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Galapagos A Novel Delta Fiction Kurt Vonnegut 9780385333870 Books

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Galapagos A Novel Delta Fiction Kurt Vonnegut 9780385333870 Books

I'm a huge Vonnegut fan. In fact, one weekend I bought probably close to a dozen of his bizarre satirical novels on Amazon, one of which was Galapagos.

I chose to read this one because, as a student of anthropology and biology, I am very fascinated with the Galapagos islands myself. This book was not exactly what I expected, but of all the Vonnegut books I've read, I've retained more of the plot of Galapagos than almost any other Vonnegut book (besides Slaughterhouse-Five). What I love about Vonnegut's books is that he uses absurd, farfetched storytelling to illustrate fallacies of American culture and consumerism. Being very satirical and almost lewd at time, it's also very thoughtful and poignant. For this reason, when I read a Vonnegut novel I keep a pencil in handle to underline or circle certain selections that are especially observant.

Because I feel Slaughterhouse-Five is a stronger book—even if only just—I'm rating Galapagos as four stars despite my desire to give it all five. Perhaps my biggest justification for subtracting a star so as to keep it markedly below Slaughterhouse is due to the occasionally glacial pacing of the book. In short, the book is about a group of strangers who board a cruise ship that's destined to take them on nature cruise to the Galapagos; however, the ship doesn't even depart until almost three-quarters through the book because of all the backstory for each character and their interactions as they meet. In Vonnegut's defense, most interactions have a greater purpose, either contributing to the overall story or as a way to illustrate some satirical point Vonnegut is trying to make about American culture. While I can appreciate the deliberacy of his pacing, it doesn't make Galapagos the most exciting read. However, the latter part of the book somewhat redeems the slow start by containing some of Vonnegut's trademark surreal and bizarre storytelling. I won't give anything away, but that's mostly because you really need to read the book to appreciate the strangeness.

Of all Kurt Vonnegut's novels, Galapagos is definitely one of my favorites, up there with Slaughterhouse-Five, Sirens of Titan, and Breakfast of Champions. As always, it's full of Vonnegut's impeccable humor as well as both his subtle and not-so-subtle wit. Highly recommended.


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Galapagos A Novel Delta Fiction Kurt Vonnegut 9780385333870 Books Reviews

This is a book whose subject matter defies categorizing. Sci-Fi? Humor? Tragedy? All I know is it stayed with me for a long time and not necessarily in a good way. It had moments of humor threaded throughout the story which is told from two time perspectives some one million years apart. It also has pathos as the reality of what is about to happen dawns on the various characters. It hits the folly of human nature squarely on the head and thereby hits a little too close to home. If Vonnegut had axes to grind or points to make with this book it was to point out how humanity is self destructive without holding out a whole lot of hope except for a few accidentally exceptional individuals.
C'mon, it's Vonnegut, so it's great. He's a genre all his own. This story begins in 1986, but it's really amazing how much light it casts on 2016. The problem is those big brains that humans have. As Vonnegut points out, those big brains are the only things that have ever caused any problems on planet earth. Ever. The solution Vonnegut posits in Galapagos is that over a million years (and this is no spoiler -- he spells it out in the very beginning of the novel) human brains shrink to a size that they no longer have the ability to think up all that "I'm totally right and you're totally wrong" nonsense. Maybe he's right. Maybe the solution is one of physical devolution. I keep wondering, though, if perhaps there's a solution that's, shall we say, one of metaphysical evolution. If so, that might not take a million years.
Although, Slaughterhouse Five is still by far my favorite Vonnegut book, Galapagos is now right up there as a close second!

The circumstances surrounding the few survivors as humanity does itself in is just as intriguing as the results of the end of humanity as we know it. I love the imagination that went into describing the new humanity as a result of the next wave of evolution, Thought provoking and frightening to imagine something similar could happen at some point based on history and where we are today.
I'd have to say Vonnegut was running out of gas at this point in his life. It could reasonably be written in half the space it takes if 2/3 of the continual redundancies about "big brains" were eliminated. We got the point the first 150 times. Likewise the asides with Trout's ephemeral self-assessments--again, too many. Most of all, the "development" of the characters was uneven, repetitive in some cases and lacking in others. Just not that funny, too telegraphed and too despairing without a rational explanation about why the devolution of the human race happened. He told the reader it had happened within the first chapter and spends the rest of the novel somewhat fleshing out the characters that take us there.Disappointing from one of my favorite authors of long ago. I once wanted to write like him; but I don't have that dark a view of humanity anymore so I can't.
I'm a huge Vonnegut fan. In fact, one weekend I bought probably close to a dozen of his bizarre satirical novels on , one of which was Galapagos.

I chose to read this one because, as a student of anthropology and biology, I am very fascinated with the Galapagos islands myself. This book was not exactly what I expected, but of all the Vonnegut books I've read, I've retained more of the plot of Galapagos than almost any other Vonnegut book (besides Slaughterhouse-Five). What I love about Vonnegut's books is that he uses absurd, farfetched storytelling to illustrate fallacies of American culture and consumerism. Being very satirical and almost lewd at time, it's also very thoughtful and poignant. For this reason, when I read a Vonnegut novel I keep a pencil in handle to underline or circle certain selections that are especially observant.

Because I feel Slaughterhouse-Five is a stronger book—even if only just—I'm rating Galapagos as four stars despite my desire to give it all five. Perhaps my biggest justification for subtracting a star so as to keep it markedly below Slaughterhouse is due to the occasionally glacial pacing of the book. In short, the book is about a group of strangers who board a cruise ship that's destined to take them on nature cruise to the Galapagos; however, the ship doesn't even depart until almost three-quarters through the book because of all the backstory for each character and their interactions as they meet. In Vonnegut's defense, most interactions have a greater purpose, either contributing to the overall story or as a way to illustrate some satirical point Vonnegut is trying to make about American culture. While I can appreciate the deliberacy of his pacing, it doesn't make Galapagos the most exciting read. However, the latter part of the book somewhat redeems the slow start by containing some of Vonnegut's trademark surreal and bizarre storytelling. I won't give anything away, but that's mostly because you really need to read the book to appreciate the strangeness.

Of all Kurt Vonnegut's novels, Galapagos is definitely one of my favorites, up there with Slaughterhouse-Five, Sirens of Titan, and Breakfast of Champions. As always, it's full of Vonnegut's impeccable humor as well as both his subtle and not-so-subtle wit. Highly recommended.