Rating: 
Summary: Somebody shoot me while I'm happy....
Review: I am glad that I invested two late summer afternoons in rereading this novel. It fit my mood perfectly (i.e., gaily mournful.) In fact I found myself looking up from the pages and paraphrasing the author himself, "If this isn't nice, then what is?" Perhaps this is because I've always identified more with Vonnegut and his generation than my own. I understand the sense of mourning and absurdity that he gets from our brave new corporate world.Vonnegut revisits so many of his old characters and themes in this book. It is a fitting reunion for a last novel. Most notable is the reintroduction of Kilgore Trout. Trout becomes a global hero, loved by all, before he dies. Perhaps then, there is hope for us all. You also find such familiar themes as the need for extended families (artificial or otherwise.) Also, that perhaps people should treat each other a little nicer and help each other get through this mess- whatever it is. And that maybe socialism isn?t such a bad word- and Eugene Debs deserves to be honored as an American Hero. As a matter of fact the author proposes four new humanist amendments to the constitution that I would ratify in a New York minute. As for his concept of a Time Quake (people consciously reliving their lives without the ability to change anything, but only observe) well, some say that is what happens when we all pass over. We get to observe all of those mistakes, and then return a little wiser in an attempt to do better next time. Or maybe that?s just a work of fiction, too. I think not. Perhaps, his character, Dr. Fleon Sunoco, the mad scientist, was right about little radios in the brains of genius's picking up bright ideas from somewhere else.... Ting-a-ling!
Rating: 
Summary: A book for our times
Review: Timequake is the only Vonnegut book I have read so far. I finished it this afternoon. Fortunately, I borrowed it from a university library, and there was no back-cover blurb to influence my expectations. The book is brilliant. A humane, if despairing, commentary on our world, with laugh-out-loud sections scattered throughout. Read the book - it will help you retain your idealism.
Rating: 
Summary: Misrepresentation
Review: This is what I read on the back cover that intrigued me enough to buy this book: "At 2:27 P.M. on February 13th of the year 2001, the Universe suffered a crisis in self-confidence. Should it go on expanding indefinitely? What was the point?" The real question is what was the point of this book? I had just come off reading Cat's Cradle (which I absolutely loved, by the by) and was eager to try another Vonnegut. So I grabbed this based solely on those three short sentences. What I expected was a strange story of events with light sci-fi elements. What I got was a quasi-fictional account of a life interspersed with rambling anecdotes that rarely said anything. I understood the "great and meaningful" message at the end of the book, but by then I really didn't care. I just wanted to finish it, toss it into the "Garage Sale" box, and find something more entertaining. And as a nit-pick, I think a man his age continuously referring to a "ding-dong" is so juvenile. Any use of that phrase above the age of twelve is pretty childish. There are so many other metaphors for penis that he could have chosen. Perhaps I have not read enough Vonnegut to appreciate his humor or references. Regardless, the back cover was grossly incorrect and led me to believe I was reading something I was not.
Rating: 
Summary: God Bless You, and Retire
Review: Understand, I'm a big Vonnegut fan with no paticular axe to grind. I've read all of Vonnegut's published novels. I'm here to tell you, he's said everything he ever needed to say in previous novels, with the exception of the lament for the American ficition publishing industry. I don't think of Kurt as moneygrubbing - maybe it was contractual obligation - but Timequake feels like it was written "for the money."
While I was reading it, I was annoyed with pointless excursions of Kurt talking about friends or family - he's written about those little "karass" vs. "granfalloon" relationships in many other books, but what may have served ironic purpose before seems just like filler here. Kurt's been feeling old since "Breakfast of Champions" - his first of his "last" novels. His alter ego, Kilgore Trout, still has interesting story ideas, writes compulsively, and throws them away without a second thought, because he makes no money off of them and couldn't imagine doing so. Vonnegut seems jealous of Trout, for it seems he can conceive of good story ideas but does not have the gumption anymore to craft them into finished pieces. And Vonnegut's metafictional presence in Timequake doesn't have that fresh, unbalanced and demented feel that it did in "Breakfast..." - this time around, it's like he's typing just to hear himself type.
