2ND READ-THROUGH: There’s a lot going on here. Ruminations on life and regret, but strangely enough, Vonnegut’s trademark “cynicism” doesn’t quite sound so cynical to me. Dare I say, there’s a lot of hope and gratitude contained in this - a book that functions like an autobiography moreso than the novel within the novel it’s (marginally) attempting to tell. Suffice it to say, NO ONE writes like this, or this well, or this deeply, in the way Vonnegut does. This book had me laughing and tearing up, in turn. Just spectacular!

Soupiest cynical meta book ever

Almost perfect in its weirdness and yes sure, it sometimes feels like the ramblings of a madman, forgetting the plot entirely, but it’s always clever and very funny.

This has the distinct honor of being my favorite KV book!

On re-reading 8/18/15 in preparation for English 298: The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut (which will probably be canceled due to low enrollment):

After a decade, re-reading this same novel, as if in a timequake, I can only repeat what my thoughts were the first time I read it: Wow, this is one of the best book's I've ever read. It's one of the best examples of postmodernism. It's one of the best examples of the value of art. It's one of the most touching, beautiful, meaningful, sad, and funny pieces of literature ever.

Read it!


Now I expect 4-7 pages on one of the following topics:

1) How does this novel develop/answer/culminate a theme or style from his other book(s) we've read?

2) What does this book have to say about Art, Freewill, and The Purpose of Life?


On re-reading 5/11/21for English 298: The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut:
Still my favorite because of the voice and heart despite the biting criticisms and often cynical views of humanity because, well, I get it.

Kurt Vonnegut no es para mí. Segundo libro que leo y no termino de cogerle el punto al tono y estilo con el que escribe.
En esta ocasión utiliza la idea de "terremoto temporal", en el que el tiempo vuelve 10 años atrás y la gente está obligada a hacer lo mismo que hizo entonces, para hablar sobre el libre albedrío y sus repercusiones.
Una idea curiosa pero que la narra de forma sumamente aburrida.

Going into this book, I expected science fiction and some crazy story about warped time or time travel. Some character might go to a different world or maybe time would stop and someone needs to put it back together. Boy, was I wrong. This book was very different indeed.
This book is loaded with stories which I had to put together to understand it all, but they are fairly well organized based on how he wants to build on the climax. The idea of a Timequake is very interesting and his use of the English language to describe things is peculiar (in a good way). For example, he describes the World Wars as “the world’s first and second attempt to commit suicide”. The climax of the book brings about a very interesting concept which shouldn’t be spoiled.
I would recommend this book to everyone who is mature enough to laugh at the jokes and not too picky about language. This book has very funny lines and paragraphs, and some have inappropriate language which might turn off some readers and parents of readers, but I see it as all in good fun. I still think that people should look past the language because Kurt Vonnegut is a very unique writer. It’s not something I’ve ever read or seen before.
This book does ask for some foreknowledge on topics, but this isn’t required and although the reader may not get the most out of the book, they will get a very large portion of what makes this book great. Overall, this book deserves a place in history as unique, thoughtful, and one of the funniest books out there.

Some entertaining and some thought provoking ramblings of Vonnegut....

“Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone..”



I was intrigued by the concept of Kurt Vonnegut's last novel: a 'timequake' beginning on February 13, 2001 rewinds the clock back to 1991. It's maddening, of course. Everyone must live those years again, exactly as they'd done before, all the while knowing what will happen, but unable to change anything. When people go from living in a continuous state of deja vu to being able to exercise free will, things go even further off the rails, like pileups at the bottom of the escalator. Front and center in this novel is Vonnegut's alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, as well as Vonnegut himself, who narrates the book. With Vonnegut providing specific and often poignant details about his life, family and relationships, as well as his views and interactions with said alter-ego, Timequake veers more toward autobiography than novel. And for Vonnegut this works!

