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Welcome to the Monkey House
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, these superb stories share Vonnegut’s audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
Alternative cover edition here
Alternative cover edition here
331 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1968
About the author
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
542 books33.8k followersKurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003.
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. Army and serving in World War II.
After the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work.
His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope.
Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,446 reviews
October 21, 2022
Every epoch tells its stories its own way and Kurt Vonnegut managed to catch the spirit of the last midcentury perfectly…
The absolute conformity is a paradise for politicians…
The tales may be mockingly dystopian, vaguely romantic or just everyday life scenes but everything is tinted with a slenderly blackish humour and somewhat bitter irony. And every story exudes an inimitable psychedelic aura…
Time passes: some things change and some things remain the same.
The Year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.
The absolute conformity is a paradise for politicians…
The tales may be mockingly dystopian, vaguely romantic or just everyday life scenes but everything is tinted with a slenderly blackish humour and somewhat bitter irony. And every story exudes an inimitable psychedelic aura…
“Now I understand you poor fish,” I said. “You couldn’t get along without fear. That’s the only skill you’ve got – how to scare yourselves and other people into doing things. That’s the only fun you’ve got, watching people jump for fear of what you’ll do to their bodies or take away from their bodies.”
Time passes: some things change and some things remain the same.
May 9, 2024
Canada's iconic Toronto Star columnist Greg Clark said it best (in his characteristically plucky way): MAY YOUR FIRST LOVE BE YOUR LAST!
So it goes. Cause a long time relationship is a lot like Bobby Fischer facing off against Boris Spasky: for each of them had MEMORIZED EVERY MOVE THE OTHER COULD EVER MAKE.
Cold War? Forget that - their cold-blooded war was INFINITELY ICIER!
So it is with a marriage, when each partner makes calculated moves.
And as it was too with Kurt Vonnegut's first marriage.
Yikes!
So it's no wonder that my personal fave from among these pieces is the idyllic description of the HONEYMOON YEARS of that marriage. BTW - that came, as it often does, before those notorious HONEYDEW years (Honey, Do this - Honey, Do that)!
But could the disruptive static between his parents have contributed to his literary star son's equally disruptive instability? Did for me.
For as I so relish Kurt's blissful HONEYMOON years, so I adored my parent's loving one-year-old wedded bliss - something my stable siblings never knew!
But the inevitable advent of family stress needs a release.
So when my bro was born, when I was three, the sudden sibling suspicions crackled through the air with the fractious friction they produced. Cain and Abel!
And so little Fergus gradually regressed further into the awfully overaffective Asperger’s area of the Autism spectrum. I became denser than a block of cement.
I drove my dear longsuffering Dad to despair in his patient efforts to make a man out of me.
My own and the Vonneguts' son Mark's only release by late adolescence was psychotropically-induced dementia!
Ah, those crazy pot-headed seventies! For that was our catalyst.
Enough to MAIM a good kid.
And so, when I eventually returned to normalcy -
It was HEAVEN.
This is a marvellous collection of Vonnegut's early fictional shorts, written back in the carefree days before the Black Dog of clinical depression showed up on his doorstep with a sign around his neck.
Feed me! Feed me, the sign said.
The postmodern havoc of escalating bad news'll do that to a guy.
So why, may I ask, was Vonnegut now more prolific than before - after adopting that mangy cur?
Bottom line, I guess, is that while earlier he wrote to make a few extra bucks -
NOW HE WROTE ONLY TO SAVE HIS SOUL FROM THAT UGLY BLACK DOG.
So it goes. Cause a long time relationship is a lot like Bobby Fischer facing off against Boris Spasky: for each of them had MEMORIZED EVERY MOVE THE OTHER COULD EVER MAKE.
Cold War? Forget that - their cold-blooded war was INFINITELY ICIER!
So it is with a marriage, when each partner makes calculated moves.
And as it was too with Kurt Vonnegut's first marriage.
Yikes!
So it's no wonder that my personal fave from among these pieces is the idyllic description of the HONEYMOON YEARS of that marriage. BTW - that came, as it often does, before those notorious HONEYDEW years (Honey, Do this - Honey, Do that)!
But could the disruptive static between his parents have contributed to his literary star son's equally disruptive instability? Did for me.
For as I so relish Kurt's blissful HONEYMOON years, so I adored my parent's loving one-year-old wedded bliss - something my stable siblings never knew!
But the inevitable advent of family stress needs a release.
So when my bro was born, when I was three, the sudden sibling suspicions crackled through the air with the fractious friction they produced. Cain and Abel!
And so little Fergus gradually regressed further into the awfully overaffective Asperger’s area of the Autism spectrum. I became denser than a block of cement.
I drove my dear longsuffering Dad to despair in his patient efforts to make a man out of me.
My own and the Vonneguts' son Mark's only release by late adolescence was psychotropically-induced dementia!
Ah, those crazy pot-headed seventies! For that was our catalyst.
Enough to MAIM a good kid.
And so, when I eventually returned to normalcy -
It was HEAVEN.
This is a marvellous collection of Vonnegut's early fictional shorts, written back in the carefree days before the Black Dog of clinical depression showed up on his doorstep with a sign around his neck.
Feed me! Feed me, the sign said.
The postmodern havoc of escalating bad news'll do that to a guy.
So why, may I ask, was Vonnegut now more prolific than before - after adopting that mangy cur?
Bottom line, I guess, is that while earlier he wrote to make a few extra bucks -
NOW HE WROTE ONLY TO SAVE HIS SOUL FROM THAT UGLY BLACK DOG.
October 26, 2019
Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut is a collection of short stories from the 50s and 60s and demonstrates Vonnegut’s tremendous range as a writer.
I have read one critic who did not like Vonnegut, saying that all of his novels are essentially the same, with his voice and tone narrating each new set of facts. I agreed somewhat, but still liked the way he writes and have enjoyed every one of his works I have read.
The stories in this collection, however, written earlier than most of his novels, displays a great variety of themes and models, and though Vonnegut’s signature humor is evident in many, he shows a different, often more emotional side in many stories.
“Harrison Bergeron”, the dystopian classic, is undoubtedly the most recognizable of these shorts, but several others have clearly been influential to other writers and filmmakers. “Welcome to the Monkey House” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” both address over population, but from Vonnegut’s unique perspective.
Several stories speak to Vonnegut’s stance on demilitarization and illuminating the idiocy of industrial war making. Stories like “D.P.”, “Adam”, and “Next Door”, though, originally published in Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan, reveal an unguarded sentimentality and humanity that is not as evident in much of Vonnegut’s later works.
A very good read.
**** 2019 re-read
Kurt Vonnegut’s 1968 anthology of previously published short stories is a good introduction to his earlier work. Most of these were written in the 50s and early 60s and represent a more mainstream side of him that many of his fans and those not yet accustomed to his work would not readily recognize.
Actually, I was struck by how much like Ray Bradbury many of these were. Stories like “Who am I this time?” and “The Foster Portfolio” could have been penned by Ray. Makes me wonder how much of an influence RB was on. KV.
Stories that stand out this time around are “The Hyannis Port Story” which I remember liking before and “Deer in the Works” which was likely connected to his work on his novel Player Piano.
Most endearing was “D.P.” which was first published in the August 1953 edition of the Ladies Home Journal is about a little boy in Germany, after the second world war. He has brown skin and blue eyes and the sisters in the orphanage and the local villagers accept that he is likely the offspring of a German girl and an American soldier. When a group of US soldiers visit the area, he takes to one of the men who must surely be his papa.
I have read one critic who did not like Vonnegut, saying that all of his novels are essentially the same, with his voice and tone narrating each new set of facts. I agreed somewhat, but still liked the way he writes and have enjoyed every one of his works I have read.
The stories in this collection, however, written earlier than most of his novels, displays a great variety of themes and models, and though Vonnegut’s signature humor is evident in many, he shows a different, often more emotional side in many stories.
“Harrison Bergeron”, the dystopian classic, is undoubtedly the most recognizable of these shorts, but several others have clearly been influential to other writers and filmmakers. “Welcome to the Monkey House” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” both address over population, but from Vonnegut’s unique perspective.
Several stories speak to Vonnegut’s stance on demilitarization and illuminating the idiocy of industrial war making. Stories like “D.P.”, “Adam”, and “Next Door”, though, originally published in Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan, reveal an unguarded sentimentality and humanity that is not as evident in much of Vonnegut’s later works.
A very good read.
**** 2019 re-read
Kurt Vonnegut’s 1968 anthology of previously published short stories is a good introduction to his earlier work. Most of these were written in the 50s and early 60s and represent a more mainstream side of him that many of his fans and those not yet accustomed to his work would not readily recognize.
Actually, I was struck by how much like Ray Bradbury many of these were. Stories like “Who am I this time?” and “The Foster Portfolio” could have been penned by Ray. Makes me wonder how much of an influence RB was on. KV.
Stories that stand out this time around are “The Hyannis Port Story” which I remember liking before and “Deer in the Works” which was likely connected to his work on his novel Player Piano.
Most endearing was “D.P.” which was first published in the August 1953 edition of the Ladies Home Journal is about a little boy in Germany, after the second world war. He has brown skin and blue eyes and the sisters in the orphanage and the local villagers accept that he is likely the offspring of a German girl and an American soldier. When a group of US soldiers visit the area, he takes to one of the men who must surely be his papa.
July 6, 2020
A Compendium of Curmudgeonly Humour
Kurt Vonnegut is a curmudgeon. Curmudgeons are often misunderstood and taken for irascible pedants. On the contrary, they are anything but pedantic. Curmudgeons are introverts who are simply tired of adapting themselves to the demands of an extrovert world. They want to be left alone. Which is why they occasionally write or say nasty things to annoy people. The hope is that other people will then have something to talk about with each other and give the curmudgeon some peace.
A curmudgeon like Vonnegut is the opposite of a totalitarian. A curmudgeon knows the world around him and its imperfections through direct experience. But he is wary of turning his opinions, of which he has many, into policies. This is just as well because his opinions are anything but consistent. He has learned over the years that consistency is indeed the sign of a trivial mind which would like to impose order on a universe that is inherently chaotic.
