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Player Piano

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

3.88 · Rating details · 50,932 ratings · 2,311 reviews

Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.

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Paperback, 341 pages

Published September 2006 by Dial Press (first published 1952)

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Jan 10, 2017 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, unforgettable, so-good-it-hurts

Man created machines in his own image...

And man and machine alike were told to worship one deity: the CORPORATE PERSONALITY!

The 10 Commandments according to the Church Of Corporate Thinking:

1. Thou shalt believe in one corporation
2. Thou shalt have no other corporations beside the one you serve
3. Thou shalt honour all traditions and communal behaviours of your corporation
4. Thou shalt accept whatever the corporation tells you as truth
5. Thou shalt have no other truths except for corporate trut ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, united-states, classics, 20th-century, dystopia, science, literature

Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut

Player Piano is the first novel of American writer Kurt Vonnegut, published in 1952. Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.

It depicts a dystopia of automation, describing the negative impact it can have on quality of life. The stor Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut

Player Piano is the first novel of American writer Kurt Vonnegut, published in 1952. Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.

It depicts a dystopia of automation, describing the negative impact it can have on quality of life. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized, eliminating the need for human laborers. The widespread mechanization creates conflict between the wealthy upper class, the engineers and managers, who keep society running, and the lower class, whose skills and purpose in society have been replaced by machines.

The book uses irony and sentimentality, which were to become hallmarks developed further in Vonnegut's later works. Player Piano is set in the near future, after a third world war. While most Americans were fighting overseas, the nation's managers and engineers faced a depleted workforce and responded by developing ingenious automated systems that allowed the factories to operate with only a few workers.

The novel begins ten years after the war, when most factory workers have been replaced by machines. The bifurcation of the population is represented by the division of Ilium, New York into "The Homestead," where every person not a manager or an engineer lives, and the other side of the river, where all the engineers and the managers live. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم ماه می سال2014میلادی

عنوان: پیانوی خودنواز؛ کورت ونه‌ گات؛ مترجم زهرا طراوتی‏‫؛ زیرنظر: علی شیعه‌ علی؛ تهران: سبزان‏‫، سال1391؛ ‬در431ص؛ شابک9786001170539؛ چاپ دوم سال1395؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده20م

داستان «‮پیانوی خودنواز»، در ژانر کتابهای علمی-تخیلی (ساینس فیکشن) میگنجد، و نیز ساختاری «پست مدرن» دارد؛ این کتاب نوشتاری از «کورت ونه گات» است، که برای نخستین بار در سال هزار و نهصد و پنجاد و دو میلادی منتشر شد؛ داستان در جامعه ای در آینده ی نزدیک رخ میدهد، که بیشتر کارها را ماشینها انجام میدهد، و نیاز به انسانهای کارگر از بین رفته است؛ سلطه ی گسترده ی ماشینها باعث شده، تا کشمکشهایی بین قشر ثروتمند اجتماع، مهندسان، و مدیرانی که چرخ جامعه را به حرکت درمیآورند، و قشر پایینتر جامعه به وجود آید؛ قشری که مهارتها و تواناییهایشان به برهان وجود ماشینها بدون سود شده؛ داستان مهندسی به نام «پل پروتئوس» که باید راهی برای زندگی در دنیایی بیابد، که زیر توانِش ابَررایانه است، و ماشینها آن را میچرخانند؛ داستان شورش «پل»، داستانی سرگرم کننده، خیال انگیز، و به شکلی ترسناک است؛ شخصیت اصلی این اثر «پل پروتئوس»، رئیس کارخانه ماشین سازی «ایلیوم» است؛ «آنیتا» همسر «پل» است، و آنها فرزندی ندارند؛ در این داستان، روزهای زندگی «پل پروتئوس»، برای مدیریت شرکت خودروسازی، و زندگی شخصی او، و خانوادگیش، برای خوانشگر بازگو میشود؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 10/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 10/11/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Jan 22, 2017 Adina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dystopia, us

I just remembered that I did not review Player Piano. I did not have the time to do it when I finished the novel one month ago and then I forgot.

I am not going to write a full review because I lost the momentum, but I have a few comments.

First of all, If you never read Kurt Vonnegut I would not start with this one. It is very good but I believe it would be better savored by readers that already enjoyed other works by the author. This is his first novel and his fragmented writing style and sati ...more

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Jan 15, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

“The main business of humanity is to do a good job of being human beings," said Paul, "not to serve as appendages to machines, institutions, and systems.”

player piano – Salo University

When Kurt Vonnegut does dystopia (as he does in his first novel, Player Piano), you know it's not an empty idea for him to rail against, but a way for him (and us) to work out the implications of a new reality, in this case, our desire to improve the world with technology. In this early dystopian vision (set in the near future after WWIII), the ...more

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Jan 25, 2017 BlackOxford rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american

