Man in the High Castle

Philip K. Dick's novel about an alternative history in which the Axis powers defeat the Allies in WW II is characterized by speculations on the nature of reality in the context of the I Ching and the differences between Western and Eastern philosophy.

Is it Science Fiction? Is it Fantasy? Is it neither? See below for a PDF of notes on Dick and this novel, including images from the new TV adaptation created by Amazon Prime as well as an explanation of the other "alternate history" contained in the novel within the novel by Hawthorne Abendsen, titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.

Characters in The Man in the High Castle include:

• Baynes: a Germany spy who is traveling under cover to pass info to a Japanese spy.
• Tedeki: the Japanese spy (and semi-retired military man).
• Tagomi: a Japanese trade official in San Francisco, who thinks that Baynes is there to talk about business.
• Hugo Reiss: a German diplomat in San Francisco.
• Bruno Kreuz vom Meere: the commander of the German secret police in San Francisco.
• Frank Frink: secretly a Jew (which is dangerous when the Nazis win) and an excellent craftsman of fake antiques and jewelry.
• Ed McCarthy: Frank's friend, a foreman with ideas for a jewelry business.
• Wyndam-Matson: Frank's ex-boss who runs a factory that makes fake antiques.
• Rita: A woman in a sexual relationship with Wyndham-Matson.
• Childan: a dealer in American antiques (who doesn't know how many fakes there are) and also kind of a racist against the Japanese (who are his best clients).
• Paul and Betty Kasoura: a young Japanese couple with excellent taste in American culture.
• Juliana Frink: Frank's ex-wife, who now teaches Judo in the Rocky Mountain States.
• Joe Cinnadella: a Nazi assassin who fakes being an Italian truck driver.
• Hawthorne Abendsen: an author who wrote a book about what the world would be like if the Nazis lost, titled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.
• Caroline Abendsen: Hawthorne's wife.