Time Out Of Joint (S.F. MASTERWORKS)

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In my earlier review I also noticed a possible connection to Orson Scott Card’s writing and again I noticed what could be some allusions to, or inspiration from, Orwell’s 1984. Vic’s dismissal of Berkeley’s metaphysics as “ just a bunch of words” inspires further speculation by Ragle. Marvelous, terrifying fun, especially if you ve ever suspected that the world is an unreal construct built solely to keep you from knowing who you really are. Which it is, of course." Rolling Stone Central problem in philosophy. Relation of word to object . . . what is a word? Arbitrary sign. But we live in words. Our reality, among words not things. No such thing as a thing anyhow; a gestalt in the mind. Thingness . . . sense of substance. An illusion. Word is more real than the object it represents. Word doesn’t represent reality. Word is reality. For us, anyhow. Maybe God gets to objects . Not us, though” (50).

I have a copy of Time Out of Joint languishing in my house for over ten years. I have no idea where it came from, I am pretty sure I never bought it. Is that weird? No, I guess not. I could tell you how I suddenly decided to read it after having ignored it for ten years, but that would be a spectacularly uninteresting anecdote so I will leave that out. Iniziato come semplice gioco è ormai diventata un'occupazione a tempo pieno che frutta denaro ed anche fama essendo oramai un affermato vincitore seriale. In una qualunque cittadina, di una qualunque provincia americana, Ragle Gumm vive con la sorella Margot, il cognato Victor ed il nipotino Sammy.Genius. Visionary. The master of science fiction. Did this man have a crystal ball? Could he see into the future? This was published in 1959, one of his earlier novels and an observant reader of PKD will notice a more subtle approach than some of his later, Kafkaesque absurd and over the top science fiction vehicles. But even this early some ubiquitous themes emerge such as latent conspiracy theories, paranoia, mirror image delusions of grandeur and references to mental illness and self destruction. Also present are familiar classical, biblical and psychological references. Una storia appallottolata come il filo di una matassa e che sbrigliandosi va a costruire un'originale trama fantastica.

Ubiquitous PKD themes like unreality, questioned sanity, conspiracy theories and mass psychosis and delusions are also present in this very enjoyable 1959 publication and the then 31 year old writer played the SF down, telling this fairly straight, in a way that would make our modern writer Blake Crouch proud. Central problem in philosophy. Relation of word to object ... what is a word? Arbitrary sign. But we live in words. Our reality, among words not things. No such thing as a thing anyhow; a gestalt in the mind. Thingness ... sense of substance. An illusion. Word is more real than the object it represents.” I still love the book, but now, having read PKD's biography, I understand a little bit more about his relationships with women. He really sees his ideal partner as a stupid and dependent young female. PKD had a lot of problems, and his emotional immaturity is quite visible here, but hey, we all have our mistakes, and PKD is still an excellent writer. So, for me, three and a half stars rounded up.

Develop

Ragle si sente turbato, disturbato e a ciò contribuiscono piccoli episodi insoliti che mettono in dubbio che tutto si svolga secondo natura.