain States and much of the Midwest remained as a buffer. The Mountain States (also known as the Mountain West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the The German Reich and Empire of Japan are now the chief superpowers, rival to one another in their wold domination.

After Adolf Hitler was incapacitated by syphilis, the head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, Martin Bormann, assumed the leadership of Germany. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Party Chancellery ( Parteikanzlei) was the name of the office that replaced that of Deputy Führer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945 The Nazis created a colonial empire and continued their mass murder of races they considered inferior, murdering Jews in the puppet United States and other areas they controlled and mounting massive genocide in Africa. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets PLEASE TAKE NOTE************

Nazi Germany continued their rocketry programs, so that by 1962, they had a working system of commercial rockets used for intercontinental travel and also pursued space exploration, by sending rockets to the Moon, Mars and Venus. A rocket or rocket vehicle is a Missile, Aircraft or other Vehicle which obtains Thrust by the reaction of the History First orbital flights The first successful orbital launch was of the Soviet unmanned Sputnik In a remarkable presage of later, real-life NASA concepts, PKD describes the Nazis ". . bustling robotic factories across the solar system". The novel mentions television as being a new technology used in Germany. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The Japanese Empire is portrayed as being behind the Third Reich in technological development.

During the novel, Martin Bormann dies and other Nazis, such as Joseph Goebbels and Reinhard Heydrich (whose real-life assassination was foiled in the novel), challenge to become Reich Chancellor (German: Reichskanzler). Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( 7 March 1904 &ndash 4 June 1942) was an SS - Obergruppenführer, chief The Head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (Kanzler Various factions of the Nazi party are described as either seeking war with Japan or being more interested in colonizing the solar system.

Characters

Rather than present a linear story, the novel follows each of its characters as they pursue their lives. There are connections between them, some direct, some indirect, and some barely perceptible. Three of the main characters use the I Ching to guide their lives:

Other characters don't use the I Ching, and have different belief systems:

Storylines

The Man in the High Castle has no one central plot but rotates between several somewhat interconnected storylines:

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Cover of 1981 Berkley Books edition of The Man in the High Castle. Cover art by Richard M. Powers.
Cover of 1981 Berkley Books edition of The Man in the High Castle. Berkley Books is a Paperback Imprint of Penguin Group (USA that began as an independent company in 1955. Cover art by Richard M. Powers. Richard M Powers ( February 24 1921 &ndash March 9 1996) was a science fiction illustrator

Several characters in The Man in the High Castle read a popular novel called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, a novel within a novel. A story within a story is a Literary device or Conceit in which one story is told during the action of another story The author, Hawthorne Abendsen, describes an alternate history in which the Axis Powers lost the war. Although closer to our own history, the novel portrays a third scenario. The novel is banned in areas under Japanese occupation and officially banned in areas under German occupation (it's actually widely read throughout the Pacific), but its publication is legal in the neutral countries.

In Abendsen's novel, Roosevelt survives the assassination attempt but does not run for reelection in 1940. The next president, Rexford Tugwell (who, in 'our' reality, never ran for the presidency), removes the U. Rexford Guy Tugwell ( July 10 1891 – July 21 1979) was an Agricultural Economist who became part of Franklin D S. Pacific fleet from Pearl Harbor, saving it from the Japanese attack and hence ensuring that the U. S. enters the war with greater naval power.

In the novel, the United Kingdom retains much of its military and industrial strength and makes a greater contribution to the Allied cause than it did in our world. This alternative Second World War is determined by several pivotal events. As in our own world, one of them is British victory over Erwin Rommel in Northern Africa, but in Grasshopper's alternative world, there is a British advance through the Caucasus and, after surviving Soviet troops join them, British and post-Soviet forces win a victory at Stalingrad. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ( 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) (also known as the " Desert Fox " Wüstenfuchs The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East As in the historical scenario, Italy turns against the Axis Powers. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest British tanks storm Berlin at the end of the war, much as the Red Army did in our own world. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya

After the war, Winston Churchill still leads Britain. Due to its greater military and industrial strength, the United Kingdom doesn't lose its empire and the United States has a strong trade relationship with China, as Chiang Kai-shek and Nationalist forces defeat Mao in this universe. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Chiang Kai-shek ( POJ: Chiúⁿ Kài-se̍k Jyutping: zoeng2gaai3sek6 GCB ( October 31, 1887 &ndash Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led The British Empire becomes racist while the U. S. solves its race issues by the 1950s, which causes tension between the two superpowers.

Eventually, as in our own Cold War, two superpowers struggle for global hegemony, but both are capitalist, liberal, democratic societies. However, the British ultimately overcome the United States, and become the dominant superpower of this world.

