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dragon_lord's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Sexual violence, and War
Minor: Ableism, Grief, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Transphobia, and Homophobia
owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was stuck between giving this a 3.75 and a 4 rating. Personally, for me, parts of this book feel like a 4; others feel much lower. Still, Timequake is one of my dad's favourite novels and the parts that I enjoyed, I really enjoyed.
The off-hand way that race and the AIDs crisis were mentioned was a bit disappointing but not totally unexpected for this novel, its author and context. Also, I don't know. Maybe Vonnegut wouldn't be best-placed to handle these subjects. Maybe I'm holding this novel to standards that shouldn't be applied or don't apply to it.
It was a really straightforward read and I actually enjoyed the mixture of fact and fiction. You could tell he struggled with editing the original Timequake One and I think this was a worthy result of that creative process.
I haven't been feeling great recently. My dad has been reading me passages from this book. Maybe he knows I'm down! Maybe he's good at guessing. Maybe he just wants to share his favourite book with me. Regardless, I do think it has helped me feel better. Something about Vonnegut's writing here, perhaps unintentional or as a less related consequence of him consciously writing his final book, emphasises how radical it can be to stay alive and find reasons to stay alive when the world feels pretty terrible.
As Kurt himself says - "What a brother! What a language."
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, War, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Grief, Death, Car accident, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Bullying, and Suicide
Minor: Slavery