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cooperkm's review against another edition
4.0
intriguing, phenomenal page turner. I had to stop for a while because a world where Jews are just nothing is nauseating... every person, nazi or not, is forced to talk about them that way, not just as second-class citizens, but as a crime of a person that will immediately be sent back to germany and eliminated, not even killed. That was extremely disconcerting.
But the whole book could have been about just that, but it wasn't. It was an amazing exploration of what a Japanese led America vs. a german led america might look like. It weaved between characters perfectly giving each one room to breathe, but not dominated by a single character. It was simple in its complexity as well... with the confusion around certain characters' position.
I did not understand the ending at all... other than to look up and think "oh yeah, you're right this book is fiction. Thank god." Maybe that was the whole point.
Juliana in particular is an intriguing character. She seems unbothered by sleeping with a nazi who appears to hate her... she's willing to discuss anything with anyone and not be perturbed by it. She's willing to be honest with someone whose famous because she knows what's right or wrong in her own mind. She's unjudgmental, but fully honest.
But the whole book could have been about just that, but it wasn't. It was an amazing exploration of what a Japanese led America vs. a german led america might look like. It weaved between characters perfectly giving each one room to breathe, but not dominated by a single character. It was simple in its complexity as well... with the confusion around certain characters' position.
I did not understand the ending at all... other than to look up and think "oh yeah, you're right this book is fiction. Thank god." Maybe that was the whole point.
Juliana in particular is an intriguing character. She seems unbothered by sleeping with a nazi who appears to hate her... she's willing to discuss anything with anyone and not be perturbed by it. She's willing to be honest with someone whose famous because she knows what's right or wrong in her own mind. She's unjudgmental, but fully honest.
majaanushka's review against another edition
3.0
i liked this a lot but 1. think some of it went over my head and 2. didn't feel connected to any characters bar juliana so it was difficult to root for them. but still a fascinating read and rightfully considered a modern classic
baileycb's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
vincederr's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this book. There's my review, that’s it. I gave this book such a long leash and finished it. I kept waiting and waiting for all the pieces to come together and I guess they kind of did, but not really. If you’ve watched the show, this book is nothing like the show. This book seems more like a collection of short stories about characters you don’t really care about. I can’t even remember the main character’s name or even if she was the main character. The end of this book attempts to sew everything together but fails. The end of this book tries to give you a cliffhanger that is just “so meta” and “deep”, but really comes across as dumb, unwarranted, and ad hoc. Everything I’ve read is that during this time in Dick’s career he was just trying to pump out books to make money, it shows. This book is bad, I would not recommend it.
privatize8779's review against another edition
2.0
This book portrays a intriguing view of the world and paints a vivid picture of the competing superpowers and the effect it has on the world and even more so, it's inhabitants. I have two issues with it though.
Firstly, there is too much navel gazing, nearly all the the characters seem to be weighed down with internal angst about their social position. This personal angst is a character trait common to Dick and is not in itself a bad thing, but there is too much of it in this book.
Secondly, there is no real story. There are the stories of a number of individuals, that you hope will be tied together in a coherent ending, but that doesn't really happen. Some of the stories overlap, but nothing comes to a meaningful conclusion, the book ends and that's that.
Firstly, there is too much navel gazing, nearly all the the characters seem to be weighed down with internal angst about their social position. This personal angst is a character trait common to Dick and is not in itself a bad thing, but there is too much of it in this book.
Secondly, there is no real story. There are the stories of a number of individuals, that you hope will be tied together in a coherent ending, but that doesn't really happen. Some of the stories overlap, but nothing comes to a meaningful conclusion, the book ends and that's that.
alisarae's review against another edition
There was so much potential development in this story that wasn't taken advantage of. Though the technical aspects of the writing was quite good, I had so many questions:
- What do the male characters look like? Why are women only described if a male character has a sexual attraction to them?
- Is the I-ching/oracle a conscious diety/being?
- Does the Pacific States of America look like Tokyo now? Or does our version of Tokyo not exist because there wasn't an industrialization there because Japan won the war and didn't have a US occupation?
For the most part, this book is overrated.
- What do the male characters look like? Why are women only described if a male character has a sexual attraction to them?
- Is the I-ching/oracle a conscious diety/being?
- Does the Pacific States of America look like Tokyo now? Or does our version of Tokyo not exist because there wasn't an industrialization there because Japan won the war and didn't have a US occupation?
For the most part, this book is overrated.
babybison515's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Probably the fastest I've read a book as I was so engrossed. Only wish it was explored more being a little longer or with a sequel.
plompverlori's review against another edition
3.0
3,5*
Despite that the world building is phenomenal (except for the visualisation of rebuilt San Fransisco) and the concept of the allies having lost the war brings a lot of thoughts loose of how it all could have been, there is something about Philip K. Dick’s choice for style that bugs me.
In Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep it was the excessive use of stutter and personalized speak and in The Man In The High Castle it’s the use of incorrect grammar. Most sentences are incomplete, probably due to the fact that thoughts of characters are put out there in a form of stream of consciousness. This might not bother some readers, but it really took me out of the story, which I was hardly into emotionally at all, because only two main characters seemed kind of genuine to me.
Anyhow. It’s not a book you can get lost in and will find yourself angry/happy/sad whenever something happens to a character, but it does make you think, so if that’s what you’re into.
(Also, what is up with Dick thinking the Germans could’ve colonized Mars and commute between countries and continents via space travel in what the 1950s or 60s?)
Despite that the world building is phenomenal (except for the visualisation of rebuilt San Fransisco) and the concept of the allies having lost the war brings a lot of thoughts loose of how it all could have been, there is something about Philip K. Dick’s choice for style that bugs me.
In Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep it was the excessive use of stutter and personalized speak and in The Man In The High Castle it’s the use of incorrect grammar. Most sentences are incomplete, probably due to the fact that thoughts of characters are put out there in a form of stream of consciousness. This might not bother some readers, but it really took me out of the story, which I was hardly into emotionally at all, because only two main characters seemed kind of genuine to me.
Anyhow. It’s not a book you can get lost in and will find yourself angry/happy/sad whenever something happens to a character, but it does make you think, so if that’s what you’re into.
(Also, what is up with Dick thinking the Germans could’ve colonized Mars and commute between countries and continents via space travel in what the 1950s or 60s?)
itmadimay's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5