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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “As always, delightfully Vonnegut. It wasn't the best of all his novels that I've read, but it was good. Still uses hilarious anecdotes to bring the reader to startling truths about society. The beginning of the book is a short autobiography of the author, in which he explains that this is the...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“intriguing, playfully acid and sarcastic”
Lucia R wrote this review 7 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“[3 lovely ^^^”
thrill-shiver wrote this review Saturday, October 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Hi Ho! :)”
Sara wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mary B said: 4 stars
Play Book Tag Shelf wrote this review Sunday, August 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is Vonnegut's take on aging. It follows Wilbur Rockefeller-Swain (sometimes Daffodil-11) from his brilliant childhood through his mediocre adulthood in which he becomes the President of the United States. It also investigates family. As the introduction states, he wrote this in reaction to his sister's death, and it's very easy to see the train of thought on this one.
Not the best book he ever wrote but there's stiff competition on that one. Really interesting quick read with a couple of laugh out loud moments that any Vonnegut fan would enjoy. I apparently read half of this at some point. I think ths may have been the Vonnegut that taught me that his books must be read in one sitting. No breaks! It ruins it. Luckily it only takes about 2 hours to polish one off so that makes this realistic.
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“I loved this one. Every so often I wish it would come true.”
Eileen M wrote this review Friday, July 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“read it a long time ago, need to reread it again sometime.”
Cindy M wrote this review Wednesday, June 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“One of the most interesting story lines I have every read. Very good read.”
Hannah L wrote this review Sunday, May 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is bizarre and brilliant science fiction. I don't remember much about the main character or particularly like him very much, but the things that happened in the world were very cool!”
Shannon Jack wrote this review Sunday, May 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“The novel is in the form of an autobiography of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. Dr. Swain tells us that he lives in the ruins of the Empire State Building with his pregnant granddaughter, Melody Oriole-2 von Peterswald, and her lover, Isadore Raspberry-19 Cohen. Dr. Swain is a hideous 7-foot-tall man whose ugliness, and that of his twin sister Eliza, caused his parents to cut them off from modern society. The siblings came to realize that, when in close physical contact, they form a vastly powerful and creative intelligence. Through reading and philosophizing together, Wilbur and Eliza combated the feelings of loneliness and isolation that would otherwise have ruined their childhood.
Wendy B wrote this review Wednesday, April 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Throughout the book, Wilbur claims that his sister Eliza is the more intelligent of the two, but that no one realizes it because she can't write. Wilbur and Eliza are like two halves of a brain, with Wilbur the left brain -- logical, rational, able to communicate -- and Eliza the right brain: creative, emotional, but unable to communicate effectively.
The siblings created, among other things, a plan to end loneliness in America through vast extended families. Under the plan, all citizens would be provided with new middle names, made of the name of a random organism or element paired with a random number between 1 and 20. Everyone with the same name would be cousins, and everyone with the same name and number would be siblings.
Their parents and the staff of the mansion believe the children are retarded, and the children play this up when in the company of others, so as to not interfere with what they view as a perfect childhood. But after hearing their mother wish that they were normal, the children reveal their intelligence to their parents.
Eliza is still deemed retarded because she can't read or write, and is sent to a mental institution. Wilbur however is sent to a prep school and eventually goes to Harvard University and earns a doctorate.
Armed with this idea and the slogan, "Lonesome No More!," Dr. Swain wins election to the Presidency, and devotes the waning energies of the Federal government to the implementation of the plan. In the meantime, Western civilization is nearing collapse as oil runs out, and the Chinese are making vast leaps forward by miniaturizing themselves and training groups of hundreds to think as one. Eventually, the miniaturization proceeds to the point that they become so small that they cause a plague among those who accidentally inhale them, ultimately destroying Western civilization beyond repair. However, even as life as we know it collapses, Swain's middle name policy continues to unite the survivors. The American population constantly risk their time and their lives to selflessly help their fellow cousins and siblings, ensuring that people may live their life "lonesome no more."
The novel has a typical Vonnegut pattern of short snippets often ending with a punchline of sorts. These are separated by the words "hi ho", which Dr. Swain describes as a sort of verbal hiccup that has developed in his old age.
Often surreal, the novel was written shortly after the death of the author's uncle. It seems to be a bizarre meditation on the nature of the closeness Vonnegut had with his sister Alice, who died of cancer in 1958. Written in an almost free associative style, the book lacks the structural intricacies of Vonnegut's earlier works.
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