Monday, January 07, 2008

The Galapagos | Kurt Vonnegut

Reading a book by Vonnegut is always an adventure; you never know what to expect. I'm going to sum up this novel in a line or two:

This book is about the near destruction of the human race due to their "very big brains" and the 1,000,000 year evolution of the species that follows.

I really should have been writing down quotes as I will not be able to do this novel justice without. The Galapagos was a hilarious (and accurate, IMO) take on the current world and of course, our inevitable decline. It's not all doom and gloom, but Vonnegut takes constant 'shots' of our society. I remember one part where he mentioned that human beings like to think of the most destructive thing they can do, insist on the fact that they will never do it in reality, and then do it anyway (ex: buildings intended solely for mass genocide).
Also making an appearance is Vonnegut's favourite character, unpopular science fiction writer "Kilgore Trout." I won't ruin how he enters the story, however.

So I realize this is rambling on and on and on and so on. If you have yet to read Vonnegut, then I suggest doing so immediately. For those of you who are as into Darwin and Natural Selection as I am, I would definitely read this book when you want a light moment to poke fun of the world. I haven't read "Slaughterhouse-Five" in a long time (his most acknowledged book), but I do think I enjoyed this read better. If I can look back, I'll find some quotes so you can appreciate his unique style and humour.

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Next book on tap is "Tess of the D'Ubervilles" by Thomas Hardy.

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