Time Out of Joint: Amazon.ca: Philip K. Dick: Books

Product Description

Books in Canada

Dick began writing in the 1950s, a decade haunted by the Cold War and a decade which witnessed the blossoming of science fiction. While this form of literature was already haunting the margins of culture as early as 1926, when Hugo Gernsback identified it as "scientifiction", it was the terror of science gone mad-the atomic bomb-that gave science fiction its first, heroin-like shot in the arm.
In some ways the fear of nuclear war is just another expression of a theme that has seized the attention of literary theorists, philosophers and social scientists alike: how stable is "reality"? This is the great postmodern question, which has led theorists like Jean Baudrillard to conclude that even protests against the current multinational consumer system are programmed by the system, Michel Foucault to argue that the totalitarian momentum of this system seeks to colonize that last refuges of human freedom, one of these being our unconscious minds, and Daniel Bell to open up the possibility that the consumption of images and simulacra will continue to the point where "reality" may be nothing more than a series of products that one can purchase.
In Time out of Joint (1959) Dick presents the idea that the reality one lives is engineered for an ulterior purpose. The reader comes to suspect, along with main character Ragle Gumm, that the sham reality of 1950s Old Town hides some terrible disaster. Not only do the people outside of Gumm's "family" fail to notice anomalies, but Gumm guesses that there is actually a conspiracy to maintain the hoax. He wonders why he is being kept in this small town and encouraged by everyone to continue solving a daily puzzle in the newspaper: "Where Will the Little Green Man be Next?"
The central role that a photo of Marilyn Monroe plays in helping Gumm and his "family" to solve the mystery of their existences shows Dick with his finger on the pulse of time, identifying enduring cultural landmarks and fascinations.
Patrick R. Burger (Books in Canada) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Written in the late 1950s and early 1960s, these titles follow Dick's familiar theme that things and people are not quite what and who they seem, basically challenging reality. Though dead for 20 years now, Dick still is hugely popular among sf readers and Blade Runner nuts, so pop for these.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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26 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars What the...! Finish the story!, Aug 30 2005

By	Jason Harris (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Out of Joint (Paperback)

Well, this is the first book I've read by Dick, who probably became famous to my generation for his book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", which became the inspiration for 1982's Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford. So, you might say that I had a nominally high level of expectation when I picked this book up. The afterword, by Lou Stathis (written in 1984), claims that this book was Dick's attempt to sabotage his Sci Fi writing career so he could transition over to more "mainstream" writing. However, that motive doesn't really express itself until chapter fourteen, the last chapter.

The thing that attracted me to the book was the description on the back cover about Ragle Gumm, who experiences a soft drink stand, among other things, being replaced before his eyes with a piece of paper that says "soft drink stand". And, although it's 1959, there are no radios except the one Gumm and his nephew build. But, all they hear on their homebrew unit is chatter from planes or rockets they can hear flying overhead but can't see. Sounds really promising doesn't it? I thought so, too.

I won't say that I loved this book but I didn't hate it either; probably because of Strathis' Afterword and Blade Runner. As expected, it is well written, the plot kept me turning pages and most of the primary characters were round enough to enable the reader to visualise their personalities. This book is good enough that I picked up one of Dick's short story collections, Minority Report. Unfortunately, things aren't all kittens and gravy. Perhaps, because Dick was purposely trying to write a stinker (God, I hope so) or maybe because he got tired, the key hook of the story just pffffft! disappears from the conclusion. Not to give away any details of the end or anything but EXPLAIN THE DISAPPEARING STUFF! It wasn't in Gumm's head, he kept the bits of paper and showed them to other people. I mean, WHAT THE H---! But, you get nothing, not a hint, not a glimmer. It's as if Dick said, "Hey, you read right to the end, eh? Ha ha ha! See ya! Don't forget to catch my next book. It's a real mystery-love story." I'm gonna give him another chance though, just because I liked Blade Runner so much. I just wish I could find a copy of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" But what can you do?

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5.0 out of 5 stars Paranoid in the Fifties, Jun 2 2004

By	Doug Mackey (Fairfield, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Out of Joint (Paperback)

Although technically a science-fiction book, Time Out of Joint (1959) reads more like a strange hybrid of science fiction and the mainstream realist novels Dick was also writing at the time. The major part of the story takes place in a small town, rendered with much more detailed texture of description and characterization than in any of Dick's sf novels to that date. Dick throws out many tantalizing clues throughout the first part of the book that this version of the fifties is not quite the one we know. But it is an excellent imitation, aided by the fact that all the residents of the town have been hypnotized to believe they are living in the sleepy Eisenhower-era of the 1950s. The main character, Ragle Gumm, starts to break out of his hypnosis and realizes there is a conspiracy to keep him in ignorance. In one of Dick's most famous scenes, a soft-drink stand disappears and in its place is found a slip of paper that says "soft-drink stand." The book is a powerful comment on the fragile nature of reality as well as a reminder that sometimes the paranoid is simply perceiving the situation accurately.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Golden Age, May 20 2004

By	Justin Hager (Russellville, AR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Out of Joint (Paperback)

Time Out of Joint is a very interesting exploration of a great deal of the ideas and feelings circulating in WWII (and post-WWII) America. Naturally, it contains the usual Dick-ian everyman who struggles with understanding how reality relates to his perception of reality, but there are thematic undertones that are far *less* common in some of Dick's more outlandish science-fiction tales such as McCarthyism (which undoubtedly Dick himself was struggling with first-hand), nostolgia for the "Golden Age" of pre-WWII America, Cold War paranoia, American hypocritical morality (i.e. Japanese Interment Camps), and so forth.

Clearly, Dick had been reading a great deal of the linguistic and psychoanalytic theory that became prominent in the late 60's in academic settings as traces of post-structuralist thought as well as Freudian theory pop up all over the book.

A very complex, yet easy-reading novel. Highly recommended.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great
This book has a great set-up - a man who slowly starts to realize that his "reality" is just a sham. Read more

Published on April 15 2004 by Christopher Gehrman

5.0 out of 5 stars Get Back to Me in Forty Years
Appearing in 1959 when P.K. Dick was 31 this book is set in a nameless town and centers around the gyrations, mental and physical, of Ragle Gumm, a paranoiac but proficient loner... Read more

Published on Mar 27 2004 by Dorion Sagan

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful perspective
That Dick could be as popular as he is now without his works containing some literary merit seems impossible. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars nothing's quite as it seems...
This is not a PKD classic by any means - but it's a strong novel, well worth reading.