Reviews

Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace by Kurt Vonnegut

lukepadgett's review

4.0

What else can be said about Vonnegut? Three essays, published posthumously, are quintessential funny sarcastic Vonnegut (His son Mark wrote the introduction). The first couple of essays, presumably written when he was young, address the theme he wrote about in Slaughterhouse-5. That being his capture and and subsequent clean up duty in bombed out Dresden. Excellent and thought provoking with Vonnegut's economy of words and his ever present wit and humanity. I always expect greatness from anything Vonnegut writes, preparing myself for disappointment, and as his turns out he even writes well when dead. Shit, somewhere the man is sipping scotch and laughing at how history really does repeat itself. Sit back, grab a coffee and smoke and enjoy.

zhollows's review

4.0

As with all Vonnegut, this was great. Unpublished writings/short stories/letters that deal with war and peace (particularly his time spent as a prisoner of war at Dresdan during WWII). Witty, comical, tragic, and pure Kurt Vonnegut.

maddeesryan's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gun violence and War

thereaderintherye's review

challenging funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.25

sambowyer's review

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

perchance_a_tale's review

adventurous dark funny sad

3.5

ten123's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

wolfy514's review

5.0

Vonnegut so gracefully walks the jagged line between goofily absurd and frighteningly poignant. Now, whenever I read the news or hear about battles waged afar, all I can think about are white rabbits and those that would mourn them.

dbookburke's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

julesnichols's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

As a Vonnegut fan I enjoyed this very much, and I also really valued Mark's insight in his introduction. I will always be happy to read Vonnegut's writing, it is one of my favorite parts of being alive.