DEADEYE DICK

Rating:
Summary: 4 and 1/2 Stars
Review: Although not Kurt Vonnegut's best novel, Deadeye Dick is an enlightening, fast-paced, and highly entertaining satrical look at the death of innocence and the randomness of life. Through the plot and the life of the protonagist, Rudy Waltz, we are shown how seemingly random and completely unforseeable events can completely change and/or wreck a person's life. Everything we do, however seemingly trivial, has a consequence. Vonnegut's writing style is as fluid and graceful as ever, with a prose, quick wit, and pace that will keep you reading. His ever-present humor and light touch with weighty subjects is apparent from the very first page. A good read that you will enjoy. If you are new to this author, I would recommend reading something like Cat's Cradle first, but this is a fine novel and recommended for all Vonnegut fans.

Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut is up to his old tricks
Review: Another failed Vonnegut character mopes through life, bemoaning his failures and viewing all with a jaundiced eye, as he waits for the end. This is a note that Vonnegut strikes often: a poor ineffectual fool passively accepts his fate in an absurd, random universe. The more Vonnegut I read, the more tired I become of this tune, but I must admit that the author makes some interesting points along the way.

This time the fool is Rudy Waltz, who gained the nickname of Deadeye Dick when he fired a gun into the air, inadvertantly killing a pregnant woman a block away. The story is fascinating and real when dealing with this tragic mistake and its consequences. I couldn't help but feel some disappointment as the more absurd qualities of the story (ie, neutron bombs and radioactive mantlepieces) asserted themselves. Vonnegut writes well about real people dealing with real problems. I wish he would have restrained himself from introducing so many surreal elements; they smack of gimmickry and self-conscious symbolism.

Rating:
Summary: A satirical look at the loss of innocence
Review: Deadeye Dick had a mix of everything, murder romance and major accident resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of people in a typical American town. Rudy Waltz is telling the story of his life. Vonnegut is a master of suspense, not the usual cliched way, but he gives you inforamtion bit by bit that makes you want to keep reading. ofcourse any person can read this book but it takes a true reader and analyzer to UNDERSTAND this book. while i was reading this wonderful book, it got to me that today "...we're still in the dark ages; the darkages, they havent ended yet. (p240)" the book is full of twists, one of the little ones is that rudy waltz's father, otto waltz, saved hitler from death and starvation in Vienna before world war 1. "Think of that:my father could have strangeled the worst monster of the century, or simply let him starve or freaze to death. But he became his bosom buddy instead." A double murder, a neutron bomb explosion, a mysterious decapitation, just a few of the many ironical twists of this wonderful cynical look at society.

Rating:
Summary: Symbolic musings on the life of an unforgettable character
Review: Deadeye Dick is a novel only Kurt Vonnegut could have written - quirky, strange, thought-provoking, and a little bit depressing. The story of Deadeye Dick and his family is not a happy one. Rudy Waltz acquires his unusual nickname at the age of twelve by accidentally killing a woman in his hometown, but the whole story starts well before Rudy was even born. His father was supposedly a promising artist, or at least his own mother thought so, but he and his painting tutor did little more than travel around getting drunk and carousing with women of ill repute; after the tutor was exposed as a sham, Otto Waltz went to Austria to study in the years before the Great War; his lack of talent forbade him entry to the Academy, and he developed a friendship with another failed artist who later became chancellor of the Third Reich. This association with Hitler and some of his ideas would come back to haunt Otto in the 1940s. Rudy was Otto's second son, and on the day when his father bestowed upon him the key to the gun room, Rudy took a rifle up to the top of the cupola at his family's most unusual residence, fired it randomly, and unknowingly shot a pregnant woman right between the eyes while she was vacuuming - thus did Rudy receive the nickname Deadeye Dick. His father insisted on making a production about how everything was his fault, and life would never be the same again for the dysfunctional Waltz family. They lost everything, and life got little better as Rudy matured. The story of Deadeye Dick and his family goes on to include such events as a decapitation, a death by chimney (it was made of radioactive cement), and the eventual death of everyone in the whole town by way of an accidental neutron bomb explosion. There is a lot of symbolism in the book, and Vonnegut's discussion of what certain symbols mean in the introduction is particularly helpful in understanding this novel (although I'm still a little unsure about the random inclusion of recipes throughout the story). One experiences a definite lack of closure upon completing this fascinating read, and that inevitably disappoints some readers, including myself to some degree, but I don't think any can deny the fact that Deadeye Dick offers a typically Vonnegut-like interpretation of life and offers much food for thought to the serious reader.

Rating:
Summary: A Book One May Enjoy On All Levels
Review: Deadeye Dick was the first novel of Kurt Vonnegut that I read. I found it delightfully humorous, but also disturbing in the way he takes on society so innocently. Later, I read Slaughterhouse Five, and I must be one of the few people who enjoyed Deadeye Dick more. Why? Maybe because he dosen't force you to think about how bad things are so much this time. Vonnegut allows you to read this book on different levels: enjoying a work of fiction or reading a strong message. I personally loved both.

Rating:
Summary: Advice
Review: In Deadeye Dick, the underlying messages shine through Vonnegut's words, the morals of innocence, the corruption of being etc. etc.
But Vonnegut forgot one thing in this book. The story. What is in his other books a perfect mixture of story and the underlying morals, here it is a decidedly lop-sided affair. The story is very unengaging and I found it quite tedious, to be frank. And unfortunately, it went downhill after an ok-ish start. Thankfully, those recipes he throws in very frequently at the first part of the novel are toned down because what was a good idea would have turned into an annoying one if continued too frequently.
This is the most disappointing Vonnegut book I've read so far.

Rating:
Summary: Not about a sharpshooter detective
Review: Kurt Vonnegut's style is usually able to make his books fast reading even if the plot and characters are bad, but this book is plain terrible. I picked it up because I though it would be about a sharpshooter detective, but it was about this kid that accidentally killed a pregnant woman when he shot a rifle out of his window and the ramifications of this act on his life.

This book, like most of Vonnegut's, takes place in Indiana and is about the main character growing up and some events that take place during his lifetime. Since, however, the events that Vonnegut chose to include and the characters they involve are uninteresting, this book is bad. If you want a good book by Vonnegut, get Breakfast of Champions instead.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favourite books ever!
Review: The first Vonnegut book I ever read, and the strangest I feel. The kid shoots some guy from a tower and his whole life falls apart due to that one event. He writes an atrociously parochial play that gets laughed at in the Big Apple of America. When writing about the failures of everyday life humanity, Vonnegut is at his best. This has all of the most tragically funny events and characters woven into a nauseous tale. My favourite part is where the kid who writes the play, writes his own script of the situation of his brother arguing with his brother's girlfriend. Some call it black humour, I think that doesn't do it's creativity justice. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: This is the fourth Vonnegut book I have read, and I have to say it's probably one of his best. The story was interesting, and the moral was well received. I also enjoyed the fact that some of his characters from Breakfast of Champions made appearances in the book.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: vonnegut is among my favorite authors and this book was not disappointing. it is actually currently competing with "god bless you mr. rosewater" for my favorite vonnegut book. this book is just too great to describe, you need to read it for yourself....