Overview

Imagine the world if the Allies had lost the Second World War... Philip K Dick trips the switches of our minds with his vision of the world as it might have been- the African continent virtually wiped out, the Mediterranean drained to make farmland, the United States divided between the Japanese and the Nazis...In the neutral zone that divides the rival superpowers in America lives the author of an underground best-seller. His book - a rallying cry for all those who dream of overthrowing theoccupiers - offers an alternative theory of world history. Does 'reality' lie with him, or is his world just one among many others?

Full Product Details

9780141186672

Table of Contents

Reviews

The teratological curiosity of the American reading public, whetted and abetted by the press, could have made this novel a sure best seller. Consider the premises upon which Mr. Dick bases his book. They are fascinating: What if the Axis powers had won World War II? What if Germany and Japan had divided after conquering in 1947...Capitulation Day it is called? He takes the hypothesis one step further. It is fifteen years later... 1962. Africa is a huge empty ruin sacrificed to Nazi Medicare. The Mediterranean sea has been entirely drained, converted to tillable land. The blond queens , the near men of the Gestapo have found a new use for the big toe. San Francisco is occupied by the Japanese. Old Adolph is in some sanitarium with syphilis of the brain and Martin Borman, heretofore the top man, has just died leaving the Axis powers with a choice among Goebbels, Heydrich, Goehring von Schirach and a couple of other cuties. How did the author turn this projected cosmos into a hinterland where only confusion and boredom reside for the reader? The Man in the High Castle is overpeopled, spattered with telegraphic dialogue simply absurd (A Japanese suicide says to his Colt .22 Cough up arcane secret .) Finally, there is riddled throughout a quasi-mystique, a pseudo-religious leit motif relating to an Eastern machine that answers questions when asked. This one could be pushed solely on subject-matter. But it will disappoint greatly. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Philip Kindred Dick (1928-82) was born in Chicago, but lived most of his life in California. His career as a science fiction writer comprised an early burst of short stories followed by a stream of novels, typically incorporating androids, drugs, and hallucinations. His most famous books include The Man in the High Castle, A Scanner Darkly and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the inspiration for the movie Blade Runner.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available