Curmudgeons are male by definition because they fear the power of women and have no defences against it. Female power arises from the inherent male incompetence in things like communication and relationship-building. Sisterhood is a mystery which manifests to him as a hive-mind and he dares not mess with it. The curmudgeon knows he is deficient and relies on women to suffer frustration and annoyance in his presence. He is aware of this sufferance and, as a mark of respect, neither contradicts nor criticises his female companions. They in turn accept the deal as the best they are likely to get and desist from all attempts to improve him.
A curmudgeon is not without charm in certain situations, primarily those in which he is forced to respond to the opinions - usually political, but sometimes anthropological - of others, particularly blowhards and dilettantes. In such circumstances his remarks are likely intended not to convince but to undermine. He perceives this as healthy cynicism. The charm emanates from the fact that he doesn’t mind what anyone else thinks of him. The combination of the unexpected and the absence of obvious banality helps.
Kurt Vonnegut is a curmudgeon. Curmudgeons are often misunderstood and taken for irascible pedants. On the contrary, they are anything but pedantic. Curmudgeons are introverts who are simply tired of adapting themselves to the demands of an extrovert world. They want to be left alone. Which is why they occasionally write or say nasty things to annoy people. The hope is that other people will then have something to talk about with each other and give the curmudgeon some peace.
A curmudgeon like Vonnegut is the opposite of a totalitarian. A curmudgeon knows the world around him and its imperfections through direct experience. But he is wary of turning his opinions, of which he has many, into policies. This is just as well because his opinions are anything but consistent. He has learned over the years that consistency is indeed the sign of a trivial mind which would like to impose order on a universe that is inherently chaotic.
Curmudgeons are male by definition because they fear the power of women and have no defences against it. Female power arises from the inherent male incompetence in things like communication and relationship-building. Sisterhood is a mystery which manifests to him as a hive-mind and he dares not mess with it. The curmudgeon knows he is deficient and relies on women to suffer frustration and annoyance in his presence. He is aware of this sufferance and, as a mark of respect, neither contradicts nor criticises his female companions. They in turn accept the deal as the best they are likely to get and desist from all attempts to improve him.
A curmudgeon is not without charm in certain situations, primarily those in which he is forced to respond to the opinions - usually political, but sometimes anthropological - of others, particularly blowhards and dilettantes. In such circumstances his remarks are likely intended not to convince but to undermine. He perceives this as healthy cynicism. The charm emanates from the fact that he doesn’t mind what anyone else thinks of him. The combination of the unexpected and the absence of obvious banality helps.
March 3, 2018
This is a master class in the art of short story writing. Every short story is finely crafted. Many have humor, many have heartbreak, many have subtle romance.
Almost all have commentary on society, especially American society, that is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s.
What are these stories missing?
You reader. It's missing you to unlock their meaning and beauty.
Almost all have commentary on society, especially American society, that is as relevant today as it was in the 1950s.
What are these stories missing?
You reader. It's missing you to unlock their meaning and beauty.
June 5, 2023
A varied and uneven collection of Vonnegut's short stories. Some read like Yankee Magazine or Saturday Evening Post stories: boy home from WW II gets girl stories, or Vonnegut's 'hometown' stories of Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod.
Others, the better ones, play to Vonnegut's strengths, like the title work. These are science fiction with Big Themes like thought control, enforced birth control, a cemented-over world, weapons of mass destruction, and variations on Big Brother.
A 3.5, rounded up.
{Edited 6/5/23]
Others, the better ones, play to Vonnegut's strengths, like the title work. These are science fiction with Big Themes like thought control, enforced birth control, a cemented-over world, weapons of mass destruction, and variations on Big Brother.
A 3.5, rounded up.
{Edited 6/5/23]
June 26, 2009
The world is overpopulated, and they have Ethical Suicide Parlors, where public minded citizens are encouraged to go in and get a lethal injection from the attractive hostesses. There's a big thermometer outside, showing how many people there currently are in the world.
So the guy comes in, and he's chatting with the hostess. He wants to know how much the mercury will go down if he decides to do it. A foot?
No, she says.
An inch?
Not quite, she says.
Suddenly, he changes his tone. Every inch, he says, represents seventeen million people.
That's not the right way to look at it, she says. But she doesn't say what is the right way to look at it.
Ever since reading this story as a teenager, I've been unable to take anyone seriously who uses the expression "That's not the right way to look at it". Not my fault. Blame the late Mr. Vonnegut.
So the guy comes in, and he's chatting with the hostess. He wants to know how much the mercury will go down if he decides to do it. A foot?
No, she says.
An inch?
Not quite, she says.
Suddenly, he changes his tone. Every inch, he says, represents seventeen million people.
That's not the right way to look at it, she says. But she doesn't say what is the right way to look at it.
Ever since reading this story as a teenager, I've been unable to take anyone seriously who uses the expression "That's not the right way to look at it". Not my fault. Blame the late Mr. Vonnegut.
May 6, 2015
What is happiness? What is pleasure? Is happiness an emotion that endures, that has to be earned and pleasure a temporary reaction to something that makes you feel good.?
In this short story, radio waves from a distance star are picked up and amplified and the effect on people is much like good weed. Everyone hangs out feeling mellow, letting the little things go, a somewhat deviant idea of what is funny, great hilarity and general love. .
The story centres on whether or not a Euphiophone machine can be commercialised, and if so would it be ethical to sell happiness, and what price can you put on it?
Ultimately, Vonnegut comes down on the side that happiness must be earned and the blissful feelings induced by Euphiophone will leave the person in a miserable state of withdrawal and dissatisfaction when the Euphiophone is not operating. Happiness, though, being earned, is a more valid emotion and will endure.
There is also the implication that if there was such a thing available easily if not freely, that the apathy would destroy society, would mean that no one would really be happy because they couldn't be bothered to get off their asses and go and do something to earn it
In this short story, radio waves from a distance star are picked up and amplified and the effect on people is much like good weed. Everyone hangs out feeling mellow, letting the little things go, a somewhat deviant idea of what is funny, great hilarity and general love. .
The story centres on whether or not a Euphiophone machine can be commercialised, and if so would it be ethical to sell happiness, and what price can you put on it?
Ultimately, Vonnegut comes down on the side that happiness must be earned and the blissful feelings induced by Euphiophone will leave the person in a miserable state of withdrawal and dissatisfaction when the Euphiophone is not operating. Happiness, though, being earned, is a more valid emotion and will endure.
There is also the implication that if there was such a thing available easily if not freely, that the apathy would destroy society, would mean that no one would really be happy because they couldn't be bothered to get off their asses and go and do something to earn it
February 26, 2016
Welcome to the Monkey House is the best collection of stories I've read.
Rating it accurately is as difficult as ever. Should it be based off of the best stories? Or all of them? I don't know.
What I do know is: Harrison Bergeron, Welcome to the Monkey House, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, EPICAC, Where I Live, and The Euphio Question are some of the best shorts ever written.
Much like Vonnegut's other novels, they're strangely scientific with quirky characters, great dialogue, and plenty of comedic moments.
The rest of the stories weren't so great to write about. Some of them are pretty out there, though, if that's your thing...
Rating it accurately is as difficult as ever. Should it be based off of the best stories? Or all of them? I don't know.
What I do know is: Harrison Bergeron, Welcome to the Monkey House, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, EPICAC, Where I Live, and The Euphio Question are some of the best shorts ever written.
Much like Vonnegut's other novels, they're strangely scientific with quirky characters, great dialogue, and plenty of comedic moments.
The rest of the stories weren't so great to write about. Some of them are pretty out there, though, if that's your thing...
October 3, 2023
Twenty-five short stories from the 50s and 60s of which I'd say more than two-thirds were top-notch. Some of my faves were - Who I am This Time?, Welcome to the Monkey House, Miss Temptation, More Stately Mansions, All the King's Horses, Go Back to your Precious Wife and Son, & The Manned Missiles. Nothing overly complex about these stories, told in a nice crisp accessible prose, with such a diverse range of themes throughout; from war to contemporary settings of house makeovers, the theatre, bathroom salesman, charmed love, juvenile delinquents, and private schools; to sci-fi stories of anti-aging potions, games of human chess, ethical birth Control pills, and air force pilots rocketed to space. And, of course, it wouldn't be Vonnegut without a big dollop of his brilliant slick satire. This was my ninth book of his, and I'd put it in my top three - for now anyway. Also worth saying, there are writers who I don't think much of as human beings but I still love their work, whereas with KVJ he was absolutely one of the good guys you'd so want to be pals with.
September 22, 2017
1982 January 6
2014 October 3
Where I Live - Keenly observed. I wonder what an update would be like 50 years on?
Harrison Bergeron - This one has aged a bit, but it's still good.
Who Am I This Time? - I vividly recall the American Playhouse production with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken. Magic.
Welcome to the Monkey House - Likewise aged, not that there aren't people who would be delighted to see the sex drive killed for everyone else, but those people tend not to be in favor of birth control or assisted suicide.
Long Walk to Forever - This is the story that made me want to reread the collection particularly.
"A walk?" said Catharine.
"One foot in front of the other,"said Newt,"Through leaves,over bridges--"
Vonnegut repeats that line "through leaves, over bridges" several times, and it is amazing how much emotion he manages to convey in that utterly prosaic phrase. It kills me. As does Vonnegut's preferred title, "Hell to Get Along With", which should probably be the title of every proposal story ever.
The Foster Portfolio - Heh.
Miss Temptation - "I’m not Yellowstone Park!” she said. “I’m not supported by taxes! I don’t belong to everybody! You don’t have any right to say anything about the way I look!”
Vonnegut understands and conveys, in 1956 mind you,a point which still continues to elude many supposed adults even today.
All the King's Horses - A rather dark musing on war, but not too dark.
Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog - Just perfectly amusing.
