Time is the Simplest Thing [Paperback]

Clifford D. Simak (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: TBS The Book Service Ltd; New edition edition (February 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413369501
• ISBN-13: 978-0413369505
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read from the "classic" sci-fi era!, May 25, 2005

By 

Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Is the Simplest Thing (Paperback)

The story opens in a distant future on earth - so distant, in fact, that space travel is only a memory of the past. After countless attempts, man has begrudgingly acknowledged itself defeated by the insurmountable difficulties of travel to the stars. But, in the attempt, mankind has rediscovered and refined a long-lost talent - paranormal kinetics, a form of telepathy by which gifted individuals - called "parries" - can "travel" to the stars and experience with their minds all that other worlds have to offer. Fishhook, a corporation set up to develop, market, sell and profit from the myriad wonders the telepathic travelers find has succumbed to the greed of a monopoly. It now secretly works at promoting a global belief that these abilities are somehow abnormal, twisted or, even worse, represent a perverted, evil magic as opposed to a normal but seldom used human talent.

During an otherwise routine exploration, one of the parries, Shepherd Blaine, inadvertently "trades minds" with an alien intelligence. In more modern sci-fi terms, I was put in mind of a permanent Vulcan mind meld. Coming to the realization that he now has access to virtually all of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the galaxy, that he can simply will himself bodily through space and time, and that he is no longer even entirely human, Blaine flees Fishhook. He attempts to reconcile himself and his newly discovered abilities and knowledge with the visceral hatred and fear he encounters in the heartland of Simak's stomping grounds, the US Midwest.

In one chapter, the irony in Simak's chilling portrayal of a frightened and hateful lynch mob trying to pull Blaine out of a local jail to string him up is extraordinary. Simak didn't dress his mob in white hoods and robes carrying burning crosses, but there was no question in my mind of the picture he was painting. The irony arose somewhat later when Simak took an opportunity to remind his readers that the US was formed as a result of the Puritan's fleeing that same type of prejudiced, bigoted persecution and hatred. As an aside, I wouldn't think that Simak had any particular subliminal message in mind when he created Fishhook but, in this modern world, one can't help but be concerned about the perils of allowing untrammeled corporate growth to blossom into pure monopoly.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable tale from the 50s and 60s classic pulp sci-fi era and a wonderful example of Simak's fertile imaginings as to how time travel might be experienced in the future. "Time is the Simplest Thing" is pretty clearly dated and doesn't travel into today's world quite as well as some of his other works but it's a fast-paced thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not quite up to Alfred Bester level, but heading that way., January 17, 1998

By 

Stefan Kapusniak - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Is the Simplest Thing (Collier Nucleus Fantasy & Science Fiction) (Paperback)

Fishhook, an organisation which 'searches' the galaxy for marketable product using the abilities of the parapsychologically talented (known as parries) [physical exploration of space having been proved utterly impractical] has a small problem. One of its operatives, Shepherd Blaine, may not have returned from his last 'trip' quite human.

Shepherd Blaine has a similar small problem, he may no longer be quite human, and he knows that Fishhook have a policy on what do to do when that happens. The parry population of America outside Fishhook, also has a small problem, everyone else would much prefer that they didn't exist, and may be gearing up to ensure that they don't.

'Time Is The Simplest Thing' is what you get at the intersection of these three problems

Sadly out of print, but if you ever see a copy going begging snaffle it up. This review refers to the dilapated paperback copy I grew up with in my parents house (-;

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful Simak, April 30, 2004

By 

Kullervo "Kullervo" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Is the Simplest Thing (Collier Nucleus Fantasy & Science Fiction) (Paperback)

I've read almost every book by Simak that I can get my hands on and this is one of the best.

It is unusually focused for one of his novels (there's not that much divergent strangeness for the reader to accomodate compared to, say, the Goblin Reservation), but it has a tangible mood/feel that sucked me in and made me finish it in an afternoon.

Plus, it is short. Short books are good things.

Unusually enough, I think it has a similar feel to much of what has been written in X-men titles over the years, with the focus being on anti-paranormal hysteria among the public.