- Paperback: 341 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (1 Mar 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385333781
- ISBN-13: 978-0385333788
- Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 1.9 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 143,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Player Piano
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a super computer and run completely by machines. His rebellion is a wildly funny, darkly satirical look at modern society.
From the Back Cover
World War Three is over, and llium, New York, is divided into three parts. In the north-west are the scientists, engineers and technocrats who struggle to run society, victims of an insane system of bureaucratised tyranny; in the north-east are the machines and computers which perform all routine manufacturing tasks; and in the south is the area known locally as Homestead, where almost all of the people live. Those with redundant or non-existent skills are forced into the Army or the Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps – known bitterly as the ‘Reeks and Wrecks’. Robbed of their work, they are deprived of everything that makes them dignified and human. But, underneath the surface, the impulse to rebellion seethes…
‘One of the best living American writers.’
GRAHAM GREENE
‘George Orwell, Dr Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer.’
TIME
‘One of the master alchemists of modern American fiction.’
SUNDAY TIMES
‘Kurt Vonnegut is the most unusual and attractive of contemporary satirists.’
FINANCIAL TIMES
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vonnegut's first novel and his best.,
By "syzygy1" (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Player Piano (Paperback)
Player Piano is in my opinion Kurt Vonnegut's finest novel and it beggars belief that it has been out of print for such a considerable length of time. I was lucky enough to find a second hand copy of it on Amazon and breezed through it in a couple of sittings; I hope you too can find a copy available.Set in the aftermath of World War Three it depicts brilliantly a world in which men are becoming obsolete, replaced by the machines they themselves have built, hence the title. The story follows Dr Paul Proteus, one of the scientific elite, as he becomes increasingly disillusioned with his life in a society which robs men of their dignity and any pride previously enjoyed by work. Despite enjoying the luxuries that come with being a member of the scientific elite, Proteus finds himself growing sympathetic towards the un-skilled and redundant masses that are forced into either military service or soul destroying works of reconstruction. This sympathy, along with the frustration he experiences as part of the corporate system which leads contradictorily to competition amongst its workers whilst attempting to foster a false co-operative spirit causes him to rebel against the system. Anyone who has been subjected to ‘team-building’ exercises in the work place will cringe at the horrors of ‘the Meadows’, a kind of corporate summer camp that Proteus has to endure, as well as many other episodes that remind one constantly of the situation many currently face in the workplace. Written in 1952, I find this to be one of the most prophetic novels I have come across. Do whatever you have to do to get a hold of a copy of Player Piano.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prophecy of gloom as mass automation dehumanises work,
By
This review is from: Player Piano (Paperback)
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel is set in a dystopian America of the future, where technology has made manual work obsolete. This society divides into the few technocrats and managers who devise and control the machines, and the masses. A semi-utopian ideal removes the need for work and provides the masses with all they physically need, but provides no hope - what service can they provide? For those outside the elite, their only work is the army or the "Reeks and Wrecks" (Reconstruction & Reclamation Corps), and even the army is not trusted with guns in an age where wars are fought by machines in foreign lands. Even the legal system has been automated, with machines that analyse data and precedent to pronounce judgement.
The book is centred on one character's struggle to find meaning within this society. Dr Paul Proteus is one of the elite, an engineer who manages one of the vast automated factories. But his state-controlled life provides material wealth and little satisfaction. The book follows his journey from elite to subversive in his search for meaning. Written around the same time as 1984, the book offers a similar view of the future with total state control of society, work and media. While lighter in tone than 1984, the messages are strikingly similar and the outcome similar. This book ends pessimistically, challenging the goals of constant development but highlighting the needs that drive them.
5.0 out of 5 stars
At least an equal to 1984 and Brave New World,
By Tom Page "tompagenet" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Player Piano (Kindle Edition)
Vonnegut's first novel introduces themes that appear in his later work. The book is short, fast-paced, very readable, but also unusual in style. There is irony and ennui from characters and a tremendous sense that, until a key juncture, the lead character is going through the motions.It's easy to compare the book to 1984, or more appropriately Brave New World. In some senses Player Piano's world is more ominous than 1984's: it is not that a government cruelly oppresses its citizens, but that it genuinely believes it is doing the right thing - a notion that many are happy to go along with. The insincerity and blandness of the character's relationships are darkly comic as well as being all too easy to relate to.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Classics
- Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction
- Books > Fiction > Literary Fiction
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
