Customer Reviews

Timequake

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(70)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Anyone who has had enough education has likely run into the phenomenon of the elderly professor, someone widely known to have been a genius, revolutionary in his time, who is no longer quite on their game. Usually, these people are fascinating and worth listening to because of what they've accomplished and been part of, but they aren't teaching anything new. You listen, but you listen more with polite deference than with interest. You laugh at the jokes but it is that respectful, polite laughter. You recognize that the delivery is a little soft.

I love Kurt Vonnegut. I have read almost everything he has written. Time Quake is worth reading, but is not the book to pick up if you aren't a huge fan already and if you haven't exhausted all his earlier works. He tells us in the introduction that he began to write a novel but it wasn't working out, so he jumbled it around and mixed it in with autobiographical details. This is not that much different from what he has always done, but at this point, as novelist emeritus, he can get away with doing this in a cruder fashion, lighter reading, low on nuance.

Just as Mozart wrote the same symphony 40 different times, Vonnegut has written the same semi-autobiographic, semi-sci-fi novel 19 times. This isn't a criticism. In both cases, Mozart and Vonnegut, you know what you are getting, it's great, well worth it, and you go back for more knowing it will be very much more of the same. The message is always there in Vonnegut: Free will is largely an illusion, life is a meaningless and often cruel series of stochastic events, but that everything connects through the chaos of chance. But once the cruelty and meaninglessness of the universe is accepted, one can also appreciate remarkable wonder and joy beneath the surface.

So buy and read this book if you are a big fan, but this is not the book to buy if you are just getting introduced to Vonnegut's writings. For starter Vonnegut, I know people would say Slaughterhouse-Five but I'm partial to Cat's Cradle, Deadeye Dick, and Slastick for novels, Palm Sunday for essays, and Welcome to the Monkey House for short stories.

...Upon it's release, "Timequake" was hailed as Vonnegut's final novel (and it may very well be). He had been writing it on and off for ten years, and after a series of rewrites and revisions, he admitted that the book ultimately failed. Therefore, the original sci-fi premise--the events surrounding a 'glitch' in time that causes people to relive episodes of their lives over and over again--becomes merely a sidelining plot, whereas Vonnegut's often pessimistic reflections on his life, career, family, and existence in general, becomes the main focus of this semi-autobiographical book.

So in addition to revisiting Vonnegut's fictional alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, we witness Vonnegut in his everyday life and his struggle to write a novel doomed to fail. The result is a classic collection of Vonnegut's combination of humor with heartbreak that has defined his written career of the past half-century.

For Vonnegut's many devoted readers, including myself, "Timequake" is a difficult book to read. We know it is a farewell to his fans. It is also an emotional read, since our hero is often critical of himself, and not in the lighthearted sense of his earlier novels. He is old, he is ill, he is bitter. When so many people consider him to be one of the greatest novelists America has produced, he seems to view himself as a failure...instead of ending his career with a crowning achievement, he chooses to quietly wave and step out the back door.

Nonetheless, Vonnegut's incomparable talent makes this an excellent book. However, one should not rate this book without first becoming familiar with his earlier work. Only then can it be appreciated as the ingenious conclusion to an illustrious career.

Vonnegut's novels were never tightly plotted or dizzlingly complex, and ever since The Sirens of Titans there's been less and less plot. But what we've gotten is more and more Vonnegut, which has turned out to be a good thing. His latest and (he says) his last novel turns out to be a hodgepodge of random musings, Vonnegut family history lessons, irrelevant asides and once in a while something that touches on a story. And somehow it works. The premise is that Vonnegut was trying to write a novel about everyone in the world being thrown back ten years and then being forced to relive those ten years. After it's over and time runs normally again, everyone is so used to not having free will that they don't know what to do. But that idea didn't take off and so we have this. Toeing the line between fact and fiction (among the best is the meeting between Vonnegut and longtime alter ego Kilgore Trout), this novel is more about Vonnegut than any other novel previously. He talks about life in general, speaks bluntly and warmly of his family, both living and dead, all in his easily read style, which makes pages fly past as you read but somehow they still manage to stick in your head. Yeah, it's not the innovation of Slaughterhouse-Five and the cutting cynicism of the earlier novels has been replaced by a sort of contented cynicism, as if his bitterness has settled on him like a comfortable old skin. There's nothing new here that you couldn't find in his other novels (all of which are highly recommended), even the structure is reminiscent of Breakfast of Champions, but the presentation is what counts here and everything comes across so effortlessly that it's a joy just to watch him put the novel together, even when chapters race past that are really only barely connected strings of random thoughts. More importantly it made me laugh outloud in more than a few spots, made me think in others and in some places was actually genuinely touching, something that's been missing in some of his latter day novels. Overall it's a fine extension of his work and while not his best, it's a great way to get acquainted or reacquainted with an author who's done some of the finest fiction of the last fifty years. If you're just getting to know Vonnegut, there's plenty more where this came from, and if you're coming from a long time back, you'll find plenty here that's familiar, but just as rewarding.

