Timequake
by Kurt Vonnegut
Timequake
Kurt Vonnegut |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 4998)
Read in April, 2008
At first, I wasn't too enthralled by Timequake and thought it might end up the same way Galapagos had, which is that I wouldn't finish it, but I kept reading out of a sense of boredom, perhaps, or for something to occupy my mind other than my thoughts. As a result, I have found a true gem in the ever-shrinking library of Vonnegut titles I haven't read or don't want to.
A large part of Timequake deals with death because Vonnegut was nearly seventy-five when he wrote it, and because a lot of pe...more
A large part of Timequake deals with death because Vonnegut was nearly seventy-five when he wrote it, and because a lot of pe...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Serious Vonnegut fans
I've read a few Kurt Vonnegut books that I remember being fun reads, but I wouldn't say this was one of them. I'm aware that he's since passed and this was his last novel published. He mentioned that it was a story he had been working on for a decade, "piecemeal", eventually compressing bits of fiction together with autobiographical accounts interspersed (I felt like they outweighed the actual story). I think I needed to be more interested in the author to have appreciated this. He has...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Miggle by:
Madrerecommends it for: anyone with an eye for satire.
I was right on the edge of giving this book a rating of 4 stars; in terms of Kurt's ability in the context of his prowress shown in earlier works, this one is under par, and thus the demerit. However, the book does some to outplay the various selections available, and so I'll grant it the benefit of a doubt by means of my not-quite-infamous 5-star rating.
Vonnegut's reputation is due to his style of drawing the reader into a story with a really message, but by means of various quips that someho...more
Vonnegut's reputation is due to his style of drawing the reader into a story with a really message, but by means of various quips that someho...more
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Read in November, 2007
I hate to say this because I love Vonnegut. Cat's Crade and Slaughterhouse were pure genuis - satire at it's best. I also liked Sirens and Breakfast of Champions even though they were not of the calibre of his best works.
However, I am starting to fear that most of his other books are a waste of time. I think people read them only because they love Vonnegut and they desperately want to experience again the simple delight of discovering books that can shake you and engulf you.
I did not e...more
However, I am starting to fear that most of his other books are a waste of time. I think people read them only because they love Vonnegut and they desperately want to experience again the simple delight of discovering books that can shake you and engulf you.
I did not e...more
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Read in January, 2008
It's touching and heart-breaking, genius and of course humorous. A rare look into the brilliance that is Vonnegut, who himself narrates the story. Different from any other pieces from his cannon and in my opinion superior in large part due to its sincerity. Vonnegut puts his family, ancestry and life into the narrative and reaches out to the reader in a more intimate way than in any previous novel.
He writes at one point, “what most people want…what many people need desperately to receive ...more
He writes at one point, “what most people want…what many people need desperately to receive ...more
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Unfortunately, it's been a while since I read Timequake, so I can only talk about the general trends I remember, rather than the specifics of plot, and character.
This is Vonnegut's last Novel, and he certainly goes out with a bang. The literary devices that Vonnegut uses throughout his catalogue are all utilized in Timequake with new force and life. Vonnegut regularly steps outside of the fiction to analyze the novel he is writing, and clue the reader into what he is thinking, who he is bas...more
This is Vonnegut's last Novel, and he certainly goes out with a bang. The literary devices that Vonnegut uses throughout his catalogue are all utilized in Timequake with new force and life. Vonnegut regularly steps outside of the fiction to analyze the novel he is writing, and clue the reader into what he is thinking, who he is bas...more
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Read in April, 2008
At first I didn't get into this book, and I had put it down and forgotten about it. Recently I spotted it on my bookshelf and, needing something new to read when I finished my last book, I grabbed Timequake. I read it mostly on the train thinking that would force me to get over the hump I couldn't overtake a couple years ago when I first tried to read it. I was surprised this time around that I had ever put it down. It's extremely witty; full of humor and beauty and saddness, but told in a re...more
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Read in December, 2007
I read Slaughterhouse 5 when I was in highschool, and I did not get it. In recent years, I have had friends whose opinions I respect rave about Vonnegut, so I decided to try him again. I accidentally came across Timequake at a used bookstore and decided I would give it a whirl. And whirl is a good way to put it.
