Customer Reviews

Palm Sunday

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Palm Sunday is exactly what it is advertised - an autobiographical collage. KV tells his life story through bits and pieces of short stories, interviews, and ancestral writings. It gives you insight into his motivations from various points of view. The origins of all the plots of all his novels are revealed through him recounting his life experiences, the people he knew, the things he's seen. I feel as if all his novels I've read were clues in some elaborate murder mystery, and the long sought missing link has suddenly been revealed, and I now understand the butler did it.

It's hard to call this book anything but average, especially for Kurt Vonnegut. In fact, when it comes right down to it, it's even hard to call this a book. This is a collection of speeches and assorted writings that have been compiled and thrown together between 2 covers. There is some new material (mainly commentary) intermingled among these speeches and essays. That commentary is probably the most entertaining aspect of the whole book.

All in all this rates as an average of all the material included, and that average is no more or less than, well, thoroughly average. 3 stars. By giving it 3 stars I think it says the book is worth reading. But it's clearly not worth getting too excited about. No, this is not one of Vonnegut's greatest works. But it is interesting at spots.

In this book Vonnegut touches on all sorts of things, but as many seasoned KV readers will know, it would not be a vintage Vonnegut without mentioning Dresden, Indianapolis, and his son Mark's insanity. All 3 make numerous appearances in the book. It could probably be argued that the name of this book should be exactly that: Dresden, Indianapolis, and Mark's Insanity.

But it's not. It's called Palm Sunday for whatever reason. In it, he rates all of his works to date and I think he does a fair job doing so. For this one, he gives himself a C+, which is fair enough. He also said it took 6 years. If time is an indicator, I'll give him an A for effort.

Those interested in getting to know Vonnegut from the start should try The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, or Slaughterhouse-5. Those 3 are vintage Vonnegut and worth every good word ever expressed about them. Those who have read all of his fiction works and are looking to peer even deeper into his writings should indeed read this. But do so with the grain of knowledge that this is not his best collection of words.

As much as I have not praised this book it is still worth the read. But I try to paint a fair picture of who should read it. In a nutshell, people who have read many other Vonnegut works should read this one to complete the list of books he has written. Those new to Vonnegut should move on to something more well-crafted and ingenious.

My conclusion? Worth the read, but after you've done some other reading first.

This volume is a time-capsule of information about Vonnegut's life, as revealed by Vonnegut himself. This book is timely information not only as a memorial to his life, but also as a source of insights about the nature of the world he lived in, specifically including the McCarthy red-baiting years, but the shadows of WWII. Anyone who isn't already familiar with the U.S. fire-bombing of Dresden should be required to read this book in order to get a fuller understanding of the full consequences of warfare. There are implications for current U.S. war efforts.

Of interest to all Americans who feel rootless because we live in cities (see Spengler also) and because we are no longer hyphenated Americans. Vonnegut bemoans that his family, 'Indiana-Germans', lost the language and thereby passed none of the former culture on to him, leaving him (like the rest of us) at the mercy of football, basketball, TV, and shopping. Good and bad news for him, however: where the German language still survives after 150 years (central Texas ranchers, e.g.), it carries with it none of the German culture.Prerequisite for both 'Mother Night' und 'Schlachthof Funf'.

This is simply "An Autobiographical Collage". A collection of Op-Ed pieces, speeches givin, short family tree and some things that had no where else to go. As a fan of Kurt, I own most of his books, and I had this one for 3 years before I read it because I wanted to read more of his fiction before I found out about the man. Some of the articles mention his past novels and it is helpful to have read them to get a true understanding of what he is talking about. It was refreshing to see that Kurt believes the worst book he ahs written is Slapstick, he gives it a D. I never liked that book, and now I feel like it is OK to not like it. All in all this is no more than a short attention span book that will fill 5 minutes here or there. If you have just a passing interest in Vonnegut, do not bother with this book. However if you are a big Vonnegut fan like me, you might want to pick this up and get a little insight into his warped mind.

T

Palm Sunday reads like Vonnegut's impassioned plea for forgiveness, or perhaps sainthood. "I was right all along" it seems to say, or perhaps "Respect my authority". And who are we to argue?
Who indeed, although a more harsh editor may have scrubbed out some of the self-aggrandizing, i can't believe any editor thought we'd be interested in Vonnegut's family tree. Mind you, i can't believe i read every word of it either... Vonnegut's speeches are pretty inconsequential too - he loves the First Amendment and he fought briefly in WWII, basically sums them up.
Given that Slaughterhouse Five was one of the best autobiographies ever written, Palm Sunday seems somewhat superfluous and any insights into the great man's mind are limited at best, and more tainted by ego than genius at worst.
I'd recommend casual fans should stick to his fiction - only the occasional essay here is particularly enlightening, and i'm not sure it's worth reading through the dross to find it.
Thank you for your attention...

I just recently read, "Palm Sunday" and thought it was very, very good. I found it interesting, reading about Vonnegut's experience, and reading about other writers and his experiences with them. I recomend it to anyone.

Palm Sunday is full of anecdotes about Vonnegut's family and friends, it also has a few beauty short stories.
I would recommend it myself as an avid Vonnegut fan, but to those who are more interested in the stories than the story writer, I would suggest sticking to his fiction.

"Palm Sunday" is a lot about Vonnegut you may not want to know. Fortunately, however, he has included one fantastic chapter dealing with: The two movies of his books made in Hollywood in one year, (The best? "Slaughterhouse 5" The movie he wishes his name was not associated with? "Happy Birthday, Wanda June") suicide as a way of life for children of suicide victims, (funny and sad at the same time) and his personal review of all his books, including this one. He gives it a "C+." Fair enough, I suppose. At least he's aware of what he's putting out, even if it not always what his audience wants to read. Strictly for collectors only

I bought this book bc I read a Rolling Stone article about the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Flea said the writer Vonnegut was one of the influences that made him straighten up and see what was important in the world. Maybe I picked the wrong book, but this book is just random ramblings. I read almost half the book trying to give it a chance and I finally gave up. It was a complete waste of my time. NOTHING in the first half was worth the time to read. I mean it was literally just this man talking about WHATEVER, and I mean no moral to the story or taking a stand nothing. Very disappointed.