Time Out of Mind

by Pierre Boulle

Book by Boulle, Pierre

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, French Literature, France, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Pierre Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French novelist best known for two works, The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952) and Planet of the Apes (1963) that were both made into award-winning films.

Boulle was an engineer serving as a secret agent with the Free French in Singapore, when he was captured and subjected to two years' forced labour. He used these experiences in The Bridge over the River Kwai, about the notorious Death Railway, which became an international bestseller. The film by David Lean won many Oscars, and Boulle was credited with writing the screenplay, because its two genuine authors had been blacklisted.

His science-fiction novel Planet of the Apes, where intelligent apes gain mastery over humans, was adapted into a series of five award-winning films that spawned magazine versions and popular themed toys.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pierre Boulle doesn't disappoint in this collection of short stories ranging from the aftermath of a certain famous Nazi leader, to the consequences of Eve refusing to eat the forbidden fruit. Very interesting and compact, all with Boulle's signature ironic silliness!

[Dahlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierre Boulle se proslavio svojim djelima "Most na rijeci Kwai" i "Planet majmuna," a u ovom izdanju se nalaze odabrane pripovijetke iz njegova dva djela pod nazivom "Apsurdne priče" i "E=mc2".
Ljubav i sila teže - priča o seksu u mikrogravitaciji. Doslovno.
Beskrajna noć - Parižanin, Badarijac iz daleke prošlosti i Pergolac iz daleke budućnosti ušetaju u pariški café... Vremenski ratovi. Najzanimljivija priča u kolekciji.
Vladavina mudraca - svijet je podijeljen na atomiste i onduliste koji nastoje promijeniti svijet na bolje tako što će učiniti da svugdje vlada idealna klima... od Antarktika do Ekvatora. Što može krenuti po zlu?
Savršeni robot - poznati učenjak posveti svoj život, ugled i vrijeme u stvaranju savršenog robota tako što će ga napraviti što sličnijim čovjeku.

Zanimljiv pogled na budućnost autora 40-tih godina prošlog stoljeća. Namijenjen da bude humorističan, u današnje vrijeme je dobio ozbiljniju notu s obzirom na stanje u znanosti i svijetu.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting collections of speculative fiction stories by the guy who wrote "Planet of the Apes." Most of the stories, which have characters as diverse as Adam and Eve and Hitler, feature a similar twist ending that is a wry commentary on the lapses of the human race.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boulle is clearly a writer of interesting ideas. Almost like Borges in approach, his stories investigate a philosophy or a scientific principle (or both), whether they be the complexities of time travel or what truly distinguishes humanity from machines. The concepts are interesting, though the stories themselves sometimes revolve around talk of the idea as opposed to action in the story itself. Still, a lot of good ideas to chew on.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed the first two stories - Time Out of Mind and The Man Who Picked Up Pins.
The first story deals with time travel and aliens. very interesting.
Love and Gravity was my least favorite.
quite an interesting collection of stories.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The titular story is great, and there are a few more good ones in this collection, though it is equal parts crap.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hunted down a copy of this book because of the short story Love and Gravity. I read that story as a "bonus" story during my science fiction literature class in high school. Brew couldn't assign it to us directly, because of the subject matter of the story itself, but he recommended it unofficially because it was such an amusing read.

The rest of the stories in the book ranged from equally amusing to odd to the point where I just wasn't sure what to make of them. Overall, it's still a wonderful addition to my personal library, and I recommend the book if for no reason other than reading Love and Gravity.

[Nonethousand Oberrhein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absurdités fantaisistes
Hallucinations “dantesques”, voyages dans le temps, la poésie par la logique, guerres de religion “scientifiques”, la quête de l’intelligence artificielle la plus “humaine”… Partant de ces sujets captivants, l’auteur cherche à faire un procès ironique à l’humanité toute entière. Malheureusement le résultat final tombe souvent à plat, faute d’un style trop monotone ou des réalisations manquant la “force de frappe” nécessaire pour sceller le message. Une occasion manquée pour tous ceux qui recherchent dans le fantastique une allégorie dénonçant ou décryptant le réel.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contents:
Time Out of Mind (Une Nuit interminable)
The Man Who Picked Up Pins (L'Homme qui ramassait les épingles)
The Miracle (Le Miracle)
The Perfect Robot (Le Parfait robot)
The Enigmatic Saint (Le Saint énigmatique)
The Lunians (Les Luniens)
The Diabolical Weapon (L'Arme diabolique)
The Age of Wisdom (Le Règne des sages)
The Man Who Hated Machines (L'Homme qui haïssait les machines)
Love and Gravity (L'Amour et la pesanteur)
The Hallucination (L'Hallucination)
E=mc² (E=mc² ou le roman d'une idée)

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories were slightly interesting, but not enough to make me read all of them, so their are probably some gems I missed.

[Kristopher Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were better than others, but fun sci-fi with a good sense of humor. It's worth one read.

[Marco den Ouden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories by the author of Planet of the Apes. Some clever tales.

[James Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really is absurd and fun.