Matt C. (mattc) -
A collection of older unpublished stories from the early part of Vonnegut's career. Perhaps there was no market for them 50+ years ago, but there is some very clever stuff here for us to enjoy.
Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction on + 813 more book reviews
These unpublished stories are a fitting tribute to one of our greatest writers. Unfortunately none of the stories are dated. Too bad! Why were they unpublished? Was he not satisfied with them? Were they recent, waiting to be submitted? (Am I starting to write like Jules Verne?) As an added highlight, the book is punctuated with many of the authors original illustrations: dated from 1993 to 2006. But dont look for any of his so far out you cant tell what it is sci-fi scenarios. These little gems are more in the vein of having been written for periodicals with a more sober clientele. All in all, this is vintage Vonnegut. Dont miss it!
T.E. W. (terez93) reviewed While Mortals Sleep: Unpublished Short Fiction on + 345 more book reviews
This was a very curious collection of Vonnegut-like short stories which have a shade of moral message in them. I'll read anything Vonnegut, but this wasn't really my favorite, perhaps because he takes a while to build a world before he implodes it in spectacular fashion. These plucky and capable, if often rather uninspired stories, were well worth a read, however. My favorite was the mama's boy obsessed with his model train setup, to the detriment of his poor wife, but mama takes action and solves the problem in spectacular fashion.
The foreword states that these were "early-career" stories, which differ from his later work, which needed to ripen and mature to reach the "darker, grimmer, more exasperated" tone characteristic of his numerous later novels. There is little of the delightful farce I've come to know and love in these shorts, but this collection is extremely valuable in terms of allowing readers to gauge the evolution of this genius writer's style, and how events in his life shaped the body of his work. Despite their brevity, however, they do herald some of the most well-known traits of KV's writing, specifically the critique of modernity, and, in particular, Americana: the traveling salesman who is obsessed with his own creation (a talking refrigerator robot: now THAT'S proper Vonnegut!), the man obsessed with his model trains, the tycoon obsessed with winning a Christmas light contest. KV's characters are deeply flawed, yet deeply human, and sometimes (rarely), even sympathetic.
The foreword states that these were "early-career" stories, which differ from his later work, which needed to ripen and mature to reach the "darker, grimmer, more exasperated" tone characteristic of his numerous later novels. There is little of the delightful farce I've come to know and love in these shorts, but this collection is extremely valuable in terms of allowing readers to gauge the evolution of this genius writer's style, and how events in his life shaped the body of his work. Despite their brevity, however, they do herald some of the most well-known traits of KV's writing, specifically the critique of modernity, and, in particular, Americana: the traveling salesman who is obsessed with his own creation (a talking refrigerator robot: now THAT'S proper Vonnegut!), the man obsessed with his model trains, the tycoon obsessed with winning a Christmas light contest. KV's characters are deeply flawed, yet deeply human, and sometimes (rarely), even sympathetic.
Rachel G. (roach808) -
Some great ones, some good ones, and as usual, a few really weird over-my-head ones.
I counted this for the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge 8. A book with a time of day in the title.
I counted this for the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge 8. A book with a time of day in the title.
