Time Out Of Joint

A film fan I knew said, "Every film has a beginning, a middle and an end but not necessarily in that order." Sometimes, the opening chapter of a novel describes a climactic event, then the remaining narrative begins earlier and works its way back to that event, now contextualized. The chapters of Aldous Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza confusingly present a coherent story but not in chronological order so that, e.g., the viewpoint character alternates between adulthood and boyhood. Fortunately, a very good British TV dramatization enabled me to reread the novel with a firmer grasp of its fictional chronology.

Usually, time travel fiction presents events in the experiential order of the viewpoint character which, in the nature of the case, differs from their objective chronological order. Wells' Time Traveller is in the late nineteenth century, then in 802,701 A.D., then in the further future, then later on the same day in the nineteenth century.

Poul Anderson's "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth" is presented mostly in the experiential order of the time traveller, Carl Farness, but also begins with a dramatic event, then works its way back to that event. In 1980, Carl Farness is recruited to the Time Patrol and interviewed by Manse Everard. Carl and Laurie Farness relocate from Pennsylvania, 1980, to New York in the 1930s. In 1932, Everard calls Carl for another interview in 1980. We see Carl in New York in 1933, 1934 and 1935. While based in New York in the 1930s, Carl has been time travelling to the Gothic period, 300-372.

In the opening passage, headed 372, Carl intervenes in that year. In the following passage, headed 1935, he returns home. Thereafter, events in the fourth and twentieth centuries are described from their beginnings in 300 and 1980, respectively. Eventually, a passage headed 366-372 ends with Carl's intervention in 372. The following passage, again headed 1935, begins the morning after Carl had returned home. Everard orders him back to the fourth century to complete the business that he had started then which he does in the following passage also headed 372.

Complicated but completely chronologically coherent.