The Cybernetic Script

One of the most important but least discussed consequences of WWII is an ideology. It is way of thinking that unites the political left and right, and even transcends the ideologies of Capitalism and Marxism with their apparent conflicts about the nature of human beings and their politics. It is an ideology that became and remains the dominant intellectual force in the world in my lifetime. This ideology goes by a name that is only occasionally used today and is probably rec ...more

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Feb 17, 2017 Manny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, donalds-are-trumps

In his first novel, published in 1952, Vonnegut envisages a dystopian future where nearly all jobs have been rationalised away by increasing automation. But, just when things seem most hopeless, a saviour appears in the form of a brash, uncouth but lovable billionaire, who, despite having no previous political experience, rides a populist wave to become President. He immediately expels all illegal immigrants and starts a war against an alliance of Middle Eastern and Asian countries. Within month ...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Lyn rated it really liked it

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut was his first novel, first published in 1952. Early fiction from Vonnegut is told in a more straightforward fashion than Vonnegut readers will be accustomed to from his later works, but his imagination and wit are still unmistakable.

This is a dystopian work describing a United States after a third war where machines have taken the place of 90% of industrial workers. Government work available to displaced workers comes from either the Army, emasculated and bureaucra ...more

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Nov 25, 2020 Leonard Gaya rated it really liked it

Vonnegut wrote Player Piano in his late twenties, and it is the first novel in his long and successful literary career. At this stage, the author is still relatively “well behaved”: the structure of the story is reasonably straightforward, events occur in chronological succession, the protagonist is, for the most part, in full possession of his mental faculties. In short, there is still some way to go before the Slaughterhouse-Five meta-fictional, po-mo craziness. However, the distinctive featur Vonnegut wrote Player Piano in his late twenties, and it is the first novel in his long and successful literary career. At this stage, the author is still relatively “well behaved”: the structure of the story is reasonably straightforward, events occur in chronological succession, the protagonist is, for the most part, in full possession of his mental faculties. In short, there is still some way to go before the Slaughterhouse-Five meta-fictional, po-mo craziness. However, the distinctive features of Vonnegut’s style are already there: snappy, fat-free sentences, crisp, quick-witted dialogues, and a generally sardonic outlook on life and the human condition — the Shah of Bratpuhr subplot (slightly reminiscent of Montesquieu’s Lettres persanes) is priceless. Also, the use of the ritornello “And I love you, Anita” foreshadows the “And so it goes” in his upcoming masterpiece.

The subject of this novel is worth noticing as well. Player Piano falls into the speculative-fiction genre: in an unspecified near future, American corporations and industries are getting increasingly automated, computerised; managers and engineers are the cream of society, and the rest have, by and large, lost their jobs to machines — soon enough, one might reckon, engineers and managers will lose their grip as well... Interestingly, Vonnegut compares this profound socio-economic shift to the destruction of Native-American cultures at the hand of white settlers, as if modern society was, in its turn, about to be subjugated:

The world had changed radically for the Indians . . . It had become a white man’s world, and Indian ways in a white man’s world were irrelevant. It was impossible to hold the old Indian values in the changed world. The only thing they could do in the changed world was to become second-rate white men or wards of the white men. (LoA, pp. 259-260)

Vonnegut had seen mechanised warfare in action, during his time in Europe; he also probably saw it coming in the workplace, while employed at GE as a PR manager. But devising, as early as 1952, a world were computerised technology and algorithms would practically control (for better or for worse) every aspect of our lives was nothing short of visionary. His description of corporate power dynamics — especially the competitive “organisational development” off-site episode —, the pervasive automation of Western capitalism, and the gradual disenfranchisement and loss of livelihood of the unemployed working class (the “Reeks and Wrecks”, the “Takaru”) as opposed to the bling-bling 400, is probably more to the point and familiar today than it was in the 1950s. Vonnegut’s perspective on revolutions is utterly disillusioned, however. But underneath it all, this is the book of a compassionate humanist.

In many ways, Player Piano borrowed its dystopian views and storyline from Huxley’s Brave New World and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Over the years, though, Asimov’s Robot Series has almost completely overshadowed the influence of Player Piano in contemporary popular culture. This influence still nevertheless comes through in such recent films and series as Ex Machina, the Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans, or the excellent Westworld HBO TV show. ...more

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Feb 13, 2017 Gabrielle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, own-a-copy, american, dystopian, read-in-2017, used-bookstore-finds, mandatory-reading, reviewed, speculative-fiction

In a world where actuaries in Japan are getting fired by the hundreds because an algorithm now does their job, where Amazon's utterly creepy house robot Echo can organize your life and transfer info on your every move to God knows who, and where Google has created AIs that live on the Internet and talk to each other in an encrypted language so sophisticated that humans can't figure out what they are saying, "Player Piano" is eerily prescient.