This is the third Vonnegut novel that I've read so far. I loved and hated this book. The 3 stars that I gave this book is somewhat unfair to Vonnegut because the book wasn't necessarily poor, it's just not what I had expected.

What I loved: the idea and creativity of a "timequake" and the scraps here and there of the timequake.

What I didn't expect: these little extra memoirs and the last third of the novel. You find yourself reading "a completely different book" consisting of Vonnegut's own personal reflections; you can just about call it an autobiography.

In conclusion, this is probably not the book for you if you're looking for something that flows and has well, a plot. Otherwise, if you're simply in for chunks of Vonnegut's classic satire, look no further!

If you are looking for a plot, rising action or deep characters, don't read this. For those of us who have been Vonnegut fans, it reads like a Bible of his ideas. The best parts of a good number of his novels are the prologues. This book is a 195 page prologue, with about 10 pages of fiction. I had the opportunity to read Timequake back in July, (about three months before its offical release date) and I was thrilled when I reached the final page. Many of his devoted readers find his humanistic ideas to be the best stuff he writes. This book holds more of that than any other he has written. His ideas on his own age and demise as a writer add a ton to this beautiful farewell to the philosophy of Kurt Vonnegut. If you are unfamilar with him, and looking for a great book to start on, go back to Slaughterhouse-Five, Sirens of Titan or Cat's Cradle. If you are familiar with his stuff, this book simply serves as a great companion piece to his other books.

Reading TIMEQUAKE makes two things eminently clear.

One, Kurt Vonnegut has become a cranky old man. The book is full of diatribes about how newfangled gadgets like TVs and computers have ruined the world. He even occasionally lets slip a wistful cliche like "the lost art of conversation." In contrast to his SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE character Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut himself has become stuck in time, viewing today's world from the distant vantage of the 1930s and 40s, and declaring the modern era postliterate, and therefore fallen. He even lends authority to his viewpoint by finally acknowledging his place in the pantheon of the century's greatest writers, a place which he richly deserves.

And that brings me to the second insight that TIMEQUAKE makes readily apparent: Vonnegut's literary genius is undimmed. The man can put words together like nobody else on earth -- his passages and paragraphs are so mind-altering that they ought to be considered controlled substances. The timequake at the center of this book is a wonderfullly pliable symbol, allowing Vonnegut fresh takes on all his familiar themes: war, suffering, the arts, the human capacity for evil, and the mysterious dynamic of free will versus predetermination. What's more, the book is unfailingly, hysterically funny, resonating with that particular Vonnegutian laugh, a laugh that carries an abyss of blackness within its mirth, but is nonetheless somehow comforting.

Those who complain that the book is rambling or lacks direction are missing the boat entirely. As Vonnegut himself explains midway through the book (perhaps in anticipation of this very criticism), his writing style is that of a "basher." He defines "bashers" as writers who "go one sentence at a time, getting it exactly right before they go on to the next one. When they're done, they're done." Make no mistake, the words in TIMEQUAKE are there for a *reason*. They aren't arbitrary or accidental. Vonnegut didn't just scribble down whatever happened to cross his mind and then try to sell the stack of notes as a book. Or if he did, he should be allowed to, because the result is such an intricate, precise organization of connections that the best metaphor for it is the inner workings of the computer on which I write this review -- an immensely complicated piece of work which accomplishes its function very well indeed.

I wouldn't recommend TIMEQUAKE for somebody who's never read Vonnegut before (and how I envy such people for the newness of the experience that awaits them) -- Vonnegut novices ought to start with brilliant, accessible novels like CAT'S CRADLE or GOD BLESS YOU, MISTER ROSEWATER. But for Vonnegut fans, of which I am definitely one, TIMEQUAKE is an indispensible farewell from the voice of an old friend.

