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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
I enjoyed most of the humor of this novel as well as the creativity within the stories of Kilgore Trout and his NSFW sci-fi publications. There are memorable characters and an aura of aloofness that serves the story well. Vonnegut was ahead of his time in American satire and calling out the bs and horrific history of the U.S. However, there were many dated elements. The repeat sexual jokes got old, and I wasn’t too fond of the breaking the fourth wall so much, but I understand why he did it.
In Vonnegut’s über meta/dark/satirical tale, Breakfast of Champions, he continuously builds towards the convergence of two characters, Dwayne Hoover (a well to do businessman inching towards insanity) and Kilgore Trout (a science-fiction writer/cynic whose writing has so far only appeared in pornographic magazines). The meeting of these two characters will mean the dissolve of one, and the rise of another. What I love most about Vonnegut’s books, and in particular this one, is his ability to make humorous observations of our rather dismal and bleak society while maintaining a focused poignancy. What is another unique characteristic of this novel is the narration style, if you can even call it a style. Vonnegut will speak of a particular object, known to everyone (I am assuming) and will follow the pattern, “introduction of said item…it looked like this:” followed by a rudimentary illustration of that object. He also breaks the average narrative style by telling his readers in the very beginning how this tale will come to its fruition. It’s wacky, but I loved it so much, and was circling quotations like a madwoman the whole time, yelling out loud that, “he REALLY gets it.” If you’ve never read Vonnegut, I think this book is a great place to start.
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I see a lot of people dislike this book because it's nonsense. I loved it because it's nonsense, and at the same time its self-awareness are fun. The sort of book that will either be loved or hated.
I've tried to read this book a couple times over the years and this was the first time that I made it to the end. And I'm still not really sure what I just read. A coworker remarked upon seeing my book "Vonnegut will stick with you and make sense later on". So I'm hoping for that. I really enjoyed his short stories as they had a little more structure in comparison to 'Breakfast of Champions'. I usually prefer more linear, non-chaotic works, but I didn't dislike this book as much as I just wanted to make a little more sense. I suppose I'll check in a couple weeks to see how I feel about this one.
Just as relevant today as 44 years ago. Vonnegut brilliantly understood human nature at its most disturbing.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes