Be Specific About Books Supposing Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace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 |
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Hardcover | Pages: 234 pages Rating: 3.94 | 10941 Users | 890 Reviews
List Out Of Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
| Title | : | Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace |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 |
Rendition During Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace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.
Rating Out Of Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
Ratings: 3.94 From 10941 Users | 890 ReviewsArticle Out Of Books Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace
Rip 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!"I love this book because it offers so much - it's a buffet of essays, artistic sketches and short stories by a writer who managed to stay relevant and fresh into his late 80's. Some may be skeptical of the quality of work because the book was collected and published posthumously, but there's no need to fear that this is just another paycheck for the publisher. Most of the contents stand up with the rest of Vonnegut's work, which is to say, he paints pictures here with words of a humorous,
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
This collection of short stories on the topic of war was written throughout his career and released after his death. The stories vary widely in quality from absolutely hilarious, heartbreakingly sad, to rather mediocre (the majority of them.) Although the short stories are the bulk of the book but what makes this a must have for any Vonnegut fan is his nonfiction account of the bombing of Dresden, addressed in far more detail than any of his writings in the past (many of the short stories are
Somehow, over the years, people have started using the phrase bleeding-heart liberal as if it were a bad thing. In Armageddon in Retrospect, a posthumous collection of essays and stories, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. comes off as a bleeding-heart liberal in the best sense of the term.Theres a distinction to be made between the bleeding-heart liberal and the hardline leftist. Both are useful and valuable in their own way. For an example of the more hardened individual, lets look to my idol Christopher
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
This was my introduction to Vonnegut. I think I fell in love with his writing.
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