Timequake - Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut wasn't too crazy about the first version of his latest (and, he says, ... more
last) bookTimequake, which is part memoir, part rescued novel. As he writes in the introduction, "My great big fish, which stunk so, was entitledTimequake." The book was originally going to be about a cosmic rerun, where the whole world does one decade over again exactly as it did before. However, after a decade in a writer's block continuum, Vonnegut decided to jump ship and salvage what he could from the wreckage of "a novel that never wanted to be written." He "filleted" the big stinky sucker, took its best parts out and made a "stew", seasoning it with memories and personal anecdotes. Vonnegut's alter ego, Kilgore Trout, the science fiction writer from previous novels (Slaughterhouse Five,Galapagos,Breakfast of Champions), looks back on his life as well when he meets up with Vonnegut at a clambake after history has repeated itself. Both authors discuss the idea of paralyzed "free will", the loss of loved ones and why "being alive is a crock of shit". Although it's filled with Vonnegut's unmistakable sarcasm and quirky insights,Timequakeisn't a streamlined novel with a tightly bound plot and strictly directed characters. It's a loose, free-flowing farewell from one of America's most beloved voices in popular fiction.
Advantages: A fascinating collection of satirical, funny and contraversial short stories. Disadvantages: This can be a difficult book to get hold of in the UK.
...Welcome to the Monkey House
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I first discovered KurtVonnegut through Welcome to the Monkey House when I was working in America. My friend Carrie-Ann raved about the book and insisted that I read it.
Vonnegut is classified as a contemporary American writer and his style can broadly be described as an odd cross between satire and science fiction. Now I am not a science fiction fan in any shape or form, but I loved these stories and I don't think that sci-fi phobic's should be put off.
Welcome to the Monkey House is an unusual collection of around 25 wicked short stories which were first published as a collection in 1968. The stories were previously published individually in sources such as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science fiction and The Atlantic...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Brilliant, fun, easy read, but with real depth. Disadvantages: Even the slight sci-fi element may put people off, though it shouldn't.
...KurtVonnegut has a habit of writing books that you don't notice are science fiction, because they're very down-to-earth and realistic, with characters acting just as they really would. This is the case for Cat's Cradle, and the bit where something is invented is used to great effect, simply to move the story along. Having said that, I did find myself half way through the book thinking 'oooh that's such a cool concept I hope they talk more about that', and the book /does/ actually give some focus to it. If you like books that have a tiny jump away from reality, or even those that are just a weird situation - such as the Wasp Factory - rather than full blown aliens and talking rabbits, you'll love this book. Intelligently written, witty, and surprisingly deep and revealing about humanity....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Highly readable and interesting Disadvantages: Might irritate those who don't appreciate Vonnegut's style
...Vonnegut has always denied being a sf writer, just as he’s always written books that strongly resemble sf. In Timequake he appears to have made his peace, using an unashamed sf plot device, and including a passage in which he allies himself with sf at least, claiming that ideas in fiction must be at least as important as character. He also expresses sadness at the decline of the short story. Both these opinions are refreshingly welcome in a “literary” writer.
Timequake concerns an unexplained catastrophe in which the universe jumps back ten years, forcing people to re-live their experiences and mistakes. More accurately, since this would be no more interesting than the first time round, it concerns the end of this repeated decade, when people stop being passengers in life and are forced to make decisions again. The change comes...
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16.03.2007
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