Broad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Lon...
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Mar 30, 2007
Arian
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One thing I've discovered is that people tend to have different favorites of Vonnegut's work. Many prefer Slaughter House Five, some love Breakfast of Champions, and my sister's favorite is Galapagos.
The only person I've ever met whose favorite Vonnegut book is Bluebeard is... me. So it goes.
The book follows former abstract expressionist painter Rabo Karabekian, serving as his autobiography and a mystery story simultaneously. The mystery? What is Rabo keeping in the More...
The only person I've ever met whose favorite Vonnegut book is Bluebeard is... me. So it goes.
The book follows former abstract expressionist painter Rabo Karabekian, serving as his autobiography and a mystery story simultaneously. The mystery? What is Rabo keeping in the More...
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Jan 15, 2008
Joaquin
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Wow. This was a novel that's going to keep me thinking for a long, long time. It was everything jam packed into a small little book: clever, tragic, engrossing, laugh out loud funny, imaginative, unexpected, and even transformative, I think. There are so many layers to this book I'm sure I'll be thinking about it off and on for the next several months at least and will almost definitely re-read this book a number of times before I reach room temperature.
Check it out: The protagonis More...
Check it out: The protagonis More...
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Mar 25, 2008
Nate
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I'm not sure how it happens...but some books become classics, while other books become forgotten. This is often the case among even the most famous of authors, who become known mostly for one or two books, while the majority of their work is unread, even though the quality of the forgotten work is sometimes quite high. In Kurt Vonnegut's case, most people know of "Cat's Cradle" or "Slaughterhouse Five," perhaps also "Breakfast of Champions," but they are unfamiliar
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Nov 04, 2007
Lindsay
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I was lured to this book by Breakfast of Champions, a Vonnegut book that I loved. But sadly I was disappointed. I wanted Vonnegut’s classic writing style; his unpredictable qualms, his interrogative view of the world and his illuminating illustrations. Instead, I received none of that. Bluebeard is unusual in comparison to his other books. Its critiques on the world and human life are blatant and deliberate, rather than his usual subtle remarks. The main character, Rabo Karabekian, is a widowed
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Oct 08, 2007
Dave-O
rated it: 
Vonnegut's biting satire comes through with this, his profile of fictional artist Rabo Karabekian. The book spans such events as the Turkish Armenian genocide, World War II, and the post-war climate in New York that gave birth to Abstract-Expressionism.
The genius of Vonnegut is his ability to see the humor in the worst tragedies, all of which he says are born of human folly. The protagonist just wants to live out his last days on his Long Island home but then is convinced by a seduc More...
The genius of Vonnegut is his ability to see the humor in the worst tragedies, all of which he says are born of human folly. The protagonist just wants to live out his last days on his Long Island home but then is convinced by a seduc More...
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Dec 23, 2007
Dan
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This book is about Rabo Karabekian, failed abstract expressionist painter, father, but decent soldier.
The story is half memoir, half diary of the time period where the main character is writing is his memoir. Thus it provides a more natural jumping around in time than other Vonnegut books, like Slaughter House 5. The story, told in different times comes together quite well, as the character develops nicely.
As per standard this is written with Vonnegut's simple and easy More...
The story is half memoir, half diary of the time period where the main character is writing is his memoir. Thus it provides a more natural jumping around in time than other Vonnegut books, like Slaughter House 5. The story, told in different times comes together quite well, as the character develops nicely.
As per standard this is written with Vonnegut's simple and easy More...
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Jan 11, 2008
Mazzeo
rated it:
Vonnegut’s views of art and artists expressed through a fictional character.
I’ll avoid my standard cheerleading stance for Vonnegut’s work and focus on the great explanation of an art’s life. We see the world through the character, and he sees all of life’s experiences are seen through the lens of art. Anything of importance or significance is relative to his passion. Even his sex life is ruled by his need to paint. On a number of occasions the story itself loses momentum, though More...
