The world created by Philip K. Dick in The Man in the High Castle is fascinating, horrible, and mundane all at the same time. A lot of people just go about their daily lives, accepting the fact that the war has been won by the Axis powers and that the United States is now under Japanese and Nazi control. 
 I was inspired to read this book after watching the Amazon series. Call me shallow, but I enjoyed the series much more. Maybe I just didn't get the book. There's also the letdown factor, as the plotlines are dramatically different than what I'd already seen (for example, New York isn't ever shown here and there's no John Smith). 
 I'll be honest and say that I think a lot of the meaning of this book may have gone right over my head. Then again, the incessant references to the I Ching drove me a bit batty, and some of the ways in which the Nazis have changed and destroyed the world seem just too far-fetched. Not the atrocities, but things like draining the Mediterranean and turning it into farmland. 
 I think I'd need to put a lot more thought and effort into puzzling out the layers of this book in order to fully appreciate it, and I'm afraid that I just don't care enough to do so. This book isn't dull, and parts are truly thought-provoking. It's not a simple read, and not one that I'd likely recommend to anyone looking for casual entertainment.