New Dictionary - Would go well paired with David Foster Wallace's review of dictionaries.
Next Door - Oh, my.
More Stately Mansions - This is another one that has lived long in my memory. It's a very kind and accepting and loving sort of story about a quirky, possibly annoying-as-hell character. And also, the obsession with having the perfect home has only become stronger and more widespread.
The Hyannis Port Story - Another really sweet story that still manages to be cynical and funny.
D.P. - Vonnegut writes children so well, so real. Not at all like Salinger's improbable paragons. A most unusual war story.
Report on the Barnhouse Effect - Interesting to compare this with LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven in focus and tone and characterization.
The Euphio Question - Amusingly presented.
Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son - Oh, I love this, the contrast between the couples, the shower enclosure. Why doesn't anyone write stories from the point of view of storm window installers these days?
Deer in the Works - I'd say this one has exerted a small but deeply felt influence over my whole world view.
The Lie - Vonnegut can be warmly sympathetic to unlikely characters.
Unready to Wear - No question that I love this story.
The Kid Nobody Could Handle - An appreciation of the importance of finding one's home, in every sense.
The Manned Missiles - Perhaps the world didn't go this way because Vonnegut warned us against it? Interesting note: he thinks Earth will look green from space.
EPICAC - Unlike some of his peers, Vonnegut can easily imagine a brilliant mathematician who happens to be a woman.
Adam - Another sweet story that isn't sentimental at all.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Boy was the population explosion a big deal.
It's been more than 30 years since I first read this book, and a while since I've read anything else by Vonnegut. But rereading, I can't help notice how completely I've absorbed the Vonnegut mindset into my own. Most of my favorite authors these days I love for their humanism, their warmth, their sympathy, and their humor. Most of that must have come from Vonnegut, since I can't recall any one else I read in high school who was similar, except Douglas Adams. These are not bad people to have been raised by.
Kindle library copy
2014 October 3
Where I Live - Keenly observed. I wonder what an update would be like 50 years on?
Harrison Bergeron - This one has aged a bit, but it's still good.
Who Am I This Time? - I vividly recall the American Playhouse production with Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken. Magic.
Welcome to the Monkey House - Likewise aged, not that there aren't people who would be delighted to see the sex drive killed for everyone else, but those people tend not to be in favor of birth control or assisted suicide.
Long Walk to Forever - This is the story that made me want to reread the collection particularly.
"A walk?" said Catharine.
"One foot in front of the other,"said Newt,"Through leaves,over bridges--"
Vonnegut repeats that line "through leaves, over bridges" several times, and it is amazing how much emotion he manages to convey in that utterly prosaic phrase. It kills me. As does Vonnegut's preferred title, "Hell to Get Along With", which should probably be the title of every proposal story ever.
The Foster Portfolio - Heh.
Miss Temptation - "I’m not Yellowstone Park!” she said. “I’m not supported by taxes! I don’t belong to everybody! You don’t have any right to say anything about the way I look!”
Vonnegut understands and conveys, in 1956 mind you,a point which still continues to elude many supposed adults even today.
All the King's Horses - A rather dark musing on war, but not too dark.
Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog - Just perfectly amusing.
New Dictionary - Would go well paired with David Foster Wallace's review of dictionaries.
Next Door - Oh, my.
More Stately Mansions - This is another one that has lived long in my memory. It's a very kind and accepting and loving sort of story about a quirky, possibly annoying-as-hell character. And also, the obsession with having the perfect home has only become stronger and more widespread.
The Hyannis Port Story - Another really sweet story that still manages to be cynical and funny.
D.P. - Vonnegut writes children so well, so real. Not at all like Salinger's improbable paragons. A most unusual war story.
Report on the Barnhouse Effect - Interesting to compare this with LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven in focus and tone and characterization.
The Euphio Question - Amusingly presented.
Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son - Oh, I love this, the contrast between the couples, the shower enclosure. Why doesn't anyone write stories from the point of view of storm window installers these days?
Deer in the Works - I'd say this one has exerted a small but deeply felt influence over my whole world view.
The Lie - Vonnegut can be warmly sympathetic to unlikely characters.
Unready to Wear - No question that I love this story.
The Kid Nobody Could Handle - An appreciation of the importance of finding one's home, in every sense.
The Manned Missiles - Perhaps the world didn't go this way because Vonnegut warned us against it? Interesting note: he thinks Earth will look green from space.
EPICAC - Unlike some of his peers, Vonnegut can easily imagine a brilliant mathematician who happens to be a woman.
Adam - Another sweet story that isn't sentimental at all.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Boy was the population explosion a big deal.
It's been more than 30 years since I first read this book, and a while since I've read anything else by Vonnegut. But rereading, I can't help notice how completely I've absorbed the Vonnegut mindset into my own. Most of my favorite authors these days I love for their humanism, their warmth, their sympathy, and their humor. Most of that must have come from Vonnegut, since I can't recall any one else I read in high school who was similar, except Douglas Adams. These are not bad people to have been raised by.
Kindle library copy
November 12, 2020
A work of art, it belongs in the adorably perfect short story collections as those by Ray Bradbury and J. G. Ballard: yes, apocalypse; yes, spirituality; yes sci-fi and yes A PROPHET*. Only those writing with an eye to an uncertain yet not wholly unpredictable future (society limits individualism) can be considered amazing if they possess this attribute. I mean, Nostradamus as short story master? C'mon. Yet in all 25 stories, Vonnegut rarely repeats himself (except for gee-whiz! Easter eggs, such as: lo-tech science fiction a-la Eternal Sunshine and notable motifs like the play Death of a Salesman, radio entertainment, jobs, Wyandotte College, the name Sousa ; the first entry is geographical biography, the last one is a futuristic comedy), he is rarely overly sentimental, but always smart, precise, perfect*.
The diversity of genre, characterization***, dialogue, epochs... the imagination is vast and its no wonder every modern writer at one time or another decided to be like him, or not. But consider him they did, do, will. Welcome to the Monkey House****, we were warned.
*In MISS TEMPTATION we have beginnings of the straight male paranoia that ensued due to MeToo#...written in 1956! ...My favorite short story, D.P., and THE LIE all handle racism with such ease, because, well, these were all written in the 50's, and its chilling to see how much privilege vs. poverty/working/hardlife lifelong workers. I found out that rich Republicans love the term "democratic nation" since it evokes a type of humbling that's alien to them
**Page 115 , close to the book's center: "Have I made it clear that this book is a beauty?" --NEW DICTIONARY
***Characters' vernacular are uniquely their own! Funny, fragile, tragic, cuckoo... You find so many individuals, like a mid-century SciFi vanity fair!
****The titular short story, included with classics of literature "A Rose for Emily" by Faulkner and O'Brien's "A Good Man is Hard to Find", are precursor to horror cinema firmly rooted in our own American fears (which may be something similar to: BECOMING THE MACHINE FOR THE MACHINE)
The diversity of genre, characterization***, dialogue, epochs... the imagination is vast and its no wonder every modern writer at one time or another decided to be like him, or not. But consider him they did, do, will. Welcome to the Monkey House****, we were warned.
*In MISS TEMPTATION we have beginnings of the straight male paranoia that ensued due to MeToo#...written in 1956! ...My favorite short story, D.P., and THE LIE all handle racism with such ease, because, well, these were all written in the 50's, and its chilling to see how much privilege vs. poverty/working/hardlife lifelong workers. I found out that rich Republicans love the term "democratic nation" since it evokes a type of humbling that's alien to them
**Page 115 , close to the book's center: "Have I made it clear that this book is a beauty?" --NEW DICTIONARY
***Characters' vernacular are uniquely their own! Funny, fragile, tragic, cuckoo... You find so many individuals, like a mid-century SciFi vanity fair!
****The titular short story, included with classics of literature "A Rose for Emily" by Faulkner and O'Brien's "A Good Man is Hard to Find", are precursor to horror cinema firmly rooted in our own American fears (which may be something similar to: BECOMING THE MACHINE FOR THE MACHINE)
March 3, 2011
Vonnegut does a wonderful job with a short story and while most stories were "okay" to "yeah, I liked it I guess", it's definitely worth it for the few 4 to 5 star ratings.
"Where I Live" (Venture- Traveler’s World, October 1964) - 2/5 Kinda boring and no real plot. Just meandering
"Harrison Bergeron" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1961) - 5/5 Loved this one - science fiction - Handicapping people so everything is fair and no one can take unfair advantage because of their looks, intelligence, physical prowess, etc. Sad but true and hilarious at the same time - exactly what Vonnegut does best.
"Who Am I This Time?" (The Saturday Evening Post, 16 December 1961) - 3/5 A play that I guess Vonnegut had to put on (Street Car Named Desire). I don't know if it's a true story or what, but it sounded autobiographical. Main actor who acts amazingly in everything and duddy female actor who he is able to bring out of her shell.
"Welcome to the Monkey House" (Playboy, January 1968) - 4/5 - Another science fiction story where the world is overpopulated and there exists a mandatory pill called "ethical birth control" that doesn't make it impossible to have children (the ethical part), but makes you numb from the waist down. Another sad but true, although I don't quite agree with the jab against religion in this one.
"Long Walk to Forever" (Ladies Home Journal, August 1960) - 3/5 A military man visits a woman he's in love with and who's about to get married.
"The Foster Portfolio" (Collier's Magazine, 8 September 1951) - 2/5 Nothing really exciting here. A financial consultant consults a man who's reasons for how he manages his money are more than they seem.
"Miss Temptation" (The Saturday Evening Post, April 21 1956) - 3/5 An actress struts her stuff, but is brought down for no reason she can help.
"All the King's Horses" (Collier's Magazine, 10 Feb 1951) - 5/5 A game of chess becomes a game of survival. Definitely one of the best of the collection
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (Collier's Magazine, 14 March 1953) - 4/5 A funny story about a really annoying "me monster" (Brian Regen) who corners a man in the park.