In fact, as someone who works for a major insurance co In a world where actuaries in Japan are getting fired by the hundreds because an algorithm now does their job, where Amazon's utterly creepy house robot Echo can organize your life and transfer info on your every move to God knows who, and where Google has created AIs that live on the Internet and talk to each other in an encrypted language so sophisticated that humans can't figure out what they are saying, "Player Piano" is eerily prescient.

In fact, as someone who works for a major insurance company and who knows just how ridiculously dependent we are on your technology working well and how much we want our employees to be devoted body and soul to the company, this book felt disturbingly familiar from the very first page.

In a not so distant future, everything has been automatized and machines do all the work, nobody starves and the only jobs still available are the ones that can't be replaced by machines... and the army. But of course, a chasm exists between those who do simple manual work and the engineers and managers who overlook the exactitude of all those machines, effectively creating a polarized society.

Paul Proteus, an important engineer and manager of Ilium Works, can feel that something is not quite right with his life and with the world, but does not know how to deal with his malaise. His old friend and colleague Ed Finnerty has acknowledged that this way of life is hollow and unfulfilling a long time ago and resists the systematic automation of everything by not fitting into the mold of the brilliant engineer that he is.

One day, Paul is asked to betray his integrity for a better job and a secure social position and he finds himself incapable of doing it. He decides to rebel against this life that now feels so meaningless, but it's not as easy to escape the corporate beast as he seems to think. Especially when computers have a record of your entire lives...

In a parallel story line, we accompany the Shah of Bratpuhr's visit to America, his incapacity to perceive people who are not in charge as anything other than slaves (despite his translator's best efforts), and his amusement at the exotic and illogical American way of life.

The idea of the corporation as a Church, its employees as its worshipers and its executives as clergy is obviously not a new one, but it gave me a uncomfortable shiver. The corporate retreat, which is essentially a brain-washing vacation meant to cultivate your bond to the company and with your colleagues, the long ridiculous titles meant to glorify the simplest of jobs, more executives than executants... I see these things going on every day at work, and it's creepy. Add to that a President who is an actor, because charisma is more important than political skill for that job... *shudder*

I see human labor, skill and intelligence devalued a little bit more all the time, whether because we have become too reliant on our GPS to know how to read a map, or because products are now manufactured to break in a year or two so that we must buy a brand new one that turns out to be cheaper than repairing the old one... It makes me uncomfortable on so many levels...

Some people seem to think that Vonnegut has not yet sharpened his trademark wit and dark humor to their full potential when he wrote "Player Piano", but I found him to be just as brutally funny, vitriolic in his commentary and thought-provoking as in his later works. He had his finger on the simple reality that without a sense of purpose and usefulness, humans will loose their sense of identity and their spirits, and he wrote a great book about it.

Of course, he missed the mark on a few things: the Rust Belt's downfall, for instance. And the very old-fashioned gender-roles made me roll my eyes a few times. But dismissing this work just because a few things are not perfectly predicted would be a mistake. I recommend it to everyone. ...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Petergiaquinta rated it liked it · review of another edition

It’s been almost thirty years since I read Player Piano, and all I had retained from that first read was the name of the main character, a faint recollection of the novel’s focus on a future world heavily reliant on automation, and a vague sense of not liking the book all that much despite Vonnegut being one of my favorite authors. I had hoped to like the book better as a seasoned adult, but instead I found re-reading Player Piano to be a tedious chore which surprised me, as this year I have ret ...more

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Jun 05, 2017 Sebastien rated it it was ok

Disappointed in this one, it was underwhelming. I hadn't read Vonnegut in a long time and was excited to read this. Unfortunately I found the characters rather unlikable, obnoxious, one-dimensional caricatures, while the narrative operated like a chess game in which I could guess most every move before it was made. I also found the messaging heavy-handed. Yeah, I agree or at least am concerned with most of the themes brought up, but it was done with a lack of subtlety that grated on me.

In terms Disappointed in this one, it was underwhelming. I hadn't read Vonnegut in a long time and was excited to read this. Unfortunately I found the characters rather unlikable, obnoxious, one-dimensional caricatures, while the narrative operated like a chess game in which I could guess most every move before it was made. I also found the messaging heavy-handed. Yeah, I agree or at least am concerned with most of the themes brought up, but it was done with a lack of subtlety that grated on me.

In terms of the societal and cultural critique I generally align with many of Vonnegut's positions. The critique encompasses worship of technology, efficiency, productivity, growth, meritocracy, materialism above all else. There is critique of elites hoarding opportunities, classism, all powerful and dictatorial corporations that strip away our rights couching it under the guise of "freedom" and "progress", the rules and rigidity of corporate management and bureaucracy, marriage of corporations and police state. In this atmosphere the powerful use their moralizing as a cudgel on "poorer" people (the underclass) to strip away their humanity (sound familiar?). Warps into a vulgar sort of anti-humanism camouflaged by grandiose and caricatured moralizing.

