Vonnegut....no one can capture the ironic humor that comes from an otherwise tragic situation quite like Vonnegut.

In this book, our protagonist is on his deathbed, and reviewing his life, which was really just a series of unfortunate events...and in the words of one character.."I had to laugh like hell"

By the end of the book, the concept of having to laugh at the irony that is life just shone through like a beacon. this is something I can definitely appreciate!

For Me this book started slow but definitely picked up to the Vonnegut I know and love. A stark view of war and society in a way only he could write it. Excellent read. And so it goes.

"How embarrassing to be human."

Dark social satire set in martial-law America where prisons are "color-coded" and the Japanese own nearly everything. Basic takeaway: humans are still stupid and ruining the planet. History repeats itself. Bleak, but funny. Plus, there's a brief Kilgore Trout appearance.

“Just because you can read, write and do a little math, doesn't mean that you're entitled to conquer the universe.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, ‘Hocus Pocus’

Told from the point of view of Eugene Debs, professor at Tarkenton college/Vietnam War vet/prison warden /outsider philosopher. ‘Hocus Pocus’ is an often funny, broad and wide-ranging commentary on race, class, war and its aftermath, nationalism and provincialism, economics and education, ignorance and enlightenment. Always quotable, Vonnegut packs a lifetime’s-worth of ideas into every novel. This one made my head spin - loved it!

My favorite of Vonnegut's lesser known works. Has the same wit exemplified in Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. I think a big part of why I like this one so much is the numerology games he plays throughout. (I do love me some numbers). The choppy style takes a little bit to get used to (the self aware first person voice supposedly only had scraps of paper of divergent sizes to write on) but it pays off once you get used to it. Vonnegut has always been a master at seamlessly amalgamating fiction and autobiography and this novel is no exception (though it's done less conspicuously than in, say, "Timequake.") The book is also startling prophetic. You could replace almost all of the Vietnam references with Iraq and the change would be negligible. Noticeably absent from Hocus Pocus is most of the fantastical science fiction elements characteristic to almost all of his other novels, so if you want to get a sense of Vonnegut but have no interest in sci-fi/fantasy this is the book to do it with.

Can’t believe Kurt is making me do maths to crack the code of his body/kill count … definitely a relic of author’s life / a product of his immediate surroundings… as is everything. Lots of adultery, lots of Vietnam talk, lots of examining the absurdities of it all. Good book but I am certainly not it’s target audience

Maybe 2.5/5
This was a very slow read for me. Honestly I found it kinda of boring, especially the first ~100 pages. There aren’t any sci-fi elements, which is something I��ve enjoyed in the past Vonnegut books I’ve read. The repetition comes across as annoying, while in his past books I’ve found it funny.
I started annotating the book to make myself engage and really read it. A lot of the messages or takeaways from the book are very plainly stated and obvious. They’re good messages, but I’m missing the metaphors and satire. Maybe I’m missing the point, since the narrator believes humans to be stupid, maybe he’s writing in a way everyone will understand?
The words “hocus pocus” means a kind of meaningless talk, which is basically what this book is lol. I don’t know why I expected any different.

Like Vonnegut, I share a deep admiration for Eugene Victor Debs. Like Vonnegut, I probably idolize the man. The contrast between Hartke, the protagonist, and Debs, his namesake, is significant and Hartke knows it.

I've meant to read this for a very long time, and now that I finally have, I'm kinda glad I waited so long to get to it. I don't think I would have appreciated it nearly as much when I was still relatively young and filled with at least a few glimmers of hope for society as a whole. At the ripe age of 40, and thoroughly beaten down by a corporate entity and enough horrible coworkers and former acquaintances, I can fully appreciate the multitude of attacks and observations this novel has to offer.

That's all it really is too. Just a thinly veiled mirror on society and all it's ills. There doesn't appear to be a major topic missing as we cover everything from war and politics to corporate greed to religion, or sex, marriage, parenting and education. Vonnegut cleverly points all of these things out within the framework of a story of a Vietnam vet's life, told in a clever, autobiographical feeling way. The only complaint I even have with the book is that it has chapter breaks that feel very unnecessary (the publisher probably insisted that they be there). This book is so stream-of-conscious in it's delivery that those breaks fall in the middle of ideas more often than not, and while I won't say they are jarring, they really don't feel like they serve a purpose.

