Anyone else here read Time out of Joint by Philip K. Dick?

I thought this was a nice, concise, and original read, and my first real attempt at an American SF story. I went into it with very little background, only a brief blurb written in Mark Fisher's The Weird and the Eerie about Dick's description of the uncanny feeling of driving to the outskirts of one's own town - one of the most memorable scenes from the book. The first half is certainly the better, while the second half's over-explained and sort of goofy rational explanation for everything took away a bit of the intrigue.

Very cinematic. Funny when it needed to be, moody throughout, and pretty transgressive to [my idea of] the standards of the late-50s.

Props to SF Masterworks for making such a great presentation. I always try to find their prints of books whenever possible.

all 13 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 16 points 4 weeks ago (1 child)

Once you try Dick, you want more. Thankfully, there's plenty more Dick to enjoy.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 child)

    This is the one where he goes to flick a switch and it's not in the same position as he remembered it.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] [S] 4 points 4 weeks ago* (1 child)

    Sort of. One of the MCs goes to pull a light cord and realizes that it's a switch and that the bathroom has never had a light cord, giving them the idea that the reflex must have come from some repressed memories of a past life. Dick puts a lot of stock in Freudian psychology in the setup chapters.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 4 weeks ago

    It was also my first! Loved it

  • source
  • [–] 2 points 4 weeks ago

    I read A Scanner Darkly years ago and it made me uncomfortable. Then I read about Dick and it made so much sense.

  • source
  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    You might want to build up to it instead, but if you want Dick at his best, I think you should try The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

  • source
  • [–] 1 point 4 weeks ago

    Do counter clock world next, it's easily my fav from him.

  • source
  • [–] 1 point 4 weeks ago* (1 child)

    Yes, his last name is “Dick.” Hurr hurr.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments