The Man in the High Castle (1962) By Philip K. Dick

 

Alternative History is a distinct genre in literature. Perhaps the best known of the novels in its canon is Philip Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Written in 1962, the novel supposed a “what if” take on World War II, one where the Axis forces were victorious over the Allied armies.

Another novel in this genre is Shattered Nation by Jeffrey Brooks which presents a different ending to the American Civil War. While these novels are works of fiction, they cause one to realize that current events have consequences, it’s best to pay attention to them. Never is that warning more dire than now, 2026.

Dick’s novel begins by massively undoing American history with a very big “what if.”  What if Franklin D. Roosevelt died by assassination in 1933, shortly after being sworn in to the first of what was four terms as President. How would that impact the Great Depression, the implementation of the New Deal, the entry and outcome of World War II, and a myriad of other events?

This alternative history changes the dynamics of many major events – starting with an economically crippling task of rebuilding a U.S. Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The aftermath of appeasement of Hitler and Mussolini by European powers and a continued isolationist policy by the United States government.

To imagine the results of this changed history, the west coast of America has become a Japanese ruled colony, the east coast becomes a German ruled colony, and the Rocky Mountain States of the former US have been basically ignored, becoming of a no man’s land, ostensibly governed by German appointees. Churchill is portrayed as a doddering old man, the Soviet leaders of the era are neutered, and Africa is being razed for farm land. Tensions remain however because while Germany and Japan are victorious allies, Germany is the undisputed technical and military heavy weight, with missions to Mars taking place; while Japan plays the cooperative junior partner, though is clearly resentful, playing the long game.

Hitler had died soon after the end of the war, now his heir Martin Bormann has also died. As this story begins, the battle of succession takes place.

Dick tells his complicated story through a few rebellious characters operating in the San Francisco and Denver areas, outnumbered but growing. These rebels are fans of a banned book titled The Grass Hopper Lies Heavy, written by Hawthorne Abendsen, a professor and author safely hiding away in the High Castle in the Rocky Mountains. Abendsen’s book tells an alternative history, one where the Allies won the war, and the Axis lost.

There are lots of subtracts in this book about the practices of I Ching, the Book of Changes, which was trendy when Dick authored the book.

Recommendation: Yes. 

The Great Railway Bazaar (1975) By Paul Theroux

 

One needs to read the wikipedia biography of author Paul Theroux prior to attempting his well-known book The Great Railway Bazaar. It is not just a book about trains, or even necessarily a travelogue. It is more like a time capsule; a sociological observation of the world as perceived in the early 1970s.

His journal begins as Theroux leaves London to travel across Europe and Asia and back, on a rather epic train trip which will take nearly four months. He will give lectures on English and American literature in cities along the way.

He left a Great Britain that at the time was in decline, its Empire days long over, its economy struggling. The train will go to the coast of England on rail, but since the English Chunnel is still decades away, he will have to take a boat to the shore in France before his train ride will really begin. Once in Paris, he will board the famed Orient Express, or should I say its remnants as it too has declined with the times and the aftermath of two world wars. Still, it remains somewhat good traveling, though no longer an Express – while one stays on the train, one changes countries, operators, and quality, as it makes its way to the outskirts of Istanbul.

He clearly liked the multi-cultural and urbane aspects of Istanbul, one foot in Europe, the other in Asia. And he clearly did not like the trip segments in the rest of Turkey and northern Iran, with nothing good to say about Afghanistan or Pakistan. His experiences in India, just twenty some years after Independence is a mix of highs and lows. Urban environments left over from the British occupation of Delhi, and extreme poverty throughout the rest of the country. He will again have to resort to boat trips to cross to Sri Lanka and on to what was then called Burma. Travels in Thailand and on the Malay peninsula down to Singapore were better and somewhat unified. Cambodia does not have a well-developed rail system. His trips in Vietnam from Saigon up to Danang are greatly limited because the country was still a war zone in the early seventies.

From Vietnam he will again travel by ship, this time to Japan, which he covers extensively from bottom to top, before transferring across to Vladivostok at the western edge of Russia, where he boards another famous rail line, the Trans-Siberian Express, to Moscow, then trains to Berlin and back to London.

While that is the geography of the trip, his interactions with other passengers, from luxury class to cars that bordered on freight cars is of equal importance in the book. His commentary is biting at times, in fact most of the time. My initial reaction to this was that it was routine American arrogance, but then I had to stop and ask myself: why is this man even associating with poor people, and doing it well? Turns out he wasn’t just “slumming” as a rich tourist, his background was as a journalist, with a history as a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 1960s in Mali and Angola before moving on to Singapore. His interests and abilities to connect with people were real, as were even his harsh commentaries, not only on the populace but also of the so-called “developed” world.

Recommendation: Yes, though it is not always a pleasant read, it is definitely an interesting one.