I'm writing this on February 4, 2001. Last reading: 2 days ago

I heard from other people that Vonnegut has an oddly humorous style, and that most of his novels are good. This novel wasn't a favorite of theirs, but was suggested to be pretty good.

I was rather disappointed, especially given the fact that it was "Over 6 months a New York Times Bestseller!" and had other reviews extolling its humor value. But my impression of it was more like that of some modern art. Imagine a bunch of very rough sketches plastered to a wall, with each sketch ending up adding just small parts to a larger picture. But some of the sketches are so plain that they're just lines connecting one sketch and the next. And none of the individual sketches are executed especially well. And the overall picture it makes isn't all that realistic, nor interesting.

Now, it does throw some neat concepts out there, and does have some interesting humorous elements thrown in here and there. But in some ways it seems like it was just too plain, too "new wave." I can appreciate novels that ignore convention, but this one didn't have the strength needed to back up such a direct storytelling style. There's really only one major character, with a bunch of others of varying degrees of importance. None are especially sympathetic. The plot doesn't seem to have a point, again it was more like it was thrown out there just to be a neat-looking image. There's no suspense, no conlusion. And the few original ideas thrown out there, to be the main thrust of the image, don't strike me as especially original, realistic, or interesting.

It was a very quick read, and so it was able to hold my interest for the short time it took to read it. And it did inspire some thoughts of my own. It wasn't a total loss, but it surely isn't a gem of science fiction.