Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007)

»Another book, another June
Another sunny afternoon
Another season, another reason
For breakin’ with classics!«

(Based on “Makin’ Whoopee”, by Gus Kahn)

So, 1969 is still too old for me or maybe it’s just that this rambling, repetitive, dated-feeling, non-linear novel is a true classic in the worst sense of the word!

Supposedly, it focuses on the firebombing of Dresden during World War II but in fact, it’s more of an episodic play on war. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, is a prisoner show more of war, an optometrist and a time-traveller (since he suffered a brain trauma and had a major surgery done…) who experiences his life in a non-linear way and tells us about it.
Actually, I’m tempted to say he threatens us, because he’s become convinced he’ll live forever, thus troubling us with his terrible anecdotes.

Let’s get the most minor annoyance out of the way first: »So it goes.« - that phrase comes up exactly 106 times in a novel of barely 200 pages (yes, every time some kind of death occurs, I know, doesn’t make it any better). And it actually felt like a billion times.
Several times I fantasised about shooting a bullet at Vonnegut while screaming “So it goes” at the top of my lungs!

Also annoying: Billy Pilgrim’s brain-surgery induced belief he had been abducted by aliens from the planet »Tralfamadore«. There they put him under a glass dome, abduct a beautiful young actress for him whom he proceeds to impregnate and he lives the life…

Yes, I get he tries to rationalise his sense of powerlessness and isolation in a hostile world but I still hated it.

»There could be babies without men over sixty-five. There couldn’t be babies without other babies who had lived an hour or less after birth. And so on.
It was gibberish to Billy.«

(As was the novel to me!)

Moreover, the novel is also factually wrong in many aspects: Dresden has a long military history dating back to the 16th century, when it became the capital of Saxony and a major political and cultural centre. It was also a fortress city with strong fortifications and a large garrison. During World War 2, Dresden was a military centre for the Nazi regime, hosting several military factories, barracks, headquarters and transportation hubs.

For a novel that’s supposed to centre on Dresden, arriving at it after almost 75% of the novel has gone is also somewhat strange.

Also wrong: »It was the next night that about one hundred and thirty thousand people in Dresden would die. So it goes.«

Actually, there were 22.700 to 25.000 victims who died due to those bombings. Why does this matter? Because it’s still part of the narrative of the neo-Nazi plague that still infests (primarily) the eastern parts of Germany: While only about 20% of Germany’s population lives there, almost half the rightwing-extremist crimes were committed there…

»They were literary critics, and they thought Billy was one, too. They were going to discuss whether the novel was dead or not. So it goes.«

So, no, the novel itself isn’t dead. Just this kind of novel thankfully is. So it goes.

One out of five stars.

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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam show less

Spoilers

This is one that will stay with me for a while. I loved the detail in the creation of Rufoord's new religion. I almost wondered at times if I was instead reading "The Winston Niles Rumfoord Pocket HIstory of Mars". But it wasn't until I reached the end, until the reveal of the Tralfamadorian influence on Earth, that I realized the full impact of the story. For me, it changed the whole perspective of the narrative, and wonderfully so. Throughout the book, Vonnegut in his show more matter-of-fact tone simultaneously challenges and embraces the ideas of free will, fate, and purpose. I think if there is a moral to the story, it would be what Constant said of Beatrice at the very end- "It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." And I'll be comforted in the future by the thought that I am a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all. show less

Kilgore Trout, an obscure science fiction writer, is invited to an Arts Festival in a Midwest city where Dwayne Hoover, a successful business man and owner of many local institutions, is having a mental breakdown.

This book is very quintessential Vonnegut, with tons of absurd, dark humor and pessimistic views of the world around him (and rightly so in many cases). He even populates it with characters from his other books, such as the aforementioned Kilgore Trout as well as Eliot Rosewater. show more

Despite being published in 1973 and in some places showing its age (e.g., certain language used), this books feels surprisingly and perhaps disappointingly fresh as Vonnegut addresses the very same social and environmental issues that we are still grappling with today, from racism to pollution to gender identity to the way American history is taught and more. It's definitely a thought-provoking book. As the plot progresses, tension builds as Vonnegut clues you in to what will happen when Dwayne and Kilgore meet.

Unfortunately, towards the end of the book, Vonnegut goes from an omniscient narrator to actually inserting himself as a flesh-and-blood person in the book, walking around with his characters while acknowledging that they are fictional. I felt that the book lost some steam for me there. The big climactic scenes were a bit less climactic than they could have been, and the meta-ness was maybe a little too much. So, I was not thrilled with the ending and found it a little flat, although I thought the beginning and middle parts of the book were compelling.

Overall, I still recommend this book for raising lots of serious issues but in a way that is very readable with its biting satire. It's a classic for a reason and fans of Vonnegut will not be disappointed to come back to the world of characters he created. This book also includes some drawings from the author, which add to the story and its dark humor. show less

Se há livros que quebram certezas e perturbam convicções, este é um deles.
Qual a relação entre um químico, um dos pais da bomba atómica, uma religião inventada, uma ilha pobre no meio das caraíbas, a destruição do mundo e uma cama de gato? Vê a cama? Vê o gato? pergunta um anão, filho do químico. Eu não vi cama, nem gato. Mas estou confusa, parece que a cama e o gato estão mesmo lá.

- Diga-me o senhor, como morre um homem quando privado do consolo da literatura?
- De uma de show more duas maneiras - disse ele - putrefação do coração ou atrofia do sistema nervoso.
- Nenhuma delas muito agradável, imagino eu. - sugeri.
- Não - disse Castle mais velho. - Por amor de Deus, vocês os dois, por favor, continuem a escrever!

- «Muitas mãos tornam o trabalho bem mais leve.» É um provérbio chinês antigo.
- Eram espertos em muitas coisas, esses chineses, lá isso eram.
- Sim, devemos manter viva a sua memória.
- Agora gostava de ter lido mais sobre eles.
- Bem, era difícil, mesmo em condições ideais.
- Agora gostava de ter lido mais sobre tudo.
- Todos nós temos os nossos arrependimentos, mamã.
- Não vale a pena chorar sobre o leite derramado.
- Tal como disse o poeta, mamã: «De todas as palavras de ratos e homens, as mais tristes são: "Podia ter sido."»
- Isso é muito bonito, e bem verdade. show less