Kian Ryan reviewed Time out of joint by Philip K. Dick
Review of 'Time out of joint' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Here's a novelty - Dick managed to write a novel for which the main narrative mechanic did not revolve around drugs! Time Out of Joint is part science-fiction, part mystery, part alternative-reality, where the main protagonist, a man who completes competition puzzles for a living, starts to pick apart the reality around him.
The story is good. It's mostly linear, and involves moments of the surreal. Unusually these surreal moments are later explained in a perfectly straightforward manner, something that doesn't usually happen with Dick's stories.
My one gripe comes to the relationship between Vic and his family. Vic is quite happy to abandon his wife and child on a whim and travel with his brother-in-law with no good motivation of his own. This seems somewhat inconsistent when the rest of the time he is presented as a loving husband and father.
The idea that a fake reality can be …
Here's a novelty - Dick managed to write a novel for which the main narrative mechanic did not revolve around drugs! Time Out of Joint is part science-fiction, part mystery, part alternative-reality, where the main protagonist, a man who completes competition puzzles for a living, starts to pick apart the reality around him.
The story is good. It's mostly linear, and involves moments of the surreal. Unusually these surreal moments are later explained in a perfectly straightforward manner, something that doesn't usually happen with Dick's stories.
My one gripe comes to the relationship between Vic and his family. Vic is quite happy to abandon his wife and child on a whim and travel with his brother-in-law with no good motivation of his own. This seems somewhat inconsistent when the rest of the time he is presented as a loving husband and father.
The idea that a fake reality can be presented as reality, given a little suggestive thought and willingness from the participant, is good. Unlike a forced reality, where every detail needs to be maintained, and a small detail can cause a break in the illusion, because the protagonist has mentally regressed (at one point he is called insane), he is willing to believe that a cardboard cut out of a person is a real human being. Glimpses of reality break through where he experiences lucid moments. It works.
If you've been reading a lot of Dick, this is a refreshing change from the norm. Some of his usual themes are still in play here, but the arrangement is atypical. It's good - and I'll revisit it again.
