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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Not really a novel, more a collection of thoughts and recollections. Still worthy of interest for any big fans of Vonnegut. Reading his writing is strangely comforting to me.
Late stage Vonnegut and Kilgore Trout is the main man. Weirdly intertwined stories of kilgore trout, upper manhattan, and Vonnegut's extended family. All the familiar tropes are here, and it brings a full circle to his writing as his final novel.
lighthearted
medium-paced
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A classic dose of Vonnegut, this book delivers his signature wit and surprisingly relevant social commentary, even though it was written in '97. While the plot meanders a bit, the elaborately constructed humor, sharp satire, and underlying emo-ness kept me engaged. It might not be my absolute favorite of his works, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable read for any Vonnegut fan.
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide
I loved this book the first time I read it a few years ago, and I really love considering it a favorite book of mine. Mostly because: what is it? What even is this.
I'm not the deepest-read Vonnegut fan there is, just a handful really, but I believe that this book isn't exactly typical. It is his last novel -- written, somewhat incredibly, 10 years before his death. And as a novel, it sort of isn't, not with a start-to-finish plot and detailed world-build and thorough character, other, of course, than Vonnegut himself. And Kilgore Trout.
The fictional idea of the book is that a "timequake" occurs, wrenching the physical universe backward 10 years. But everything alive, remembers. People carry out the last 10 years of their lives in full, knowing what comes next, and not physically able to do one thing differently. They just watch, and wait to catch up to themselves.
I love this idea, profoundly. This idea is what I'm made of. It is sad and breathtaking and really quite freaky. 10 years ago this instant -- would you want to suddenly be back there? Right now?
It is, however, a lot more idea than story. All we know is that this, supposedly, has happened. (Though, it "happens" in 2001, despite Vonnegut writing the book in 1997, thus placing him in the middle of it.) There is a little bit about a scene that occurs in New York City when it finally ends. And then 75% of the rest of the book are Vonnegut's thoughts on what this means. He thinks about what is real, how people handle time and memory. And he mostly does this by just telling stories about his family.
There is a very strange meta thing happening, as well. Vonnegut handles both himself and his longtime alter-ego Kilgore Trout in detail here, essentially giving amazing backstory for each of them as individuals, and by the end, blurring the fictional/nonfictional lines between them for the final and most definitive time. Particularly, a scene plays throughout the book of a clambake held on a beach, which Vonnegut is attending alongside Trout (who is being honored), people from Vonnegut's real life, and characters from the fictional parts of the book. It's nuts. It's nice.
There is a lot of this in-and-out structure. Sometimes we're talking about the timequake. Sometimes we're telling the story about what happened after it, the moment it ended when Trout was outside the American Academy of Arts and Letters building on W. 155th Street, next to the former home of the Museum of the American Indian -- which is, for certain, completely real -- and became a hero at last.
This. This real place. Very, very much of this book is the most utterly nonfiction thing I've read in any book, even the details in the fictional thoughts. He is writing memories on a theme, nonfiction fables of standing in line at the post office, ways of making jokes out of life, ways of making life meaningful, and stupid, stupid things that have happened. It is like Kurt Vonnegut's Livejournal. It is advice. And it is the barest, most open thing I think you could read. He gives his old home address! From his childhood in Indianapolis. Because he tells such unbelievable stories here, I even did some fact-checking to see how fanciful he got. But he really didn't do so. He even actually read the acceptance speech about nuclear annihilation for Andrei Sakharov on Staten Island in 1987 that by god I thought he made up. He didn't. It happened.
This kind of incredible mind-blowing realness of life is basically the exact subject of this book. How intense every odd moment we spend really is. He fills the book with them, about five dozen tiny chapters mostly just recording events like this, can you believe they happened. Sometimes he mocks himself for his theme, for making a big deal of it, but also, it's just the best subject there is; it's the only subject there is.
On Wikipedia, this book is called semi-autobiographical. I love that. It's impossible, but it's perfect.
