Player Piano
Yup. You read that correctly. This is Vonnegut's first novel.I read this book for book club. The theme was "P", so the book had to start with a letter "P". I was thrilled this book was chosen because Vonnegut makes me all kinds of happy. I love then society is looked at in such a satirical way that it seems ridiculous. I'm basing this off of my knowledge of his writing having read Slaughter-house Five and Cat's Cradle.
Vonnegut does an insane job of really driving home all of his themes. Almost to the point of being redundant and unnecessary, but still bordering on satirical and almost manic (in the best way possible). The world in this book does a really great job of showing a physical divide among the different classes, having living quarters in different parts and divided by water. You don't even need to look that closely to find that the themes Vonnegut is slamming home are still very much present in today's society. It could have been shorter, and I would have been fine. Nothing would have been lost in just cutting out a few sections.
His writing is comical, yet truly beautiful in the little things. I just tried typing out an example, but it definitely gives something away. I'll just leave it up to you to figure out.
My rating and why: I gave this book four stars. I read it and really enjoyed it. However, if this is to be your first attempt at Vonnegut, I do not recommend this one first. It is not his best work, his books only get better. Several things resonated with me and I'm sure I'll remember this one in a year or so.