"New Dictionary" (The New York Times, October 1966) - 3/5 Who hasn't looked up dirty words in the dictionary? :)
"Next Door" (Cosmopolitan, April 1955) -4/5 Pretty funny story about a kid who hears fighting next door and tries to help. Assume makes a what out of whom?
"More Stately Mansions" (Collier's Magazine, 22 December 1951) - 3/5 Quaint story about interior decorating.
"The Hyannis Port Story" - 3/5 Secret Service calls a Commodore Rumfoord (a name that comes up a few times in Vonnegut's work) about his son. Rumfoord is not a big Kennedy fan.
"D.P." (Ladies Home Journal, August 1953) - 3/5 A kid in a prison camp meets his "father".
"Report on the Barnhouse Effect" (Collier's Magazine, 11 February 1950) - 3/5 - SciFi - Barnhouse is a scientist who discovers an interesting talent he has.
"The Euphio Question" (Collier's Magazine, 12 May 1951) - 4/5 - SciFi - An interesting discovery leads to "happiness" although it's more than you bargain for.
"Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son" (Ladies Home Journal, July 1962) - 3/5 A famous actress and her fifth husband have some work done on their bathroom.
"Deer in the Works" (Esquire, April 1955) 3.5/5 An owner of a newspaper decides he needs something more secure and gets hired on at a large corporation. Say bye bye to your freedom.
"The Lie" (The Saturday Evening Post 24 February 1962) - 3.5/5 About a father's excitement for his son to enter boarding school.
"Unready to Wear" (Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1953) - 4/5 - SciFi - Bodies are really just a pain in the neck aren't they?
"The Kid Nobody Could Handle" (The Saturday Evening Post, 24 September 1955) - 2/5 A boy who's been neglected all his life acts out. Actions speak louder than words.
"The Manned Missiles" (Cosmopolitan, July 1958) - 4/5 This was a really emotional tale about two astronauts' fathers writing each other whose sons recently died.
"EPICAC" (Collier's Magazine, 25 November 1950) - 4/5 - SciFi - Our narrator has a discussion with the smartest machine in the world.
"Adam" (Cosmopolitan, April 1954) - 3/5 - This one was definitely close to home for me, I have a seven month old. Babies are great.
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954) - 4/5 - SciFi - Another story about overpopulation in the future. In this one, because of a new anti-aging drug, there are so many people, each family lives together for generations and there are no more resources.
"Where I Live" (Venture- Traveler’s World, October 1964) - 2/5 Kinda boring and no real plot. Just meandering
"Harrison Bergeron" (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1961) - 5/5 Loved this one - science fiction - Handicapping people so everything is fair and no one can take unfair advantage because of their looks, intelligence, physical prowess, etc. Sad but true and hilarious at the same time - exactly what Vonnegut does best.
"Who Am I This Time?" (The Saturday Evening Post, 16 December 1961) - 3/5 A play that I guess Vonnegut had to put on (Street Car Named Desire). I don't know if it's a true story or what, but it sounded autobiographical. Main actor who acts amazingly in everything and duddy female actor who he is able to bring out of her shell.
"Welcome to the Monkey House" (Playboy, January 1968) - 4/5 - Another science fiction story where the world is overpopulated and there exists a mandatory pill called "ethical birth control" that doesn't make it impossible to have children (the ethical part), but makes you numb from the waist down. Another sad but true, although I don't quite agree with the jab against religion in this one.
"Long Walk to Forever" (Ladies Home Journal, August 1960) - 3/5 A military man visits a woman he's in love with and who's about to get married.
"The Foster Portfolio" (Collier's Magazine, 8 September 1951) - 2/5 Nothing really exciting here. A financial consultant consults a man who's reasons for how he manages his money are more than they seem.
"Miss Temptation" (The Saturday Evening Post, April 21 1956) - 3/5 An actress struts her stuff, but is brought down for no reason she can help.
"All the King's Horses" (Collier's Magazine, 10 Feb 1951) - 5/5 A game of chess becomes a game of survival. Definitely one of the best of the collection
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (Collier's Magazine, 14 March 1953) - 4/5 A funny story about a really annoying "me monster" (Brian Regen) who corners a man in the park.
"New Dictionary" (The New York Times, October 1966) - 3/5 Who hasn't looked up dirty words in the dictionary? :)
"Next Door" (Cosmopolitan, April 1955) -4/5 Pretty funny story about a kid who hears fighting next door and tries to help. Assume makes a what out of whom?
"More Stately Mansions" (Collier's Magazine, 22 December 1951) - 3/5 Quaint story about interior decorating.
"The Hyannis Port Story" - 3/5 Secret Service calls a Commodore Rumfoord (a name that comes up a few times in Vonnegut's work) about his son. Rumfoord is not a big Kennedy fan.
"D.P." (Ladies Home Journal, August 1953) - 3/5 A kid in a prison camp meets his "father".
"Report on the Barnhouse Effect" (Collier's Magazine, 11 February 1950) - 3/5 - SciFi - Barnhouse is a scientist who discovers an interesting talent he has.
"The Euphio Question" (Collier's Magazine, 12 May 1951) - 4/5 - SciFi - An interesting discovery leads to "happiness" although it's more than you bargain for.
"Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son" (Ladies Home Journal, July 1962) - 3/5 A famous actress and her fifth husband have some work done on their bathroom.
"Deer in the Works" (Esquire, April 1955) 3.5/5 An owner of a newspaper decides he needs something more secure and gets hired on at a large corporation. Say bye bye to your freedom.
"The Lie" (The Saturday Evening Post 24 February 1962) - 3.5/5 About a father's excitement for his son to enter boarding school.
"Unready to Wear" (Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1953) - 4/5 - SciFi - Bodies are really just a pain in the neck aren't they?
"The Kid Nobody Could Handle" (The Saturday Evening Post, 24 September 1955) - 2/5 A boy who's been neglected all his life acts out. Actions speak louder than words.
"The Manned Missiles" (Cosmopolitan, July 1958) - 4/5 This was a really emotional tale about two astronauts' fathers writing each other whose sons recently died.
"EPICAC" (Collier's Magazine, 25 November 1950) - 4/5 - SciFi - Our narrator has a discussion with the smartest machine in the world.
"Adam" (Cosmopolitan, April 1954) - 3/5 - This one was definitely close to home for me, I have a seven month old. Babies are great.
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954) - 4/5 - SciFi - Another story about overpopulation in the future. In this one, because of a new anti-aging drug, there are so many people, each family lives together for generations and there are no more resources.
January 8, 2018
Put it down for some time after the eponymous "Welcome to the Monkey House." I only speak for myself, but I'm tired of reading about rape, either as a plot device or metaphor. Especially since I read this just after "Sirens of Titan," in which Vonnegut also writes in a detached manner of a character's assault. The character Billy's explanation of his actions was condescending and objectifying, even saying his other victims were "grateful," and asserting Nancy's anger is not because of her violation, but because he is a bad lover. I realize that Vonnegut is using this device to discuss other ideas, but that's not enough for me to enjoy this story. Even re-reading bits for the purpose of this review was a frustrating endeavor. It was enough to put me off Vonnegut for a while.
Nevertheless, I did finally finish the other stories, and am glad I did. The later stories are thoughtful and interesting. Not sure they were enough in the end, however, to redeem this collection for me.
Nevertheless, I did finally finish the other stories, and am glad I did. The later stories are thoughtful and interesting. Not sure they were enough in the end, however, to redeem this collection for me.
March 13, 2017
This man was a genius!!!! And ---a loving Husband -father! One heck of a decent human being!!!
A few stories were soooooooooooooooooo good, that I was wishing I could 'go-back' and change a few things about my College days. I would have loved to be talking about this book in a College Class. I'm ready now!!!!!
I'm really happy I won this book. I could have missed it. THANK YOU --THANK YOU ---THANK YOU ---to whom ever 'picked' my name as a 'first read'.
I enjoyed reading other reviews --early this morning 3am ...(wonderful).
Here is a little something I'll add which I have not read in other reviews.
The copy of the book (in my hands) ---is "The Special Edition" --"Building The Monkey House" by Gregory D. Sumner. It was a treat 'added' to this book.
I love what he wrote about Kurt Vonnegut:
It was a time when Kurt --himself was having an 'add-on' built to his home. He needed a place for quiet to write. He and his wife had 6 kids. (3 of their own --3 where his sisters after she died). ---
This I the type of man he was: (he had a very unglamorous way about him). He worked hard --'showing-up' for work. He said:
"Mechanics fix automobiles" he once observed. Carpenters build houses. Storytellers use a reader's leisure time in such a way that the reader will not feel that his time has been wasted".
A few stories were soooooooooooooooooo good, that I was wishing I could 'go-back' and change a few things about my College days. I would have loved to be talking about this book in a College Class. I'm ready now!!!!!
I'm really happy I won this book. I could have missed it. THANK YOU --THANK YOU ---THANK YOU ---to whom ever 'picked' my name as a 'first read'.
I enjoyed reading other reviews --early this morning 3am ...(wonderful).
Here is a little something I'll add which I have not read in other reviews.
The copy of the book (in my hands) ---is "The Special Edition" --"Building The Monkey House" by Gregory D. Sumner. It was a treat 'added' to this book.
I love what he wrote about Kurt Vonnegut:
It was a time when Kurt --himself was having an 'add-on' built to his home. He needed a place for quiet to write. He and his wife had 6 kids. (3 of their own --3 where his sisters after she died). ---
This I the type of man he was: (he had a very unglamorous way about him). He worked hard --'showing-up' for work. He said:
"Mechanics fix automobiles" he once observed. Carpenters build houses. Storytellers use a reader's leisure time in such a way that the reader will not feel that his time has been wasted".
May 2, 2021
I thought this was a solid collection of Kurt Vonnegut's earlier works. There is a variety of themes and genres. Black humor again is underlying throughout the book except for a few stories. There's science fiction, romance, and interpersonal dramas. Some of them involved military servicemen and possibly reflect the author's own time in the US Army. I listed a few of my favorites:
'Long Walk To Forever' (1960) was a shot at love centered around bad timing. I did not expect this and was pleasantly surprised.
