Slapstick, or Lonesome No More
by Kurt Vonnegut
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 4169)
Read in September, 2007
At this point I've gotten fairly familiar with Kurt Vonnegut's tone and flavor. The sense of universalism and equality consistently sound as often as his humor and irony rings.
This books reads as a perversion of all four themes.
To me.
Usually Vonnegut's works seem to read with some underlying sense that no matter how bizarre everything seems, no matter how depressing or how inspiring a situation seems, there's always a punchline, and that punchline brings you back to reality, forcin...more
This books reads as a perversion of all four themes.
To me.
Usually Vonnegut's works seem to read with some underlying sense that no matter how bizarre everything seems, no matter how depressing or how inspiring a situation seems, there's always a punchline, and that punchline brings you back to reality, forcin...more
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Read in May, 2008
And with that, I learned once again that I was an asshole. I read 'Cat's Cradle' when I was in high school and taking a lot of ecstasy, so I hated everything except the Chemical Brothers. Since I hated Cat's Cradle then, I've assumed that I didn't like Mr Vonnegut for the last, what, dozen years? I only picked this one up 'cause I never see old editions of it and Josh said it's his favorite.
That all sucks. I mean, I don't think he's perfect- I'd remembered his kind of smug, eccentric uncle ...more
That all sucks. I mean, I don't think he's perfect- I'd remembered his kind of smug, eccentric uncle ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
literary/speculative fiction fans
This one was one of Vonnegut's best. He was creating worlds here, folks. Most specifically, a world---ours.
The narrator happens to be the President of the United States---the LAST one, as a matter of fact.
Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain and his sister, Eliza, have got to be two of the most sympathetic characters KV ever created. Their voices just envelope you and draw you in.
Some of Vonnegut's most ingenious devices & characters are in here---Green Death, the Hooligan (a thingie to...more
The narrator happens to be the President of the United States---the LAST one, as a matter of fact.
Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain and his sister, Eliza, have got to be two of the most sympathetic characters KV ever created. Their voices just envelope you and draw you in.
Some of Vonnegut's most ingenious devices & characters are in here---Green Death, the Hooligan (a thingie to...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Pilouetta by:
elisarecommends it for: not just sci-fi fans
in vonnegut's description this book is the closest thing he has written to an autobiography, the idea for which he thought up on an airplane, on the way to a funeral. though set in new york AKA the island of death, at a time in the future (near or far?), and telling the tale of a couple of siblings armed in monstrous bodies - it could be the story of vonnegut, more or less. so far, from the prologue and the brief first few pages, i already love this slim little book for the following enlightenme...more
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Read in June, 2008
The last page of this novel is a Vaudevillian mix of Gabriella Garcia Marquez and Faulkner - one of my favorite last pages of all time. (But it won't be good unless you read the whole book first - otherwise the tone makes no sense - so no cheating.) :)
It is sad to think of Kurt Vonnegut having left our world, but that funny, sage, cutting man was so damn prolific that even his leaving is an act of generosity - he left us with so much.
I've only been disappointed by one Vonnegut bo...more
It is sad to think of Kurt Vonnegut having left our world, but that funny, sage, cutting man was so damn prolific that even his leaving is an act of generosity - he left us with so much.
I've only been disappointed by one Vonnegut bo...more
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One of the least know and very best of Vonnegut. This was my introduction to his work and it will always be my favorite of his. Back before he actually wrote his autobiography, he said this was the closest he will ever come to writing one. In the book he is a mongle with a twin sister. Together they are brilliant and apart they are below average. It takes place in the future, when gravity is light or heavy depending on the day and the main character ends up running for President, changing people...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Vonnegut fans and Anti-Politicos
Hi ho.
This book is hilarious. I devoured it in two hours and am excited to pick it up again. Vonnegut is addictive. This is my fave by him thus far. His uncanny ability to point out the absurdities in life is what gets me thinking the most. Here is a little excerpt:
I have had some experiences with love, or I think I have, anyway, although the ones I have liked best could easily be described as "common decency." I treated somebody well for a little while, or maybe even fo...more
This book is hilarious. I devoured it in two hours and am excited to pick it up again. Vonnegut is addictive. This is my fave by him thus far. His uncanny ability to point out the absurdities in life is what gets me thinking the most. Here is a little excerpt:
I have had some experiences with love, or I think I have, anyway, although the ones I have liked best could easily be described as "common decency." I treated somebody well for a little while, or maybe even fo...more
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Note that I am giving this book a low rating as compared to Vonnegut's other books, and is not necessarily reflective of my opinion of it as a fine work of fiction.
