The Man in the High Castle

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE show on Amazon Prime made me want to check out the book on which it is based. The concept—an alternate reality where Nazi Germany and Japan won the Second World War—is incredibly fascinating and I wanted to gain further insight into this world and read the details the television show missed, as screen adaptations are wont to do.

Unfortunately, while the book started strong, giving the reader a more comprehensive view of this alternate universe, it lacked conflict and any major plot developments. Its characters—many familiar favorites from the series, such as Frank, Ed, Childan, Tagomi, Juliana and Joe—mainly wander from situation to situation, and simply exist in this world. There is no character growth, and where novels most often include a beginning, a middle and an end, this book seemed to end with events where most other books would be only half way completed.

Furthermore, the book is clearly an artifact of its time (first published in 1962), which is evident by its racist and sexist texts. Hiding behind a character who is a Nazi does not excuse gratuitous and offensive racism, and there are plenty of other ways to describe female characters that don't rely on their breasts' physical attributes (really—did we need a whole paragraph dedicated to our lead female's struggle with how to wear a new dress while lacking the correct undergarments and her worry of going without due to her “mature, size 38 bust”?)

If Phillip K. Dick (aptly named) had spent more time creating a legitimate story with actual conflict and crafting his world with detail than waxing on poetic about Juliana's beauty, bedroom antics, or breast size, we may have been gifted with a true treasure of a novel.

Instead, despite a highly disappointing series finale, I find myself amazed that the televised adaptation has more character development, conflict-driven plot, and overall is objectively superior to its source material.

The myth that the book is always better is debunked, and we have Mr. Dick to thank for that.