'All The King's Horses" (1953) was a thrilling and captivating story about American POWs downed behind enemy lines. In order to negotiate their release, they are forced to play a dangerous game in order to earn their freedom. This is my favorite!
'The Manned Missiles' (1958) was about two fathers, one Soviet and the other American, writing to each other. In the letters they tell each other about their sons during the Space Race.
After reading lots of Kurt Vonnegut, I can say without doubt I like his early stuff. I find his early stuff way more interesting and original. Overall the book was readable and fun. I highly recommend this to any fans of the author. Thanks!
'Long Walk To Forever' (1960) was a shot at love centered around bad timing. I did not expect this and was pleasantly surprised.
'All The King's Horses" (1953) was a thrilling and captivating story about American POWs downed behind enemy lines. In order to negotiate their release, they are forced to play a dangerous game in order to earn their freedom. This is my favorite!
'The Manned Missiles' (1958) was about two fathers, one Soviet and the other American, writing to each other. In the letters they tell each other about their sons during the Space Race.
After reading lots of Kurt Vonnegut, I can say without doubt I like his early stuff. I find his early stuff way more interesting and original. Overall the book was readable and fun. I highly recommend this to any fans of the author. Thanks!
December 26, 2012
Previously read June 2003 (among many other times)
Like many offbeat/outcast teens, I went through a Vonnegut phase - and am glad to say I never completely recovered. I would heartily recommend Welcome to the Monkey House for anyone new to Vonnegut's body of work, as it covers basically the first two decades of his career (and IMHO, the best years)
It contains an honest-to-goodness love story - "Long Walk to Forever" that always makes me sniffle a little. Then there's the familiarly sardonic "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" and "The Euphio Question". "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" contains one of my (many) favorite KV quotes: "You are better than you think. A-one, a-two a-three."
Both comforting and chilling - this collection of stories, while a bit dated at times ("The Hyannis Port Story" and "Epicac", I'm looking at you) is still in my top 50 of favorite books and will continue to be a re-read for years to come.
Like many offbeat/outcast teens, I went through a Vonnegut phase - and am glad to say I never completely recovered. I would heartily recommend Welcome to the Monkey House for anyone new to Vonnegut's body of work, as it covers basically the first two decades of his career (and IMHO, the best years)
It contains an honest-to-goodness love story - "Long Walk to Forever" that always makes me sniffle a little. Then there's the familiarly sardonic "Report on the Barnhouse Effect" and "The Euphio Question". "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" contains one of my (many) favorite KV quotes: "You are better than you think. A-one, a-two a-three."
Both comforting and chilling - this collection of stories, while a bit dated at times ("The Hyannis Port Story" and "Epicac", I'm looking at you) is still in my top 50 of favorite books and will continue to be a re-read for years to come.
July 17, 2023
التجربة الثانية لكورت فونيجت، وبرضة بترجمة محمد أحمد جمال. والمرة دي مجموعة قصصية. القصص تنوعت بين الاجتماعي والساخر والديستوبي (ولو أني كنت أفضل لو كانت القصص الديستوبية أو الخيالية أكتر من كده) بس أعتقد أنها كشفت كتير عن أسلوب كورت فونيجت، مع أني حساة فيها باختلاف كبير عن الرواية التانية الوحيدة اللي قرأتها له. تجربة ممتعة وقراءة قصة أو قصتين كل يوم من المجموعة كان ممتع من دون شك
ريفيو بسيط لكل قصة:
1- حيث أعيش:
استعراض لبلدة أمريكية صغيرة ببعض التهكم والسخرية، حسيت أن المقدمة أظرف وأخف دما من القصة دي. بداية عادية أوي للمجموعة.
2- هاريسون بيرجيرون:
ديستوبيا عظيمة وتقديم جديد لفكرة الأخ الأكبر ولعب على فكرة الرقابة وتشويش الشبكات. محزنة كأي ديستوبيا ولم تخل برضة من الكومييدا السوداوية
3- من أنا هذه المرة؟:
متوقعتش قصة رومانسية رقيقة ولطيفة في سياق بلدة صغيرة وتمثيل مسرحي وشخصيات حبوبة.
4- أهلا بك في بيت القرود:
عاجبني التنظيم المرتب-العشوائي للمجموعة دي. قصة لطيفة عن بلدة صغيرة وبعدها قصة ديستوبية مرعبة. يا ترى ده هيفضل مستمر طول الكتاب؟ طبعا الديستوبية المرة دي كانت عن زيادة التعداد السكاني و"طرق" مواجهة المشكلة دي. القصة دي كانت شديدة شوية وانتهاك مش بحب أقراه بس مقرأتش كتابات كتيرة عن تنظيم النسل فكانت مختلفة. بتفكرني بسلسلة روايات حديثة نوعا ما للشباب اسمها
Arc of a Scythe
5- تمشية طالت إلى الأبد:
ايه القصة العسولة الرقيقة دي؟
6- ملف فوستر:
جملة "أبيع النصيحة للأثرياء" اللي بتبدأ بيها القصة لسبب ما عجبتني جدا جدا. بسبب طريقة الكتاب في أول 4 قصص، كنت متوقع قصة ديستوبية، بس لقيتها قصة اجتماعية برضة عن راجل بيساعد أصحاب الأموال على استثمار فلوسهم عشان يكسبوا منها وبتقابله حالة عجيبة في شخص معاه أصول غالية بس مش عايز يبيعها لسبب يجهله، وبنشوف رحلته في فهم الشخص ده.
7- الآنسة فتنة:
قصة اجتماعية عن جندي عائد من الحرب (تاني قصة عن جندي شاب أفتكر حتى الآن؟) والممثلة الشابة في البلدة وفتنتها والتوتر اللي بينهم. مكانتش أفضل قصة
8- كل أحصنة الملك:
قصة أخرى عن جنود، وده فعلا فعلا أقل الأنواع تفضيلا في القصص عندي. بس رغم كده فهي قصة شيقة، مباراة شطرنج والخسارة معناها الموت وقطع الشطرنج هم بشر. مش هنكر أنها خلتتني متوترة لحد الآخر، مع أني كنت عايزة خاتمة أكثر قسوة
9- كلب توم أديسون الأشعث:
مش محتاجة قصة تقنعني أن الكلاب أذكى من البشر، أنا متأكدة من ده، بس ظريفة يا فونيجت.
10- قاموس جديد:
أعتقد اللي هيقعد يتابع الإصدارات المختلفة من القواميس لكل سنة وويكتشف ايه الكلمات الجديدة اللي بتضاف في كل إصدار هيكتشف كتير، وخصوصا أن دلوقتي القواميس بتضيف الكلمات - في أحيان كتيرة - معتمدة على شيوع استخدامها في المحادثات اليومية والعامية نوعا ما.
11- الجيران:
كنت أتمنى نهاية سوداوية أكتر للقصة دي لأنها قائمة على سوء فهم مثالي في القصص الي زي دي، وخصوصا أنها من وجهة نظر طفل ومأزعجتنيش جدا زي قصص تانية بتبقى من وجهة نظر أطفال، وطبعا فكرة التلصص على الجيران والتدخل في حيواتهم عمرها ما بتقدم.
12- قصور أكثر فخامة:
بطلة القصة المغيبة عن الواقع فكرتني جدا بديزي من قصة "غاتسبي العظيم". بس مش هنكر أن نهاية القصة صادمة وضافت بعد جديد للحزن اللي في القصة دي. أقدر أقول إنها من قصصي المفضلة في المجموعة حتى وإن كانت خالية تماما من أي عنصر خيالي.
13- حكاية هاينيس بورت:
السياسة بتطغى على القصص دي، وساعات بتكون عابرة، بس في قصص زي دي، بيبقى لو الشخص مش فاهم السياق السياسي للفترة دي أوي فمش هيطلع منها بحاجات كتيرة وخصوصا لو كل الأسامي المذكورة لا تعني له شيء، بس كانت ظريفة
14- مياه أكثر مما رأيت في حياتك:
قصة محزنة عن الحرب والأيتام اللي بتسيبهم، وتمنيت لو كانت القصة كلها من وجهة نظر أطفال أيتام بدلا من تاني إدخال الجنود في الموضوع زي أغلب قصص المجموعة. وبرضة خاب أملي لقلة القصص الديستوبية في المجموعة دي.
15- تقرير عن تأثير بارنهاوس:
قصة عن السلام والقوة الذهنية واللي مكن تعمله وازاي ممكن حد يستغلها. لطيفة
16- سؤال اليوفوريا:
نظرة ديستوبية سوداوية عن سؤال ايه اللي هيحصل لو الناس تقدر تتحكم بالسعادة وتبيعها وتخلي الناس تدمنها زي المخدرات؟ فكرتها حلوة
17- عد إلى زوجتك وابنك الغاليين:
ماشي، تمام. معنديش تعليق على القصة دي حقيقي غير أن الرجال أوغاد يا ربي.
18- غزال في الورش:
يعني ايه؟ يعني ايه؟ هرب للغابة ورا الغزال وساب حياة التمدن مثلا ولاقاها مش ماشية على ذوقه؟ حسيت أني كنت بقرأ قصة شبه أليس في بلاد العجائب بس واقعية تماما
19- الكذبة:
قصة ادتني شعور "غيلمور غيرلز" شوية في شخصياتها وأحداثها. عن ولد مع عيلته الغنية اللي أسهمت في تأسيس مدرسة قديمة والكذبة اللي الولد مخبيها عن أهله
20- غير جاهز للبس:
قصة ظريفة خيالية عن أشخاص قدروا يخرجوا من أجسادهم ويدخلوا أي أجساد يحبوها في أي وقت.
21- الفتى الذي غلب معه الجميع:
قصة لا بأس بيها عن أستاذ موسيقى وولد متمرد وازاي أنه بيساعده يلاقي هدف في الحياة، قصة اتهرست مية مرة قبل كده بس ملقيتش فيها حاجة جديدة هنا.
