Welcome to the Monkey House
by Kurt Vonnegut
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I heard once from an old English teacher that the hardest pieces to write are short stories and short films. To develop a plot and characters in a short and constricted time frame requires no small amount of skill. There's no room to waste words and phrases; to do so would turn your short story into a novella. Poe was great at it. And I feel Vonnegut was great at it too.
Welcome to the Monkey House has been a favorite book of mine for a long time. I may have inadvertently acquired...more
Welcome to the Monkey House has been a favorite book of mine for a long time. I may have inadvertently acquired...more
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Read in December, 2007
I had read many of the stories in this book before, such as the famous "Harrison Bergeron" but had never gotten around to reading the whole collection. My loss. The copy I have is dog-eared and marked up with some past reader's ideas of Very Important Concepts, which somehow added to the experience. I had assumed that most of the collection would be high concept, like Harrison Bergeron and the title story; much of it is. However, I forgot how human and heart-wrenching his writing can...more
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Several of Kurt Vonnegut’s finest collections of masterpiece are in his short story collection, Welcome to the Monkey House. His sense of humor and creative vision of the future reflects modern issues including racism, sexism, overpopulation, and restriction of rights. One of his outstanding short stories that I recall the most is “Harrison Bergeron”. In this utopian society, no one should be created equal, but the reality is, human natural is born unequal. The first inequality is the ...more
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Read in June, 2003
Like many offbeat/outcast teens, I went through a Vonnegut phase - and am glad to say I never completely recovered. I would heartily recommend Welcome to the Monkey House for anyone new to Vonnegut's body of work, as it covers basically the first two decades of his career (and IMHO, the best years)
It contains an honest-to-goodness love story - "Long Walk to Forever" that always makes me sniffle a little. Then there's the familiarly sardonic "Report on the Barnhouse Effect"...more
It contains an honest-to-goodness love story - "Long Walk to Forever" that always makes me sniffle a little. Then there's the familiarly sardonic "Report on the Barnhouse Effect"...more
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Read in May, 2007
I found myself much more affected by these short stories than I expected or even meant to be. I didn't pick it up until the last few days of a one-month loan and then kicked myself for having had such a good book on hand for so long without reading it.
"The Kid Nobody Could Handle" had me actually crying on the train. Not just a little welled up. Actual heaving chest and me trying to hold it together sitting next to all the other, generally much more well-composed, business men. My ...more
"The Kid Nobody Could Handle" had me actually crying on the train. Not just a little welled up. Actual heaving chest and me trying to hold it together sitting next to all the other, generally much more well-composed, business men. My ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in April, 2008
This is the first book I've read by this author. The short stories are a great read. I'm delighted by Vonnegut's dark humor and vivid imagination, but always lit up with familiar and touching humanity. Plus, the stories are short enough that I can usually finish a whole one during my 15-minute train ride. This book has whetted my appetite to read more Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-Five, here I come.
I love that many of the science-fiction questions he posed in the 50s are still relevant and intere...more
I love that many of the science-fiction questions he posed in the 50s are still relevant and intere...more
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Read in January, 2000
Vonnegut lived in Manhattan when he died, in April, '07. He was regularly spotted, walking up and down his stoop, shopping for grocceries, sitting in the nearby park. NYC'ers letting him go peaceably about his business, we're good like that. I can't imagine how he was not followed by a throng of screaming fans, the way a young Beatle would be, though. Maybe this says a little much about me, but if there were ever a man whose fiction made me want to throw my panties at him, this one might be it. ...more
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Read in January, 1994
recommends it for:
Readers who think they don't like short stories
This is one of he best collections of short stories ever published. "More Stately Mansions" is one of my favorites and it's not typical Vonnegut; it's a short story in the traditional sense, and is told patiently and is so relaxed that when the end comes, you'll find you've been holding your breath. In "The Foster Portfolio" you can smell the smoke and feel the tension. You'll laugh at the absurdities and marvel at the compassion. You'll cheer for Harrison Bergeron and grit y...more
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Read in December, 1999
recommends it for:
Everyone, especially Vonnegut virgins.
This was the first Vonnegut book I read. I spotted on my Dad's bookshelf, said to myself "I've been meaning to read some Vonnegut" and picked it up to read without even glancing at the back cover. I loved the first chapter, then read the second and loved it too but had no idea how it connected to the first. When I got to the third and it was also completely different I finally glanced to the cover and noticed it was a collection of short stories! They are all wonderful. Some funny...more
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Read in January, 1999
I stole this from my brother at some point and returned it a day or two later having finished it. Many of the stories are amazing and I find myself referring to them often in conversation. Two of my favorites are:
All the King's Horses: a brutal story of a downed pilot forced to play chess with a cruel dictator with his men and family as pieces.