Though the timequake is a frame for Kilgore and Vonnegut, this device made me think about how I would react to one of these timequakes (starting with 1991 to 2001). Even with so much to look forward to, could I be happy knowing all that would happen in the rewind? Would any rewind really be satisfying? The conceit that people have free will is explored when the timequake ends and don't really seem to exercise free will. Even though Kilgore Trout doesn't believe in free will, like a Paul Revere of the space-time continuum, he announces its return. It's an interesting image that allows Vonnegut to enter into a dialogue with 'American patriot' Trout about free will and humanity. Even more interesting, it feels like you are witnessing the last words of both men's long cantankerous lives or a moving on as both men wave farewell to who and what had been important to them. And then there is the clambake at the end of the journey,

I especially recommend this novel to fans of Kilgore Trout. This is a satisfying, entertaining and thought provoking novel! 4.25 stars

“In real life as in grand opera, arias only make hopeless situations worse.”

I'm suprised that I found some of Vonnegut's later, less talked about books as enjoyable as some of the classic ones. But I enjoyed Bluebeard, Hocus Pocus and Timequake just as much as Slaughterhouse 5, Cat's Cradle, Mother Night or Breakfast of Champions.

Even though this technically isn't the last Vonnegut work, it's obvious that he was thinking of it as his swan song in fiction, and it's a near-perfect farewell.

Unfortunately, it's been a while since I read Timequake, so I can only talk about the general trends I remember, rather than the specifics of plot, and character.

This is Vonnegut's last Novel, and he certainly goes out with a bang. The literary devices that Vonnegut uses throughout his catalogue are all utilized in Timequake with new force and life. Vonnegut regularly steps outside of the fiction to analyze the novel he is writing, and clue the reader into what he is thinking, who he is basing his characters on, memories of his life, and so on. The novel centers on Kilgore Trout, and the main plot revolves around a timequake which has thrust people back in time from 2001 to 1991. The trick is that people are aware of the fact they are repeating these years, and are still powerless to alter their course.

Freewill, or rather lack of freewill, is a major focus of Timequake. Vonnegut injects himself into the fiction of the book as well, which culminates at a clam bake for Kilgore Trout, attended by various authors, and Vonnegut. Kurt Vonnegut pulls out all the stops in Timequake; it is as unabashedly Vonnegut, as it is a worthy note to end his career as a novelist on. Vonnegut was one of the most important writers of the 20th century, and if any one had any doubts, timequake lays them to rest.

Having traveled to California for the marriage and moving of an old friend currently on a short honeymoon, I'm now with his brother and nephew at a communally owned summer house on the edge of the Stanislaus National Forest. They live by the San Francisco airport while the marrying sibling is out in Sonoma, so the usual practice is to stay with them in the city for a few days before heading north to the Napa Valley. On this occasion, given the exigencies of marriage, we had the time to squeeze in a quick trip to the Sierras before meeting up with his brother on Monday. For this trip I grabbed his copy of Vonnegut's Timequake because it's short enough to serve as a bedtime book for the couple of days we're here.

Well, I finished it, but it wasn't quite the pleasure previous extensive readings of Vonnegut would have led me to expect. According to the author, he'd gotten hung up writing a novel and finally decided to publish extracts of it along with other materials. The result is a mix of personal reminiscence, story ideas, disjointed elements presumably form the unfinished draft novel and political fulminations linked only by the personal styles of Vonnegut and his long-time alter ego Kilgore Trout. Some of it is as good as anything Vonnegut has ever done, but this is definitely a case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Don't bother with it unless you're a committed fan who cannot get enough of Vonnegut's writing.

Cronosisma è narrativa, autobiografia, diario, tutto insieme. È anche una riflessione sulla scrittura, sugli scrittori che scrivono male perché scrivono per se stessi e sulla sospensione d’incredulità come antidoto alla solitudine. È – ma questo l’ho scoperto dopo –, una lunghissima digressione di come si vive in un tempo sospeso e di come si reagisce quando l’orologio torna a scandire l’ora giusta (familiare, vero?).

Ne ho parlato qui: link: Una sosta nel tempo di mezzo