The book's author, Hawthorne Abendsen, is rumored to live in a highly guarded fortress; his nickname is "the Man in the High Castle," from which the novel itself is named. A nickname is a Name of an entity or thing that is not its Proper name.

The title of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy comes from Ecclesiastes 12:5. Ecclesiastes (often abbreviated Ecc) (קֹהֶלֶת Kohelet, variously transliterated as Qoheleth, Göhalath, Koheles, Koheleth

Use of the I Ching

Dick claims that he wrote The Man in the High Castle, using the ancient Chinese philosophical text the I Ching (or Book of Changes) to decide on plot development. Chinese classic texts or Chinese canonical texts ( refer to the pre- Qin Chinese texts especially the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics The I Ching ( Wade-Giles) or “Yì Jīng” ( Pinyin) also called “Classic of Changes” or “Book of Changes” is one of the oldest of the In one interview he even blamed the I Ching for plot details with which he was unhappy. "When it came to close down the novel, the I Ching had no more to say. So there's no real ending on it. I like to regard it as an open ending. "

The I Ching is featured throughout The Man in the High Castle. It spread through the Pacific States after the Japanese began their occupation. Several characters, both Japanese and American, consult it for important decisions. Like Dick in our world, Hawthorne Abendsen used the I Ching to write The Grasshopper Lies Heavy in his timeline.

At the end of The Man in the High Castle, Juliana Frink in Hawthorne's Abendsen's presence asks the I Ching why it wrote The Grasshopper Lies Heavy and what people are supposed to learn from that novel. The I Ching responds with the hexagram Chung Fu - Inner Truth; The Grasshopper Lies Heavy describes the true state of the world; all of the characters in The Man in the High Castle are experiencing a false reality.

Major themes

The most prominent theme in The Man in the High Castle is the question of the penetration of true reality into a false reality. This can be seen in several aspects of the novel.

Cover of 2001 Penguin Classics edition of The Man in the High Castle. Cover art by James P. Keenan.
Cover of 2001 Penguin Classics edition of The Man in the High Castle. Design Penguin Books have paid particular attention to the design of its books since recruiting German typographer Jan Tschichold Cover art by James P. Keenan.

With this theme, Dick suggests the questions, who or what is the agent causing this inter-penetration of realities? And why does that agent desire that this reality be known as an artifice? This theme is addressed further in several subsequent Dick novels, including Ubik, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, and VALIS. Ubik (pronounced "yoo-bik" is a 1969 Science fiction Novel by Philip K Flow My Tears The Policeman Said is a 1974 Science fiction Novel by Philip K VALIS is a 1981 Science fiction novel by Philip K Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System,

The Man in the High Castle also deals with themes of justice and injustice (through Frink's fleeing from Nazi persecution), gender and power (through Juliana's relationship with Joe), shame and identity (through Childan's new confidence in American culture from his limiting, backwards-looking obsession with nostalgia and antiquities), and the effects of fascism and racism on culture (throughout the novel, especially sections that deal with the lack of value of life in the wake of Nazi dominance of the world, and assumptions of ethnic superiority and racism that several Japanese, American and German characters occasionally indulge in). Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that

Trivia

Wer reitet so spät,
Durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater
Mit seinem Kind. Der Erlkönig (often called just Erlkönig) is a Poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Translation:

Who rides so late,
Through the night and wind?
It is the father
With his child.

Sequel

Dick revealed in a 1976 interview [1] that he planned to write a sequel to The Man in the High Castle: "And so there's no real ending on it. I like to regard it as an open ending. It will segue into a sequel sometime. " He stated that he "started several times to write a sequel" but never got far because he was too disturbed by his original research for The Man in the High Castle and couldn't stand "to go back and read about Nazis again. "

He also suggested that the proposed sequel would be a collaboration with another author: "Somebody would have to come in and help me do a sequel to it. Someone who had the stomach or the stamina to think along those lines, to get into the head; if you're going to start writing about Reinhard Heydrich, for instance, you have to get into his face. Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( 7 March 1904 &ndash 4 June 1942) was an SS - Obergruppenführer, chief Can you imagine getting into Reinhard Heydrich's face?"

Two chapters of the intended sequel were published in a collection of essays about Dick, called The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick (ISBN 0-679-74787-7). In these chapters, it is revealed at a meeting of the highest Nazi officials that the Gestapo has made visits to a parallel world in which their bid for world conquest was defeated. More importantly, scientific superweapons exist in that world for the taking, including a bomb of awesome capability. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. (But here, the manuscript ends abruptly. )

The title of the proposed sequel was at one point said to be Ring of Fire, and would detail the emergence of a hybrid Japanese/American culture that arose as the two distinct groups merged over time.

