Time Out of Joint

Well ahead of his time even in 1959

People who know PKD's works do not need a review.

To hear one of PKD's earlier novels has been a great experience. His stories travel better through time than most of Heinlein's novels. At times I was reminded of 'The Manchurian Candidate' ( Richard Condon, 1959) and of the more recent CIA experiments in mind control.
I was/am keen to again hear Heinlein's 'Moon is a Harsh Mistress' (that I do rank as one of my favouite stories) after listening to this.

Jeff Cummings' reading was good as were the ideas embedded in the story. The quest for the nature of reality and the nature of words in defining percieved reality is interesting at very least. ( Not a spoiler because that is not the story, just following through to his later works.)

For anyone new to PKD this is a mystery story set in a future written over 50 years ago, and not too hard to follow,

For me it was a great listen.

Nice and Easy until Something Gives!

Any additional comments?

The nice and easy fifties, families living their post war lives until one day something odd happens. Discover ever so slowly what is hidden and then hang on for the ride of a lifetime!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it starts out very slow, almost boring. It is so worth it, because it intensifies the suspense that builds up slowly until suddenly everything falls apart and the reader sits at the edge of the seat until the last page!

Mediocre Mother to Gravity's Rainbow and the Truman Show?

A book that could have inspired both Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow (anticipation of rockets) and the Truman Show (community set up around one man). While I give it points for anticipating a couple generations early the narcissism of the 21st century, the absurdity of American Exceptionalism, the shallow falseness of community on FB, etc., it was in the end just too damn slow. Most of the narrative was underwater. Not as kinetic or beautiful as his later stuff (read, it is sometimes boring). There was no rush. There were no prose daisies to pick as I picked through the pages. It was good just not great. It was PKD, just not great PKD

Dystopic future with pastoral past

Time Out of Joint by Philip K Dick is a dystopian future where Earth is at war with lunar colonists and the only individual who can inform defense is living in a 1959 version of the US where solving a daily newspaper puzzle provides the clues for the next planetary strikes. Gumm is surrounded by others most of which have been brainwashed into believing this fantasy. Gradually, he becomes aware of something not right and finally escapes to learn the truth. Surprisingly, Dick utilizes very little sci-fi, other than the lunar colonization which is only mentioned. 1998 offers little in the way of advancement (other than lunar conquest) in terms of technology. The elaborate nature of the ruse seems overdone as is the ease of which lunar spies and sympathizers can infiltrate. The narration is reasonable with good pacing that moves the tale along quickly.

Time yarn copyright 1959

dated story by a good author but cutting edge thought is capable of much greater depth now

Time Out of Joint...from 1959

amazing book. He got the political persuasions reversed for the 21st century, however, which is a fascinating political science subtext.

elements of Truman show and Ubiq abound.

elements of Truman show and Ubiq abound. worth the short listen. buy it now ok.

Satisfying

Time Out of Joint is a great book. It's a reminiscent of the film Truman Show and the novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. PKD employs some of his usual tropes: constructed reality and government conspiracy, to build a gripping story about a man undergoing a Freudian regression. In this novel the 50's utopia, called "Old Town", is more quaint than creepy, but it's wrought with glitches and non sequiturs. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 star rating is that it's a small scale read, with a limited world. That said, no questions are left unanswered and it's overall a very satisfying production:) Enjoy!

Sounds like its the basis of a lot of other storie

Has a lot of star was tropes, but like usual with Dick this is their birth place.

technically 3.5 stars for the story

Any additional comments?

Master of the weird, Philip K. Dick takes us back to a 1958 world revolving around Ragle Gum, literally. Famous for continuously winning a newspaper contest and the subject of news himself, everyone seems to know him. However, as we read more, nothing is ever at it appears.

I appreciate this work as a classic from a twisted mind, but it is more predictable than most. The twist comes in the second half of the story as in the first half we are only given the background, the drawing of the picture of Mr. Gum’s life consumed by winning entries in the newspaper contest.

Where he becomes confused, so perhaps, do the readers, drawing conclusions, forming theories and reading just one more chapter to find the clues as to what is really going on.

Without spoilers, this is definitely from the mind of Mr. Philip K. Dick.