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I’ve only recently become interested in science fiction, and I find it particularly fun to read the “classics” like Clark and Heinlein because of the way these they end up imagining what their future, our present, will be like. I’d been aware of Phillip K. Dick for a while, but just now got around to reading something by him.
The Man in the High Castle is an alternate reality story set 20 years after Japan and Germany win World War II and co-occupy America. This is not a plot-driven book, so most of it is rather uneventful. But what I found interesting is Dick’s portrayal of various people and their stuggle to be who they are. One character that we’re sympathetic to early on (he’s a white businessman trying to fit in under Japanese occupation) turns out to be a real dirtbag any way you slice it. Other characters are initially set up as antagonists, but revealed to be very complex and sympathetic. Dick’s skill with characterization is pretty evident.
And then there’s a bunch of metaphysical stuff about alternate realities, truth, and humankind’s struggle to perceive. Kind of interesting and thought-provoking, but too vague for my tastes. Apparently this kind of thing is Dick’s forte, though, so while I’ll probably read at least one more of his books (I have “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” in the queue), it may wear thin.
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