I swear I read somewhere that this was Vonnegut's favorite of his own works. I can't though, put a source to it---and a Time obituary says it was Slaughterhouse Five. Despite the internal mis-attribution, I enjoyed the book.
This is a self contained novel compared to other Vonnegut works where characters, words and phrases are shared. Like Player Piano in that sense: it almost seems like a different author. We become wrapped up with one character and his personal story and it is not outside events that shape his life (like Billy Pilgrim w/WWII), but his own actions (shooting into the night, writing a play).
Even with the main character (Rudy) acting without pressure from an exterior crisis, the book covers the regular Vonnegut theme of the inevitableness of life (there is little one can do but go with the flow). With no war or similar, Rudy shows this by doing nothing based on his own ambition. He writes and submits his play to a contest based a comment from a teacher. He becomes a pharmacist based on a comment from his father. The only act that he does on his own is the shot into the night. From there on, he is swept along by everyone else.
I like how Vonnegut set Rudy's most upsetting scenes as mini plays. It gave them more action---more interactions between people than the retelling of those interactions. It made them strong and more fun. Sometimes more can be done with brief stage directions than with a paragraph of dialog.
This was a good one. I enjoyed it.
9/10
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