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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely a slower Vonnegut book. It's so interesting to look back at the automated landscape of Player Piano and contrast with the modern day equivalents.
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It took me way too long to finish this. My brain just goes through some weird phases sometimes. One week all I wanna do is read. The next, I can’t be bothered to open up a book.
Player Piano is definitely the worst Kurt Vonnegut book that I’ve read so far, but it was his first book and I still liked it. It’s about a near-future society where every single aspect of life has become fully automated by machines, and human beings who aren’t managers and engineers serve very little purpose. It’s an interesting idea, and I can see the seeds of some of the themes he explores in his later books, but it’s clear that in 1952 he had not quite figured out the whole “writing novels” thing just yet. The story is a bit convoluted at times, and the characters aren’t as memorable as the ones from his later books (while reading these last 25 pages I genuinely couldn’t remember who one fairly major character was), and I also think the book just isn’t as funny as off come to expect from Vonnegut. His satiric chops weren’t fully developed yet. The thing I liked most about this was how prophetic it was. He wrong this over 70 years ago, and yet you can relate so much of his ideas to the miserable generative AI bullshit that stupid ass tech companies are peddling. There’s one chapter that introduces a minor character whose job in this dystopian society is to be a writer, but he gets fired for writing a book with anti-machine leanings, and they say they’ll just replace him with a machine that can write a better book. There’s a whole passage about how no machine can ever make art, it’s an intrinsically human capability, and I think about that every time I see some of that generated slop on the internet. If Kurt were still alive, I think seeing people fooled by AI images would actually kill him. I only recommend this book if you’re a Vonnegut completionist, it’s not bad at all, but he’s got so many much better books to choose instead.
Player Piano is definitely the worst Kurt Vonnegut book that I’ve read so far, but it was his first book and I still liked it. It’s about a near-future society where every single aspect of life has become fully automated by machines, and human beings who aren’t managers and engineers serve very little purpose. It’s an interesting idea, and I can see the seeds of some of the themes he explores in his later books, but it’s clear that in 1952 he had not quite figured out the whole “writing novels” thing just yet. The story is a bit convoluted at times, and the characters aren’t as memorable as the ones from his later books (while reading these last 25 pages I genuinely couldn’t remember who one fairly major character was), and I also think the book just isn’t as funny as off come to expect from Vonnegut. His satiric chops weren’t fully developed yet. The thing I liked most about this was how prophetic it was. He wrong this over 70 years ago, and yet you can relate so much of his ideas to the miserable generative AI bullshit that stupid ass tech companies are peddling. There’s one chapter that introduces a minor character whose job in this dystopian society is to be a writer, but he gets fired for writing a book with anti-machine leanings, and they say they’ll just replace him with a machine that can write a better book. There’s a whole passage about how no machine can ever make art, it’s an intrinsically human capability, and I think about that every time I see some of that generated slop on the internet. If Kurt were still alive, I think seeing people fooled by AI images would actually kill him. I only recommend this book if you’re a Vonnegut completionist, it’s not bad at all, but he’s got so many much better books to choose instead.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As crazy as it is to say, of the Vonnegut books I have read, I enjoyed this the most. I tend to not necessarily love the "technology bad" genre but the characters hold this one up for me. Paul is a perfect character for this type of story with the way he grapples with the idea of trading comfort for morality. I think Vonnegut can sometimes get male author syndrome with the way he writes women, but I find Anita to be well written here, all her actions are understandable and she even gets to speak against the patriarchy, however brief. The ending, as dismal as it is, is exactly how I would want and expect a story like this to end.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Who doesn't love a story that makes you realize you're just another cog in the machine and there's ultimately nothing you can do about it?
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Horrifyingly prescient. I think everyone should read it - especially at a time like this