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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
This is an odd one to read if your only exposure to Vonnegut was reading Cat's Cradle back in high school because he revisits so many characters from his other novels. That wasn't enough to deter me from enjoyment, rather it made me want to read his previous books and meet those characters outside this particular nexus of insanity.
Champions made me laugh in a childlike (childish) way. I interpreted it as though the author ("Studge") were communicating to a future alien race who would one day arrive at our desolate planet finding only this work to explain American culture. In that way it's like A People's History if Zinn was completely out of his mind. 5 Stars
Champions made me laugh in a childlike (childish) way. I interpreted it as though the author ("Studge") were communicating to a future alien race who would one day arrive at our desolate planet finding only this work to explain American culture. In that way it's like A People's History if Zinn was completely out of his mind. 5 Stars
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A satirical, absurd piece of meta-fictional storytelling, playfully and outrageously picking apart aspects of American society and culture. At its heart, there is a narrative about Vonnegut’s alter ego, writer Kilgore Trout, travelling to attend a new Midwest arts festival in the dull, dismal, polluted Midland City. At the same time, the city’s leading entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, Dwayne Hoover, is having a mental meltdown leading up to an eruption of violence involving Trout and other characters in a Holiday Inn. But, stepping back like an interstellar alien’s ethnographic study, Vonnegut meditates playfully on all kinds of topics from war, capitalism and industrialisation to slavery and racism (which jarringly, over 50 years after publication, leads to regular use of the N-word). This scientific tone also sees the narrator inserting lots of amusing line drawings throughout. Beyond it all, there is Philboyd Studge, another Vonnegut alter ego, who explicitly reveals himself (or Vonnegut?) as “the Creator” of the fictional narrative, bringing a typically meta layer to the book, reminding us of the presence of Vonnegut himself sitting at a desk at his typewriter.
Wow, big fan of Vonnegut. Definitely satirical, and definitely obscene. A lot of critiques ran through this book… but my favorite thread dealt with the way we see and understand other human beings, perhaps as mindless robots there only for our personal experience, or perhaps as “unwavering bands of light.”
It’s a good book if I laugh out loud multiple times while reading. Would recommend.
It’s a good book if I laugh out loud multiple times while reading. Would recommend.
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't think a book has made me laugh out loud as much as this one. I hope this book is being read by people in 100 years from now and they're laughing too.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very interesting book. i think i love it but there's some stuff i really don't like