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A review by em_wemily
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
4.0
3.8 in general
2.5 compared to some of his other work
This is dark, unfiltered, and deeply cynical. It's also clever and highly imaginative. This isn't my favorite book by Vonnegut, but I enjoyed it. It uses simple language and Drunk-Mad-Hatter-style whimsy to comment on some really heavy topics (racial inequality, gender inequality, wealth inequality, colonialism, etc), along with some sillier ones (like penis size and the value of minimalist artwork). I laughed. I cringed. I felt Vonnegut's weariness throughout. This is not a happy book in the least, and that's exactly how he meant for it to be.
PLOT SUMMARY
Honestly, don't read this for the plot. It's all over the place. The plot was as coherent as it needed to be in order for Vonnegut to put his thoughts and feelings out there. It turns out, it didn't need to be *that* coherent for him to accomplish this.
WHAT I LIKED/DIDN'T LIKE combined:
It was creative of Vonnegut to insert himself as the God of the book IN his book, though I'd hoped he'd do more with this idea, given how much he talks about the Creator. The stories in here were absurd, and there was a bunch of talk about vaginas and buttholes and such, in addition to dead rabbits and pooping yeast. If he was *trying* to make this book as random as he believed life is by nature, then he certainly accomplished it. If he was was *trying* to make this as grimy a read as Kilgore Trout's mind, then he accomplished that too. That said, the plot was a hot mess, there were too many characters, and his messaging became redundant.
Still would recommend. It's a unique book.
2.5 compared to some of his other work
This is dark, unfiltered, and deeply cynical. It's also clever and highly imaginative. This isn't my favorite book by Vonnegut, but I enjoyed it. It uses simple language and Drunk-Mad-Hatter-style whimsy to comment on some really heavy topics (racial inequality, gender inequality, wealth inequality, colonialism, etc), along with some sillier ones (like penis size and the value of minimalist artwork). I laughed. I cringed. I felt Vonnegut's weariness throughout. This is not a happy book in the least, and that's exactly how he meant for it to be.
PLOT SUMMARY
Honestly, don't read this for the plot. It's all over the place. The plot was as coherent as it needed to be in order for Vonnegut to put his thoughts and feelings out there. It turns out, it didn't need to be *that* coherent for him to accomplish this.
WHAT I LIKED/DIDN'T LIKE combined:
It was creative of Vonnegut to insert himself as the God of the book IN his book, though I'd hoped he'd do more with this idea, given how much he talks about the Creator. The stories in here were absurd, and there was a bunch of talk about vaginas and buttholes and such, in addition to dead rabbits and pooping yeast. If he was *trying* to make this book as random as he believed life is by nature, then he certainly accomplished it. If he was was *trying* to make this as grimy a read as Kilgore Trout's mind, then he accomplished that too. That said, the plot was a hot mess, there were too many characters, and his messaging became redundant.
Still would recommend. It's a unique book.