Book 35

Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut

Type: Fiction

My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I happened across this book in my public library's used bookstore where all hard and soft cover books are just $2. Some of the books are ex-library books and others are donations. Most of the books are in like-new condition. The library itself and this bookstore are a real treasure in the community.

What I liked about it: I initially felt like rating this book a 2-star as I really did not like the writing style. It seemed more like random thoughts and anecdotes thrown together than much of a story. However, upon further reflection, I upgraded it to a 3-star because there are some interesting themes throughout the book which are actually quite cleverly woven in.

The basic premise of the book is the timequake, a period of time when the universe stopped expanding and actually shrunk back 10 years requiring everyone to live those 10 years over again. However, everything that happened during the first 10 years happened again during the second 10 years. No one could change a single thing. It was as if everyone was on auto-pilot just going through the motions. For me, this elicited the following two questions: (1) How many people live their lives every day as if they are on auto-pilot? (2) What if we think we are living our lives the way we want to but there actually is no freewill and we cannot change anything that is already suppose to happen?

In chapter 6, there is a question, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?--every, every minute?" I do not think many people spend the time to realize how precious life is.

In chapter 10, Vonnegut tells us about his Uncle Alex, the Harvard-educated life insurance salesman who said, whenever life was good, "If this isn't nice, what is?" I do not think we remind ourselves how nice life is when it is actually happening.

In chapter 27, Vonnegut's alter-ego Kilgore Trout says, "The main thing about van Gogh and me is that he painted pictures that astonished him with their importance, even though nobody else thought they were worth a damn, and I write stories that astonish me, even though nobody else thinks they're worth a damn." This interested me as it seems that so many people do things based on how others will perceive them and not so much based on whether or not it will make them happy.

Finally, in chapter 57, Vonnegut simple states, "We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." Nice.