I seem to have seen a flurry of references to this book recently and realised that, in addition to never having read it I didn’t even know anything of the plot except for the ever-cited bit about it being set in an alternative universe where the Allies lost the Second World War. It seemed like about time I got with it.

I’d never read any of Dick’s other books before either so I wasn’t really sure what to expect and even quite a long way into the book I wasn’t really sure where the plot was going. In places I found it an interesting easy read and in others I found it pretty arduous with characters I struggled to keep straight. I definitely missed a lot of what was going on - it’s got that English Literature text vibe where you could easily reread it several times and get entire new perspective out of it each time. I can see why it’s highly regarded and on the whole I liked it even if I personally found it all a bit too disjoint for my tastes. There’s so many different threads and I’d have liked more details on some of them.

I’m glad I read it and am up to date with popular culture as of, um, 1962. It all felt kind of surreal but I feel like it’s a book that’s only getting more believable the further away in time we get from the events.