On one occasion, Dick said that his novel The Ganymede Takeover originally started out as a sequel to The Man in the High Castle which simply would not take shape. The Ganymede Takeover is a 1967 Science fiction novel by Philip K Specifically, the Ganymedians occupying Earth in the novel started out as Japanese occupying the United States.

Other examples of Nazi victory fiction

(See also below) Nazi/Axis global domination was first explored in Katharine Burdekin's 1937 dystopia, Swastika Night, and also in Fatherland by Robert Harris, "The Last Article" by Harry Turtledove, SS-GB by Len Deighton, Making History by Stephen Fry and in the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," based on an original script by Harlan Ellison. Katharine Burdekin ( July 23, 1896 – August 10, 1963) (born Katharine Penelope Cade) was a British novelist who wrote speculative Swastika Night is a futuristic novel published by "Murray Constantine" in 1937 and republished in 1940 Fatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller Novel by the English Writer and journalist Robert Harris, which doubles Robert Dennis Harris (born March 7, 1957 in Nottingham) is a best-selling English Novelist. The Last Article (1988 an Alternate history Short story by Harry Turtledove, Plot Introduction The story describes a Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14 1949) is an American historian and novelist who has written Historical fiction, Fantasy, and SS-GB is an Alternate history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom fictionally conquered and occupied by Germany during Leonard Cyril Deighton (born February 18, 1929, Marylebone, London) is a British Historian, Cookery expert Making History ( 1997) is the third Novel by Stephen Fry. The plot involves the creation of an Alternate history where Hitler Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957 is an English Humorist, Writer, Wit, Actor, Novelist, filmmaker Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through " The City on the Edge of Forever " is the penultimate episode of the first season of Star Trek. Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American Writer of Short stories, Novellas, Teleplays Norman Spinrad's The Iron Dream was set in an alternative world where Hitler emigrated to the United States and became a fantasy author, creating a fascistic fantasy novel entitled Lord of the Swastika. Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American Science fiction author The Iron Dream is a Metafictional 1972 Alternate history novel by Norman Spinrad. In this world, the absence of Nazism led to communist revolutions throughout Western Europe without a Second World War, leading to US/Japanese alignment against a rapacious Greater Soviet Union. Phillip Roth's 2004 novel The Plot Against America also explores an alternate history in which Nazism insinuates itself into America. Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933, Newark New Jersey) is an American novelist The Plot Against America A Novel (ISBN 0-618-50928-3 is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004 An even longer list appears in Jakubowski & Edwards "The Complete book of Science Fiction and Fantasy Lists"[2]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Pringle 1990, p. 193.
  2. ^ Jakubowski & Edwards 1983, p. 40-41.

Bibliography

See also

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein		Hugo Award for Best Novel
1963		Succeeded by
Here Gather the Stars
by Clifford D. Simak
1945 is an alternate history co-authored by Newt Gingrich and William R Collaborator is an Alternate history novel by Murray Davies, published as a hardcover on September 19th 2003 Fatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller Novel by the English Writer and journalist Robert Harris, which doubles In the Presence of Mine Enemies (2003 by Harry Turtledove is an Alternate history novel expanded from the eponymous short story The Iron Dream is a Metafictional 1972 Alternate history novel by Norman Spinrad. It Happened Here is a 1966 British Film, set in an alternate history in which Nazi Germany successfully invades and occupies Making History ( 1997) is the third Novel by Stephen Fry. The plot involves the creation of an Alternate history where Hitler The Plot Against America A Novel (ISBN 0-618-50928-3 is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004 The Sound of His Horn is a 1952 Dystopian Time travel / Alternate history novel by the senior British Diplomat John William Wall SS-GB is an Alternate history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom fictionally conquered and occupied by Germany during Swastika Night is a futuristic novel published by "Murray Constantine" in 1937 and republished in 1940 The Ultimate Solution is an 1973 Alternate history by Eric Norden, describing a world resulting from a total Nazi and Imperial Amerika – suggesting a Russified name for the United States – is an American Television Miniseries that was broadcast in 1987 The Children's War is a 2001 alternate history novel by JN Stroyar. Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award -winning Science fiction Novel by Robert A Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Winners of the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy Novel, along with all the nominees are presented here The year 1963 in literature involved some significant events and new books Way Station is a 1963 Science fiction Novel by Clifford D Simak, originally published as Here Gather the Stars in two Clifford Donald Simak ( August 3, 1904 - April 25, 1988) was a major American Science fiction writer
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