In this book elites tell themselves they are heroes, moral heroes, saving the rest of humanity while in actuality most of their actions and motives are self-serving and based on consolidating or increasing their power. Vonnegut makes commentary on all that. The one aspect he doesn't touch on is the environmental aspect and worries from an unrestrained system that cannibalizes everything in sight, and for me I see that as one of the most important issues that could lead to global civilizational crisis. But it's completely understandable that he doesn't hit this aspect because I don't think it was in the cultural zeitgeist of the times, it would take a few decades before this concern would really start to blossom in the culture.

There is a strong critique of techno-utopianism here, and that's cool. I'm fine with that, although Vonnegut comes across as more pessimistic than me on technology. Technology is mere tool, it is how humans use and apply it that matters. Technology, with proper policy and decent thinking, can benefit broad swathes of humanity. I don't fear machines, I don't fear technology, but I worry about the humans behind the machines who leverage these things for their power. The question is will the powerful keep co-opting technology in order to keep funneling and consolidating power and control for themselves, further walling themselves off from the rest of society? or will we have sensible policy and management of these technologies that allows a diverse range of people to benefit? I think we need to work hard to make sure society as a whole benefits.

I don't know a lot about the Frankfurt School, I've only read a few articles. But I wouldn't be surprised if Vonnegut was strongly influenced by their ideas and cultural critique because his own critique pretty much mirrors many of their views. In their views there is a cultural and spiritual sickness plaguing the modern world, with a cult of instrumental reason driving the way: https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-frankf...

It is easy to critique materialism, and the cult of materialism. Unfortunately I think it is valid, there is a spiritual and cultural vacuum and this materialism is filling the void in our culture and our lives. Materialism wouldn't matter as much if we had more solid foundations in spirit and culture. I do think the pendulum may be starting to swing the other way against hyperconsumerism, but it's hard for me to say for sure. In the end I just don't think hyperconsumerism is sustainable, not just in regards to the environment, but not sustainable in the economic, societal, and cultural aspects.

I do appreciate this book for its themes, its prescience, and its relevance to today's problems. I love Vonnegut in general but like I said, in spite of the themes I was disappointed with story-telling, characters, and ideological heavy-handedness. The themes do pose very important questions, questions that we will keep struggling to answer in the coming generations. ...more

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May 18, 2012 Joshum Harpy rated it it was amazing

I was working as a janitor the day that Kurt Vonnegut died. Sweeping the floors, I listened as the news came over talk radio and I remember distinctly standing up stiff and staring hard at the speakers while the news sank in. I had recently heard in interviews and read Vonnegut sharing his feelings about his own death. That he had reconciled himself to it and felt that he had done much with his life, that he was ready to go (I'm paraphrasing, of course his words were funnier and more acidic). St I was working as a janitor the day that Kurt Vonnegut died. Sweeping the floors, I listened as the news came over talk radio and I remember distinctly standing up stiff and staring hard at the speakers while the news sank in. I had recently heard in interviews and read Vonnegut sharing his feelings about his own death. That he had reconciled himself to it and felt that he had done much with his life, that he was ready to go (I'm paraphrasing, of course his words were funnier and more acidic). Still, standing there with my broom in an abandoned diner, I cried for Kurt. I wasn't crying because he had gone too soon, or because it was unjust or shocking, I cried for all of us who have to live in a world without him. His voice, his fierce, sentimental, hilarious and acidic cultural commentary shed light on our lives in a way no one else can. No one could ever hope to call "bullshit" so effectively, concisely, and with as much heart as Vonnegut spent his life doing. I have never read a book by Kurt Vonnegut that I didn't adore and this novel is perhaps one of his best.

A beautiful book about the reckless and relentless escalation of technology and automation, questioning if the inexorable rise of gadgetry in our time has really improved the quality of our lives. This was Vonnegut's first novel and it has a decidedly different feel than his larger body of work. It is a bit bleaker in tone and lacks the same degree of absurdist whimsey which Vonnegut later mastered. The humor is still there, but there is a desperation and darkness which is not softened by Vonnegut's typical absurdist shrug.

Written during the technological boom in the wake of WWII, this book was a dystopian projection of where that technology may lead. A significant element of the plot is the massive supercomputer EPICAC, buried in the winding caves of Carlsbad Caverns, a not so subtle reference to ENIAC, the world's first computer, which had gone online just 6 years before this book was published. This computer, which works on paper punch cards, vacuum tubes and magnetic tape, is very much dated with the popular technology of the time. However the dated nature of all the technology central to the story, only reinforces the theme of technology and automation escalating faster than humans can possibly understand the implications.

The protagonist, Paul Proteus, is a gifted and successful engineer on the verge of a breakdown due to his disillusionment with his profession and growing disbelief in the benefits of a fully automated world. He begins to sympathize with the dispossessed working class, which has been segregated by IQ into pointless lives where they have the choice of joining the military or doing construction work. Through this ordering of society by mechanistic intelligence, Vonnegut satirizes capitalism, hierarchical societies and the spiritually and emotionally void nature of a culture which worships the escalation of technology above all other concerns. The novel escalates from there in typical Vonnegut fashion as the reasonably likeable and humble Paul Proteus is pinballed around a world gone crazy.

