Timequake

Rating:
Summary: the "failed book" is a device, kids
Review: I am startled by the many reader reviews that completely miss the fact that the so-called "failed book" is a literary device employed by Vonnegut to frame the story. This is probably his best work since "Breakfast of Champions," which employed a similar device, inserting Vonnegut into the fictional action. (Were readers supposed to think that Vonnegut had actually been attacked by a junkyard dog in the "real" world?) Yes, the machinery is all onstage for everyone to see, but that is a very large part of Vonnegut's charm.

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Summary: Read one of Vonnegut's other books instead of Timequake.
Review: I read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle last winter and was thoroughly impressed with Vonnegut's writing talent. I expected Timequake to be equally well written and maybe even more refined. Less than thirty pages in, I was very disappointed. Where is the character development? Where is the story? The ramblings in this book have a "you had to be there" feel. Vonnegut seems to be reflecting upon his own life instead of telling us an interesting fictional story. If this book were written by anyone less famous than Vonnegut, it would have never been published. If you still feel compelled to read this book, I suggest checking it out of the library instead of spending money on it. That way, you won't have to ship it back when you get 20 pages in and realize that the book does not match the story on the dust jacket.

Rating:
Summary: Cranky, but still a genius
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Hopefully the end
Review: Mr. Vonnegut I sincerely hope you choose not to write again. After wading through the trash you concocted out of 26 letters on horizontal rows with maybe eight punctuation marks I was thoroughly nauseated. How could you assemble such a meaningless, meandering, mumble, and release it to the public with good conscience. If this is 'the good version' I would have really hated to see the first one. I'm a giant Vonnegut fan. And I've loved nearly all of his work I've come in contact with to this point. If you're a dedicated fan then I guess it's your duty to read this, this pile. If not, start with some of his earlier work. And save yourself the trouble.

Rating:
Summary: So Long, Mr. Vonnegut
Review: Thanks for the mammaries

Rating:
Summary: Dear Mr. Vonnegut, write another book
Review: This books is mediocre. Only read it if you've read everything else of Vonneguts and must have more. And to Mr. Vonnegut, so you're 74, big deal. I hear of no reported debilitating illnesses, so sit down and right another, better book. My dad's 93 and still working. You could be hanging around for another 20 years or more, so don't give us this retirement routine. Retirement is only for people with office jobs.

Rating:
Summary: I could hardly keep my eyes open
Review: This book doesn't know what it wants to be: memoir, novel, a collection of essays? It succeeds as none of these things. As a novel it has no gripping characters, as a memoir it fails because so much of it is obviously untrue, and as a collection of essays it fails because the author's analysis of the world is so superficial, something one would expect from a junior highschooler. The book is also cynical in the extreme, even nihilistic. In short, just a horrible book, a bore.

Rating:
Summary: Multiplicity
Review: For me, Time Quake signifies an awaken in me. It made me realize that everything in life is a continuance with no certainty. I read Time Quake last summer w/ a dear person during another wasted summer. Time Quake brought cherished memories back into my heart. I fell in love with it. I cried when I left put the book down. And even now I cringe when I pick up the book.

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Summary: A clever poggo-stick bounce between points in time
Review: Vonnegut's clever manipulation of time and sequence in "Timequake" shows that he is as sharp as ever. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, whose temporal manipulation I found to be similar to, though less audacious, than Vladimir Kek's open flaunting of the same in his own debut novel, "Mafia Lesbian," a book that resonates with wry and slapstick Vonnegutian humor and styling. I would recommend both "Timequake" and "Mafia Lesbian."

Rating:
Summary: Not for casual fans
Review: Timequake is not quite a "final novel" for Kurt Vonnegut, but rather a final goodbye to his hardcore fans. Though the dust jacket gives a plot outline, there is no real plot to speak of...only the musings of an old man in his final years. And this is why I loved it.

Thought provoking, sad, funny, 'Timequake' is all of these. It's just not a "story." It is Vonnegut musing over his life, sharing his thoughts and experienced for those who wish to look into his mind for a little while.

Facinating to some, incredibly boring to others, 'Timequake' is meant for, by and large, his closest of followers. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing in this mans final thoughts (to us).