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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
A very interesting set of techniques; this is one of the few books I have read where fact and fiction are blurred together in a satisfying fashion. Fair warning is that you should already be a fan of Vonnegut before attempting, as it is half a type of anecdotal memoir told in an abstract and fanciful manner.
This book didn't strike me as a victory lap, more so the hug and kiss at the airport of someone who is leaving. As Jimi Hendrix said, "if I don't meet you in this world, I'll meet you in the next one, and don't be late." It's is Vonnegut at his most reflective, looking over his life and looking towards the next one...remembering people he had lost and ruminating on subjects that he had concerned himself with during his writing life. A good book, but very melancholy.
Audiobook-
I believe I read this years ago and wasn’t impressed. Now, maybe 10 years later, I find myself repeating the same actions.. ok, it’s probably been more than 10 years, and I listened, this time. I think this might actually work better in audio format, I remember being frustrated by the lack of coherent plot last time- this time I just listened to the sage words of an elder Vonnegut. And- there isn’t too much mind-blowing here, but it’s all alternately sage, warm-hearted, acerbic, honest, etc. reflection on this oddity that is life.
One part did knock me right out, though- I’ll have to find the exact context, but my rough note was: “It used to be said that when someone was losing, we were being served our head on a platter- we are being handed ours with tweezers now”- he was speaking, of course, about microchips.
Like- wowee! I was impressed by some of his calls in the 60s, and he was still nailing those calls leading into the present day. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me, when Huxley wrote of over-medication, Gaiman nailed e-cigs and vapes in American Gods, but still- when one of these dudes hits, goddamn I love that shit. “Oh, this dystopian thing I wrote 30 years ago? Told ya!” In this case I dunno how aware most people are, how much of basic life has disappeared down the rabbit hole of the internet, the wired and wireless, I type on my phone, for an app owned by Bezos. Ah well, tingaling everybody, tingaling!
I believe I read this years ago and wasn’t impressed. Now, maybe 10 years later, I find myself repeating the same actions.. ok, it’s probably been more than 10 years, and I listened, this time. I think this might actually work better in audio format, I remember being frustrated by the lack of coherent plot last time- this time I just listened to the sage words of an elder Vonnegut. And- there isn’t too much mind-blowing here, but it’s all alternately sage, warm-hearted, acerbic, honest, etc. reflection on this oddity that is life.
One part did knock me right out, though- I’ll have to find the exact context, but my rough note was: “It used to be said that when someone was losing, we were being served our head on a platter- we are being handed ours with tweezers now”- he was speaking, of course, about microchips.
Like- wowee! I was impressed by some of his calls in the 60s, and he was still nailing those calls leading into the present day. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me, when Huxley wrote of over-medication, Gaiman nailed e-cigs and vapes in American Gods, but still- when one of these dudes hits, goddamn I love that shit. “Oh, this dystopian thing I wrote 30 years ago? Told ya!” In this case I dunno how aware most people are, how much of basic life has disappeared down the rabbit hole of the internet, the wired and wireless, I type on my phone, for an app owned by Bezos. Ah well, tingaling everybody, tingaling!
This book was really more like a memoirs, a meditation on life and death, about the power to change and the power of language, than a book about timequakes. For the record, a timequake is when the universe shifts slightly and everyone is forced to relive all of their past decisions, with no power to change anything. It was hard to read because I feel like I've come to love Vonnegut like a brilliant grandfather and though the book was sprinkled with bits of humor and typical Vonnegut pithy genius, it was a lot about him coming to terms with his own mortality and the human inability to really change anything (though his recurring ambivalence to this idea is on the forefront of this novel).
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
If you love Vonnegut, you'll like Timequake. The center of the story is Timequake version one, a story about a world forced to relive the last ten years of their lives on auto-pilot, unable to change a thing. Interspersed in that story are pieces of Vonnegut's life, reminiscences and advice, among other things. A bit disjointed, but fans will likely be able and willing to follow the hopscotch story.
This book has my favorite quote.
“Artists,” he said, “are people who say, 'I can't fix my country or my state or my city, or even my marriage. But by golly, I can make this square of canvas, or this eight-and-a-half-by-eleven piece of paper, or this lump of clay, or these twelve bars of music, exactly what they ought to be!”
“Artists,” he said, “are people who say, 'I can't fix my country or my state or my city, or even my marriage. But by golly, I can make this square of canvas, or this eight-and-a-half-by-eleven piece of paper, or this lump of clay, or these twelve bars of music, exactly what they ought to be!”
Only an author who is very well established and very much respected could get away with having written this book. I've seen it described in various locations (as I read up on it after, trying to understand what the HECK I'd just read) as a "postmodernist shrug" and a "semi-autobiographical stew." The whole book had the feeling of sitting in front of a fire with your greatly aged grandfather and listening to him ramble about his youth, when he's come to a point in life where he can no longer recall for sure which bits of his past are truth and which bits are his past as he wishes it had gone. There were a few really lovely mini-stories, images, and turns of phrase, but if you're looking for a coherent narrative, go pick up a collection of his short stories instead. Those remain, by far, my favorite of his works.