I'm not the deepest-read Vonnegut fan there is, just a handful really, but I believe that this book isn't exactly typical. It is his last novel -- written, somewhat incredibly, 10 years before his death. And as a novel, it sort of isn't, not with a start-to-finish plot and detailed world-build and thorough character, other, of course, than Vonnegut himself. And Kilgore Trout.
The fictional idea of the book is that a "timequake" occurs, wrenching the physical universe backward 10 years. But everything alive, remembers. People carry out the last 10 years of their lives in full, knowing what comes next, and not physically able to do one thing differently. They just watch, and wait to catch up to themselves.
I love this idea, profoundly. This idea is what I'm made of. It is sad and breathtaking and really quite freaky. 10 years ago this instant -- would you want to suddenly be back there? Right now?
It is, however, a lot more idea than story. All we know is that this, supposedly, has happened. (Though, it "happens" in 2001, despite Vonnegut writing the book in 1997, thus placing him in the middle of it.) There is a little bit about a scene that occurs in New York City when it finally ends. And then 75% of the rest of the book are Vonnegut's thoughts on what this means. He thinks about what is real, how people handle time and memory. And he mostly does this by just telling stories about his family.
There is a very strange meta thing happening, as well. Vonnegut handles both himself and his longtime alter-ego Kilgore Trout in detail here, essentially giving amazing backstory for each of them as individuals, and by the end, blurring the fictional/nonfictional lines between them for the final and most definitive time. Particularly, a scene plays throughout the book of a clambake held on a beach, which Vonnegut is attending alongside Trout (who is being honored), people from Vonnegut's real life, and characters from the fictional parts of the book. It's nuts. It's nice.
There is a lot of this in-and-out structure. Sometimes we're talking about the timequake. Sometimes we're telling the story about what happened after it, the moment it ended when Trout was outside the American Academy of Arts and Letters building on W. 155th Street, next to the former home of the Museum of the American Indian -- which is, for certain, completely real -- and became a hero at last.
This. This real place. Very, very much of this book is the most utterly nonfiction thing I've read in any book, even the details in the fictional thoughts. He is writing memories on a theme, nonfiction fables of standing in line at the post office, ways of making jokes out of life, ways of making life meaningful, and stupid, stupid things that have happened. It is like Kurt Vonnegut's Livejournal. It is advice. And it is the barest, most open thing I think you could read. He gives his old home address! From his childhood in Indianapolis. Because he tells such unbelievable stories here, I even did some fact-checking to see how fanciful he got. But he really didn't do so. He even actually read the acceptance speech about nuclear annihilation for Andrei Sakharov on Staten Island in 1987 that by god I thought he made up. He didn't. It happened.
This kind of incredible mind-blowing realness of life is basically the exact subject of this book. How intense every odd moment we spend really is. He fills the book with them, about five dozen tiny chapters mostly just recording events like this, can you believe they happened. Sometimes he mocks himself for his theme, for making a big deal of it, but also, it's just the best subject there is; it's the only subject there is.
On Wikipedia, this book is called semi-autobiographical. I love that. It's impossible, but it's perfect.
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
i love kurt vonnegut, i could ready him forever until im done farting around this dumb weird world. this book has a very silly premise which is sorta only half the point of the book, the other half being very autobiographical (which having read A Man Without a Country already, there was a good amount of overlap). Yet despite a weak premise, this book is equally hilarious and emotional. Several jokes that I had to write down cuz they're so good, and definitely some parts that made my hair stand up and get teary eyed. It's not vonnegut at his best, but its still vonnegut, so still hilarious and incredibly deep
Tell us how you really feel Kurt! No holding back here. Bit of a lull in my Kurt love but this one has brought me back. Still not a huge Trout fan but thought he was well used here.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I genuinely don't know why I bothered finishing this book... This was a half-hearted fever dream without any definable storyline plot or lesson. I wish I had never opened the book.