I first became a fan of Vonnegut in high school when a friend let me borrow Cat's Cradle. After completion, I voraciously read the entire Vonnegut catalog within the span of about 15 months. Thus when I saw on Amazon that his new and final book was soon to be released, I became ecstatic. The basic plot of TIMEQUAKE is irrelevant and takes a back seat to Kurt's desire and need to reminisce and give us advice based upon his 74 years on a planet filled with people destined for suicide. The aging Vonnegut's pessimism about the human condition is not ground-breaking material, yet the novel has an enjoyable and comfortable sense of familiarity to it. Kurt is similar to the stereotypical grandfather: "I remember back in the day...before TV, before WWII, before computers, before art and literature lost importance, etc... when life was so much simpler and better." At times Vonnegut's complaints seem like the petty ramblings of a bitter, cynical old man; but for the most part his common sense advice, no matter how simple, rings truthful and just might be the ideas needed to save the species. TIMEQUAKE is a pure pleasure to read, a truly wonderful farewell gift from an author who has meant so much to my literary and personal development.

Having read the bulk of Vonnegut's work (so many great books, so much clever, boisterous, mocking, incidental drivel...)Timequake felt like a cheat at first. More parts memoir than actual novel, Timequake must be differentiated between Timequake One (the dead version that balked birth) and Timequake Two (the revised performance). Intending this as his last novel (or so he says), Vonnegut gets a little crazier than usual and a lot nostalgic. The threading of his personal life experiences into the fabric of the novel make it hard at first to discern fact from fiction, and then you realize...It's Kurt f*cking Vonnegut! Who cares? Fact or fiction, it's all entertaining. Vonnegut is as wry and sardonic as ever. He talks a lot of sh*t here.... So, is KV done telling stories? Is Timequake to be the last real shot of his insightful wisdom of the world at hand? Is it worthy of a last novel by a modern-day genius? Tough questions. Let me answer them all with one word. Maybe.
Is this is awesome as Breakfast Of Champions or Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five? Hard to tell. All of Vonnegut's work, at least for me, sort of melds together into a single mishapen tapestry. Vonnegut is Vonnegut. His writing is addictive as nicotine or heroin. I gotta have it.

Kurt Vonnegut is certainly in my mind, and in those of most objectionable readers, one of the 20th century's greatest writers. If you have not yet read anything of his, you should take time out now to do so. However, this book is radically different from just about anything else out there (even from Vonnegut) that I wouldn't recommend making it your first reading of KV. If you are new to the author I suggest rather something like Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five. Timequake, however, is pure gold for the die-hard Vonnegut fanatic. It is written in a rather odd and unthinkably off-beat style, truly, as the book jacket claims, "a literary form such as the world has never seen." There is absolutely no plot whatsoever. And there's basically only one character. The vast majority of the book is, in fact, not fiction but personal ancedotes from the author. Vonnegut appears in the novel both as an autobiographical figure reciting reminisces from his past, and as a character in the novel placed in fictional situations. Obviously, this is by no means a conventionally written book. However, this can be tremendously rewarding for Vonnegut fans, because here we get to see a lot of his views on different issues, as well as see him disclosing quite a few events about his past (not that he hadn't done that before, but still.) Read this if you've already made a sizable chunk in the author's repetoire.

You were sick but now you're well again, and there's work to do ... Timequake is a book about a book, "Timequake One", sort of. Which is to say, Vonnegut uses the supposed book "Timequake" as reference material typically saying "I wrote in Timequake One" while filling the rest of the story with cynical bitterness and sarcastic commentary which is simultaneously hilarious and solemn. He threads the plot of Timequake (wherein the cast of the universe is forced to live ten years of their lives twice, the second "rerun" being on automatic pilot) through relentless commentary about our modern world pitting himself and his "alter-ego" out of print science fiction writer Kilgore Trout as main characters in what can be best described as part auto-biography, part fiction. As I read this book I found so much relevant in my day to day life I could hardly believe it. There are some real thought provoking criticisms of our modern world presented here. I like the frank style of writing, and I deeply appreciate Vonnegut's bitterly sarcastic musings: "Then again, I am a monopolar depressive descended from monopolar depressives. That's how come I write so good." Give us a break, Mr. Trout. READ IT.