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7th out of 32 books
—
330 voters
Bluebeard
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 Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn. But then a voluptuous young widow badgers Rabo into telling his life story—and Vonnegut in turn tells us the plain, heart-hammering truth about man’s careless...more
Paperback, 318 pages
Published
September 8th 1998
by Dial Press Trade Paperback
(first published 1987)
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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 huge potato barn on his larg...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 huge potato barn on his larg...more
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 protagonist/autobiograph...more
Check it out: The protagonist/autobiograph...more
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 with the rest of his work. It'...more
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...more
Oct 08, 2007
Dave-O
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fictional Abstract Expressionists
Shelves:
fiction
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 seductive widow t...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 seductive widow t...more
Dec 23, 2007
Dan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Kurt Vonnegut fans, abstract expressionists, fans of abstract expressionism
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 to read, yet sophisticate...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 to read, yet sophisticate...more
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 it never grind...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 it never grind...more
May 01, 2012
Erik Graff
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
literature
Although not one of his most popular novels, this is one of my favorites. Vonnegut combines humor and pathos within a gentle satire in this reflection about war and human destructiveness. To Vonnegut, we're all not far removed from our childhoods and their insecurities, but now we no longer have kind parents to protect us and to appear to answer our questions.
Whether Vonnegut knew of the CIA's funding of abstract expressionism is unknown to me. If not, he anticipates their latterly revealed moti...more
Whether Vonnegut knew of the CIA's funding of abstract expressionism is unknown to me. If not, he anticipates their latterly revealed moti...more
Aug 12, 2011
Siri
added it
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...more
All I can say is hysterically ironic.
I read this novel in one sitting and it's brilliant.
So we have a failed artist, a Word War II veteran who is extremely lucky and his second wife had recently passed away when an eccentric writer moves into his house and makes him write an autobiography.
So he starts from the beginning, telling us his story chronologically but occasionally gets back in the future to give us a perspective what's going on in his life. The story is full of twists that not all...more
I read this novel in one sitting and it's brilliant.
So we have a failed artist, a Word War II veteran who is extremely lucky and his second wife had recently passed away when an eccentric writer moves into his house and makes him write an autobiography.
So he starts from the beginning, telling us his story chronologically but occasionally gets back in the future to give us a perspective what's going on in his life. The story is full of twists that not all...more
Don't ask me why this was the first KV book I read but it is still my favorite and really my only beloved KV book...
As always KV is quick, fun and a touch preachy. Of course we will see bits of absurdity and stuff that is too strange to be fiction (but is actually fiction). KV will also continue with his theme that war is "wrong, so very, very wrong" which is unavoidable. Chances are if you are a KV enthusiast you find this work likable but not brilliant, though I think it is the most accessibl...more
As always KV is quick, fun and a touch preachy. Of course we will see bits of absurdity and stuff that is too strange to be fiction (but is actually fiction). KV will also continue with his theme that war is "wrong, so very, very wrong" which is unavoidable. Chances are if you are a KV enthusiast you find this work likable but not brilliant, though I think it is the most accessibl...more
Most of the time while reading this book, I merely liked it because I love Vonnegut. Had it materialized from the brain of a man I did not idolize as much as I do Vonnegut, I don't think I would have enjoyed it. Then it ended. Man oh man, what an ending it was! I don't mean the type of ending with some epic twist that made you go back and wonder what clues you missed. I mean the kind of ending that makes your soul feel good. Real good. I read the last part of the book several times. I have deriv...more
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 upli...more
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 metaphor.
I am c...more
I really liked the idea of the potato barn, terrific metaphor.
I am c...more
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 Armenian genoci...more
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 in order to forgive t...more
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 smile on t...more
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 and Jailbird,...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 and Jailbird,...more
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 a few persons or i...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 a few persons or i...more
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 things that no o...more
Rabo goes through youth carrying the philosophy that he can change his own destiny and become a famous artist by doing things that no o...more
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),...more
Apr 06, 2009
Skinneejay
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who like characters more than plot, Vonnegut fans.
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 about an Armenian...more
Δεν έχει υπάρξει, δεν υπάρχει και δεν θα υπάρξει συγγραφέας σαν τον Βόνεγκατ. Διατηρώ γι' αυτόν στη καρδιά μου την ίδια θέση που ο μέσος φαντασιο-λογοτεχνικο-geek κρατάει για συγγραφείς σαν τον Τόλκιν ή τον Λάβκραφτ: θηρία των λέξεων που αφιέρωσαν τη ζωή τους στο έργο τους. Μόνο που ο Βόνεγκατ δεν καλλιέργησε την φαντασία του προκειμένου να δημιουργήσει κόσμους. Την αφιέρωσε στην καλλιέργεια χαρακτήρων. Σ' αυτό το "κάθε χαρακτήρας σε μια ιστορία πρέπει να θέλει κάτι, ακόμη κι αν αυτό είναι μόνο...more
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 writing something of a di...more
Bluebeard follows Rabo Karabekian, an elderly, one-eyed Armenian veteran living in the U.S. He's writing something of a di...more
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 generation...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 generation...more
Although Bluebeard might not live up to Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five, it certainly was a beautifully written, entertaining "Masterpiece." When Vonnegut pokes fun at any institution, in this case art, he does it convincingly. The book has serious undertones of the relationship between men, women and war, masked by a comedic, unforgiving look at an artist, collector and warrior.
Bluebeard was written in the offhand way that so few authors can pull off. It poked fun at itself and history. On...more
Bluebeard was written in the offhand way that so few authors can pull off. It poked fun at itself and history. On...more
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 development of a misogynistic at...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 development of a misogynistic at...more
Aug 03, 2010
Janet
added it
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...more
I would call this the most mature of any of Vonnegut's books that I have read so far. I know that Vonnegut began his novel writing close to the age of 30 which is considered an adult but his work still lacked maturity. Which can be a good thing as his earlier works were meant to be biting satire and not high literature.
Bluebeard is more melancholy and less slapstick than Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions which he is more renowned for. It has a more subtle humour that lends itself t...more
Bluebeard is more melancholy and less slapstick than Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions which he is more renowned for. It has a more subtle humour that lends itself t...more
Jan 19, 2011
James
added it
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,...more
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Kurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journali...more
More about Kurt Vonnegut...
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journali...more
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“All right - I'll tell you what you did for me: you went for happy, silly, beautiful walks with me.”
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