Most of the way through, I was lost, just as I had been with Slaughterhouse, but this time I saw flashes of merciless insight, droll humor and stark honesty. I struggled, however,...more
Most of the way through, I was lost, just as I had been with Slaughterhouse, but this time I saw flashes of merciless insight, droll humor and stark honesty. I struggled, however,...more
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Read in July, 2008
"wake up! for God's sake, wake up! free will! free will!"
ah, kurt vonnegut, you're lovely. deedly-deedly-deedly. i didn't think i liked this book until about halfway through, when i finally accepted the fact that it was part fiction/part autobiography/part who-knows-what, and then i fell in love. i especially loved the woman who laughs whenever a healthy person unexpectedly falls (as one who consistantly laughs when others are in pain, i understand).
i also loved the part ...more
ah, kurt vonnegut, you're lovely. deedly-deedly-deedly. i didn't think i liked this book until about halfway through, when i finally accepted the fact that it was part fiction/part autobiography/part who-knows-what, and then i fell in love. i especially loved the woman who laughs whenever a healthy person unexpectedly falls (as one who consistantly laughs when others are in pain, i understand).
i also loved the part ...more
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Read in February, 2002
Very postmodern. So postmodern you'll probably gag. But if you like Vonnegut, and I do, then this novel is just more proof of his brilliance. It's time travel, but backwards, and you can't change anything. It's ten years of reruns. And Vonnegut's there, and Kilgore Trout, and you've got no idea where the story ends and the autobiography begins, but this is a damned good book -- if you like Vonnegut.
If you don't like Vonnegut then you'll probably want to drop-kick this across the room, and i...more
If you don't like Vonnegut then you'll probably want to drop-kick this across the room, and i...more
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recommends it for:
رمان پست مدرن
به گمانم آخرين رماني است که ونه گات نوشته.
طنز ونه گات در اين رمان به اوج مي رسد و حد و حصري نمي شناسد. داستان کاملا به شيوه ي پست مدرن روايت مي شود و زمان را تکه تکه مي کند. همانطور که از عنوان بر مي آيد درون مايه ي آن زمان است و باز هم در اين رمان کيلگور تراوت شخصيت افسانه اي داست...more
طنز ونه گات در اين رمان به اوج مي رسد و حد و حصري نمي شناسد. داستان کاملا به شيوه ي پست مدرن روايت مي شود و زمان را تکه تکه مي کند. همانطور که از عنوان بر مي آيد درون مايه ي آن زمان است و باز هم در اين رمان کيلگور تراوت شخصيت افسانه اي داست...more
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Read in July, 2008
God, it pains me to give that kind of score to a Vonnegut book, but here we are.
As he puts it in his prologue, he had started a novel years ago called Timequake that just never came together for him. In 1996 he decides to dust it off an re-tool it, using it's premise of everyone getting a ten year do-over for a framework. He ultimately uses it as means to launch into many anecdotes and non sequiturs, and as a send off for Kilgore Trout. For all I know, there may not have been an origin...more
As he puts it in his prologue, he had started a novel years ago called Timequake that just never came together for him. In 1996 he decides to dust it off an re-tool it, using it's premise of everyone getting a ten year do-over for a framework. He ultimately uses it as means to launch into many anecdotes and non sequiturs, and as a send off for Kilgore Trout. For all I know, there may not have been an origin...more
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Read in June, 2007
It seemed timely to read a little Vonnegut after his death. "He's up in Heaven now."
