- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (16 Oct 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224036408
- ISBN-13: 978-0224036405
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 846,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Timequake (Kurt Vonnegut series)
and over one million 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? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Kurt Vonnegut wasn't too crazy about the first version of his latest (and, he says, last) book Timequake, which is part memoir, part rescued novel. As he writes in the introduction, "My great big fish, which stunk so, was entitled Timequake." The book was originally going to be about a cosmic rerun, where the whole world does one decade over again exactly as it did before. However, after a decade in a writer's block continuum, Vonnegut decided to jump ship and salvage what he could from the wreckage of "a novel that never wanted to be written." He "filleted" the big stinky sucker, took its best parts out and made a "stew", seasoning it with memories and personal anecdotes. Vonnegut's alter ego, Kilgore Trout, the science fiction writer from previous novels (Slaughterhouse Five, Galapagos, Breakfast of Champions), looks back on his life as well when he meets up with Vonnegut at a clambake after history has repeated itself. Both authors discuss the idea of paralyzed "free will", the loss of loved ones and why "being alive is a crock of shit". Although it's filled with Vonnegut's unmistakable sarcasm and quirky insights, Timequakeisn't a streamlined novel with a tightly bound plot and strictly directed characters. It's a loose, free-flowing farewell from one of America's most beloved voices in popular fiction.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"This is the indispensible Vonnegut."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"Wry and trenchant . . . highly entertaining."
--The New York Times Book Review
"His funniest book since Breakfast of Champions . . . There are nuggets of Vonnegutian wisdom throughout."
--Newsweek
"Timequake is a novel by, and starring, Kurt Vonnegut . . . What Vonnegut does, which no one can do better, is give a big postmodern shrug . . . You've got to love him."
--The Washington Post Book World
"Humorous, sardonic . . . Timequake makes for irresistible reading that's loaded with more important truths than it lets on . . . Moralizing has never been funnier."
--Chicago Sun-Times
"Vonnegut is at his best."
--Atlanta Journal & Constitution --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--San Francisco Chronicle
"Wry and trenchant . . . highly entertaining."
--The New York Times Book Review
"His funniest book since Breakfast of Champions . . . There are nuggets of Vonnegutian wisdom throughout."
--Newsweek
"Timequake is a novel by, and starring, Kurt Vonnegut . . . What Vonnegut does, which no one can do better, is give a big postmodern shrug . . . You've got to love him."
--The Washington Post Book World
"Humorous, sardonic . . . Timequake makes for irresistible reading that's loaded with more important truths than it lets on . . . Moralizing has never been funnier."
--Chicago Sun-Times
"Vonnegut is at his best."
--Atlanta Journal & Constitution --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Nearing the end of his life, and this probably his final novel, Vonnegut writes about his feelings as the twentieth century comes to a close. The civil rights movement and socialism have both failed to end human unhappiness, and the aspirations of Vonnegut's generation, those who fought in WW2, have been left largely unfulfilled. Yet despite this undercurrent of despair, Vonnegut presents us with a hotch-potch of brilliantly funny anecdotes from his life (eg. the ballet dancer and the bucket), which he arranges in his familar style around a science-fiction-style plot. This book is both laugh-out loud and inspirational - a must have for all Vonnegut readers.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's hard to give this book a star rating. I enjoyed it, it was funny at times, poignant at others. It had a melancholy edge to it, yet had Vonnegut's trademark bizareness.
A few chapters in, you realise that there isn't going to be much of a narrative. There is a story of sorts that is a central point around which the book hangs, but for the most part the premise is a way for Vonnegut to write about his life and the world as he knows it. Perhaps this is his way of writing a kind of autobiography. It reminded me of Douglas Coupland's Life After God, but good and less angsty. It's a very meditative book, it ambles around without much of a direction, but that's ok, because it's filled with brilliant pieces of wisdom. "Listen: we are here on earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different".
This is not a good book for Vonnegut newcomers. While I enjoyed it, it made me want to immediately go and re-read Breakfast of Champions, which I then realised was a much better book. I recommend readers start there and come to this one later. This is a good book and by most other author's standards might be approaching a masterpiece, but for Vonnegut it's more like a quiet coda to his more accomplished works.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I remember the first Vonnegut I ever read: Cat's Cradle, read in 8 hours on a flight from London to Dallas when I was 14. It was unlike anything I had ever read before or have read since, Vonnegut's other novels included. But this book brought back the excitement of that first discovery.
Timequake is, as far as I am concerned, his best novel. Touching, funny, surreal, quizzical, elegiac, dismissive, pointless, asinine, glorious, weird, wonderful. I've run out of adjectives. Let's hope he can think of some more before he snuffs it.
Incidentally, if you're worried Kurt will pop his clogs and you'll have nothing to read, may I highly recommend Bo Fowler who seems to be making a brave stab at taking over his mantle.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A poignant ending to a remarkable career
This is Vonnegut's last full novel- published a decade before his death- and I should emphasise what many reviewers have already said; this is not a Vonnegut novel for beginners. Read more
Published 3 months ago by B. Smith
A Fantastic Book- (once you realise there's not really a story!)
I put this book down about four times during the first couple a chapters as I thought it was terrible, but I kept on reading. I'm glad I did. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tom Hagan
Timequake of our times
Timequake is another of Kurt Vonnegut classics. The author is one of those who are either loved by their readership or leave the audience cold. I am one of his enthusiasts. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2009 by Ms. Ewa A. Maydell
Disappointing...
I'm a big Vonnegut fan, but this book was really disappointing. The idea was brilliant, and I was really looking forward to reading an interesting story, but there's hardly any... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2009 by anonymous
An elaborately packaged foreword (know what you pay for)
I bought this book because it was a hilarious premise, while it lay on the shelve, waiting for me to get time to start it, I started wondering how on earth Kurt could have... Read more
Published on 3 July 2008 by M. Ooijer
Great reflection on free will, but not a novel
A timequake is one of those ideas of genius that cannot be turned into a novel. What good is a story which main thread is to repeat what happened 10 years ago? Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2008 by F. X. Dessioux
Vonnegut in a timequake....
Kurt Vonnegut started out to write a book called 'Timequake'. He stopped this novel and ended up writing this version, which has excerpts from the original plus autobiographical... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2007 by P. Millar
Timequake None
When I first heard about this book, I have to say I was excited. I knew vaguely of Vonnegut as does everyone involved in literature and yet I'd read very little so when I finally... Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2007 by Mr. J. Russell
A culmination of vonnegut's amazing career.
All the skill and wit of his books is wondrously culminated in this most recent addition. Kilgore Trout, his favourite character, a science fiction writer, has the main role in... Read more
Published on 14 April 2003
Vonnegut signs out in great style
One of the truly great writers of the 20th century, has produced a fitting coda to his work. Vonnegut's message may be basically the same as 30 years ago, but the state of the... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2000
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
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.
