Time out of joint
by Philip K. Dick · first published 1959
33% recommend62% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
A mind-bending, reality-shifting Philip K. Dick novel with layered ideas and a gem-like quality. It suits readers seeking an intermediate, idea-driven introduction to Dick's work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Time Out of Joint is a dystopian novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in novel form in the United States in 1959. An abridged version was also serialised in the British science fiction magazine New Worlds Science Fiction in several installments from December 1959 to February 1960. The novel epitomizes many of Dick's themes with its concerns about the nature of reality and ordinary people in ordinary lives having the world unravel around them. The title is a reference to Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The line is uttered by Hamlet to Horatio after being visited by his father'
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PKD has written so many great books its not surprising everyone has their own favourites. I personally prefer Man in the High Castle, Ubik, Time out of joint and Martian time-slip to Electric Sheep and Scanner. I'm surprised none of these managed it onto the list :(
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗Two favorite books of mine I've seldom seen mentioned but I think are gems: The three stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Time out of joint, both by Philip K. Dick. The first plays with several layers of reality along the book. One time I found myself re-reading some passages because there were so many layers it was hard to follow, but it's…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Your comment reminded me instantly of book by PKD, Time out of joint. I think it shows very well the mental pressure of people trying to use science to stop a defeat at wartime. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/698034.Time_Out_of_Joint
on “How to Lead Your Team When the House Is on Fire” ↗…completely fine introduction to his mind bending ideas, especially if you want to convince friends who aren't into reading to try out his books. INTERMEDIATE: - Stuff from his mid-years: Galactic Pot Healer, Time Out Of Joint, Martian Time Slip, Confessions of a Crap Artist, The Crack In Space. Still very good stuff, but I think you need to be already well acquainted with PKD to fully appreciate them and see how his style…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗…you’re really missing out - it’s good, but not his best. I would recommend, and you are welcome to ignore should you choose: Ubik Flow my tears, the policeman said Dr Bloodmoney Radio Free Albemuth Time out of joint A scanner darkly Mary and the giant And finally as an aside, 334 by Thomas Disch. Fun fact: Dick shopped Disch to the feds for in his view pedalling anti-American views. These letters are fascinating…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗The PKD selections are curious. I would add "Time Out Of Joint" and "Man In The High Castle". No Walter Jon Williams? "Aristoi" at a minimum, and "Angel Station/Voice Of The Whirlwind". If that pleases, add "Metropolitan/City On Fire" Also, the original "Planet…
on “The Amazing Colossal Science Fiction Ketchup” ↗I would suggest reading "The Futurological Congress", compare and contrast to Dick's "Time Out Of Joint". It's pretty clear Dick was a big influence on Lem's later work. "Return From The Stars" is also pretty good as I recall. Not a big fan of his early Tichy stuff though (it suffers from his own "Agatha…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans” ↗>... terrible at titles... I disagree. Here are some that retain their power all these decades later and will likely do so for the foreseeable future: Time Out of Joint The Man in the High Castle Martian Time-Slip The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Clans of the Alphane Moon The Simulacra Now Wait for Last Year Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)/Blade…
on “Philip K. Dick: Stanisław Lem Is a Communist Committee (2015)” ↗…nor Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep and would consider them of minor import had not movies been made of them. Other books in this category are Now Wait for Last Year (made in to Total Recall) and Time Out of Joint (made in to The Truman Show.. though the book is much darker). The movie Minority Report was based on another minor short story of his, as The Terminator might have been partially based on his story…
on “Philip K. Dick: A Visionary Among the Charlatans (1975)” ↗…future. The Gernsbeck Continuum is the best example I know of the second sort: it's the 1980 we imagined in the 1930s, experienced from the viewpoint of the real 1980. If I stretch the boundaries a bit, Time Out of Joint might count too; a 1950s world, 50s futurism included, recreated by a moon-colonizing future society. This has to be a pretty small list, though, and I'd love more examples.
on “List of stories set in a future now past” ↗A book store near us has an amazing January sale, so: Entertainment: Babel - An Arcane History by RF Kuang, Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick, and my usual re-read of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Non-fiction: Code (second edition), The Myth of Normal by Gabor & Daniel Mate
on “Ask HN: What are you looking forward to reading in 2023?” ↗…wasted playing Tetris and Solitaire could be harnessed if only someone could find a mapping between these games and a real problem. Of course, others have had similar ideas, as early as Philip K. Dick's "Time Out of Joint". This sounds like the most effective game-to-real-world mapping yet.
on “Game’s high score could earn the Nobel” ↗…would want to tape themselves, so that people could tune in and watch what was considered at the time to be mundane, and see that as entertainment." 40 years before The Truman Show, Philip K Dick wrote Time Out of Joint[1], which is much grimmer but explores similar themes and is also about a man who is unknowingly living in an artificially constructed suburban reality under the eye of the world. The former was clearly…
on “Twenty Years Later, Everything Is the Truman Show” ↗Time Out Of Joint [1] by Philip K. Dick -- from 1959! -- has the classic example of a character discovering he lives in a simulated reality. But it only has one level of simulation. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Out_of_Joint
on “Is there a Sci-Fi novel where people discover they live in simulated reality?” ↗My personal worst experience of this was Philip K. Dick's Time out of Joint; since then I only read the blurbs after I'm finished.
on “The Case for Never Reading the Book Jacket” ↗