The Euphio Question: An invented machine is capable of providing pleasure to everyone that hears it to the point where they forget about everyth...more
All the King's Horses: a brutal story of a downed pilot forced to play chess with a cruel dictator with his men and family as pieces.
The Euphio Question: An invented machine is capable of providing pleasure to everyone that hears it to the point where they forget about everyth...more
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Read in April, 2002
recommended to Danielle by:
Clint Karlinsey
The date is the first time I read this book. I've read it a couple of times since. I should really own it because there are so many stories in here that are so great. I think Vonnegut is kind of equally balanced in his skill with the short story and the novel. It's impressive that he can write both forms well.
Anyway, my favorites from this book are "A Deer in the Works" (although it loses points for lacking in subtlety) and the one whose title I can't remember about the AWOL neighbor...more
Anyway, my favorites from this book are "A Deer in the Works" (although it loses points for lacking in subtlety) and the one whose title I can't remember about the AWOL neighbor...more
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I love Vonnegut. What a cunning, snarktastic mind he had. His short stories were hit and miss, but when they hit, they are so resonant! Among the best in this collection are, of course, "Harrison Bergeron", and "All the King's Men", but the best story- the title escapes me- is the one about the soldier who comes home, shows up on his childhood neighbor girl's doorstep, and simply tells her he loves her. Their time together and her acceptance of this very simple but porwer...more
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Vonnegut has a cute, optisimtic look at love and partnership in these short stories-- I found it very refreshing. Some stories struck a chord with me, some felt contrived, some felt like wonderful kooky B-movies with bad acting (awkward dialogue). I enjoyed the little snippets every so often that reminded me of what I love about his later novels-- I felt as though I was reading him searching for his writer's voice, and could hear it creeping out here and there. I wasn't blown away by this collec...more
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Read in January, 1987
I finally purchased this book just a few years ago, primarily for the one story... I had read in an ancient English textbook in junior high called Counterpoint in Literature. The story is called "The Kid Nobody Could Handle." I don't think I could ever have the redemptive quality of the teacher in this story, or the optimism, but I hope I'll always reach for it. For that story alone, aside from the strength or quality of any other story in the book (and I am a great admirere of Kurt Vo...more
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as the first vonnegut book i read, i truely enjoyed every story it contained. my oldest brother left it in my bedroom when i was younger, advising me to read it and suggesting that i would love vonneguts black humor. i read it and absolutely loved it. my favourite of the collection was harrison bergeron, though i really did like all of the short stories. after reading welcome to the monkeyhouse, i tapped into other books of his and i still have intentions of reading every book of his that has be...more
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Read in January, 1996
I read a story from this collection of short stories in a college lit class. The story was Harrison Bergeron and it was another story of a repressed people governed by a totalitarian government. If you're smart, they level the playing field by inserting something into your brain that doesn't allow you to form complete thoughts. If you're beautiful, you must wear a bag over your head. You get the idea. The ending is unpredictable-- this is a great story and the other stories in this book is ...more
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Read in September, 2007
Saying Kurt Vonnegut is a great writer is not really new information for the reader of this review. Still, even in a few pages he can make moral and philosophical points that keep you thinking for hours afterwards. My personal favorite short story, "Harrison Bergeron" talks about a future society where everyone is equal. It points out how pale and boring such a society would be. Many other short stories portray the beautiful to the gruesome. It will undoubtedly be a book I reread ...more
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Read in January, 1996
recommends it for:
hippie luddites
Kurt Vonnegut, to many college pseudo-intellectuals, is the pinnacle of fiction. Here, he takes some short stories and shows that he could've been just as acclaimed in the short story game. The story "Epicac," remains to this day, the best short story I've ever read. It features a computer that is characterized so well that I wanted to meet him, and two perfectly believable scientists. I picture the events of "All the King's Men" every time I play chess. Brilliant.
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While some stories seem out of place (ex:"Long Walk to Forever"), overall, each story in the collection seems to gnaw at the 'sky is falling' feeling. The reader can't help but feel that the world is heading toward some dismal future where the worst of humanity has triumphed, that is vacant of pure feeling and emotion. Then, after each story the date of publication is written, some as old as fifty years, which may or may not calm one's fear/depression/growing malaise.
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This was my introduction to Kurt Vonnegut. It's a collection of short stories. As a writer he's quite straight - his stories (sci fi stuff especially) are vehicles for his ideas rather than being driven by their plots really. He writes in mainly straightforward, plain prose, which is very effective.
Throughout his stuff you get a strong sense of who he is - what he loves about life, what frustrates him, etc etc. I definitely recommend this and Slaughterhouse 5.
Throughout his stuff you get a strong sense of who he is - what he loves about life, what frustrates him, etc etc. I definitely recommend this and Slaughterhouse 5.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.06 (5164 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.06 (5034 ratings) number of reviews: 268popular shelves
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