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.
13 Comments
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 16 pts · 48d
Once you try Dick, you want more. Thankfully, there's plenty more Dick to enjoy.
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 48d
That's wonderful to hear. I guess you could say I'm a big Dick enjoyer now
ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 47d
I've got some Dick you could borrow, if you promise to give it back.
Admetus@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 48d
This is the one where he goes to flick a switch and it's not in the same position as he remembered it.
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 48d
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.
Admetus@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 47d
Ah yes, it's been a while and the bathroom switch was pivotal to his doubting his reality. Like he entered a trip (which undoubtedly PKD was experiencing a lot of the time).
mczolly@piefed.social · 4 pts · 48d
It was also my first! Loved it
grammaticerror@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 47d
I read A Scanner Darkly years ago and it made me uncomfortable. Then I read about Dick and it made so much sense.
Grimy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 48d
Do counter clock world next, it's easily my fav from him.
expect_nothing@leminal.space · 1 pts · 48d
Yes, his last name is “Dick.” Hurr hurr.
elevenbones@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 48d
Yeah bro that's why they call us Dickheads.
expect_nothing@leminal.space · 1 pts · 48d
Just wait til you discover Moorcock.
Servomoore@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 42d
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.