Despite the novel being 60 years old (an aeon in terms of technological advancement these days), and most of the references to technology being at this point naive, antiquated and understated, this book is not only still relevant, it is more relevant by the second. We live in an age of transition so dramatic and technological in nature that the themes of this book define our era, and there is no writer I would trust more to call bullshit on our brave new world than Vonnegut. ...more

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Jun 07, 2007 graycastle rated it did not like it

Shelves: scifi

There was a period in my life when I read all the Vonnegut I could get my hands on, which is mostly a very rewarding experience, but oh man, this is terrible. It's his first novel, and it really should've been a short story - even as a short story, it would've been forgettable. Classic scifi man/machine themes unleavened by the irony I would usually expect from Vonnegut, drawn out far too long, with characters who lack depth or interest. Read, I dunno, anything else by Vonnegut instead, and you' ...more

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Sep 15, 2021 Vince rated it really liked it

The main business of humanity is to do a good job of being human beings.

Kurt Vonnegut's first novel and what a start it was. This is not my first time reading it though but a reread. I remember not liking it but then again, I was distracted most of the time and didn't let the story sink in until now on the reread. It's not as laugh out loud funny as his other books but don't get me wrong, there is humor here but it's much more subtle. Doctor Paul Proteus is in charge of Ilium Works and the world ...more

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Apr 03, 2017 da AL rated it it was amazing

Seriously, anything by Vonnegut is a must-read!

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Oct 12, 2007 Matt Dorsey rated it really liked it

Is it acceptable to call a soft sci-fi dystopian novel badass? Does that reveal the total nerd at the core of my character?

The only reason I can see for this book not to be mentioned as one of Vonnegut's greats is that it's edged out by the half-dozen or so outright masterpieces in his canon. But for a first novel, this is ace. It's Vonnegut's most conventionally structured novel, and possibly even his least original. The plot is more or less a tweaking of Huxley's 'Brave New World' (Vonnegut h Is it acceptable to call a soft sci-fi dystopian novel badass? Does that reveal the total nerd at the core of my character?

The only reason I can see for this book not to be mentioned as one of Vonnegut's greats is that it's edged out by the half-dozen or so outright masterpieces in his canon. But for a first novel, this is ace. It's Vonnegut's most conventionally structured novel, and possibly even his least original. The plot is more or less a tweaking of Huxley's 'Brave New World' (Vonnegut himself has admitted this). Yet frankly, I like it better than that dystopia, as 'Player Piano' is more focused, has better flow, and the satirical elements don't rely as much on suspension of disbelief.

Kurt Vonnegut was not a luddite. This is important to keep in mind when considering the book's premise. The idea of mechanical labor replacing human workers is simply the means around which Vonnegut builds his multi-tiered assault on corporate aristocracy, to borrow an excellent and underused term from David Korten. The satire is wicked-sharp. Consumerism, the class divide, barriers to entry of higher education, and even peace-time mentality all get their comeuppance in Vonnegut's portrayal of a near-future America where socialism and manufactured material desires are used to sate the drive of the lower class (most of the population), while ass-kissing mono-talents get drunk off their own wealth and power. It's socio-political satire that's refreshingly more socio than political, and it's no less relevant now, 55 years after its first pressing, than it was then. Somewhere in the book's final third, the resistance movement gains a strong voice, and the writing may coax the reader into aligning with it. The wit and intellect of the author really comes through here: does this story have any heroes, or are the revolutionaries really just anarchists who by their nature must shake up whatever order there is?

After this, his first novel, Vonnegut went on to write far more original and versatile works, many of which I've read. Absent here are the non-linear narratives, single-word commentary sentences, chatty introductions and frequent narrator editorializing which would become his M.O. However, reading 'Player Piano' should make it obvious why he soon created his own rules for writing a novel: with his very first, he'd already done all he could within the bounds of conventional composition. 'Player Piano' is Vonnegut's most straightforward narrative, but also possibly his harshest and most thorough satire; his social discontent and bitterness does not jump out in short bursts here, but is more cool and collected, and therefore able to seethe beneath every word of this carefully constructed and brutal depiction of the powers-that-be and the trail of human wreckage left behind in the name of "progress". ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 Brian rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

