Trés Hermanos

Just finished chapter 4, and I've now been introduced to all three brothers. Interesting to see the disparate paths and personalities of the three. To me, Dmitri seem most like Papa Karamazov, while Ivan and Alyosha are further removed. I'm looking forward to the three brothers meeting, to see how the personalities play out. What was Dostoevsky commenting on with each Karamazov? Not sure on Dmitri, but Ivan seems to symbolize academia and Alyosha, the church. 

Cracking into Dusty Effsky

Good afternoon, gentlemen. If you have a thought or two to post about The Man in the High Castle, feel free to do so. Would love to hear other folks' thoughts on PKD's alternative history novel. Those ready to crack on, our next book is Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Post as you read. Huzzah!

Childan and Capitalism

I too find Childan to be one of the most interesting characters. He clearly resents the Japanese authority in the PSA, yet works the hardest to assimilate and acquiesce. His internal monologue even mimics the stunted speech pattern of the Japanese American dialect. Paul Kiourasa (sic) speaks more clearly than Childan when discussing the jewelry Childan brought for his wife (weird). Speaking of the Edfrink jewelry, I found that whole exchange between Childan and Ed to be a bit of an indictment of American capitalism. PKD certainly casts an unfavorable light on fascism and tradition for the sake of tradition, but Childan's exploitation of Ed vilifies him (at least to me). It demonstrates this whole attitude of "well, I'm getting fucked over by other people, so I have to do the same." Nasty side of capitalism. More so Ayn Randian objectivism. 

Thoughts?

I'm about 3/4ths through the book. Baynes has been discovered and Juliana is on her way to meet the author of The Grasshopper. 

Grasshoppers and such

I'm not reading the book as much as I'd like to. Took a break to read Jason Aaron and Jason Latour's Southern Bastards comic book trades (highly recommend), and William Golding's Lord of the Flies (I assigned it to my sophomores). 

After the brief detour, I jumped back in. Really liking the characters more and more. Just introduced to Reiss. His outrage at the "alternative history" in the Grasshopper book was well-described. Was he pissed because it cast Hitler as wrong, or pissed that he might agree with the assertion deep down? Frink's slinging jewelry now, and still pining for Juliana. I dig that inner monologue. Wanting to send her the jewelry on a "professional basis" for her to model, but you can tell he loves her and hopes that when she sees his handiwork she might love him again. 

Historicity

The flood of forged americana in the PSA reminds me of Warren Ellis' novel Gun Machine. The story takes place in modern Manhattan, but spends a good deal of time referring back to the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. The indigenous people of Manahatta used wampum (beaded belts) as their currency. When the Dutch realized this, they began "flooding the market" with forgeries, eventually collapsing the whole economy. Mr. W-M lectures his date on the notion of "historicity"; that is, the history of an object is what makes it valuable, but if someone is lead to believe  an item has history, then it becomes valuable, despite its authenticity. 

Syphilis=God's Sardonic Vengeance

I've seen plenty of the films adapted from PKD's novels, but the only one of his books I attempted to read was, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Never finished that one. Got turned on to another book. As far as I could tell, it was about a man that wanted to own a real sheep. I wish I'd stuck it out.

It took me about 2 1/2 chapters to truly get into Man in the High Castle. Bit frustrating at first, as PKD plops us down into this pre-existing world without explaining a whole lot. And as challenging as this was, I appreciated it. Too often our stories are spoon-fed to us, with excessive backstory shoveled within the first few pages. PKD allows the characters to fill in the backstory.

I think that Mr. Blayne's exchange with the artist was my favorite moment in the novel thus far. The artist claims that abstract, Pre-War art was an art of decadence leading to the degradation of society's moral fiber, and that the current art coming out of Germany was ideal, as it focused on the day-to-day details, or minutiae. This is ironic, because Mr. Blayne points out that in their pursuit and destruction of Jews, the Nazis were only concerned with the abstract; they weren't focused or concerned about the details, strictly looking at the bigger picture. After the genocide, the Nazis quickly shifted gears to focus on technology and space exploration. PKD (through Blayne) posits the Nazis desire to be God.

On a different note, I'm digging notion of citizens, both Japanese and non-Japanese alike, in the PSA consulting the oracle on a regular basis. It's a system I'd like to more about. I just moved past the part where Frink receives a mixed message from the Oracle (don't want to say too much as I'm not sure where everyone else is in the novel).

That's all I got for now. Sorry if I went too serious with that post.

Oh yeah, the title of the post. Juliana refers to Hitler's contracting syphilis as God's sardonic vengeance.  Thought it was a great line. Plus, I always forget what "sardonic" means. I'm pretty sure I'll remember it now, thinking of Hitler's demise due to VD.

Matt:
I'm not completely sure what the best way to respond to posts are. I figure this one would be a little too long for the comment section, so I just decided I'd post under yours in a different font, but whatever everyone thinks works best for them should be the way to go. 

I have neither read any PKD books nor seen any of the movies adapted from his works (sci fi is not generally my genre). Although, I did look up what exactly had been adapted and found that Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? became Blade Runner, and I had had no idea sheep ownership was a prominent theme in that movie. 

It took me a while to get into the novel as well, although it's difficult for me to fully articulate what exactly was frustrating me. You're right that he doesn't provide a lot of the backstory and really relies on the characters to provide the narrative pipe-laying, and it leads to a style that reads slightly noir. You're left piecing together the world with the characters, but I found myself wanting this science fiction world to be fully immersive and evident. Dammit, I wanted to know more about why there are rocket ships but no tvs! Or more about the war itself and about the world map (so the Rocky Mountain States are free?) Perhaps I was looking to be spoon fed, but at times it felt that he had bitten off more than he could chew. Between trying to define this new world and the characters themselves, it feels as though everything is a little one dimensional, and that what he does in one page really needs four pages to be fully fleshed out. 

I have found Robert Childan the most interesting thus far, as he struggles with how he defines himself. It's an interesting take on how catastrophic being treated as the lesser really is on a person's psyche. Even if the Japanese are not openly hostile to the Americans in the PSA, the Americans end up taking on the subservient role and try to behave in a more Japanese fashion. Childan's inner monologues about behaving appropriately (more "Japanese" and less like the "white barbarian") have been fascinating. 

I do have to say though, I find a lot of the dialogue tedious, with the exception being that excellent conversation between Baynes and the artist, Lotze. In the case of the Japanese characters, the broken english tends to make them caricatures and their love of American kitsch seems reductive.  

Is this where I post Oregon Militia homo erotic fan fiction ?

....So, I was polishing my 50AE Desert Eagle, with custom oak grips and "Alexander Hamilton's Papa" engraved on the muzzle, when Ammon walks in and gently caressing the inner thigh of my Cabela's camo cargo pants says "Almost didn't see you there"...

No, this is strictly for book postings. I'm sure the Oregon militia has its own blogspot.