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A
straightforward, accessible explanation of the realities of human
biological diversity *Human
Diversity Richard Lewontin
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Computer
crime is a complex problem in perverse behaviour compounded by
the incredible complexity of the technology * Fighting
Computer Crime: A New Framework
for Protecting Information Donn B. Parker
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"...we've
been here for only about a million years, we, the first species
that has devised the means for its self-destruction." * Earth
Time David Suzuki
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Who says they don't write
space operas like they used to ?
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The
future just isn't what it used to be * Luminous
Greg Egan |
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Science
fiction is about imagining the present through the lens of a speculative
future *Foundation
(trilogy)
Isaac Asimov
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Rendezvous
with Rama Arthur
C Clarke |
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One of
science fiction's most compelling sub-genres is a small area
called 'alternative history'. It basically posits the 'what
if…" scenario. What if computers had been invented in the 19th
century? What if John F. Kennedy had lived? What if, let's suppose,
that Germany and Japan had won World War 2? The publication
of Niall Ferguson's authoritative Virtual History, a
collection of essays by up-and-coming history profs going wild
with the 'what if's' of historical turning points, is just one
example of academia catching up with sci-fi. Philip K. Dick's
The Man In The High Castle was published in 1962 and is probably
one of the finest examples of the genre.
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The Man
in the High Castle Philip K. Dick Random House 0 679740 67
8 [9780679740674] RRP $25.75
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Dick was an
infuriatingly variable talent, given to the most dreadful pulp
fiction ramblings and drug-induced inconsistency. But even at
his worst, his sci-fi always contained at least one great idea.
Even a marginal work like The Zap Gun, a tough read for
even the most dedicated fan, is a good case in point. Dick discussed
at length the possibility of the end of the cold war and the diversion
of money from the weapons industry into… domestic, electronic
games where the player has an empathic reaction to the fate of
a small bear guided through a maze. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Perhaps the designers of PlayStation have a copy on their shelves.
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But unlike
Dick at his worst, The Man In The High Castle is the author
at his very best. We're confronted with not just one good idea,
but many. It's also a beautifully written book, subtly weaving
together Dick's trademarks: reality, spirituality and the concepts
of self - a hall of distorting mirrors that questions not just
the framework of this particular strand of alternative history
(Germany wins the war) but also ours. What, indeed, is reality?,
asks Dick.
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The book opens in the
late 1950s with America a conquered nation. On the west coast
the Japanese control everything from neutral Canada, south to
an Axis-allied Mexico and west to the California-Arizona border.
The Germans run the east coast from their headquarters in New
York to the mid west. Down the middle is a Vichy Free France style
American state, neutered and powerless, the last vestige of the
pre-war USA. The rest of the world is in darkness, Dick letting
in only the tiniest details of what's going on.
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The Man in The High
Castle mostly avoids the big picture politics of this alternative
history. Instead, Dick focuses on the interweaving lives of the
novels characters - the owner of a shop specialising in pre-war
American antiques of dubious authenticity, a jeweller and his
business partner who supply the shop, an undercover German agent
, a divorcee on the run and the Japanese customers of the antique
shop.
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Behind all
of this is the shadowy presence of an author hiding out in the
mid-west. A book has been published called The Grasshopper
Lies Heavy, a science fiction novel that dares to wonder what
the world would have been like if the Allies had won the war.
As the Japanese characters (who have taken on westernised names)
explain:
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"Interesting form of
fiction possibly within genre of science fiction," said Paul.
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"Oh no," Betty disagreed.
"No science in it. Nor set in future. Science fiction deals with
future, in particular future where science has advanced over now.
Book fits neither premise."
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"But," Paul said, "it
deals with alternate present. Many well-known science fiction
novels of that sort."
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As
Dick's novel progresses, more of the book within the book is
revealed. The alternative history that The Grasshopper Lies
Heavy presents is yet another alternative - the outcome
of the Allies winning the war is achieved in a distinctly different
way to the one we are familiar with. And, perhaps, in the book
within the book, is another science fiction author presenting
another version of events. It's a mirror reflecting a mirror
into infinity, each diminishing reality subtly different to
the one proceeding it.
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Dick's prose is lucid
and controlled with a nuanced shading of character, detail and
plot that few other sci-fi novels have achieved. The author poses
variations of his main theme which belie the pulp, 1950s ambience
of some of the later action. The Man In The High Castle
is a testament to the possibilities of the science fiction genre,
taking bold steps in directions few have been able to follow.
The tragedy here is that Dick was rarely better and in the wake
of Blade Runner, released the year of the author's death in the
early 1980s, the focus of appreciation has centred on his more
obvious sci-fi writings. Although never truly terrible, Dick was
given to rehashing his own work. He had planned a sequel to The
Man In The High Castle that never eventuated. Luckily, with
the book still in print, we can appreciate a writer at the height
of his craft
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