The Man in the High Castle (a book review post)

As I've said previously, any good adaptation should make you at least curious about the source material, hopefully beyond, "Oh, it was based on some book," though I'm sure, people in general not being much for reading, that's where most people stop. But not me!

And, well, looking at the list of books PKD wrote, I can see that I haven't read enough of his works anyway.

Let's just get it out of the way that the Amazon series is only loosely based on the book, which is fine when that's what you set out to do and how you present it. The series, being a format which is ongoing, is able to do a little bit more with some of the concepts Dick introduced. But don't think that if you've watched the series that you have any idea of what the book is really about. You should definitely read the book.

The obvious premise of the book has to do with what the world might be like if the Axis powers had won World War II. That's a frightening thought, isn't it? What would the world be like under a totalitarian rule that covered most of the planet? It's a theme that unexpectedly resonates with our current political climate. Unexpectedly, because we all thought we had put that kind of shit behind us long ago, but here we are with a president (#fakepresident) with all of the leanings of a fascist dictator. If only, you know, people (Democrats) would just get out of his way and let him take over the world.

But I digress...

The book is fascinating on many levels, but Dick's use of language is one of the most interesting aspects. The characters are loosely grouped into two categories: the Japanese and the German, though the individual characters are not necessarily Japanese or German. When the focus is on one of the characters in the Japanese group, the prose (not just the dialogue) is stilted. There's a noticeable lack of articles. The dialogue and prose when centered on one of the German-side characters is fairly standard. There also seems to be a difference in thought processes from one side to the other, but it's possible that's just the prose speaking.

Then there are the characters: a Jew hiding out in Japanese territory under an assumed name, which is still not safe, because the Japanese and Nazis are ostensibly allies and it's routine for Jews to get sent to Germany for extermination when discovered; a "white," which is how the Japanese think of Americans in the part of America they control (just a white), small business owner who is enamored of Japanese culture and thinks they deserve to be in charge; a Swedish businessman on a trade mission to San Francisco; and more, but that should give you a taste. Almost none of the characters are precisely what they seem, though, an experience possibly like pulling on a rope only to find out it's a snake as it gets closer to you.

There's also a question as to what is or what constitutes reality, something Dick frequently does. You can see this just by looking at the basic question, "What would it be like if the Axis powers had won World War II?" But, within the book, there is a book which asks the question, "What would it be like if the Allied powers had won World War II?" The different perspectives on the answer to that question are interesting, to say the least, and they're not always what you would expect.

Maybe not as much as, say, 1984 or Brave New World, but this is definitely a book for our time and definitely worth a read. And I'm again reminded that I should really explore of PKD's works.

Abandoned Places: Maunsell Forts, Star Wars, and "The Magic Cookies"

The Maunsell Forts were both naval and army forts designed by Guy Maunsell. The naval forts (like the Knock John fort pictured below) were primarily used to spot German air raids and prevent them from laying mines in the Thames. Yes, they did that by plane. The forts were built in dry dock, floated out into the estuary, and sunk there. The army forts (like the Red Sands forts pictured above) were designed as anti-aircraft batteries and three were also located in the Thames estuary; the other three were in the Mersey estuary. The forts were responsible for shooting down 22 aircraft and 30 "flying bombs" (basically, an early version of the cruise missile and kind of fascinating). Though the forts were decommissioned in the 1950s, many of them still stand today.

Photo Credits for 3-6 to Wayne Barry under the linked license.

Some of the abandoned places I would most like to see are the abandoned Star Wars "on location" movie sets in Tunisia. Your probably wondering, now, why I'm mentioning this under "M" and not "S," but there's a simple explanation. Most of what you can actually go visit these days are the sets that were used as Mos Espa in The Phantom Menace. Some of these are actual ruins themselves:

This is Ksar (meaning castle) Hadada which was used for exterior shots of the slave quarters outside Mos Espa.

Here are some other abandoned sets from Mos Espa:

Mos Espa photo credits to John Roberts and used under the linked license.

And it's time for some magic cookies!

"The Magic Cookies" is a fun little, short story that always has people laughing when I've read out loud. Sure, the middle schoolers laugh unabashedly, but any adults have also always laughed in spite of trying not to. Just take my word for it; you want to read this. Besides, there's a grain of truth to this one. Okay, maybe more than a grain. Hey, it's not even a $1.00.
Plus! You get a bonus vampire story from Briane Pagel! How can you lose?
Also, the cover was designed and made by one of my creative writing students. He's in 8th grade. Didn't he do a great job!

Abandoned Places: Kalavantin Durg

Photo credit to Rohit Gowaikar and used under the linked agreement.

Rising up to 2300 feet, Kalavantin Durg is older than it is tall. The fort is not much more than a cave built on the pinnacle of the jutting stone that gives a spectacular view of the surrounding lands, which is probably what it was built for. It's said, though, that it was built for a princess or, possibly, a queen: Kalavantin, but there are no historical records to back that up. The only up to the fort is the "Climb to Heaven," narrow, hand-carved stairs that take hours to climb.

Photo credit to [selvin] and used under the linked license agreement.

As an added bonus, the ghost town Kolmanskop:

Kolmanskop is located in the Namib desert much in the same way as the diamond that caused it to spring into existence: it was just lying there. A railway worker found it in 1908 and turned it over to his German supervisor, leading to a flood of German diamond miners and a quickly flourishing town. But the field was mostly depleted by the end of World War I and completely abandoned by the 1950s. Since then, it has been featured in a number of films and TV shows.