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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Full of Vonnegutian nuggets if wisdom, but a little difficult to wade through at times. Those nuggets are worth it though.
“Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone..” This book is about a disruption in the time continuum, but at it's heart, it's soo soo much more. It meanders it's way through reminisces of war, a childhood spent in Indianapolis, ex-wives, family members, science fiction, dark jokes, and so much more. Vonnegut is the master at spinning a tale which seemingly takes the reader through a wandering labyrinth, only to discover at the end that it weaved a beautiful web in the process ("some pig" indeed). Describing this book is a fool's errand. Just read it because it's Vonnegut and it's quotable and funny and dark and wonderful. So it goes.
I just re-read this and I'm happy to report that Vonnegut is still able to blow my mind. As usual, his prose style is so conversational that you feel like he is talking directly to you and sharing all the wisdom he's cobbled together over his long life.
I picked up this book expecting it to be another Vonnegut science fiction novel. What I got was instead an author reflecting on his life and coming to terms with his own mortality. A fitting send-off for a man who has come to feel like an old friend. Ting-a-ling.
There were definitely bits of this that I really, really enjoyed – but it doesn't compare to Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle or Breakfast of Champions.
That said, it has some of my favourite Vonnegut quotes. And it was lovely to revisit Kilgore Trout. Ting-a-ling.
That said, it has some of my favourite Vonnegut quotes. And it was lovely to revisit Kilgore Trout. Ting-a-ling.
More autobiography/summary of his work than novel - very enjoyable once you've read everything else he's done.
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
Finally picked this one up on the bus today. One of my favorite things about Vonnegut is his ability to encapsulate such world-weary, exhausted-with-humanity, ironic wisdom into three short lines.
Page five: "Somebody should have told him that being a physicist on a planet where the smartest animals hate being alive so much, means never having to say you're sorry."
Page seven: "Hooray for firemen!
Scum of the Earth as some may be in their daily lives, they can all be saints in emergencies.
Hooray for firemen."
This ability to draw so much pain, humor, and bewilderment with the incongruities of life never ceases to impress me. And that's one reason I keep reading.
Page five: "Somebody should have told him that being a physicist on a planet where the smartest animals hate being alive so much, means never having to say you're sorry."
Page seven: "Hooray for firemen!
Scum of the Earth as some may be in their daily lives, they can all be saints in emergencies.
Hooray for firemen."
This ability to draw so much pain, humor, and bewilderment with the incongruities of life never ceases to impress me. And that's one reason I keep reading.