This novel, Vonnegut's first, is a more traditional narrative than his later books. The story is told linearly, the chapters are much longer, etc. However, the unmistakable Vonnegut themes are very much present, and make their first appearances here. "Player Piano" deals with the ideas of the danger / dehumanizing effects of technology and how that interacts with basic human dignity. Writing in 1952 about the "false gods" of technology, one need only look around today to think that Vonnegut was This novel, Vonnegut's first, is a more traditional narrative than his later books. The story is told linearly, the chapters are much longer, etc. However, the unmistakable Vonnegut themes are very much present, and make their first appearances here. "Player Piano" deals with the ideas of the danger / dehumanizing effects of technology and how that interacts with basic human dignity. Writing in 1952 about the "false gods" of technology, one need only look around today to think that Vonnegut was a prophet foretelling our doom.
Frankly, I have a hard time nailing down "Player Piano" because I think it meant something different in its original context than perhaps it does now. There are times when the novel seems very anti-communist and anti strong centralized government. The line is even uttered by a government official "Are you against us?" implying that the State knows what is best for all. Clearly Vonnegut does not think that is the case. There is also a very intriguing character, the Reverend Lasher. Of particular interest to me was a scene in a saloon where the Reverend gives a lovely speech on the dangers of class warfare. Moments such as this seem tailor made for the early 1950s and what was happening at the time. They come across as a defense of capitalism and American values. If one has read Vonnegut's biography they know that despite the image many people have of him, these were issues that he cared about deeply.
I don't want to give away plot points, but the text left me with the distinct impression that Vonnegut had a negative opinion of the impetus and results of most revolutions. The novel is full of contradictions, showing the good and bad aspects of capitalism, communism, messianic leaders, uprisings / revolutions, technology, the advances of science, etc. I don't see where the novel comes down decidedly in one camp or the other. However, one thing the book seems definitive about is in its belief that the general population are nothing more than sheep that easily drift from whim to whim. Like Shakespeare Mr. Vonnegut, in this book at least, seems to have a low opinion of the masses. You only have to pay attention to the "common man" during an election season or during the midst of the latest pop culture fad to see that Vonnegut's pessimism is justified.
"Player Piano" is not as brilliant as Vonnegut's later books. It meanders at times and could have been edited into a "tighter" novel. However, there are many moments scattered throughout that make it worth your attention. It is thought provoking and timely, despite being 60 years old. It endures, and that alone is reason enough to read it! ...more

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Dec 03, 2014 Tyler Jones rated it really liked it

There are probably several reasons why Kurt Vonnegut was such a popular writer, but I will give you two.

Reason one: His personality. Vonnegut had a distinct voice. Sarcastic and biting, yet also forever sticking up for the little guy. He was funny as hell. He had Personality - and it was this Personality that his readers adored. With each successive novel, his readership craved more of the same, which meant that the actual plot of the books became less important than the voice of Vonnegut himsel ...more

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Jul 19, 2021 Tristram Shandy rated it really liked it

“‘The machines are to practically everybody what the white men were to the Indians. People are finding that, because of the way the machines are changing the world, more and more of their old values don’t apply any more. People have no choice but to become second-rate machines themselves, or wards of the machines.’”

Two weeks ago, it occurred to me that it might be a fine idea to read Kurt Vonnegut’s novels in their chronological order because I really enjoyed Slaugherhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle ...more

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Dec 08, 2015 Alex rated it liked it

Shelves: rth-lifetime, 2015, novel-a-biography

For his first book in 1952 Kurt Vonnegut made an entry in a long string of dystopian novels stretching back to (where else) Eugene Zamyatin's 1921 classic We. It's not the best entry.

The We Lineage
In order of quality:
1984
We
Brave New World
Player Piano
Anthem

These books all deal with futures in which social class has ossified and production has mechanized. They deal with the automation of society, and with socialism (in wildly different ways).

Vonnegut was a socialist. The way he deals with it is b ...more

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Jan 03, 2018 Brett C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kurt-vonnegut

This book shows the looming reality to encroaching technology as we see robots replace the human workforce in the industrial setting. Pre-programmed ways of thinking, conformity, and thinking outside-the-box all clash into themselves in Kurt Vonnegut's first story. I enjoyed this read. ...more

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Jul 13, 2017 Neil rated it liked it

Player Piano felt different from other Vonnegut books: the sentences weren’t as bare, the pages were full and his fingerprint felt more spread out. Chapters ran twenty pages long which allowed for little details to creep in (like how a phone becomes moist after talking on it for a few minutes) and the main message of the book felt more sunken into the story than usual. If Vonnegut’s prose is fast food and James Joyce a steak house, then Player Piano falls somewhere around Applebee’s but with goo ...more

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Jul 13, 2021 Apatt rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, pre-80s-sf

I have enjoyed every Kurt Vonnegut book I read… until now.

Player Piano is Vonnegut’s first novel but his other books that I have read are so very good that I could not help but have high expectations for this one even though it is his debut. It is set in a future where society has been fully mechanized, humanity is fully served by machines resulting in demarcation among the masses who were formerly of the workforce, and a social divide where the managers and engineers are the elites living luxu I have enjoyed every Kurt Vonnegut book I read… until now.

