Unwanted Sparrows of Solipsism,

“Behind every filum is a better book”, this is the mantra that I used to believe in. This changed after reading Time Out of Joint by Philip K. Dick. One of my favourite filums is The Truman Show; I’ve heard people dismiss this filum as rubbish because it isn’t as funny as other Jim Carrey titles but that’s not the point. The Truman Show should make the more discerning viewer question their mortality and their purpose in life. If all our destinies were controlled by some greater being, could we ever know? Anybody can be Truman Burbank. I might have walked passed him today, I might be him.

The Truman Show is believed to be based on themes from Time Out of Joint. The book follows the life of Ragle Gumm, a war veteran who spends each day using statistical methods to win the 'Where is the Little Green Man?' newspaper competition.

With knowledge of the filum in mind, I read as he detected idiosyncrasies in his reality and waited for him to discover that his reality was totally synthetic. The only mystery that I needed solved was why this life was constructed for Ragle. For Truman, the answer was reality television. For Ragle, the answer was crazy. Perhaps I should have known what to expect, this is a science fiction novel. I don’t really life science fiction. Although the reason for the construction of Ragle’s environment was difficult to accept, I must admit there was a fair degree of suspense and drama before the answer was revealed. It’s a decent book but I didn’t really have that same feeling of bewilderderment about mortality that The Truman Show gave me. Right now, I’m probably the exact opposite of Truman or Ragle, the centres of their worlds, I could disappear from the face of the planet and no one would notice.

Could a Ragle Gumm situation occur in real life? I’m sure something similar has been tried.