طبق تحقیقاتی که انجام دادم (چون این اولین کتابی بود که از این نویسنده خوندم)، کلیگور تروت یکی از کاراکترهای اصلی چندتا از کتاب‌های نویسنده است که شغلش هم نویسندگی‌ست و بیشتر نوشته‌هاش هم داستان‌هاس کوتاهند، البته خانه به دوش هم هست. ژانر کتابهایی که این کاراکتر مینویسه علمی-تخیلی اند اما بلافاصله بعد از پایانِ نوشتن، همه رو دور میریزه. چرا؟ چون اعتقاد داره داستانهاش مال خودشن و لازم نمیبینه که کسی دیگه بخونشون...

و اما حالا توی این کتاب، شخصیت کلیگورت دوست کورت ونه گات (نویسنده‌ی کتاب) میشه... این دو نفر باهمدیگه روایت داستان رو پیش میبرن. در روز سیزده فوریه ۲۰۰۱ در دنیا زلزله‌ای در زمان رخ میده و همه‌چیز به ده سال قبل برمیگرده. الان همه‌ی مردم در ذهن‌های خودشون زندانی‌ شده‌اند و به اجبار باید دوباره این ده سال رو زندگی کنند و البته هیچکس نمیتونه هیچ تغییری در وقایع ایجاد بکنه و...

باید بگم که داستان این اینکتاب اصلا ساده و روون روایت نشده، خیلی عجیبه. سخت‌خوانه، مخ و مغز و روح خواننده رو در هم تاب میده و همه چیز رو باهم قاطی میکنه. من که خیلی خیلی گیج شدم اما به شدت جذابه. به این دلیل جذابه که ایده‌ش نابه و بدون اینکه ریشه‌ی داستان از دست نویسنده در بره، پیچش‌های بیش از حد و عجیبی به کتابش داده.

یک خوبی که داره اینه که زیاد طولانی نیست و به اینکه گیج کننده‌ست اما به مرور نوع نوشتار داستان دستتون میاد و خیلی منظورها رو متوجه میشید ولی باز هم تا آخرش همه چیز اوکی نمیشه، انگار از قصد اینکار رو کرده.

خلاصه اینکه کتاب فوق‌العاده عجیبیه و همه پسند نیست، فقط کسانی که از این مدل کتابهای عجیب خوششون میاد و میتونن داستانهایی که تم علمی و تخیلی دارن بخونن و بیش از حد درگیرتون بکنه که پیچش‌هاش رو حل بکنید، برید سراغش وگرنه اصلا پیشنهاد نمیکنم.

Timequake is an interesting read, part autobiography, part fiction. It’s like listening to your unreliable granddad trying to tell a story and wandering off on different tangents. Although many parts read like a sermon, I can’t think of anyone else I’d like to preach to me more than Vonnegut.

At the heart of his books is a sincere, deeply thoughtful and inspiring analysis of what it means to be human. In the same way he ignores traditional story structures and invents his own, Vonnegut has wonderful insight into the absurdity of certain social structures, the nature of love and the futility of war. Here he presents his case for why they also need to be reviewed and reconsidered. If you enjoy books that make you look at the world in a different way, then put Kurt Vonnegut on your to read list.

Como siempre que leo algún libro de Malpaso, tengo que empezar quejándome por el trabajo de los editores. Me choca (por no utilizar ninguna palabra más gruesa) que alguien identifique un buen trabajo de edición con ponerle tapa dura a un libro o con colorear el filo de sus hojas para que quede más bonito, y que deje mientras tanto el texto plagado de errores ortotipográficos. Muchas editoriales creen que al mercado lo están matando los escritores independientes pero no: yo creo que lo están matando las mañas ediciones de buenos libros.

Terminado este pequeño rant, tengo que decir que el texto de Cronomoto me ha gustado mucho. Es Vonnegut en todo su esplendor. Y eso equivale a decir que es puro HAMOR literario.

I've not read a lot of Mr. Vonnegut's works. . .just those assigned in class, and I will have to read those again to remind myself of their points and purposes.

Meanwhile this one, Timequake, seems like a big wrap-up to all the things he might have wanted to say in a book but hadn't yet. I had a difficult time holding on to the thread of this tale, but every once in awhile a phrase or sentence stands alone in the body of the text and feels very amusing and out of place. Like the time you were at a funeral and saw something funny and wanted to share it with the person next to you and laugh out loud, but no. It's a funeral.

This is certainly a book that definitely left me with the feeling that I do not have as good a grip on what I think I know as much as I think I do. OR I'm brilliant to recognize the absurdity herein. Meh. Who knows?

For that level of untetheredness, I can't go beyond 3 stars, and that still is me on the fence.

Στις 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2001 μια ρωγμή στο χωροχρονικό συνεχές θα γυρίσει το χρόνο πίσω για δέκα χρόνια, στις 17 Φεβρουαρίου 1991.
Τα πάντα θα επαναληφθούν για δεύτερη φορά.  Κάθε επιλογή,  κάθε γεγονός,  καθετί γενόμενο.
Μια διαδρομή ήδη πεπατημένη, ένα μέλλον προδιαγεγραμμένο, μια ζωή εκ των προτέρων σχεδιασμένη. Κάπως έτσι μηχανικά λειτουργώντας επέρχεται η αδράνεια στη λήψη αποφάσεων, κάθε κίνηση εκτελείται χωρίς σκέψη και υπερισχύει η παραίτηση από κάθε επιλογή.

