The Man in the High Castle

By: Philip K. Dick

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Now an Amazon Original series

Winner of the Hugo Award

"The single most resonant and carefully imagined book of Dick's career." --New York Times

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war - and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it, Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake.

©1962 Philip K. Dick, © renewed 1990 by Laura Coelho, Christopher Dick, and Isa Hackett. (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

I am

A huge fan of the Amazon series so getting this to be able to understand the source versus the series was great. Highly entertaining and recommended for series fans

Not as good as the series

I probably should have listened to the audio book before watching the series (all three seasons). The book does not go into the parallel universe aspect much at all. If you are looking for a story anything like the series, you will be disappointed. If you have not watched the series, then listen to the book first, and then watch the series for a completely different (and IMHO, better) experience.

I was expecting so much more....

This book seemed largely unfinished. When I was done, I felt cheated somehow like an empty fried mozzarella stick.

The reading is great, but the show is better

I have read Phillip K. Dick before, and loved it. I bought the audio book as I have often had the experience that the literature is more entertaining than the show or movie. I was wrong in this instance.

The premise is very intriguing and one of the reasons I like the show, but the characters in the book are somewhat hallow or one dimensional lacking realism or depth (with the minor exception of Mr. Tagomi). There are so many characters and the story is so short that the majority of character development is lacking, making the plot more watered down than I had expected. The voice actor did a marvelous job trying to breath life into an otherwise drab literature.

good

the book was good, had some interesting thoughts about history and makes you think. I would reccomend

Good but not great

I'm a historian and love to ask the question "what if" a lot so when I heard of this book I had to read it. It's not what I expected especially after seeing previews for a Netflix show based off the book. The show looks a lot more appealing.

Different than Amazon Show

I read this book a while ago, so this was my second time through. I was admittedly intrigued to get back into it after hearing about the Amazon show. Unlike the Amazon show, the book is not over-loaded with violence. If you are looking for a replica of the show with a lot of death and violence, you will not find that here. PKD creates the world through the characters. It's entirely character based (some violence toward the end), and the flow is different.

I found the listen rather engaging, although I did not like Jeff Cummings voice for Juliana. I don't know what it is with male narrators impersonating females, but they rarely do an adequate job. He does make his voices rather distinct, however, so you have the advantage of knowing who's speaking.

Tip: If you zone out 20% of the time while listening like I do, Schmoop has a free summary by chapter of the text online. I found this invaluable so that I could stay with various story-lines throughout the text. PKD changes POV frequently.

(WHY IS THE SHOW SO VIOLENT???)

Narration wasn't great

Would you consider the audio edition of The Man in the High Castle to be better than the print version?

I can't judge the audio vs. print because I have only listened to the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Man in the High Castle?

The murder of the Nazi spy was pretty memorable, and a turning point I think.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was not great and while the narrator tried to distinguish the characters, but some were lost. At one point I was lost between two characters having a discussion.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The ending was terrible! I felt like I was left hanging! But over all the ideas presented were very intriguing!

Anticlimactic

it was well produced but I found it to be anticlimactic. I like dystopian alternative histories but I felt this needed more.

amazing performance, but aged story

I've heard this was critically acclaimed, so it was a must read, but maybe this isnt my type of thing.
There was a slow pace most of the book. and the ending felt unfufilling.
The accents were authentic though.