This book really kicks it’s weight in ass –Slugtron
This book was released earlier this year, and is a collection of twelve previously unpublished Kurt Vonnegut writings about war and peace.
Overall this is a really good book.
Starting with a really good introduction by Kurt’s son Mark Vonnegut that gives an outsiders perspective of Kurt’s work and some insights on how he lived. The reason I liked this intro so much was that as a big Kurt Vonnegut fan, I look up to Kurt almost like an untouchable genius (which he is) but Mark really drives in that he was a normal guy that worked hard to make his work good. It just really made me realize how dedicated Kurt Vonnegut was, which I think is inspirational and makes me want to try harder at the things I do.
The Next chapter in the book is a three page letter that Kurt wrote to his family during WWII, I think it shows that he was as good a writer even at a young age and he put just as much care into a letter to his family, as he seems to put in his books. Also it is essentially a three page summary of what happened to him while he was a POW, which is just terribly interesting.
Kurt Vonnegut at Clowes Hall: This is the text of a speech that Kurt Vonnegut wrote right before he died. I think it goes to show a few thinks about Kurt. For example I think that it goes a long way in saying that he is a brilliant deep thinker, and a great human being, but maybe what stands out the most in this speech is that he is a little bit of an ass-hole, (Granted a really funny ass-hole.)
The first thing he does to the audience is make them raise there hands for something they believe in, and then says anyone raising there hand is a moron. It’s an ass-hole move, but quite funny.
I think my favorite quotes from this speech would be:
“If you find yourself on a gurney at a lethal injection facility, here is what your last words should be: “This will certainly teach me a lesson.” And, “If Jesus were alive today, we would kill him with lethal injection.”
He really says some really interesting things about the roots of communism and religion that I find to be terribly true. I think this speech shows two different sides of Kurt Vonnegut, that in turn makes you feel two different ways at the same time. One of those sides, makes you want to get up and do something to make the world a better place, and the other side contradicts that and makes you feel that it’s pointless.
One reason that I think Kurt Vonnegut’s speeches and essays are so engaging is that he always finds what his subjects are best at, what they pioneered, or what makes them unique. Then, he extrapolates those things and makes you understand why these things and people are so relevant to us, and then usually ends with a joke.
You gotta love that bastard.
Wailing Shall Be in All Streets: This is a short story about the Dresden fire bombing. It digs into the niches of what it was, and how sickening and needless it was.
It tells us about how just the Americans were to enter the war, but how dirty we got while fighting it. To sum it up, Dresden was a city that held no military significance and we killed over a hundred thousand people there near the end of the war (mostly civilians) to “disable the railroads” which were up and running two days later anyway.
It’s told from Kurt Vonnegut’s perspective, how he was one of the few survivors and how beautiful the city was. His story tells you the truth about war, that these are human beings that are getting killed, not just “Nazis.”
His captors family’s lived in Dresden, and were completely wiped out. Then after losing his whole family he split his last cigarette with Kurt. Which in the context of the story seems to be the greatest act of kindness that I can imagine.
It’s a really sad story that makes you feel like shit to read, but you need to read it. – Slugtron
Great Day: This is a science fiction story based in the distant future, where the entire world has come together in peace and there is only one army called “The World Army.” Most people in the future seem to be simple minded nitwits. The main character is a boy, posing as a man enlisting in the world army.
The world army gives them a mission to experiment with time machines, and they send a company of men back to 1918 during WWI to observe it as ghosts, they are ghosts because that is how the technology works, you can see 1918 and they can see you, but it can’t touch you, and you can’t touch it.
That is the premise, and it is funny and good, and I think it has a very good short story ending. Read it, why not?
Guns Before Butter: This is a story about three American privates that are POW’s in Dresden after the fire bombing. Due to the Geneva convention, POW’s with the rank of private are to be put to hard labor. Their job is to make neat piles of rubble throughout the city. They are overseen by a sixty-five year old Nazi, who is constantly annoyed by them because all they talk about is food.
This is another really good short, maybe not the best in the book, but it’s funny, has good characters and is fun to read.
Happy Birthday, 1951: This is a story about an old man that is raising a boy that was abandoned, in a city taken over by soldiers. There is a new rule implemented, that people can’t live in the city without proper paper work, and part of the proper paper work is a birth date. The old man and the boy decide that his birthday will be the following day. The old man decides that he must get the boy a present, and he decides the present should be a day away from soldiers and war. Since the boy was raised in that environment, he doesn’t seem to mind the war.
I really liked this story, it is simple and short, and makes you not like war.
Brighten Up: A group of POW’s are put to work, one of them decides to barter between the guards and prisoners, for cigarettes and valuables.
Once again this is a likable story, Kurt Vonnegut doesn’t really write villains into his stories. This is not an exception, but the guy that is doing the bartering is ripping everyone off, and is clearly a scoundrel. It is a fun short story, it fits into this collection nicely, but I wouldn’t say it is one of my favorite Vonnegut stories. (Which is alot like saying Boogie Nights isn’t my favorite P.T. Anderson movie, because they are all great anyways.)
The Unicorn Trap: In the year 1067 there is a village that is terrorized by a dictator named Robert the Horrible ( a friend of William the Conqueror.) The main character is a man that lives in the village who is asked to be Robert the Horrible’s tax collector. His wife wants him to take the job and try to get in Robert the Horrible’s good graces. His son is a bug eyed kid that doesn’t seem to know what’s what, whom happens to be building a unicorn trap. Even though it is obvious to everyone that there are no unicorns. The man decides that he won’t accept the job, and in turn will die for his ideals.
This is a well written story, and although the humour is not as blatant in this story, as it is in most of Vonnegut’s works, it is still there, and it is still good. I also like stories about decent, and this certainly has that. To top it off, it is a story about decent with a happy ending, who can complain about that? Not I.
Unknown Soldier: This is a terribly short story about having the first baby of the millennium. Since it is so Short, I am just going to say that you might as well just read it, rather then this review. NEXT!
Spoils: A small group of newly freed american POW’s make there way back to their base, going through evacuated villages, looting the whole way. One of the men doesn’t do any looting, and it tells the story of what he saw and why he doesn’t want to loot.
I love stories like this. He starts off showing you a human being, shows him something tramatic. Then shows how it effects him.
Just You and Me, Sammy: At the end of the war the Americans are trying to get back to base, a soldier named Georgie asks Sammy to go out of their way to get some cigarettes. They get to a secluded house and Georgie has a proposition to trade identities with Sammy, for a large sum of money. Sammy gets the impression that things are a little shifty, and then the Russians show up.
I think this is by far the best story in the collection. It’s pretty much perfect the perfect short story. It has some of the most brilliant turns that I have ever read. It’s simple enough that everyone will get it, but smart enough to keep you thinking. The timing for the information it gives you is simply perfect, and he hooks you right from the start by telling you that there is murder.
The Commandant’s Desk: The story of an old furniture builder in Czechslovakia. His villiage is constantely being taken over by different armies, from different dictatorships. This story starts after the Russians leave and the Americans come in. He was building the Russians a desk, (a special desk with a secret) that he decides to give to the American commander.
I really like this one, and I guess I’m tiring writing all of these reviews so I say, ONWARD!!!!!
Armageddon In Retrospect: Named after the title of the book. I think this is the longest story, it’s good. It’s about trapping the devil.
Dr.Cyborg out!