I’ll avoid my standard cheerleading stance for Vonnegut’s work and focus on the great explanation of an art’s life. We see the world through the character, and he sees all of life’s experiences are seen through the lens of art. Anything of importance or significance is relative to his passion. Even his sex life is ruled by his need to paint. On a number of occasions the story itself loses momentum, though More...
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Aug 12, 2011
Bluebeard tells the story of the painter Rabo Karabekian whose art disintegrated because he used the wrong paint - Sateen Dura-Lux - which was supposed to outlast the Mona Lisa, but which clearly didn't. Old Rabo - recently widowed - has hidden away from the world in the large Long Island mansion left to him by his late Edith, only to have his life invaded by the very successful writer of popular teen fiction - Circe Berman - who chellenges him to write his autobiography, since he has given up p
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Dec 20, 2010
Shaun
rated it:
The only problem with Kurt Vonnegut books is you read them too quickly. The great thing is that between the first page and the last page, you usually laugh and learn your way through one hell of a story. Blackbeard is no different in this regard. Perhaps there isn’t much of the profundity of some of Vonnegut’s other materials, but it’s more of a pleasant lesson learned. I think this is the most positive of Vonnegut’s novels I have read thus far. It leaves a kind of refreshed and spiritually
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Jun 29, 2010
Kate
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Ben and I both felt that Vonnegut's exploration of being a painter was definitely that of a writer's perception of what it is to be a painter and not a painter's perception. It was only a subtle difference at times, but enough to bring me out of the story a bit, especially in the flashbacks. But as far as writers/critics go, I'd take Vonnegut's personal understanding and viewpoints over some of my art history professors any day.
I really liked the idea of the potato barn, terrific m More...
I really liked the idea of the potato barn, terrific m More...
Dec 17, 2009
Andria
rated it:
I remember *really* liking this book when I read it years ago, and thinking I would like the rest of Vonnegut's books. I never did like any of his other books much, and yet as I read this one again, I think, "I *must* like his others!" But maybe this is destined to be the only one. It's the autobiography of artist Rabo Karabekian, looking back over his life at age 71 and reflecting on his current state of affairs while he's writing this book. We learn of his parents surviving the A
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Jul 06, 2009
Alana
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I re-read this every couple of years and am always surprised to remember how many of the things that I think or believe are lifted directly from this book. Also, I think about 2/3s of the "Kurt Vonnegut said..." things that I go on about are also from this one novel (The others are mostly from "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater"). There are so many great bits about art and loneliness and Life and Everything. Realism v. Abstract Impressionism and Is It Art? 'Flensing' your enemies i
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Mar 08, 2009
Joseph
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This book was more joyful that I thought it would be. It is - like other Vonnegut, I understand - not devoid of controversy, sexual content, and some glibly worded seriousness. Sarcasm. That said, it ends even joyfully. It is a fictitious freeform autobiography of a purported member of New York's abstract expressionist art movement. This often jilted Armenian-American Painter was duped into painting all his would be masterpieces with faulty Sateen Dura Luxe Paint (said to "outlast the
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Nov 24, 2009
Travis
rated it:
If you look at my profile and the list of books that I have read, it is no secret that Vonnegut is my favorite author, and my favorite book that he ever wrote is definitely Galapagos. After that there are the usual suspects, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, well, it's all good.
This is the novel that Vonnegut wrote after Galapagos, which gave me very high hopes for it. In my opinion, I think Kurt hit a bit of a slump around the time he pushed out Slapstick an More...
This is the novel that Vonnegut wrote after Galapagos, which gave me very high hopes for it. In my opinion, I think Kurt hit a bit of a slump around the time he pushed out Slapstick an More...
Jan 09, 2012
Anne
rated it:
This book is amazing! My favorite Vonnegut novel so far. It has the same ruminations on war vs. peace that I love, and comments on the ridiculousness of sending very young men off to war. And yet a victorious happy ending that pays off big! Not always the case with Vonnegut.
"May I say, too, that much of what I put in this book was inspired by the grotesque prices paid for works of art during the past century. Tremendous concentrations of paper wealth have made it possible for More...
"May I say, too, that much of what I put in this book was inspired by the grotesque prices paid for works of art during the past century. Tremendous concentrations of paper wealth have made it possible for More...
