December 28, 2014
Here's an example of an author who doesn't stick to the same themes time and again. This famous collection of Vonnegut stories are some of his earliest works, spanning from the very early 1950s to the early '60s. That's about the only common theme between them. Some are sci-fi dystopian, like my old favorite "Harrison Bergeron" or the title story. Some have political themes, some family themes, some are psychological. Not all of the stories were stellar, but they were all good. I'll give an overview of the stand-outs, though I highly recommend the whole collection.
"Who am I This Time?" and "Long Walk to Forever" are both sweet love stories, and compared to some of the more bitter stories, really show Vonnegut's versatility. "The Foster Portfolio" was an interesting story about a working class man who has found a perfect balance in his life, and his inheritance of hundreds of thousands of dollars threatens that. It's told from the perspective of his flabbergasted investment consultant, who only "gets" it after seeing what his client's interesting side job involves. That's a story I'd possibly use with students, and I wouldn't necessarily say that about all of them (though only because I work in a restrictive environment; the title story, for instance, would be entirely inappropriate).
I loved "New Dictionary," because I feel that Vonnegut expresses the views of what I call a "progressive linguist": someone who understands that language will and should evolve, and scoffs at language snobs. I wonder what Vonnegut would say about the way language is used online, or about sites like Urban Dictionary (prescriptive, I'd say).
"Next Door" was a brief psychological thriller. My favorite story of the whole collection was "More Stately Mansions." A woman obsessed with interior decorating swoops in on a new neighbor, hounding her to redo her own place. When they finally see this woman's house, it's a shithole...but she has filing cabinets full of ideas of what she'll do when they finally have the money. When her husband is able to surprise her with the home makeover of her dreams, her reaction is fascinating.
"The Euphio Question" was a sci-fi story about the discovery of a free source for synthetic happiness: radio waves from space. Question is, is there any good in it? The effects of it are compared to taking drugs.
"The Lie" is another teachable story, about a kid from a prestigious family who isn't academically smart enough to get into his father's alma mater, a prep school that his family practically founded. "D.P." is about a German orphan whose father was probably an American soldier, since the boy is mixed race. He meets a platoon of African American soldiers, convinced that the sergeant is his father. He probably isn't, but the boy steals the hearts of the men, and the sergeant promises to come back and adopt the little German boy.
As I said, all the stories are worth reading, but "Adam" tore me up. A young couple, both Holocaust survivors (the sole survivors of their families, I think), have a baby in a hospital in Chicago. Of course it's a momentous occasion, the first real chance to carry on the family name. And even though the people around him just see it as another thing that happened, this couple knows how big it is for them. So much pain and callousness in this world, and yet such a victory for these survivors.
I've only recently looked into the extent of Vonnegut's published works. Based on the quality of what little I've read so far., I'd almost think I couldn't go wrong reading anything by him. Vonnegut is one author I wish I'd picked up a long time ago.
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