Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Hardcover | Pages: 234 pages Rating: 3.94 | 10941 Users | 890 Reviews
Be Specific About Books As Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
| Original Title: | Armageddon in Retrospect |
| ISBN: | 0399155082 (ISBN13: 9780399155086) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Representaion In Pursuance Of Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
War is a funny thing. That's what Vonnegut would have us believe. He is right. He also realizes that there is nothing funny about war. It's a conflicting juxtaposition and yet it is true. Armageddon in Retrospect sat in the to-be-read pile for a good long while. I haven't read much Vonnegut since school, when probably about 9 out of 10 Vonnegut readers read his work, but I do enjoy reading him. Nonetheless, I dreaded this. The title alone told me it would be dreary and the title, for the most part, didn't lie. That's not to say Vonnegut doesn't bring the funny. He almost always does, however, most of the stories compiled herein are about war, often about his experiences in Dresden. The bombing of Dresden in WWII was tragic. As much as Vonnegut tries to spin some bitter-sweet humor off of this topic, the bitterness always remains in the sour undercurrent. Starting with an interesting intro from his son, there's a speech, a letter from young Vonnegut to his family and about a dozen short stories. About half of those stories are about a captured prisoner or a people under a conquering army's subjugation. Apparently this was the sum of the author's wartime experience. Making sense of it all, coming to grips with this new reality and that of his own country's disregard for innocent life comprises much of the subject matter. It is essentially Slaughter House Five played out again in variation. One story, "The Unicorn Trap" steps well outside of the WWII setting, sending us back to peasant life in 1067 England. However, it's the same old, same old, this time with the Normans as conquerors. Armageddon in Retrospect was the first thing published after his death and that always rings morbid. The overall mood brings my rating down to 3 stars, but Vonnegut's superb writing and humor save the day, as usual, and so I'll go with 4 stars.Describe Appertaining To Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
| Title | : | Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace |
| Author | : | Kurt Vonnegut Jr. |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 234 pages |
| Published | : | April 1st 2008 by G. P. Putnam's Sons (first published 2008) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Short Stories. Writing. Essays |
Rating Appertaining To Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
Ratings: 3.94 From 10941 Users | 890 ReviewsAppraise Appertaining To Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
This collection of unpublished Vonnegut short stories demonstrates why they were never published when he was alive: they aren't very good. The only interesting item in Armageddon in Retrospect is a reproduction of the letter he wrote to his family after being freed as a POW in WWII, where he was forced carry the dead to bonfires following the bombing of Dresden. The letter hints at the writer he'd become: a dry humorist with a seemingly unpolished style who tackled great moral questions. TheRip Torn was the reader in this audiotape. I thought he was great in the movie Cross Creek, but here he was just plain reading weird. And not a funny weird, more of an insulting one. I thought the fiction pieces were unpublished for a reason. The nonfiction was excellent. Vonnegut tries too hard to be Mark Twain. Maybe he should just come out and shout, "Hey, Everybody, look I'm just like Mark Twain!"
War is a funny thing. That's what Vonnegut would have us believe. He is right. He also realizes that there is nothing funny about war. It's a conflicting juxtaposition and yet it is true. Armageddon in Retrospect sat in the to-be-read pile for a good long while. I haven't read much Vonnegut since school, when probably about 9 out of 10 Vonnegut readers read his work, but I do enjoy reading him. Nonetheless, I dreaded this. The title alone told me it would be dreary and the title, for the most
I love anthologies. Theres a certain economy to the idea. I get many stories for the price of a few. I pay only for one cover, one pass through the conveyor belt, one trip on a flatbed truck. I started buying anthologies years ago, but Ive recently gained a deeper appreciation for anthologies of shorter work essays, criticism, short stories.Collected short stories are cool. Collected essays, as well. But theyre snapshots in time. Margaret Atwoods Stone Mattress is lovely, but the stories were
There's a great introduction by Vonnegut's son & the book is read by Rip Torn, a favorite actor of mine. It's pretty interesting. The point of 'Sirens', as put forth by David in #18, seems to have been echoed by Vonnegut's son in a completely unrelated chat between the two shortly before Kurt's death. It's worth reading, if only for the intro.The first story was a speech he gave in 2007 & that seems to have set the tone. The stories so far are OK, but Vonnegut's Dresden horror stories
Love Vonneguts included illustrations. Bought this book used at a dilapidated antique store in a small kayaking town in Colorado. Folded into the pages I found the following items: -1 partially finished Flat Stanley (only pants)- US Airways ticket from Philadelphia to Denver- 3 sudoku squares, with answers taped to back- bookmark from Tattered Cover Book Store - pink post it reading TOM. Book for you. Also please pick up mail Sat. Thank you
I finished "Armageddon in Retrospect" a few weeks ago. It was really good. I often wonder about works published posthumously, particularly when the works had been kicking around for a while before the author died.Did the author want them to be published? Is there a reason they weren't published while they were alive? I graduated from Law School just over one year ago, and it seems that in every different area of law there is a seminal case, the first that you read for the first day of class
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