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Bluebeard

Bluebeard

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: incredibly close to home
Review: After reading other reviews of this book, I have come to the conclusion that it's a book for certain people, and those people love it to death, while the others find it a disappointment. Having said that, I must say that this is quite possibly the most moving book I have ever read. It is so much of an enigma to me as to what precise ingredients touch me so emotionally, but something in there spoke to me underneath the words. It's heartbreaking, beautiful, lonely, incredible, and as my title suggests, it hits, for me at least, incredibly close to home, as though I were a Rabo Karabekian in my last life. And, without giving it away, I thought the secret was, for lack of a better word, perfect.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Potato Barn says it all.
Review: I read this book at one sitting and was drawn in by the mysterious "thing" in the potato barn. When I got there, I wasn't disappointed. It's a "Slaughterhouse 5" comment, but instead of walloping me against the head, it went straight to my heart. "Good job, meat."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you've never read Vonnegut, do NOT start with this book!
Review: I've read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Vonnegut's other novels, but I found Bluebeard to be lacking in his usual brilliance. I didn't feel involved or drawn into the storyline or his characters. Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and Hocus Pocus were far superior.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good. I mean...Great. or...wonderful...anyway, it's good.
Review: I like it. That's about it. I like it a lot. You should read it...it's definitely one of the best books I've ever read.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Easily Vonnegut's best novel.
Review: I have read every Vonnegut novel, from PLAYER PIANO right up to TIMEQUAKE, and I can honestly say that he is one of the most uneven writers around. For every brilliant CAT'S CRADLE there is an equally ludicrous SLAPSTICK. That being said, I believe BLUEBEARD to be his best work. The story is wonderfully involving without relying on gimmicks (like BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS), and the characters are marvellously drawn. I can also say that this novel involved me emotionally more than any other of his books. Not only do I consider it Vonnegut's best, but I would probably rate it among my personal favorites. Compelling and touching.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A "Breakfast of Champions" character reflects on his life.
Review: Rabo Karabekian, a successful post-modernist artist of Armenian descent, struggles to create his autobiography while his present relationships evolve and his life's works and secrets are laid bare.

Karabekian is written in the same first person, reflective style of many of Vonnegut's creations. This somewhat aged character has always possessed tremendous artistic talent, which has led to his more memorable experiences. Estranged from many old friends and family, he attempts to catalog these in an autobiographical work. He meets a new, energetic woman-friend, who gives him a new perspective on life. Like the story-figure Bluebeard, his intriguing secret is the focus of much action in the story.

While the characters in the book are as developed and interesting as in many other Vonnegut works, the narration itself is laid out in an even more rambling style than usual.

Also, "Bluebeard" entertains while manifesting the simple bits of wisdom readers have grown to expect from Vonnegut.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Would be a 5 star for any other author.
Review: The book was great, as almost all his stuff is. But....I didn't think it was worthy of five stars relative to his other works. Still, it is TOTALLY worth reading because a 4 star rating of a Vonnegut book is like a 5 star rating for anyone else!!!!! The guy is awsome and all his books are certainly worth the time it takes to read them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Really awesome
Review: This was my first Vonnegut book ever and it was....geez it was good. I finished the book in almost a day (i would have finished it straight but i had to go to class and eat dinner and such). It's not like something that's so gripping you can't put it down, it's more like it's just something that's so GOOD you don't want to stop. I really enjoyed it, and i'm definitely going to be reading some more Vonnegut in the very near future.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ooooh baby... it's sooo good
Review: Come on. It's Vonnegut. It's great. A good choice for first-time Vonnegut readers or people who had problems getting through the more fantastic elements of his other biggies (Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, Welcome to the Monkey House). Get the mass market paperback and it costs you about as much as a McDonald's value meal... and it's just as good a beef substitute

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Oh happy meat, Oh happy me.
Review: I saw Kurt Vonnegut speak once and he said the best literature had the honesty to not tell us if life and it's experiences is good or bad. "The truth is, we don't know." In Bluebeard, he once again creates a character who is going through life without telling us what parts are worthwhile and maybe doesn't know himself. The journey is what seems to matter and how it shapes each person's soul - that piece of ourselves which we lock away like bluebeard, letting others see only at high risk. This is a marvelous book.


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