If his intention was to "cut the meat from the fish" and keep the remnants of a good novel, as in his Hemingway analogy, he didn't succeed. INSTEAD of Timequake, I would recommend a few of his lesser known novels: _Hocus Pocus_ is EXCELLENT as prescient social critique, _Bluebeard_ is a funny and sadly overlooked artistic statement, _Mother Night_ is wrenchingly dramatic, and (I know I'm in the minority here) I LIKED _Slapstick_, Vonnegut's most grotesque and surreal and hilarious book. That's about it.
Rating:
Summary: Aging like a fine whine
Review: Total agreement here with reviewer Caesar, who lucidly outlines how the old curmudgeon salvaged the wreck of a novel and turned it into a bittersweet, semi-autobiographical farewell. No, of course, this is not the place to begin with Vonnegut. But Timequake is a lovely read, amusing and provocative, full of fresh thinking from an elder statesman who still packs a refreshingly left-of-centre punch in his writing. (Seek out his candid, bang-on comments about the Iraq war for evidence that the unrepentent socialist and humanist is alive and still fiesty). Most interesting to me is that right alongside his famously laconic take on the capricious nature of fate -- summed up in his deathless phrase "so it goes" from Slaughterhouse Five -- are some genuinely hopeful (and sadly fictional) "constitutional amendments" ... "Article XXVIII: Every newborn shall be sincerely welcomed and cared for until maturity" and "Article XXXI: Every effort shall be made to make every person feel that he or she will be sorely missed when he or she is gone."
Rating:
Summary: Cmon
Review: It's unfortunate that grumpy old men are unaware of their grumpiness. I read and loved the three Vonnegut novels I read up until this point; Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. But when you become a cynic without a story, it's best you leave your complaining to the grandchildren. This self indulgent novel which ostensibly asks, is anything really important, just rambles on like the years that have passed throughout this aging author's life. Die-hard Vonnegut fans will likely point out to the five or six witty paragraphs and urge prospective buyers to purchase. I had this novel in my house for a long time, however, I did not read it because I heard rumors that it was a capper novel, desert for the fan the wasn't full after reading his other works. This is desert for the man that doesn't stop eating, regardless of how junky the food is. Read his other stuff because it's great literature and there is copious amounts to scurrage through.
Rating:
Summary: I won't read it twice!
Review: Boring. I didn't enjoy reading this. Just kept hoping the "funny" part would start on the next page, but it never did. I can't believe he got paid to write this .... It's as if he pulled out all of the scraps from his garbage and stuck them in a book. PLEASE don't waste your time on this, when there is so much great writing to be found elsewhere. I recommend David Sedaris.
Rating: 
Summary: BREAD PUDDING WITH RAISINS
Review: TIMEQUAKE read to me as Vonnegut's memoirs. He decided to re-review his own life. His character, Kilgore Trout, is constructed out of his scrap file of unpublished ideas. Trout was a standup comedian, one that never took real root in Vonnegut's own life.Although he used the metaphorical play back of a decade devoid of free will, Vonnegut seemed to be ridiculing the idea of free will.
The best that can be said of this tome is that it is a Vonnegut sampler. Gimmicks aside, the book is a rambling autobiography-100 pages of bread pudding, family tidbits, and another 100 pages of past written asides-the raisins. As the cover blurb says "a literary form such as the world has never seen before." That is because the usual editor would have insisted on the book as an autobiography and in cutting out all the disjointed asides, rambling on about historical figures. I read here a writer who may have reached the end of his literary rope-nothing any great writer should hesitate to admit.
Rating:
Summary: But, what about the timequake?
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: This Book Changed Me
Review: Other people may disagree, but in my humble opinion, this is one of the finest books ever written. I do not care to compare this book to his others. I view it as a unique masterpiece. His look at humanity and family, however, is a bit "less cynical" than the former Vonnegut. If you buy this book, be sure to focus in on the section where he discusses the Gettysburg address. It is fascinating and Kilgore's reaction is perfect. I have re-read this book many times and each time find a new bit of information that fascinates me. Even if you didn't like Vonnegut's past books (shame on you, though) I honestly feel that if you read this book optimistically, you will be a better person for it.
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