The Man in the High Castle

I read this Philip K. Dick classic after watching the Amazon series that was based on it. Whew! It's a completely different experience, and reaffirms my commitment to reading the books that films and TV shows are based on.

The premise is that Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated in 1934 and the Axis powers won World War II. Thus, what used to be the United States is divided into the Eastern two thirds which is ruled by Nazi Germany, the Pacific States which are ruled by Japan, and a buffer zone of Western non-coastal states which are a kind of free for all where agents of both super powers roam.

There are several plots underway in this dystopian world. One involves the Japanese trade minister in San Francisco, Tagomi, who is drawn into hosting a secret meeting between a German official and a supposedly retired Japanese general. Tagomi is a contemplative man who consults the I Ching regularly about his decisions. He experiences a crisis in his world view, partly as a result of the situation with the German official and the Japanese general, and partly through his dealings with Robert Childan, an antiques dealer.

Robert Childan, Frank Frink a skilled metalworker, and Julianna Frink his ex-wife, all have pieces of the plot which lead them to crises in their lives, both physical and spiritual. They are all touched, to some degree, by a popular and subversive book called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, which shows the Allies winning World War II. The I Ching is also in wide use in this novel, even being said to have written The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.

The book ends without wrapping everything up in a bow or answering many questions. So much is left to the reader's imagination. I've read several Goodreads reviews where people were frustrated by that, but I think it is pretty effective. I am prompted to speculate about what this book means, if anything. What are the consequences or next steps for these characters? What will they value differently in their lives? In the Amazon TV show there is a fully fledged resistance movement, but there isn't one in the book. Could a Resistance arise out of the experiences of these characters and others?