Player Piano is Vonnegut’s first novel but his other books that I have read are so very good that I could not help but have high expectations for this one even though it is his debut. It is set in a future where society has been fully mechanized, humanity is fully served by machines resulting in demarcation among the masses who were formerly of the workforce, and a social divide where the managers and engineers are the elites living luxurious happy lives while the rest are bereft of purpose. The narrative mainly features Dr. Paul Proteus a disillusioned engineer who is beginning to feel that something is wrong with society and is disturbed by the meaningless lives of the masses. He eventually decides to do something about it.

What I love about Vonnegut’s books are his wonderful idiosyncratic humour, his snappy, witty prose, the eccentric short chapters, and the recurring refrains he uses in his later works. Player Piano is lacking in these beloved features, while it is not mundane or conventional it is oddly turgid and not compelling. This is one of the few of his books that were labeled as science fiction. If I remember correctly (do let me know if I am mistaken) only this book, The Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle were published and marketed as sci-fi. While his other works such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Galápagos use sci-fi elements like aliens, time travel, the far future, and such, they are used as satirical props rather than the main focus; and they are much better than Player Piano. The trouble is Player Piano does not work as sci-fi, we are told society is fully mechanized but it is not supported by any kind of vivid world-building that would give us a sense of what this world looks like. Machines are vaguely described in passing as automated but Vonnegut is not interested in describing any machine in any detail, only the resultant ennui they are causing to the people. Consequently, it is difficult to imagine how it would feel to live in this society.

Putting aside the sci-fi issue, the narrative suffers from a lack of focus, Vonnegut goes off on so many tangents that it plays hell with the narrative flow. Looking back at my review for Breakfast of Champions he did something similar there too, but the difference is Breakfast of Champions is often hilarious but Player Piano has a much lower quotient of humour. There is also no pacing to speak of, just when things are getting interesting the author goes off on a dull tangent that stops the flow of the plot, after a while, he resumes the story of Paul Proteus, but soon veers away again. I was interested in Paul’s attempt to change his life and what his wife’s reaction will be given that her values are the polar opposite of his. Unfortunately, Vonnegut keeps moving away from this storyline to introduce numerous other characters that I can not keep track of until I stopped caring. Eventually, I just gritted my teeth to plow through the novel and finish it. I should have abandoned it before the halfway point but Vonnegut keeps enticing me with the Paul side of the narrative.

I don't want to be overly critical of this book because I am a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, and this book is loved by many. While I have very little appreciation for it I am sure that its finer points must have escaped me. An author of Kurt Vonnegut’s caliber should always have the benefit of the doubt. Suffice to say that I personally cannot recommend this book but if you want to read it you may want to get opposing opinions elsewhere, or simply dive into it. ...more

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May 09, 2015 Mr. C rated it really liked it

"The most beautiful peonies I ever saw," said Paul, "Were grown in almost pure cat excrement" (300).

Awesome...

I began to read this book the week SOL (an acronym Vonnegut would have loved.... like his EPICAC computer mainframe...) testing commenced at the high school I teach at... a full week, in other words, of licensed teachers getting paid to STARE at children take standardized computer-based examinations. These are the tests that apparently establish competence or confirm mental infirmity. T ...more

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Jul 08, 2010 Chloe rated it really liked it

Shelves: not-owned, dystopian-fiction, scifi-fantasy

For some reason I had thought that I had long ago run through the works of Kurt Vonnegut. He was one of the first writers whose books I can remember consciously deciding that I needed to read each and every one of. The moment is still clear in my memory- I had just been introduced to Kilgore Trout and his trunk of pulp novellas in Breakfast of Champions. I'm not quite sure what happened with that goal, but I'm guessing I lost the thread of the quest sometime after reading Galapagos back in high For some reason I had thought that I had long ago run through the works of Kurt Vonnegut. He was one of the first writers whose books I can remember consciously deciding that I needed to read each and every one of. The moment is still clear in my memory- I had just been introduced to Kilgore Trout and his trunk of pulp novellas in Breakfast of Champions. I'm not quite sure what happened with that goal, but I'm guessing I lost the thread of the quest sometime after reading Galapagos back in high school. So it was with much joy that I received the news that my book club had decided to read Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano, published in 1952.

Dr. Paul Proteus lives in an allegedly utopian world. All industry has been mechanized, the sweat of the worker's brow replaced by the drip of oil from the pistons and pulleys manufacturing all the household goods, widgets and whatsits that EPICAC, a giant computer inhabiting the immenseness of the Carlsbad Caverns, has computed that Americans need in order to be happy. Only those who can program or repair the machines still have jobs in the traditional sense, the rest of the country's vast labor pool being forced to join either the army or what amounts to the Works Project Administration building bridges and roadways. As a member of the elite cadre that maintains the machines, and thus their power, you would think Proteus would be far more satisfied with his life. Yet he's not. He feels more at home slumming in bars with the disaffected across the river than he does in his immaculate home with his status-seeking wife and it's only a matter of time before this dissatisfaction with the world becomes out and out rebellion.

