somewhere between a 4.5 and a 5 i think, but i've long since accepted that i cannot fairly star rate books that i've read. something about the commitment required to finish a book automatically makes me judge it as quite good if i actually reach the end compared to a movie, since i'm much more likely to stop reading a book than stop watching a movie.

this book is more or less breakfast of champions 2 in the way that it reuses most of the main characters and the setting of breakfast of champions. it's like the usual vonnegut thing where he reuses stuff except even more. it's a good time.

thematically, i think aside from the obvious anti-war and pacifism on display, vonnegut is going for something along the lines of "bad things happen in life and we cannot control that, but bad things happening does not mean you should avoid living to mitigate all possibility of those bad things happening." it's quite a powerful message in my opinion, and is something i will certainly keep in mind for the new year.

I am not really sure why I liked Deadeye Dick. When you talk about this book, there is not much you can say about the plot, or the characters, or even about a message it should deliver. In many ways, this is a book about nothing, but it somehow manages to remain interesting in almost Seinfeldesque way.

The novel is a personal life story told by Rudy Waltz, who got the nickname Deadeye Dick as a kid when he accidentally shot a pregnant woman. In the resulting lawsuit, Waltz's previously rich family lost pretty much everything, and Rudy spent the rest of his reclusive life taking care of his spoiled parents, and struggling with the permanent sense of guilt. Mostly isolated from the world and avoiding any human contact, Rudy's only pleasures were cooking (the book actually contains a bunch of detailed recipes which reminded me of Chuck Palahniuk's pointless do-it-yourself intermissions), and writing a theater play about places he never saw and people he never understood.

There are many signature Vonnegut traits in this story, including eccentric parents, connections with Nazi Germany, a random disaster (accidental Neutron bomb explosion that wipes out the entire city), and there are also some places and characters from Breakfast of Champions making another appearance. Combined with the author's easily recognizable writing style, his unique tone and his dark humor, Deadeye Dick creates a very familiar and pleasant surrounding for long time fans. This was my 6th Vonnegut novel, and while it's not as poignant and it does not have a universally strong message like some of his best works, Deadeye Dick was still good enough effort to make me feel like I want to return to the author some more in the future.

Kibeb*szottul jó regény á la Kurt Vonnegut, író, kultikus figura:
Szedj össze néhány elcseszett karaktert, legyen köztük legalább egy náci is, némi fekete humor sem árt, persze csak ízlés szerint, Vonnegut módra, és persze valami mélyebb mondani való…. adj neki címet: Mesterlövész
…és folytatódhat a Sötét középkor
……………………………

3.5