Kilgore Trout rises out of his beggar's clothes to be accepted into a loving community, playing a big role in this novel (or half-novel half-memoir, or summary of a novel picked apart by its author). A Timequake in the 2001 universe caused time to reset to 1991, forcing everyone to relive those ten years, unable to do a thing differently and yet fully aware of the horrible choices and mistakes a...more
Kilgore Trout rises out of his beggar's clothes to be accepted into a loving community, playing a big role in this novel (or half-novel half-memoir, or summary of a novel picked apart by its author). A Timequake in the 2001 universe caused time to reset to 1991, forcing everyone to relive those ten years, unable to do a thing differently and yet fully aware of the horrible choices and mistakes a...more
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Read in November, 2006
recommends it for:
First Time Vonnegut Readers
This is Vonnegut’s bestseller and my least favorite. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d like it when I picked it up. Generally speaking if I love an author, I don’t like his/her bestseller. This book focuses largely on the autobiographical aspect of his writing, but does not provide the fictional counterpoint found in books like “Slaughterhouse Five.” While it is amusing, I found myself wanting more at various points in the book, and at other points I felt like I had already read t...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
those who love the late KV.
Frankly, I love this book. Not because it's particularly well-written, or because it's standard Vonnegut fun. Rather, I love it because it is, and I'll admit to borrowing a term from other reviews here, a victory lap. It's the beloved, retiring athlete taking the field one last time, saluting the crowd, and leaving forever. It doesn't matter what happened in that last appearance - it's enough that you were there to see it.
This was the last Vonnegut book I can read. I can't bring myself ...more
This was the last Vonnegut book I can read. I can't bring myself ...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
The jury is still out.
Finally picked this one up on the bus today. One of my favorite things about Vonnegut is his ability to encapsulate such world-weary, exhausted-with-humanity, ironic wisdom into three short lines.
Page five: "Somebody should have told him that being a physicist on a planet where the smartest animals hate being alive so much, means never having to say you're sorry."
Page seven: "Hooray for firemen!
Scum of the Earth as some may be in their daily lives, they can all be saint...more
Page five: "Somebody should have told him that being a physicist on a planet where the smartest animals hate being alive so much, means never having to say you're sorry."
Page seven: "Hooray for firemen!
Scum of the Earth as some may be in their daily lives, they can all be saint...more
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Read in January, 2008
In the Prologue of this novel, Vonnegut writes, "...I found myself in the winter of 1996 the creator of a novel which did not work,...which had never wanted to be written in the first place." He's referring to the first version of TIMEQUAKE, which he reworked into the novel that would be published in 1997. Sadly, Vonnegut's words are just as fitting for his revision. After months(!) of laboring to finish this novel, I've finally come to terms with the fact that I must abandon it, for i...more
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Read in August, 2007
Not Vonnegut's best book. Lacks the element of a story like the rest of his books. The "Timequake" is not really discussed that much other than its conception and how people would react to free will.
The book mainly espouses Vonnegut's views of society and how people should be taken care of by their friends, relatives and the government. While I enjoy Vonnegut's morals, I don't agree that any of them would work if enacted by the government. He's a funny, family oriented guy that I ...more
The book mainly espouses Vonnegut's views of society and how people should be taken care of by their friends, relatives and the government. While I enjoy Vonnegut's morals, I don't agree that any of them would work if enacted by the government. He's a funny, family oriented guy that I ...more
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If you're a Vonnegut fan like I am, you read this book with a heavy heart knowing it would be his last (as he announced it as such). This book contains one of the most beautiful chapters I have ever laid my astigmatic peepers on which was also a bit out of character for our Kurt.
The chapter was a tribute to his first wife, and for Vonnegut, was a poignant love letter that he gave us the honor of reading. When I go to the library, I still grab this book just to re-read that chapter and bear ...more
The chapter was a tribute to his first wife, and for Vonnegut, was a poignant love letter that he gave us the honor of reading. When I go to the library, I still grab this book just to re-read that chapter and bear ...more
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This is Vonnegut's last work of fiction (though, like always, he blurs the line between fiction and autobiography). I prefer this Vonnegut to the embittered one who wrote Man Without a Country. He is hopeful here, talking about how people need one another in order to survive. Many people believe that Vonnegut is a pessimist, but I prefer to use the oxymoron "hopeful pessimist." After all, Slaughterhouse Five ended with the sound of a bird singing, just as he told us it would. For the r...more
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