22- صواريخ ورجال:
قصة تانية جميلة جدا، عن أبوين لعالمين فضاء، واحد من روسيا والتاني من أمريكا، وبيبعتوا خطابات لبعض بعض موت أولادهم في الفضاء. غيها تساؤلات عن الفرق بين حب الفضاء والاستكشاف والعلم واستغلال الحكومات للشباب المتحمس لتحقيق أجنداتهم الخاصة. تاني، مفيهاش جديد، بس عجبني أسلوبه جدا.
23- إبيكاك:
أوه يا إبيكاك المسكين! أنا خلاصت وصلت لمرحلة الإشفاق على الآلات من البشر
24- آدم:
نظرة حلوة لاختلاف منظور الناس لمولود جديد ما بين غير المبالي وما بين المنبهر تماما. مش فاهمة علاقة اسم القصة واسم "آدم" نفسه بالموضوع
25- غدا وغدا وغدا:
ونختم المجموعة بديستوبية بائسة. وحبيت اكوميديا السوداوية في العالم ده واللي هو تاني عالم ديستوبي فونيجت بيحبه، عن بشر قدروا يتجاوزا الشيخوخة والموت والتكدس السكاني وأثره في عائلة من عائلات الكوكب المتكدس.
ريفيو بسيط لكل قصة:
1- حيث أعيش:
استعراض لبلدة أمريكية صغيرة ببعض التهكم والسخرية، حسيت أن المقدمة أظرف وأخف دما من القصة دي. بداية عادية أوي للمجموعة.
2- هاريسون بيرجيرون:
ديستوبيا عظيمة وتقديم جديد لفكرة الأخ الأكبر ولعب على فكرة الرقابة وتشويش الشبكات. محزنة كأي ديستوبيا ولم تخل برضة من الكومييدا السوداوية
3- من أنا هذه المرة؟:
متوقعتش قصة رومانسية رقيقة ولطيفة في سياق بلدة صغيرة وتمثيل مسرحي وشخصيات حبوبة.
4- أهلا بك في بيت القرود:
عاجبني التنظيم المرتب-العشوائي للمجموعة دي. قصة لطيفة عن بلدة صغيرة وبعدها قصة ديستوبية مرعبة. يا ترى ده هيفضل مستمر طول الكتاب؟ طبعا الديستوبية المرة دي كانت عن زيادة التعداد السكاني و"طرق" مواجهة المشكلة دي. القصة دي كانت شديدة شوية وانتهاك مش بحب أقراه بس مقرأتش كتابات كتيرة عن تنظيم النسل فكانت مختلفة. بتفكرني بسلسلة روايات حديثة نوعا ما للشباب اسمها
Arc of a Scythe
5- تمشية طالت إلى الأبد:
ايه القصة العسولة الرقيقة دي؟
6- ملف فوستر:
جملة "أبيع النصيحة للأثرياء" اللي بتبدأ بيها القصة لسبب ما عجبتني جدا جدا. بسبب طريقة الكتاب في أول 4 قصص، كنت متوقع قصة ديستوبية، بس لقيتها قصة اجتماعية برضة عن راجل بيساعد أصحاب الأموال على استثمار فلوسهم عشان يكسبوا منها وبتقابله حالة عجيبة في شخص معاه أصول غالية بس مش عايز يبيعها لسبب يجهله، وبنشوف رحلته في فهم الشخص ده.
7- الآنسة فتنة:
قصة اجتماعية عن جندي عائد من الحرب (تاني قصة عن جندي شاب أفتكر حتى الآن؟) والممثلة الشابة في البلدة وفتنتها والتوتر اللي بينهم. مكانتش أفضل قصة
8- كل أحصنة الملك:
قصة أخرى عن جنود، وده فعلا فعلا أقل الأنواع تفضيلا في القصص عندي. بس رغم كده فهي قصة شيقة، مباراة شطرنج والخسارة معناها الموت وقطع الشطرنج هم بشر. مش هنكر أنها خلتتني متوترة لحد الآخر، مع أني كنت عايزة خاتمة أكثر قسوة
9- كلب توم أديسون الأشعث:
مش محتاجة قصة تقنعني أن الكلاب أذكى من البشر، أنا متأكدة من ده، بس ظريفة يا فونيجت.
10- قاموس جديد:
أعتقد اللي هيقعد يتابع الإصدارات المختلفة من القواميس لكل سنة وويكتشف ايه الكلمات الجديدة اللي بتضاف في كل إصدار هيكتشف كتير، وخصوصا أن دلوقتي القواميس بتضيف الكلمات - في أحيان كتيرة - معتمدة على شيوع استخدامها في المحادثات اليومية والعامية نوعا ما.
11- الجيران:
كنت أتمنى نهاية سوداوية أكتر للقصة دي لأنها قائمة على سوء فهم مثالي في القصص الي زي دي، وخصوصا أنها من وجهة نظر طفل ومأزعجتنيش جدا زي قصص تانية بتبقى من وجهة نظر أطفال، وطبعا فكرة التلصص على الجيران والتدخل في حيواتهم عمرها ما بتقدم.
12- قصور أكثر فخامة:
بطلة القصة المغيبة عن الواقع فكرتني جدا بديزي من قصة "غاتسبي العظيم". بس مش هنكر أن نهاية القصة صادمة وضافت بعد جديد للحزن اللي في القصة دي. أقدر أقول إنها من قصصي المفضلة في المجموعة حتى وإن كانت خالية تماما من أي عنصر خيالي.
13- حكاية هاينيس بورت:
السياسة بتطغى على القصص دي، وساعات بتكون عابرة، بس في قصص زي دي، بيبقى لو الشخص مش فاهم السياق السياسي للفترة دي أوي فمش هيطلع منها بحاجات كتيرة وخصوصا لو كل الأسامي المذكورة لا تعني له شيء، بس كانت ظريفة
14- مياه أكثر مما رأيت في حياتك:
قصة محزنة عن الحرب والأيتام اللي بتسيبهم، وتمنيت لو كانت القصة كلها من وجهة نظر أطفال أيتام بدلا من تاني إدخال الجنود في الموضوع زي أغلب قصص المجموعة. وبرضة خاب أملي لقلة القصص الديستوبية في المجموعة دي.
15- تقرير عن تأثير بارنهاوس:
قصة عن السلام والقوة الذهنية واللي مكن تعمله وازاي ممكن حد يستغلها. لطيفة
16- سؤال اليوفوريا:
نظرة ديستوبية سوداوية عن سؤال ايه اللي هيحصل لو الناس تقدر تتحكم بالسعادة وتبيعها وتخلي الناس تدمنها زي المخدرات؟ فكرتها حلوة
17- عد إلى زوجتك وابنك الغاليين:
ماشي، تمام. معنديش تعليق على القصة دي حقيقي غير أن الرجال أوغاد يا ربي.
18- غزال في الورش:
يعني ايه؟ يعني ايه؟ هرب للغابة ورا الغزال وساب حياة التمدن مثلا ولاقاها مش ماشية على ذوقه؟ حسيت أني كنت بقرأ قصة شبه أليس في بلاد العجائب بس واقعية تماما
19- الكذبة:
قصة ادتني شعور "غيلمور غيرلز" شوية في شخصياتها وأحداثها. عن ولد مع عيلته الغنية اللي أسهمت في تأسيس مدرسة قديمة والكذبة اللي الولد مخبيها عن أهله
20- غير جاهز للبس:
قصة ظريفة خيالية عن أشخاص قدروا يخرجوا من أجسادهم ويدخلوا أي أجساد يحبوها في أي وقت.
21- الفتى الذي غلب معه الجميع:
قصة لا بأس بيها عن أستاذ موسيقى وولد متمرد وازاي أنه بيساعده يلاقي هدف في الحياة، قصة اتهرست مية مرة قبل كده بس ملقيتش فيها حاجة جديدة هنا.
22- صواريخ ورجال:
قصة تانية جميلة جدا، عن أبوين لعالمين فضاء، واحد من روسيا والتاني من أمريكا، وبيبعتوا خطابات لبعض بعض موت أولادهم في الفضاء. غيها تساؤلات عن الفرق بين حب الفضاء والاستكشاف والعلم واستغلال الحكومات للشباب المتحمس لتحقيق أجنداتهم الخاصة. تاني، مفيهاش جديد، بس عجبني أسلوبه جدا.
23- إبيكاك:
أوه يا إبيكاك المسكين! أنا خلاصت وصلت لمرحلة الإشفاق على الآلات من البشر
24- آدم:
نظرة حلوة لاختلاف منظور الناس لمولود جديد ما بين غير المبالي وما بين المنبهر تماما. مش فاهمة علاقة اسم القصة واسم "آدم" نفسه بالموضوع
25- غدا وغدا وغدا:
ونختم المجموعة بديستوبية بائسة. وحبيت اكوميديا السوداوية في العالم ده واللي هو تاني عالم ديستوبي فونيجت بيحبه، عن بشر قدروا يتجاوزا الشيخوخة والموت والتكدس السكاني وأثره في عائلة من عائلات الكوكب المتكدس.
Read
January 15, 2018I spent over three months with this book, never reading more than one story per day. I have read selections of Vonnegut, including parts of Player Piano and "Harrison Bergeron," but this was my first cover-to-cover read. I love the guy. Something about his writing is so believable to me. I rarely have difficulty stepping into his POV.
Welcome to the Monkey House is a bit of a hodgepodge collection, jumping from sci-fi to articles suited for Ladies Home Journal. Some of the stories, naturally, are not as good as others--but this is a collection, not a coherent narrative. I enjoy how Vonnegut takes simple genre fiction and still catches my attention with his subtle humor. I would suggest taking your time with this one and reading it across several months. Vonnegut may not be for everyone, but I look forward to reading more novels in the coming years.
