Customer Reviews

Time Out Of Joint (S.F. MASTERWORKS)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although the other reviewers are correct in observing that the ending lurches unsatisfyingly into a very different (and blurred and hackneyed) ending, this is nevertheless an interesting and illumintaing book for PKD fans to look at. The Afterword says it all. Dick, stuck in the rut of hammering out pot-boiling pap for his pulpy SF publisher (he hadn't yet quite found his voice, nor harnessed his full force) was at this time trying to broaden out into the mainstream. Books like The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike, and Confessions Of A Crap Artist, were where Dick really wanted to be heading - exploring alternative realities in hum-drum, down home, small town settings. His publisher was having none of it. So here we have a wonderful dose of Dick's realism with a lurid SF ending tacked on by an impatient editor eager to satisfy the huge SF market of the time. It represents the crossover between Dick's mainstream and SF writing, and shows the author grappling with his Big Theme while struggling to find the right form. Only later did he achieve true greatness. In a way this book can be seen as a turning point, a fulcrum, in Dick's writing - and as such I found it an interesting (if ultimately flawed) novel.

In short this book starts off with mystery surrounding a man's seemingly mundane life and builds intrigue about the man's odd situation very well, but the ultimate payoff when the author reveals what is actually going on is a little disappointing. It's hard to say anything else or draw similarities without totally giving away the plot.

Philip K Dick has written better books than this but that is not to say that you should avoid reading this one - just don't expect to be blown away. The 'Afterword' by Lou Stathis goes some way in explaining why the book itself seems out of joint and implies that Dick rewrote it following feedback from the publisher.

This is labelled as Book 55 in the great 'SF MASTERWORKS' series out of which Dick has at least eight entries including 'The Penultimate Truth', 'The Simulcra', 'The Three Stigmata of palmer Eldritch', Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said', 'Valis', 'Now Wait for Last Year', and 'Martian Time Slip'... I would suggest that most of these are superior to this book and all are well worth a read.

The concept of this novel, like pretty much every Phillip K Dick book, is a wonderful one. A man finds out that his entire life is a construct and that most of the people around him are not who he thinks they are. He is convinced that they are trying to keep him where he is for an important purpose which he tries to work out during the course of the story. Unfortunately, unlike most Phillip K Dick books, this one does not fulfill its potential. The most disappointing aspect is the ending which doesn't seem to be part of the rest of the novel at all. I don't believe it explained itself very well either and should have gone into more depth. That said though it has enough redeeming moments in it to make it worth reading. It includes lots of examples of Dick's usual themes of paranoia and the mistrust of the people in control. Overall, an interesting read. Just a shame about that ending.

This book won't in many ways seem original,this is beacause in the fifty years since the Prisoner,Ashes to Ashes and various other programmes and books have come along which draw from this.It is a concise,fast paced , thought provacing adventure all in only 212 pages. A must.

I agree with most of the other reviews. This is classic Philip K Dick, drawing you in and building slowly but steadily to a climax, and also superb sci-fi - full of rich invention, clever twists and thought-provoking themes. I've read it twice and will return to it again and again.

This is a brilliant read. It has all the characterisitcs of a Philip K Dick novel - the books starts off a slow pace, slowly building the tension until breakin point. Unlike a lot of his works, this book has not been made into a film (as far as I know) but I believe (-SPOILER ALERT- ............................................................) that this film may have influenced the writers of "The Matrix" trilogy. Very interesting read.

I should not have started to read this book when I had a nearing deadline. Admittedly I donor find PKD easy to put down but my first reaction to the first couple of chapters was that I would've content to read in short bursts. I was too intrigued to know what was reall happening and had to read to the end.

This is my first PKD book and by no means will be my last. The plot is highly original and even though it is not very exciting, PKD's fabulous writing style keeps you turning the pages.