This book is classic Vonnegut in the sense that he has clearly seen the future repercussions of what his society was moving toward and railed against it as best he knew how. I can't help but draw comparisons to the rampant unemployment of today and the growing hordes of dispossessed unable to find even the most mundane of jobs. A service economy with no one to service. Vonnegut knew that, regardless of how often we rail against the strictures of employment, the majority of people derive satisfaction in earning an honest dollar. Remove this obligation and you are also likely to remove the sense of self worth a person has. Regardless of whether or not it's healthy to base one's self worth on their employability, this is the cultural message we inherit at birth- the value of honest labor. Of course, it's easy to rail against a system that disenfranchises millions but, as Vonnegut shows in Player Piano, it's damn near impossible to root it out.

What is missing from Player Piano, and the reason I can't give it that fifth star, is the trademark sense of humor that runs rampant through his other books. Sure, he's got his dystopian world and his biting satire but there is no sense of detachment or whimsy here. This is Vonnegut at his most acerbic, the cynicism that he would return to in his final years of writing during the Bush reign. This is a book written by a man who fully understands the harm that humans inevitably wreak upon ourselves and our world, but who has yet to admit to himself that it's all just one giant joke and the best thing we can do is lean back, sip our whiskey, and say "so it goes." ...more

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Sep 24, 2014 J rated it liked it

A commendable early attempt at greatness, this was written before Vonnegut attained his whacky genius status. His later, weirder novels are better, but this one gave us a glimpse of things to come.

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Mar 06, 2019 Ivana Books Are Magic rated it it was amazing

I heard that Vonnegut was a fantastic writer and (what you'd know) it is true. Player Piano is a novel set in near future. It is a dystopian kind of future, set in USA. In this part of the word, most of the labour is done by machines, meaning that only a selected few get to have a real job. Others aren't exactly starving, the state feeds them but that's about it. They are depressed and lack a sense of purpose in their lives. The plot focused on a young engineer who is increasingly unhappy and fr ...more

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Oct 08, 2010 MJ Nicholls rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: merkins, science-fiction, novels

Vonnegut's first novel (circa 1952!) bears little relation to his later, greater works, barring the subject matter. Player Piano is an ambitious speculative story about evil man-made machines turning society into one big fascist corporation. Yes, yawn, but this was seven years after D-day. Time has not been kind.

His storytelling is lucid, amusing and real, but falls away in the second half. This book is twice the length of his other works, and too self-consciously first-novelly to sustain intere ...more

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Dec 25, 2015 Elora rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction

seriously loved this book 100%

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Aug 19, 2008 Hank rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: managers and corporate cheerleaders.

Shelves: dystopian

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. You could see Vonnegut's genius in his first novel.

On a blog I read, the Devil Vet's been thinking about hope and hopelessness in dystopian fiction. I think Player Piano is good example of how hope plays into dystopian narratives. The Ghost Shirt Society of the book rises in rebellion against the soul-numbing mechanized society even though they know they will fail. Why? Simply to show that it can be done. That there can be light at the end of that tunnel, if power is wrested from the managers an You could see Vonnegut's genius in his first novel.

On a blog I read, the Devil Vet's been thinking about hope and hopelessness in dystopian fiction. I think Player Piano is good example of how hope plays into dystopian narratives. The Ghost Shirt Society of the book rises in rebellion against the soul-numbing mechanized society even though they know they will fail. Why? Simply to show that it can be done. That there can be light at the end of that tunnel, if power is wrested from the managers and engineers who hold it in that society. "Hope in hopelessness" indeed.

But then, that's one of Vonnegut's favorite themes (literally from the beginning, as we see) to kick around. You might have the whole world against you, you might know from the beginning that stretching your wings will just result in being shot out of the sky, but the exercise of whatever freedom you can snatch is worth the fall.

Of course, he didn't rely simply on ideas. The man could spin a yarn. The whole section of the book where Proteus has to go on an annual weekend team-spirit-building retreat had me chuckling through my anger. I hate that kind of workaday pep rally crap, and that particular scenario sounds like my idea of four days of hell. And the chapter in which Proteus buys a small, old school farm - thinking that will calm his need to get out of the "we are all cogs" system - and his wife takes it completely the wrong way sort of broke my heart. Though, I have to admit, I felt some for the wife - it's not like he spent any time communicating his feelings or situation to her.

The running thread of the Shah of Bratpuhr touring the US, with his guide in more and more dire straits, was a nice touch. Sometimes that kind of show-and-tell subplot can feel tacked on or unnecessary, but Vonnegut's storytelling allowed it to weave in and out of the major action.

final thought: No surprise, I agree with him. If you take away a person's chance to do for themselves, you take away a major reason to get out of bed every morning. I'm not saying we all have to work hard or die. I'm just saying, yeah, we all need that feeling of dignity that honest work can provide, whether for decent wages or just for our own benefit.

(epicdystopia.blogspot.com) ...more

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About Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

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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

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