Welcome to the Monkey House is a bit of a hodgepodge collection, jumping from sci-fi to articles suited for Ladies Home Journal. Some of the stories, naturally, are not as good as others--but this is a collection, not a coherent narrative. I enjoy how Vonnegut takes simple genre fiction and still catches my attention with his subtle humor. I would suggest taking your time with this one and reading it across several months. Vonnegut may not be for everyone, but I look forward to reading more novels in the coming years.
September 8, 2021
A worthwhile read for Vonnegut fans for historical reasons only. Though you can see the Vonnegut who was to be in these stories, they are mostly not very good. Several are trite, all are rather manipulative, many fail to provide the proper context the reader needs in order to give a damn about what is happening.
I feel the need to address the elephant in the room in this collection; many reviews focus entirely on the rape scene in the title story as proof of the lack of worth of the entire book (or perhaps of Vonnegut's work.) Anyone who has read Vonnegut, or most of the other great writers of that generation from Updike to Roth to Bellow, knows that these men value women only as commodities. Women exist to offer sex, comfort, conversation, child-rearing services and that is it. Updike saw women's liberation solely as a cultural shift which allowed women to fuck him without societal censure and no one goes off on him. Look, most authors are pathologically self-involved so there is a predisposition to see the universe from their position at the very center. Add to that a social milieu in the first half of the 20th century which devalued women and you get the rape scene in Monkey House. Vonnegut did not see that specific rape as a crime, he saw it as an intervention, maybe even a benediction. Is that appalling? Absolutely. But Vonnegut is saying something about the ways in which government and society take control of our most basic urges, and he makes some valid points. He could have made the point it a way that showed respect for everyone in the story, but he did not. Read this as if it was in a time capsule and save your anger for the men in Congress who still see rape as a gift from God.
I feel the need to address the elephant in the room in this collection; many reviews focus entirely on the rape scene in the title story as proof of the lack of worth of the entire book (or perhaps of Vonnegut's work.) Anyone who has read Vonnegut, or most of the other great writers of that generation from Updike to Roth to Bellow, knows that these men value women only as commodities. Women exist to offer sex, comfort, conversation, child-rearing services and that is it. Updike saw women's liberation solely as a cultural shift which allowed women to fuck him without societal censure and no one goes off on him. Look, most authors are pathologically self-involved so there is a predisposition to see the universe from their position at the very center. Add to that a social milieu in the first half of the 20th century which devalued women and you get the rape scene in Monkey House. Vonnegut did not see that specific rape as a crime, he saw it as an intervention, maybe even a benediction. Is that appalling? Absolutely. But Vonnegut is saying something about the ways in which government and society take control of our most basic urges, and he makes some valid points. He could have made the point it a way that showed respect for everyone in the story, but he did not. Read this as if it was in a time capsule and save your anger for the men in Congress who still see rape as a gift from God.
March 11, 2009
I could write a long review and talk about every short story in this collection, but I'm not going to do that. There are just too many good stories in this collection. My personal favorite was probably "Harrison Bergeron" but I would have to think about that. It's not necessary that I have a "favorite" per se, but my mind just works that way.
If you're a Vonnegut fan, you've probably read this. If you've never read Vonnegut, give it a shot. It's a great way to start your journey into his mind. He can be hilarious and moving in the same story. I've enjoyed reading his works since I was in high school, and I will continue to do so for a long time.
In fact, I will continue reading his work "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow."
If you're a Vonnegut fan, you've probably read this. If you've never read Vonnegut, give it a shot. It's a great way to start your journey into his mind. He can be hilarious and moving in the same story. I've enjoyed reading his works since I was in high school, and I will continue to do so for a long time.
In fact, I will continue reading his work "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow."
January 27, 2016
"One foot in front of the other --- through leaves, over bridges---"
This is a short story about forbidden and true love, ardently written by Kurt Vonnegut. He has a way of showing intense emotions using simple words and repetitions. . . Oh my .. That ending ...
This is a short story about forbidden and true love, ardently written by Kurt Vonnegut. He has a way of showing intense emotions using simple words and repetitions. . . Oh my .. That ending ...
January 15, 2011
This collection of early short stories, mostly from the 1950s, displays Vonnegut's versatility--of subject matter, theme, and style; and also his grasping for an identifiable, unique personal style. At this point, he already is a mature, assured writer. Except for possibly "The Manned Missiles" (which nonetheless has the same clever twist ending as many of the other stories in this collection) all of the stories in this compilation are great. Vonnegut's command of narrative and descriptive detail are solid. His irreverance is not always as pronounced as it would be in his later novels, but one begins to spot several instances of trademark Vonnegutese (the phrase "being amphibious" in the story "Unready to Wear" feels like something out of "Slaughterhouse Five"). There's often a Runyonesque gentility and sense of irony in the pieces, and always great generosity and sympathy toward his characters--even the ones he mocks--and their dilemmas, some of which are small every day ones and some that are enormous in their moral and life-and-death implications. Written in a time of Cold War fears, the non-sci-fi pieces are mostly about everyday people trying to find value and purpose in small things, in traditions, in comradeship, in love, while larger corporate, technological and political imperatives pull at their souls.
The preface--a gracious and funny homage to his family and only a slight introduction to the works--was written circa 1968 when this collection appeared and gives us the familiar Vonnegut irreverence. In it, Vonnegut seems slightly embarrassed and ashamed about some of the early pieces therein, but he needn't have been. Actually, in a published grading of his own works (done years later), Vonnegut gave this collection a B- when stacked against the entirety of his ouevre. Not too bad. If it were an option, I'd give this collection four and a half stars. I'm recommending it strongly to all.
Several of the stories in the collection are science fiction and like a lot of science fiction from a half century ago the accuracy of the predictions offered are hit-and-miss. What strikes me most impressively, though, is how many of Vonnegut's ideas--whether later creators were aware of them or not--managed to show up in later written works, movies, tv shows, etc.
The human chess game played in "All the King's Horses" (1953) became the motif of a famous episode of the cult tv show, "The Prisoner" in 1967.
Bullard's exhortation and business advice to a stranger in "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (1953) to "Go plastic, young man!" predates the more famous iteration of that same advice in the film, "The Graduate" 14 years later.
The much-quoted Vonnegut gem from this collection, "A sane person to an insane society must appear insane," has been paraphrased and restated ad infinitum in popular song and other entertainments ever since.
The computer blowing its lid in "EPICAC" is a motif that would show up several times in Star Trek.
Politically, the book offers a more moderate Vonnegut, but one of my favorite quotes (from the short story "Welcome to the Monkey House" about future sterilization taken to an extreme) shows his true (and good) colors, and his understanding of the ongoing modus operandi of right-wing types:
“If you go back through history, you’ll find that the people who have been most eager to rule, to make the laws, to enforce the laws and to tell everybody exactly how God Almighty wants things here on earth – those people have forgiven themselves and their friends for anything and everything. But they have been absolutely disgusted and terrified by the natural sexuality of common men and women.”
The preface--a gracious and funny homage to his family and only a slight introduction to the works--was written circa 1968 when this collection appeared and gives us the familiar Vonnegut irreverence. In it, Vonnegut seems slightly embarrassed and ashamed about some of the early pieces therein, but he needn't have been. Actually, in a published grading of his own works (done years later), Vonnegut gave this collection a B- when stacked against the entirety of his ouevre. Not too bad. If it were an option, I'd give this collection four and a half stars. I'm recommending it strongly to all.
Several of the stories in the collection are science fiction and like a lot of science fiction from a half century ago the accuracy of the predictions offered are hit-and-miss. What strikes me most impressively, though, is how many of Vonnegut's ideas--whether later creators were aware of them or not--managed to show up in later written works, movies, tv shows, etc.
The human chess game played in "All the King's Horses" (1953) became the motif of a famous episode of the cult tv show, "The Prisoner" in 1967.
Bullard's exhortation and business advice to a stranger in "Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (1953) to "Go plastic, young man!" predates the more famous iteration of that same advice in the film, "The Graduate" 14 years later.
The much-quoted Vonnegut gem from this collection, "A sane person to an insane society must appear insane," has been paraphrased and restated ad infinitum in popular song and other entertainments ever since.
The computer blowing its lid in "EPICAC" is a motif that would show up several times in Star Trek.
Politically, the book offers a more moderate Vonnegut, but one of my favorite quotes (from the short story "Welcome to the Monkey House" about future sterilization taken to an extreme) shows his true (and good) colors, and his understanding of the ongoing modus operandi of right-wing types:
“If you go back through history, you’ll find that the people who have been most eager to rule, to make the laws, to enforce the laws and to tell everybody exactly how God Almighty wants things here on earth – those people have forgiven themselves and their friends for anything and everything. But they have been absolutely disgusted and terrified by the natural sexuality of common men and women.”
March 2, 2018
The standout story here is "Harrison Bergeron" (1961), which is a classic, 5-star story. It's available online at: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harri...
If you've somehow missed reading it, or it's been awhile, youre in for a treat.
Otherwise, it's a mixed bag of (mostly) 1950s stories. Most of them haven't aged well. Here are the better ones:
"Miss Temptation" (1956): a soldier comes back from the Korean War, and insults a pretty girl in his hometown. 3 stars.
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (1953): an amusing, well, shaggy-dog story. 3 stars.
"Report on the Barnhouse Effect "(1950). Prof. Barnhouse makes an unusual scientific discovery, enforces world peace. 3 stars.
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (1954): a day in a very overcrowded future, after the invention of anti-gerasone. Eh, 2.5 stars.
The rest of them that I read, around half of the collection, are 2-star at best, and some below. So this is one for Vonnegut completists, I think.
If you've somehow missed reading it, or it's been awhile, youre in for a treat.
Otherwise, it's a mixed bag of (mostly) 1950s stories. Most of them haven't aged well. Here are the better ones:
"Miss Temptation" (1956): a soldier comes back from the Korean War, and insults a pretty girl in his hometown. 3 stars.
"Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog" (1953): an amusing, well, shaggy-dog story. 3 stars.
"Report on the Barnhouse Effect "(1950). Prof. Barnhouse makes an unusual scientific discovery, enforces world peace. 3 stars.
