Reviews

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

Only show reviews with written explanations

smuttea_matcha's review against another edition

5.0

I can't get over the shocking ending. I love Harrison Bergeron and I fell even more in love with it after I saw the short film 2081. The dimension of Harrison Bergeron is amazing and I love all sorts of futuristic stories like this and Nineteen Eighty-Four. A great and short read that really has you rereading the last page.

scarlord's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I love the fact that this will be my benchmark for mediocrity

peebee's review against another edition

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2.0

What an insanely mean story by Kurt 'for God sake, babies, you've got to be kind' Vonnegut, of all people.

Dunno the history, but since this was written eight years before he broke wide with Slaughterhouse 5, I suppose it's possible he was pissed he wasn't getting the recognition he deserved? Can't really chalk it up to an old man mellowing with age, if he fought in WWII by 1961, he must have been late 30s at the youngest. Way too old for some snotty 'Everyone but me is a stupid hater and wants to drag me down cause they can't handle my truth' attitude.

Fortunately his later enormous success as a world famous author of super humanist stories about frailty and forgiveness show how completely full of shit his take is in this story and give me perfect cover to take potshots at a guy with the stature of Kurt fucking Vonnegut.

Seriously, though. This should be required reading sophomore year in all MFA classes. By that point everyone's read and idolized him, and then bam - turns out even Vonnegut can write a stinker, and what's more it's due to his pissy sour entitled arrogance.