That aside though, this is a great book. Possibly one of my favorites by Vonnegut now.

վոնեգուտից «կապտամորուսն» էի կարդացել միայն ու ահա «Հոկուս պոկուսը» ավարտեցի։ ի՜նչ ցնցող գործ է։ կապտամորուսը շատ չէր տպավորել, ինձ համար սենց՝ հա, լավն էր պարզապես, ոչ մի բանով չէր կպել (միգուցե ինչ֊որ չափով թարգմանությունից էլ էր․ հայերեն էի կարդացել)։ իսկ հոկուս պոկուսը հուզական, սատիրիկ, քննադատական, թախծոտ, պատերազմական, ֆատալ, ռետրոսպեկտիվ, անհույս․․․ ու ֆաբուլան, որ մի ժամանակաշրջանից, մի տեղից մյուսն է թռնում, ու տանո՜ւմ է։ ու խնդիրները, որ բարձրացնում է՝ պատերազմ, ռասիզմ, աղքատություն, հավատք, կրոն, ստրկություն, սեր, նույնիսկ հոգեկան հիվանդություններ և խանգարումներ; համամարդկային են, այնպես յուրահատուկ տեսակետից ցույց տրված, որ զգում ես վոնեգուտի համար աշխարհն ինչպիսին է, ինչով է նա շնչում, ինչ տեսնում, երբ նայում է նույն բաներին, ինչին նայում ենք մենք, ինչին մենք էլ ենք բախվում։

ՀԳ․ ես վերջում չհաշվեցի, թե քանի կնոջ հետ էր քնել ու քանի մարդ էր սպանել Հարթկեն ու չդիմացա պարզապես նայեցի համացանցում
ավարտելուց հետո նոր իմացա, որ գրքի երկրորդ անվանումը «What's the Hurry, Son» է
ու անդարձելի սիրահարվեցի Վոնեգուտին
էլ ինչ կարելի էր սպասել իմ պես միկրոբների տիեզերական տրանսպորտից

I guess my main problem with Vonnegut is that I don't find him funny. His book jackets always have quotes shouting "HILARIOUS", "REALLY FUNNY", "ABSURD HUMOR", but he doesn't make me laugh or even smile. What I usually find funny are things I don't expect. Vonnegut's goofy, irreverent codger tone is too predictable.

And then he always tells you exactly what to think about his characters and the events in his books. No room for interpretation. He doesn't let your imagination do anything with the charactes, his first-person narrative has already passed every possible judgment on them. The most annoying example in this book is the 'crazy' wife and mother of the narrator. We are told over and over again that they are 'crazy', but we don't know them, aside from that they sometimes dance or cut up bedsheets. All the characters are one-dimensional, aside from the soulful narrator, who is just an asshole. He walks freely among violent black escaped convicts because he is 'The Preacher', their former prison teacher, the only white person they find non-threatening because they know he means well.

I've only read three of his books, and only because of Vonnegut fans who give them to me.

I like reading op-ed articles, but not in the form of novels.

His short stories are better, because in that form he repeats his moral only five or six times before the conclusion, unlike the thousands of times in his novels. This novel's message is summed up perfectly by the final line: "Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean we deserve to conquer the Universe." What a cute, well-meaning bore!

Фокус-бокус – и светът отива по дяволите: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/f...

На първо място “Фокус-бокус” е роман за различните видове затворничество, които не винаги се ограничават до решетки, огради и надзиратели, а всъщност по-често се изразяват в ментални ограничения, оковани мисли и отказ от свободна воля. Героят на Вонегът, Юджийн Дебс Хартке, който пише историята си на отделни листчета по време на затворничеството си в очакване на присъда за неясно престъпление, е човек в равновесие – колкото хора е убил по време на войната, с толкова жени е бил – и правейки си тази трагикомична равносметка, той може да направи и оценка на целия си живот.

CIELA Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/f...