Few plots have gripped and excited me in the way that this one did. It is a haunting, chilling story of a man who believes himself to be going insane. As Gumm's paranoia increases, we begin to see the wider picture. I will not say any more for fear of giving something away.

However, I agree with some of the other reviewers in saying that the ending does not satisfyingly round off the plot. Compared to the rest of the book, it is pretty unoriginal and dull. Also (this is just me being finicky) the last sentence is awful. At the ending of a book like 'Time Out of Joint', the last sentence should resound and carry weight, if you take my meaning. The last sentence here was written like someone grabbed his pen away at the end of a paragraph, it's almost like the publishers forgot to print the last few lines.

However, if you ignore the ending, I couldn't find any other problems with this book. Not all people will like this book as much as I did, but I still highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get away from the 'Guns and Explosions' type of SF.

"Ragle Gumm is an ordinary man leading an ordinary suburban life, except that he makes his living by entering a newspaper contest every day -- and winning, every day. But he gradually begins to suspect that his world is an illusion, constructed around him for the express purpose of keeping him docile and happy. But if he is right, what is his real world like, and what is he actually doing every day when he thinks he is guessing 'Where Will The Little Green Man Be Next?'"
-- from the back cover

Written in 1958 and published in 1959, Time Out of Joint (Dick's sixth published novel) explores a number of themes Dick had an abiding interest in, most specifically the nature of reality and the impact on people when reality as they understand it starts to unravel around them.

As with all PKD's works this novel makes you marvel at his imagination but also (if you are of a philosophical turn of mind) brings you to question and consider the themes he raises for yourself. PKD also creates characters that I at least find believable.

"[Dick] sees all the sparkling and terrifying possibilities. . . that other authors shy away from."
--Paul Williams, Rolling Stone

"The most consistently brilliant SF writer in the world"
--John Brunner

"Dick quietly produced serious fiction in a popular form and there can be no greater praise"
--Michael Moorcock

"One of the most original practitioners writing any kind of fiction, Philip K. Dick made most of the European avant-guarde seem navel-gazers in a cul-de-sac"
--Sunday Times

If you are new to Philip K Dick's work I would also recommend the following novels (which generally seem to be regarded as among his best):

The Man In The High Castle (S.F. Masterworks)
Ubik (S.F. Masterworks)
A Scanner Darkly (S.F. Masterworks)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (S.F. Masterworks)

That said, though some of PKD's works are better than others, to my mind they are all well worth reading. I would also recommend his short story collections:

Beyond Lies The Wub: Volume One Of The Collected Short Stories
Second Variety: Volume Two Of The Collected Short Stories
The Father-Thing: Volume Three Of The Collected Short Stories
Minority Report: Volume Four Of The Collected Short Stories
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: Volume Five of The Collected Short Stories

Also of interest may be the fine biography of Philip K Dick by Lawrence Sutin Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick (Gollancz S.F.)

PKD's fiction can be pretty much broken down into two styles, as the afterword indicates, pulpy hamburger mass production sci fi and more introspective "inner space" fiction examining human dilemmas or dillusional states.

This book is sort of a combination of the two, PKD creates this amazing narrative which builds and builds, weaving in simple things which everyone's experienced, a sense of de ja vu or reaching for a light cord that's not there but was in another setting or at another time and remains with the individual as a subconscious memory.

However just before the finish the book takes a strange turn for the pulp sci fi which disappoints but not too much, its still seriously superior to the genuine article pulp like Heinlein and the afterword explains all.

This would be an excellent place to begin with PKD's books and the afterword will help you decide if reading any of the rest of his books is worthwhile (I did read a lot of his other books, a collection of his letters and writing and a biography).

Fans of this book will also like The Cosmic Puppets which is on a similar theme, very similar but a little more fantastical than science fictional, fans of psychological or psycho-analytical fiction like Irvin D. Yalom or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest should like this too if they can transcend the genre bar. Incidentially the cover art is absolutely brilliant and makes a lot of sense once you've finished the book.