Book Review: The Man in the High Castle and Philosophy Edited by Bruce Krajewski & Joshua Heter

The Man in the High Castle and Philosophy Edited by Bruce Krajewski & Joshua Heter

Paperback, 256 pages

Published July 2017 by Open Court

This book was published in a series of books that explore the ideas of popular movies and TV shows. In my role as Co-host of the Dickheads podcast, I interviewed the co-editor of this book and he was kind enough to send us copies. The essays range in quality but the overall package is pretty insightful. They range from good to terrible just like short story collections. This book is mostly focused on the TV show and that is perhaps the least interesting aspect of Man in the High Castle. Looking at the philosophy of PKD and the book are far more interesting. Certainly, this book does touch on comparisons with the book and more than a few of the writers take on our boy Phil.

The book is divided into six major sections each of which has a title that plays on PKD titles. the two best and most rich sections to me were "The World Dick Made" and "Flow my Tears the Ethicist Said. Each of these sections had the most interesting essays that explored the concepts in the most fascinating ways. The least interesting section has several essays devoted to the I Ching called "Captives of Unchance." I mean that was kinda my least favorite aspect of the novel.

I did find my self noticing moments here and there in various essays when the author didn't even get the events or timeline of the TV show correct. One could argue that maybe they viewed the show from another reality but I doubt that. The best most informed essays made the best experiences. My three favorite essays were "Cruel Optimism and the Good Nazi Life" by Lukasz Muniowski, "What If your Hero Is a Fascist" by Bruce Krajewski, and "In the Neutral Zone, a Libertarian's Home is Their High Castle" by M. Blake Wilson.

Cruel Optimism and the Good Nazi Life deals with John Smith the American turned Nazi and Frank Fink the Jewish man on the west coast. There is room for more discussion here but introduces the ideas. Something we dealt with on the podcast at length was the idea that PKD was rightfully hard on the Nazis but gave the Japanese a pass in the narrative.

"What If your Hero Is a Fascist" is one we talk about in length during the interview with co-editor and author of this piece Bruce Krajewski. (Link below) Bruce uses quotes from PKD late in his life to point to statements he made that on the surface appear to support fascist leaders. Many of his quotes are disturbing but anyone who followed the man's life knows he contradicts himself. Either way those of us who are Dickheads need to contend with this.

Most interesting is one with a mile long title "In the Neutral Zone, a Libertarian's Home is Their High Castle." This author really thinks PKD is a libertarian. At least the author of this piece understands that PKD is all over the map with his views. This was one of the better researched and thought-out essays.

This is a cool read for anyone really wanting to dive into ideas behind the show and the novel. I think this is one that should be in libraries, I ask for it at your library, see if they can order it.