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Summary: Vonnegut's hidden treasure chest
Review: My favorite book of all time. This is a book which is rich with invention thought provoking ideas and is hilarious all at once. This book always leaves me blind with tears of laughter 'til I can't read anymore. My favorites being the short stories Harrison Bergeron and Thomas Edisons Dog. Funny as it is, it is a book that evokes many emotions. I never have a copy of this book as I tend to give it away. It has become increasingly hard to find as few people know about it. Perhaps because it is a collection of short stories it is passed over for his more well known novels. But in my opinion you will not find a finer treasury of great stories than Welcome to the Monkeyhouse
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Summary: A great reminder of what a real book feels like.
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author, and I think it is fabulous. Let me just say, this book rolls
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Summary: THOUGHT PROVOKING STORIES!
Review: I really enjoyed the bulk of the stories. They were definitely thought provoking, often dealing with the issues of technology
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Summary: A celebration of the beauty of humanity's imperfection.
Review: Each of these stories is a world in its own right; all of them speak from a deep understanding of what it means to be human. Ranging from true (The Long Walk to Forever/Hell to Get Along With), through plausible (Adam), to dark futurism (Harrison Bergeron, the title story), Vonnegut celebrates life, love, and freedom... and in every story, you will see the world you know. Both tragic and comic, these stories show us what we are, and make us glad of it. An unforgettable read - don't miss it!
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Summary: !!! GREAT !!!
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! When I picked it up I thought that it was not going to be as good as Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-five", but it deffinately was. Vonnegut has once again proved himself to be a magnificent author in this collection of short stories. In this book, there were a few parts that I beleive may have been adapted from the past. If this is the case, Vonnegut has deffinately done a good job reproducing them, as well as make up brilliant tales of his own. This is one of those books that you'll read once and contemplate for a while. Then you'll find it lying around a month or two later and pick up a totally new perspective on its initial meaning. This is book that MUST be read, no questions asked. :-D
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Summary: Range of Stories from Sci Fi to Intimate Family Drama
Review: From the wonderous humanity of EPICAC, the computer who loved a girl, to the simply yet imaginatively told story of "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog", to the black American soldier's relationship with a certain displaced person ("D.P.") to the title story's grim view of the future population (see also "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", the last story in the collection), Vonnegut surprises with his humor, and then delivers a knockout punch with his pathos. *SPOILER* The story about the boy who cannot tell his parents that he didn't get in the School, and "The Kid Noone Could Handle" *END* Is the "fifty-year man" the real "Deer in the Woods"? One of my favorite stories has always been "More Stately Mansions" about the woman who yearns for a more perfect abode as collected and clipped from many home decorating magazines. The realism of his stories is kind of spooky sometimes. His prose writing is amazing--a master of the quick turn of phrase, the one-sentence description that reads like a book, the presence behind the prose somehow is able to make complex, profound ideas more simple, and vice versa. I first read this volume in 1974 on airplanes and while traveling to Africa at the age of 12. Some of it escaped me then, but by now I think I get it. And I recommend it highly!
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Summary: Great Intro to Vonnegut!
Review: This was the first book I ever read by Vonnegut, and it was good enough to spur me on to furthur reading. This is a collection of some of his shorter stories, and I think it gives the reader a fairly good idea of his writing style.
I think whoever compiled these stories chose a bad one to start off with. Where I Live, while well written and very descriptive, was very boring. I was ready to stop reading after this one. I slogged through to the next, and discovered I had read Harrison Bergeron in high school. This is a great story about PC-ness gone crazy. So then I was drawn into this book and the wonderful stories that followed.
Although I could go one by one and review each story, I really think that would amount to an extremely long review. Suffice it to say that I thoroughly enjoyed almost every stroy in this book. Vonnegut's writings are descriptive and vast, and his obviously unique and odd viewpoints make for extremely interesting and thought-provoking reading. This man was very much ahead of the times when these stories were written.
The stories are very unique in and of themselves also. Just when you think you have Vonnegut pegged, he throws you a curve and a totally different type of storyline, and you wonder what in the world goes on in this guy's mind. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Vonnegut, but very much on my mind since I purchased it off Amazon is "The Losers' Club" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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Summary: Years later, this book is still affecting people
Review: I just read this book last year, as a tenth grader. It might sound as though I'm exaggerating if I say it changed my life, but I believe that almost everything you read changes you in a small way. Well, this book changed me in a big way. I'll still be thinking about these stories months after I read them. They're the kind of stories that make you want to close your eyes and think for an hour after you're done reading them. This book was my introduction to Kurt Vonnegut, and it remains my favorite.
I also think its amazing how a book read by somebody 30 years ago can still have the same effect on a young person today, and I hope that 30 years from now, this book will still change people.
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Summary: Vonnegut in the bitefull
Review: I was once told that the true writer can write short fiction as well as lengthier works. If that is true then Vonnegut is a true master. "Welcome to the Monkey House" is a true masterpiece. The short stroies are a study of our society. The story that is the name of the book shows how a society can go wrong with the idea of doing good. The hero is a rapist who lives in a society that actually encourages suicide. The women who work at these suicide centers have sex with their clients before they die, but the women cannot feel anything below their waist so they cannot enjoy sex due to "medicine" they take. The "hero" lets the drug wear off then rapes the women so they can feel for the first time sexual pleasure. The study is the rapes of women by one man as compared to the societal rape by making women not be able to feel pleasure. Tough stuff. The story ends with the explanation of how the idea of anesthetizing the pleasurable feel of sex started, which is the name of the story.
Harrison Bergeron is every bit as scary because it is what happens when the law makes everybody equal. There is always someone that has to run the show and they can't be equal. "All of the Kings Men" is about a game of chess where captured soldiers are the actual pieces and their leader has to make tough choices.
Not all of the stories are so depressing. "Who will I be Tommorrow" is about a couple who fall in love by never being themselves. It is fun and light although it does explore the deeper meaning of relationships.
"Welcome to the Monkey House" is a masterpiece and should not be missed. It is a thinking man's book, but at the same time so well written that is it is truly enjoyable as it is on it's own. Highly reccommended.
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Summary: Way back in Highschool..when I walked there uphill both ways
Review: I read this book when I was in the 11th grade. It was my introduction in to Vonnegut. Of course this was way back in the 70's. If you read this now and you remind yourself how many years ago he wrote these short stories you will find Kurt had an amazing take on science fiction and fiction back then. That alone makes this book stand the test of time.
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