Really, when compared to the similarly-themed Cat's Cradle and The Sirens of Titan, this one just doesn't hold up as well. It boasts a classic Vonnegatian comedic end-of-the-world scenario, but Slapstick ...more
Really, when compared to the similarly-themed Cat's Cradle and The Sirens of Titan, this one just doesn't hold up as well. It boasts a classic Vonnegatian comedic end-of-the-world scenario, but Slapstick ...more
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Read in October, 1998
[Note - this review combines Vonnegut's Slapstick and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater] These two Vonnegut novels don't seem similar, but they both contain the character Norman Mushari - a lawyer who represents family members with unfair financial situations (relative to their siblings). Both books were equally disturbing - Slapstick a bit more so because of its odd, futuristic New York. I especially enjoyed the autobiographical introduction. God Bless You was an interest satire - but sad in tha...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Derek by:
Nessarecommends it for: Anyone who likes Vonnegut or who appreciates a good dystopia.
Fantastic book (thanks for the tip, Nessa). The King of America-- a deformed half-genius who, among other things, wrote a guide to parenting that outsold the Bible and instituted government-issued middle names in an attempt to extend families (his was Daffodil-11)-- tells his life story from his dilapidated Manhattan home in the final days of civilization. Vonnegut writes stories that should be utterly ridiculous but that somehow turn out to be razor-sharp and almost painfully insightful. Soc...more
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Read in January, 1996
I haven't read this in a while, but remember liking it a lot, and I believe this is where Vonnegut makes a statement along the lines of - life is really like an episode of a show on television (or a movie?) - there's a bunch of meat in the middle, but rather uninteresting stuff at either extremity, and that's why they don't show it - and some musing to the effect of wishing that real life should work this way too, in terms of the hanging-on and getting old and withering away being just so much w...more
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Read in April, 2008
In a classic Vonnegut mode, the narrator tells a story of the past leading up to a post apocolyptic present day that, though decimated and decaying, eventually appears utopian in comparison to the over-crowded and over-stimulated world that mirrors our own. My thoughts linger on the re-middle-naming of the American population in order to create vast pseudo families that cuts into the isolations of our alientated society. John-look out for the Joy of Cooking mention, quite a compliment, I ...more
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Read in April, 2008
I haven't read much Vonegut, so getting used to his way of thinking and writing style always takes me a little bit. His apocalyptic view of America is frighteningly believable. There were points throughout the book where I felt I was somehow missing a deeper meaning to what I was reading. For the most part, however, I found it easy to read while at the same time having enough substance to make me think. Vonegut's portrayal of the Chinese and theories about gravity were especially amusing.
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Not one of his best. The entire book was just weird but some of the conjectures of the future of relgion, physics, and family were pretty interesting. "My name is Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain." edit 7//12/08 So I was re-reading this and I'm not sure but I think knowing the ending made this book better. But I always enjoy the cynical way Vonnegut writes: "My vice president, Stephen Anderson, actually died in my arms. It must have been quite a sight to see us there.&quo
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Read in August, 2007
I consider this one of the funnier Vonnegut books, and as usual his humor is laced with intelligence. The focus here is on the slapstick, as the title suggests. If I have any complaints about Slapstick, it's only that the tone and style of the book are so similar to other Vonnegut books -- it's almost like he slapped together a little part of several books to make this one. But on the whole, a solidly funny book. The parts in Manhattan towards the end are hilarious.
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I read its translation to Persian about 6-7 years ago and I couldn't build up a good relation with the book. I am not sure if the translation was good enough and it was also the first (and up to now the last) post-modernistic book I read. So probably I needed to be more knowledgeable of this style of writing to understand or even feel it more. Anyhow I am not sure I have enough motivation to read it again in future since it couldn't even stimulate me to do so....
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Read in May, 2008
This book is appropriately named. KV is good like that. It is the silliest/most bizarre Vonnegut I've read and I really loved it when I read it. I think that I read some where that when he was grading his own work, KV gave it a D, which I don't think is fair. But I mean, I guess he would know. It's about inbreeding and a semi-post-apocalyptic future and has one of these really great true-story forwards he likes to slip in. I would have given it a solid B.
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Read in January, 1979
This is one of those books I re-read fairly often. My uncle bought a copy when it first came out for my mom, and as in our house no book was off limits I read it at the age of 8... not understanding a lot of it, but being fascinated with the things I did understand, I went back and re-read it every few years growing up getting more out of it each time.
I have to say that it's a weird trippy book... and I still brush my teeth with hot water ....hi ho.
I have to say that it's a weird trippy book... and I still brush my teeth with hot water ....hi ho.
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i think this is one of the most underappreciated books in the vonnegut canon. a lot of that stems from his own assertion that it is among his worst, but like many things he said you wonder if he meant it seriously. there is a strong autobiographical element concerning his (vonnegut's) sister's suicide which i think gives the main character added depth and humanity. it is both entertaining and insightful, one of my favorite vonnegut books for sure.
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this is the only vonnegut book on my list that i did not give 5 stars to. though now that i think back on my reading of it, i'm starting to reconsider. this one is not on par with "breakfast of champions" or "sirens of titan" or any of his other books with "of" in the tital, hence the lower rating. but it is classic vonnegut: darkly funny, socially conscious, and filled with totally unique characters living in an unpredictable world.
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