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (1954): a day in a very overcrowded future, after the invention of anti-gerasone. Eh, 2.5 stars.
The rest of them that I read, around half of the collection, are 2-star at best, and some below. So this is one for Vonnegut completists, I think.
August 21, 2017
Vonnegut does it again.
This took me way longer than intended, probably due to the hectic nature of my first week back in uae. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it.
I was never a big fan of a book of collection of short stories. Usually there would be a lot of hit and miss. With Welcome To The Monkey House however, literally every short story was memorable. Maybe one was mediocre, but all of the rest were so good. I can't stress enough how each individual short story was able to stand on its own, and also made me think of each one after I let the book down.
If you are a fan of Vonnegut, you shouldn't miss out on this book.... 5/5
This took me way longer than intended, probably due to the hectic nature of my first week back in uae. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read it.
I was never a big fan of a book of collection of short stories. Usually there would be a lot of hit and miss. With Welcome To The Monkey House however, literally every short story was memorable. Maybe one was mediocre, but all of the rest were so good. I can't stress enough how each individual short story was able to stand on its own, and also made me think of each one after I let the book down.
If you are a fan of Vonnegut, you shouldn't miss out on this book.... 5/5
January 10, 2023
✩ 4/4.5 stars
~
[read for high school ‘junior year’ great books class]
~
[read for high school ‘junior year’ great books class]
April 25, 2024
4/5
This collection of short stories has been sitting on my desk for the past couple of months. I've been enjoying a story when I get a spare moment. I'm glad I approached it this way because I think had I read them all back-to-back, I would have gotten a bit tired of Vonnegut's uniqueness (which I am a fan of, but maybe just not in large doses). I was also pretty zonked when reading the last stories, so I will probably have to revisit them sometime...
My favourite stories:
Harrison Bergeron
Who Am I This Time?
Welcome To the Monkey House
The Foster Portfolio
Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog
Next Door
The Hyannis Port Story
This collection of short stories has been sitting on my desk for the past couple of months. I've been enjoying a story when I get a spare moment. I'm glad I approached it this way because I think had I read them all back-to-back, I would have gotten a bit tired of Vonnegut's uniqueness (which I am a fan of, but maybe just not in large doses). I was also pretty zonked when reading the last stories, so I will probably have to revisit them sometime...
My favourite stories:
Harrison Bergeron
Who Am I This Time?
Welcome To the Monkey House
The Foster Portfolio
Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog
Next Door
The Hyannis Port Story
June 29, 2022
I haven't read any Vonnegut for a long time. So when this was the kindle deal of the day, I thought, why not? Glad I reread it. I knew I liked his writing style, but this just refreshed the thought. He is good. This is a collection of short stories, from various publications. Some are dated and quaint. You can't help but giggle out loud at his sense of humor, perhaps even more appealing today in the face of so much "serious" fiction.
An example from "Where I live"--
"So he went down the narrow yacht club road, nearly broke his neck as he hit a series of terrific bumps put in the road to discourage speeders, to kill them, if possible." I remember this quote and giggle every time I drive out of my neighborhood, over what used to be annoying speed bumps designed for "safety" but clearly mal-intentioned to keep "others" out. Vonnegut is all about the "others", the ones who don't seem to belong.
Or "The Euphio Question"--a story written in 1951 about an electrical device which renders its users into a state of paralytic nirvana, oblivious to the environment and lacking motivation. "I found peace of mind sitting in easy chairs and turning on a gadget the size of a table-model television set. No herbs, no golden rule, no muscle control, no sticking our noses in other people's troubles to forget our own; no hobbies, Taoism, push-ups or contemplation of a lotus. The gadget is, I think, what a lot of people vaguely foresaw as the crowning achievement of civilization: an electronic something-or-other, cheap, easily mass-produced, that can, at the flick of a switch, provide tranquility." Hmmm, sound familiar?
But my favorite had to be "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" about the juvenile delinquent and the band director, and the power of music to change lives (and having someone believe in you.) "'Our aim is to make the world more beautiful than it was when we came into it. It can be done. You can do it.' ...'How?' said Jim. 'Love yourself,' said Hellmholtz, 'and make your instrument sing about it."
I am very very glad I reread these stories. Now on to Slaughterhouse Five!
An example from "Where I live"--
"So he went down the narrow yacht club road, nearly broke his neck as he hit a series of terrific bumps put in the road to discourage speeders, to kill them, if possible." I remember this quote and giggle every time I drive out of my neighborhood, over what used to be annoying speed bumps designed for "safety" but clearly mal-intentioned to keep "others" out. Vonnegut is all about the "others", the ones who don't seem to belong.
Or "The Euphio Question"--a story written in 1951 about an electrical device which renders its users into a state of paralytic nirvana, oblivious to the environment and lacking motivation. "I found peace of mind sitting in easy chairs and turning on a gadget the size of a table-model television set. No herbs, no golden rule, no muscle control, no sticking our noses in other people's troubles to forget our own; no hobbies, Taoism, push-ups or contemplation of a lotus. The gadget is, I think, what a lot of people vaguely foresaw as the crowning achievement of civilization: an electronic something-or-other, cheap, easily mass-produced, that can, at the flick of a switch, provide tranquility." Hmmm, sound familiar?
But my favorite had to be "The Kid Nobody Could Handle" about the juvenile delinquent and the band director, and the power of music to change lives (and having someone believe in you.) "'Our aim is to make the world more beautiful than it was when we came into it. It can be done. You can do it.' ...'How?' said Jim. 'Love yourself,' said Hellmholtz, 'and make your instrument sing about it."
I am very very glad I reread these stories. Now on to Slaughterhouse Five!
December 3, 2020
I simply love, love, love, LOVE Kurt Vonnegut! He's hilarious, intelligent, and entertaining-and this collection of short stories is one of the finest ever written! While some of the stories aren't necessarily "classic Vonnegut" and a couple of them aren't particularly memorable, this collection is still worth reading in its entirety. It was a really fun read for me, especially because Vonnegut is so funny. Not all of the stories are extremely hilarious, a couple of them are actually really emotional (and those stories were also EXCELLENT), which just goes to show that, although he certainly dabbled w/a definite signature style in nearly all his work, Vonnegut was really a writer w/range. Some of the stories are unbelievably creative, while others focus on mundane life, a side of Vonnegut that you don't normally see in his most famous works.
My absolute 10/10 favorite stories in this collection were:
Harrison Bergeron-Vonnegut at his finest and cleverest!
Welcome to the Monkey House- A crazy, hilarious, and weird tale about overpopulation.
Long Walk to Forever-This is not your typical Vonnegut story, there's no black humor and sci-fi twist, it's just a sweet, emotional romance story, and it shows that Vonnegut really has a heart!
The Euphio Question-Fascinating and engaging piece of science fiction writing, one of the most interesting short stories I've ever read.
Deer in the Works-This is a REALLY strange one!
Unready to Wear-Interesting and engaging science fiction tale.
The Manned Missiles-This is likely the saddest, most tragic story in the collection. Very emotional, but very good.
EPICAC-Laugh out loud funny, classic Vonnegut!
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow-Funny, strange, fascinating, creative, clever, and satirical a.k.a Vonnegut at his best and most pleasing!
My absolute 10/10 favorite stories in this collection were:
Harrison Bergeron-Vonnegut at his finest and cleverest!
Welcome to the Monkey House- A crazy, hilarious, and weird tale about overpopulation.
Long Walk to Forever-This is not your typical Vonnegut story, there's no black humor and sci-fi twist, it's just a sweet, emotional romance story, and it shows that Vonnegut really has a heart!
The Euphio Question-Fascinating and engaging piece of science fiction writing, one of the most interesting short stories I've ever read.
Deer in the Works-This is a REALLY strange one!
Unready to Wear-Interesting and engaging science fiction tale.
The Manned Missiles-This is likely the saddest, most tragic story in the collection. Very emotional, but very good.
EPICAC-Laugh out loud funny, classic Vonnegut!
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow-Funny, strange, fascinating, creative, clever, and satirical a.k.a Vonnegut at his best and most pleasing!
August 23, 2007
I heard once from an old English teacher that the hardest pieces to write are short stories and short films. To develop a plot and characters in a short and constricted time frame requires no small amount of skill. There's no room to waste words and phrases; to do so would turn your short story into a novella. Poe was great at it. And I feel Vonnegut was great at it too.
Welcome to the Monkey House has been a favorite book of mine for a long time. I may have inadvertently acquired this copy from an old girlfriend; in which case I would have to apologize to her for my theft. But I'm calling grandfather clause, and there's no way I'd give it back.
Some of these stories are fairly well known. "Harrison Bergeron," for example, is a story that gets taught in school occasionally. And it's a great short story; a better defense of individualism than any drivel Ayn Rand ever spewed out.
"Who Am I This Time?," "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog," "Welcome to the Monkey House," and "All the King's Horses" are fantastic stories as well. I picked this collection up again earlier this morning, and have already devoured the first four stories. I wouldn't be surprised if I finish another one or two before I leave for work in an hour.
So in case it was not already abundantly clear; I really like this book. And I tend to think other people will as well.
Welcome to the Monkey House has been a favorite book of mine for a long time. I may have inadvertently acquired this copy from an old girlfriend; in which case I would have to apologize to her for my theft. But I'm calling grandfather clause, and there's no way I'd give it back.
Some of these stories are fairly well known. "Harrison Bergeron," for example, is a story that gets taught in school occasionally. And it's a great short story; a better defense of individualism than any drivel Ayn Rand ever spewed out.
"Who Am I This Time?," "Thomas Edison's Shaggy Dog," "Welcome to the Monkey House," and "All the King's Horses" are fantastic stories as well. I picked this collection up again earlier this morning, and have already devoured the first four stories. I wouldn't be surprised if I finish another one or two before I leave for work in an hour.
So in case it was not already abundantly clear; I really like this book. And I tend to think other people will as well.
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