The Man in the High Castle

[Been Jammin]

Anyone read the book? I just started it, and it hasn't totally grabbed me just yet, but I have read strong reviews. I figure it will pick up the pace soon. Just wondering what you guys thought of it if you have read it.

I know it is a newly released show on Amazon, but I am doing some traveling over the next couple of months and have been looking for a good book, so I am not planning to watch.

 

[cornichon]

I actually haven't read any Philip K. Dick stuff. I've seen several movies based on his work, but for whatever reason, I've never gone back and picked up the original. I do think the Amazon show looks pretty awesome. I'll be curious to hear what you think of the book.

I know you've also read the Expanse series, and that show starts on SyFy next month. I'm really looking forward to that as well.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

The Amazon show has received good reviews.

 

[Been Jammin]

Ok, just finished the book, and I would not recommend it. Pretty disjointed. Characters are interesting, but I didn't really find myself to be emotionally invested in any of them. When it was all over, it felt like nothing had really happened.

One big issue I had was that there was so much Asian culture incorporated into some of the characters that it made it hard to get inside their heads. Their ways of thinking and acting were simply too different from my own.

 

[gipraw]

We watched the first episode last night. Good enough to watch a few more for sure.

 

[HopkinsPoke]

Really good show IMO. Not sure what to make of the sci fi aspects of the movies but certainly looking forward to season 2

 

[Been Jammin]

Watched the first episode. Already like it much more than the book. You get a little more background on some of the key characters, and see a lot of what is going on in the part of the U.S. that is controlled by the Reich. In the book, there is not a single scene that takes place in that part of the U.S. It is all set in western U.S (controlled by Japan) and in the neural zone. There is discussion of events occurring in Germany, but very little reference to anything happening in eastern U.S.

One interesting difference between book and film is that...in the book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a book, but in the TV series it is a film. This makes a huge difference to the story. In the book, it is an alternate reality that was dreamed up by the author. In the show, it appears that it is much more than that (since there is footage of the Axis powers losing the war).