[easyazon_infoblock align=”left” cart=”y” cloak=”y” identifier=”B00JV1CG6A” locale=”US” localize=”y” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”ballweddflat-20″]This series on Prime Video was a real temptation for binge watching but one can’t spend all the time in front of a screen. Theoretically…

The Man In The High Castle was published in 1962. It is one of a few Philip K. Dick books made into movies and it won a Hugo Award in 1963, the only one of his 44 novels to do so.

Since 2009, the movies produced from Dick’s books have made over a billion dollars, yet like many writers this author lived a life of constant financial struggle. Certainly drug use and abuse would not have helped that factor.

Philip K. Dick experienced a variety of mind sets and perceived reality — differently and in fact questioned “reality” all his life.

His experiences give his stories and characters a multi-layering of depths and qualities.

“The Man In The High Castle” at first appears to be a story of a very hard set society. The Axis powers have won WWII and divvied up the US. Conformity is one hundred percent demanded, on pain of death.

Ironically one of the highly placed controllers throws the I Ching and meditates for mental clarity, going against the rigid no-need-to-think political cult of fascism.

The readers’/viewers’ sympathies follow the Resistance fighters in their struggles to find a way to overcome their domination.

The Prime Video series was produced by Electric Shepherd Productions, a company owned by the author’s estate. Ridley Scott is an executive producer and his influence is very apparent in the look and feel of the ten episodes.

Philip K. Dick died of two strokes in 1982. His ashes were buried next to his twin sister Jane’s, who had died shortly after their birth 53 years earlier.

The novel is available in hardback form, paperback and on Kindle. The First Book Club Edition, 1962 is a collector’s item.

A First Book Club Edition