Στο τελευταίο του μυθιστόρημα ο Βόννεγκατ παραμένει αναλλοίωτα καυστικός, επώδυνα σαρκαστικός,  απολαυστικά σατυρικός.
Μια εφ' όλης της ύλης τοποθέτηση με αναφορές σε προηγούμενα έργα του, μια αναμέτρηση με τον εαυτό του και το συγγραφικό alter ego του, Κίλγκορ Τράουτ.
Δύο ζωές εμπλέκονται, αυτή του συγγραφέα Βόννεγκατ και του επινοημένου Τράουτ. Μια αφήγηση της ζωής του σε οικογενειακό και επαγγελματικό επίπεδο παράλληλα με την ανασκόπηση του έργου του, την αναμόχλευση θεμάτων που έχει και στο παρελθόν καυτηριάσει, κλείνοντας σαρδόνια το μάτι σε έναν κόσμο που σύντομα θα εγκαταλείψει.

Για την τέχνη, τη ζωή,  τα εγκλήματα της ανθρωπότητας,  τη ματαιότητα, την ηθική της επιστήμης,  την ευθύνη των ποιητών τέχνης, τα πολιτικά συστήματα και τις κοινωνικές και οικονομικές επιπτώσεις, για να καταλήξουμε στο κεντρικό θέμα,  την ελεύθερη βούληση, το δικαίωμα και δυνατότητα επιλογής, την ικανότητα διαχείρισης και λήψης αποφάσεων μετά την αφύπνιση και την επαναφορά του δικαιώματος προαίρεσης.

مراجعة قصيرة للرواية ومقاربة مع روايات أخرى على قناة دودة كتب

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xl9t...

Kurt seems so innocent, looking back. He thought the 90s were vapid.

Timequake is an odd one. It's a mix of the typical sci-fi genre, with short anecdotes from his life, along with a couple of tangential rants on the perils of modern society. Reading this was certainly an experience - although I still haven't entirely decided (having finished the book and mulled it over) whether this book was any good as a novel! If the quality of the book is defined by how much I enjoyed it (which seems a reasonable approach) - it certainly would deserve the 4 out of 5 stars.

The main premise (that of a 'hiccup' in space-time, in which the universe slid back a decade and reran the events of that time in the exact sequence they first occured) is a neat idea. It's an interesting little take on determinism and causality, in this particular context the absence of free will. All beings and objects, human and otherwise, during the timequake must act in the exact manner they did during the first 'pass' through this particular decade. Every step, breath, blink is completed in the same sequence, with the same results. There is a single history, a single path through time, in which events are pre-determined. It highlights the question as to whether the initial 'run' was itself pre-determined, implying that free will does not exist.

The personal anecdotes in the book, referencing Vonneguts parents, wives and children, are interspersed amongst the main 'Timequake' story. Vonnegut referred to this book as a 'stew' of ideas - and it seems an apt description - with real people and events melding together with fictional ones. It serves well as a peek into the mind of the ageing Vonnegut - although it is a particularly confusing approach - with the pace of the book varying in a maddening and increasingly haphazard fashion, and with rather brutal changes in topic. This book, a story out of step with itself, is (in a way) a timequake - with events from Vonneguts youth and old age, scattered amongst events that never happened.

In summary, whilst this is not a book for those unfamiliar with Vonnegut - I appreciated the personal nature of it, reading this after he had passed away. The concept of the timequake is a neat one, although I'm not convinced it was fully realised here, with the structure feeling quite jarring in some places. It is deservedly marked 4 stars here though, in my opinion, as an exciting little detour in science fiction.

4.5 ⭐️

„Времетръс“ е много хубав и трогателен роман! Вонегът по въздействащ начин е поднесъл шантава история за десетгодишно дежавю в края на миналия век, чрез която отправя към читателите своите чудесни хуманни послания. Книгата несъмнено притежава тягостна атмосфера, но също така е доста забавно четиво. Като цяло напомня на стойностна пиеса, навявайки едновременно тъжно и весело настроение, както и разнообразни морални поуки...




„Сред най-важните за мен сътворени от човека божествени откровения са театралните пиеси. Траут ги наричаше „изкуствени времетръси“.
Той казваше: „Преди човекът да научи, че в природата съществуват времетръси, той вече ги бе изобретил“. Това е истина. Актьорите знаят много добре всичко, което ще кажат или направят, и как ще се развият нещата, за добро или лошо, още когато завесата се вдигне преди сцена първа на първо действие. Въпреки това нямат избор и трябва да се държат така, сякаш бъдещето е неизвестно.“

Perfect last novel from one of my very favorite authors. This is the first time I've re-read this since Vonnegut passed, which made this book even more amazing. I've been yelling, "I FRY MINE IN BUTTER!" all week now, making many people think I'm even more "special" than they had originally assumed.

It's Vonnegut . . . you should know what to expect.

If you've never read Vonnegut, don't start here—go to Slaughterhouse 5.

This book gets criticized for its lack of story and that is a valid critique, but the reason to read this book is the autobiographical authorial intrusions. I would've preferred a full-out Vonnegut memoir. His insights about life and living are always enlightening and spot-on. If some readers find Vonnegut's tone too pessimistic in this book it's because those readers are missing the forest from the trees. Vonnegut is a humanist, and his outlook is always toward hope. His frequent (and often cynical) anecdotes (real and fictional) are always in an effort to get people to care just a little bit more about each other.

And we should stop and enjoy the very fact of our existence and say aloud, "If this isn't nice, what is?"

Buku ini bikin gemasss. Menyembunyikan kebenaran dan kenyataan yang lebih penting di balik apa yang dikisahkan yang akan membawamu kepada perenungan. Sayang, it's not my cup of tea. wkwkw Rating: 3.80