Aug 12, 2011
Sam
rated it:
Bluebeard taps into a fissure of the soul that is usually left unpicked: our embarrassment. This accidental autobiography is great for the budding writer and for young men who have yet to understand his other half: the feminine soul. The themes can be related to transcendentalism, yet instead of immediately agreeing with transcendentalism, it questions its goals.
Rabo goes through youth carrying the philosophy that he can change his own destiny and become a famous artist by doing th More...
Rabo goes through youth carrying the philosophy that he can change his own destiny and become a famous artist by doing th More...
Jul 13, 2011
Mike
rated it:
Vonnegut’s significant as a writer and as a phase. Many folks I know (family, friends, colleagues) stumbled across Cat’s Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five and found their young-adult minds blown for a variety of reasons. But at some point, after binging on his books in early adolescence, my need faded. I had read many when I was too young to appreciate them. I remember living in my old house when I bought Cat’s Cradle from a brand new Barnes & Noble on Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill (now closed),
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Apr 06, 2009
Skinneejay
rated it:
Most of the time, when you hear about Vonnegut, you hear about Slaughterhouse-Five. You will also hear about Cat's Cradle or Breakfast Of Champions. Yet, here I am and the first Vonnegut book I reviewe is Bluebeard, which is considered one of his lesser novels. I didn't even choose Mother Night or The Sirens Of Titan. Why? The answer is simple: I read Slaughterhouse long time ago and just finished Bluebeard. Don't worry. I promise more Vonnegut. Someday.
So Bluebeard is a novel More...
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Jan 24, 2012
Sara
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Admittedly my exposure to Vonnegut consists of an adolescent reading of Slaughterhouse-Five, which remains in my memory a hazy, odd book about a man who travels to another planet to copulate in a zoo, and also the source of the infamous "so it goes". So when this book cropped up as suggested reading for a college painting class I was taking, I jumped at the chance to read it.
Bluebeard follows Rabo Karabekian, an elderly, one-eyed Armenian veteran living in the U.S. He's writi More...
Bluebeard follows Rabo Karabekian, an elderly, one-eyed Armenian veteran living in the U.S. He's writi More...
Jun 08, 2010
Emily
rated it:
I just finished this book and thought it was so great. It's a very appropriate summer read since the main character lives on the beach and is writing his autobiography during what seems a slow time in his life; something very similar to what my summer currently feels like.
I really loved Rabo (the main character) and his attitude and apathy. I also loved his commentary on Celeste and her friends because it's often how I feel about my sister and her friends... along with the rest of her gene More...
I really loved Rabo (the main character) and his attitude and apathy. I also loved his commentary on Celeste and her friends because it's often how I feel about my sister and her friends... along with the rest of her gene More...
Oct 28, 2011
Dave
rated it:
I love Vonnegut.
This is the least fantastic book of his I can remember. No aliens, no author interacting with his own characters. Not even any Nazi propaganda intrigue.
Instead it's the very human story of an Armenian abstract expressionist painter coming to terms with his mediocrity, re-energizing his stagnant life, and embracing what made him exceptional.
It follows his childhood, his apprenticeship to an arrogant perfectionist illustrator, a failed marriage, the de More...
This is the least fantastic book of his I can remember. No aliens, no author interacting with his own characters. Not even any Nazi propaganda intrigue.
Instead it's the very human story of an Armenian abstract expressionist painter coming to terms with his mediocrity, re-energizing his stagnant life, and embracing what made him exceptional.
It follows his childhood, his apprenticeship to an arrogant perfectionist illustrator, a failed marriage, the de More...
