Book Review: The Man in the High Castle

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick was written back at the end of the 1950's and is set in an alternate world in 1962.  Since the last book review that I wrote, I had tried and failed to read through a couple of books, one being Jon Green's Turtles all the way down and the other being a history of quantum physics which seemed to be advertised as a biography of Wheeler and Bohr but seemed to be very much about Feynman up to the point that I had read and given up.
Anyway, so I was reminded about Dick's book, which had recently been made into a TV series, I believe, from something I had read on quantum physics even though there is nothing about quantum physics in The Man in the High Castle.  The only thing that is even close is if you were to think that Dick had tried to used the multiple worlds interpretation in his work although I don't think that was developed until much later.  In the alternate world, the Allies have lost World War II and Germany and Japan have divided the globe in half.  The story occurs in Japanese occupied California where there is intrigue afoot.  This alternate reality focuses on the horrors committed by Germans and extends them to logical consequences of the supremacist views and this would make riveting television in today's extremely polarized USA.
One of the items that is an important symbol in the book is the I Ching.  This oracle features prominently and is given god-like powers.  Although at the time, AI would have not been something that Dick would likely have known about, it does appear as if the I Ching functions partly in the way that the current AI technology (for example Machine Learning) works.
I enjoyed the book and plan to read some more of Dick's work since he is credited with writing science fiction in a "non-pulp" way.  Comparing this book with some of Asimov's or Clark's writings, Dick has a distinctly literary feel to his writing.  There is much focus on the emotionality of the characters; there is character development; there is literary allusion.  While Dick is characterized (and rightly so) as a science fiction writer, this book does not feel Sci-Fi because his prognostications about the future from a 1960 perspective are irrelevant to the modern reader.  The edition I read was unapologetic about the reader not knowing German.  I don't speak, but I have had enough exposure I can figure some things out.  But I feel like I missed the point (or possibly some inside joke) because of a lack of understanding.  Additionally, a good understanding of World War II is necessary to put the events of the book into context.  Millennials will probably struggle to get the WWII context.  But I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading something a bit challenging.