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1. Two books figure repeatedly in the novel. One of them is the "I Ching" or "Book of Changes", an ancient Chinese divination text, while the other is a best-selling novel set in an alternative world in which the Allies defeated the Axis in WWII. What's the title of this book?
2. The book opens in early 1960s' San Francisco, now occupied by the Japanese. Mr. Tagomi from the Japanese Trade Mission has 'phoned a shop run by Robert Childan that sells vintage Americana such as decorative objects and antiquities; he wants to know whether an item he ordered the previous week has arrived yet. What is the item?
3. Tagomi is expecting the arrival in San Francisco of Mr Baynes, a Swedish industrialist. He asks the "I Ching" for advice on how to deal with him; the oracle recommends giving him a small gift, but also intimates that he's a spy. What gift does Tagomi present to Baynes?
4. Frank Frink lives and works in San Francisco; he is also Jewish, although understandably he keeps this totally hidden. He works at the Wyndam-Matson metal works factory; what does he make there?
5. Juliana, Frink's ex-wife, lives in Canon City, Colorado, where she works as a part-time Judo instructor. One night she's in a diner and gets talking to two truckers. One of them - Joe - is young, of Italian descent with dark curly hair, and Juliana finds him disturbing and attractive. Joe stays the night with her, and next morning deliberately misses the departure of his mate in their truck. Watching him shower Juliana notices a prominent letter "C" tattooed on his shoulder, denoting that he took part in one of the most important and decisive battles of the war. Which battle in Africa was this?
6. Frink has got into a row with his employer but has reversed his decision to quit his job. He goes into the Wyndam-Matson factory to ask for it back, but without success. As he's collecting his tools a foreman, Ed McCarthy, presents him with a proposition to go into partnership with him. What would this partnership manufacture?
7. Frink and McCarthy need finance for equipment and materials for EdFrank Jewelery - a cash injection of at least a few thousand dollars. Frink immediately has an idea of what to do. How do they go about getting this money?
8. Suddenly there come announcements on the media that Reichschancellor Martin Borman has died. Although the political situation is still somewhat murky, the identity of his probable successor is announced. Who is it?
9. Baynes has been waiting for some weeks for the arrival from Japan of a man he is to meet in Tagomi's office. Eventually he arrives; he's not Mr Yatabe, an elderly civilian, he's actually General Tedeki, the former Imperial Chief of Staff. Baynes reveals himself to be Captain Wegener of the Reichs Naval Counter-Intelligence, and that he's come to San Francisco to brief Tedeki about Operation Dandelion, a plan that's being developed by the highest levels of German government. What is Operation Dandelion?
10. Unbeknownst to Wegener, Tedeki and Tagomi, the German Security Service, the S.D., has become aware of their presence in San Francisco and has been directly ordered by Reichschancellor Goebbels to arrest Wegener. Thus the three men are winding up their meeting when Tagomi's aide tells him via the office intercom that a gang of Germans have invaded the building - presumably looking for them. The three men prepare themselves; what happens next?
11. Frink is having a cigarette outside the EdFrank Jewelry works when he's approached by a middle-aged man. What does the man do?
12. On their way to meet Hawthorne Abendsen, Joe becomes increasingly rabid in his praise of Germany, Mussolini and the Fascists. They stop off at Denver to do some shopping; Joe goes to the hairdresser's and returns with what is clearly his natural blonde hair. Juliana is feeling an increasing sense of dread, and realises that Joe is in fact a German agent sent to assassinate Abendsen. What does she do?
13. Tagomi goes to Childan's shop to return the gun with which he shot the two Germans, but Childan refuses it. Childan presses him to look as EdFrank's jewelry and gives him a piece. Tagomi unwillingly accepts it and goes to sit in the park. What happens next?
14. After Tagomi's vision of hell in the park he returns to work to face a meeting with the odious German Consul, Reiss. Reiss denies any involvement of the German authorities with the attack on Tagomi and his colleagues; Tagomi predicts a bloodbath coming in Germany. At the end of the meeting there are a couple of administrative things to clear up, including approving the warrant for Frank Frink's deportation to Germany. What does Tagomi do with this?
15. Juliana arrives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She buys a newspaper and finds out that Joe is dead; it's unlikely that she'll be traced in connection with this. She goes to the Abendsens' house and warns them of the danger facing them from assassins. She asks about the writing of "Grasshopper" and Caroline Abendsen confirms that it was written by the "I Ching" in every detail: "historic period, subject, characters, plot". Juliana consults the Oracle to ask why it wrote "Grasshopper" - what are we supposed to learn? Which hexagram reveals its response?
Source: Author
Southendboy
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
looney_tunes before going online.
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