Aug 03, 2010
This was a fun read. The cast of characters was delightful. The story is told as an autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, an Armenian born in San Ignacio, California to immigrant parents who managed to survive the Turkish massacre. The story is not told in chronological order but rather as if Rabo is writing it as we read and he writes about whatever comes to mind so current events are followed by a story about his parents or about his past or about one of the abstract artists or about one of the ma
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Jan 19, 2011
Bluebeard is one of Kurt Vonnegut’s lesser-known novels. It holds a relatively inconspicuous place in his catalogue behind an array of literary marvels including Slaughter-House Five, Cat’s Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, and Man Without a Country. This is entirely appropriate as Bluebeard lacks the affective impact of these other titles, but it is remarkably impressive for a secondary work. What would be a crowning achievement in another author’s career is a lesser light in Vonnegut’s. Then again,
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Dec 17, 2010
abo
rated it:
Rabo Karabekian ha 61 anni, una carriera di pittore mediocre alle spalle (di cui, a causa di vernici scadenti, non resta alcuna traccia) e una delle maggiori collezioni di quadri di espressionisti astratti americani. Vive da recluso una casa lasciatagli in eredità della seconda moglie, in compagnia di una donna di servizio, della figlia di questa, e di Paul Slazinger, scrittore con cui condivide ferite e polverosi ricordi bellici. E, proprio come Barbablù, ha un segreto, che tiene gelosamente na
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Nov 04, 2008
Matthew
rated it: 
It was interesting to learn about American Expressionism, which I knew little about before reading this - aside from that it's just another dull sermon from Vonnegut.
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Apr 03, 2010
Kelso
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I feel I hardly need to write anything about this, since so many others have, but I’ve been trying to write something for everything I read. Anyway, a great book, as I expected from Vonnegut. I read it right after reading his semi-autobiographical book Timequake.
I felt like this one is fairly autobiographical as well. So many elements that appeared here, appeared in Timequake as a genuine memoir. I know he usually likes to refer to Kilgore Trout as his usual literary alter-ego, but R More...
I felt like this one is fairly autobiographical as well. So many elements that appeared here, appeared in Timequake as a genuine memoir. I know he usually likes to refer to Kilgore Trout as his usual literary alter-ego, but R More...
Jan 10, 2011
MJ
rated it:
Vonnegut's books are hard to summarise as the usual elements are always present and eminently sum-up-able: good-natured satire, moving stories-within-stories, shabby protags who inherit and lose fortunes as naturally as TV remotes, strong women always at the centre of life's mayhem, the ghost of WWII past.
This one hits at the same highs as his other eighties novels, Deadeye Dick and Galápagos, and deserves more attention. More...
This one hits at the same highs as his other eighties novels, Deadeye Dick and Galápagos, and deserves more attention. More...
Dec 27, 2011
Billie
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Bluebeard is not a perfect novel but very beautiful. This short book contains short chunks that move from one topic to the next but which are all connected because they relay past and present events of the life of Abstract Expressionist painter Rabo Karabekian. The novel is supposed to be his autobiography. The presence of two women in his life dominate a large proportion of the story, and Vonnegut portrays them colorfully. The novel is also a bit of a mystery since he has a secret he has kept l
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Oct 20, 2011
Thomas
rated it:
This is my tenth Kurt Vonnegut book and I can say it definitely ranks among his better books. I actually might have laughed out loud from this book more than any of his others. The cynical and silly humor that Vonnegut is known for is as present as ever. Bluebeard is a very fluid read. I never want to put the book down and always look forward to starting back up.
For people who are familiar with Vonnegut, I definitely recommend this one as it is one of his stronger novels. While I woul More...
For people who are familiar with Vonnegut, I definitely recommend this one as it is one of his stronger novels. While I woul More...
Feb 04, 2009
Amelia
rated it:
This is the third book by Vonnegut that I've read (fourth if you count Man Without a Country), and it seems like every book I read by him makes me want to read more of his work.
I don't know that I can accurately describe what makes this so interesting (just like Rabo Karebekian can't or won't describe for most of the novel what he's keeping in the padlocked potato barn), but I know that I didn't want to put it down. I could feel that the plot was slowly, subtly, taking us to a spec More...
I don't know that I can accurately describe what makes this so interesting (just like Rabo Karebekian can't or won't describe for most of the novel what he's keeping in the padlocked potato barn), but I know that I didn't want to put it down. I could feel that the plot was slowly, subtly, taking us to a spec More...
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