Book review: Timequake
by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on August 6th, 2008, 6:22 am | Arts
For fans of Kurt Vonnegut, this final novel is quite a treat. For people who like their novels to have a simple, easy to understand plot and sequence of events -- not so much.The premise of the novel is somewhat similar to "Slaughterhouse Five" -- extremely odd happenings with time. However, in this instance, the whole universe experiences the oddity of a timequake, instead of one man. And what is a timequake, you ask? It's an upheaval that sets time for all of the universe back ten years. Suddenly, everyone wakes up and finds themselves ten year younger... and with a full set of memories of the events that will happen again over the coming ten years. The real problem is that nothing can change in those extra ten years. not a single event or thought can happen differently. Not even a tiny moment of free will is allowed to anyone.
The book is written from the point of view of Vonnegut, looking back on that period of complete re-run after free will is re-established. His ideas on what went on in the minds of the victims of the timequake, and how they reacted to the sudden re-emergence of free will after ten years "on automatic pilot" are most interesting. The real hero of the book is the failed writer Kilgore Trout, a fellow who spent a lot of time hanging out around 155th St in Manhattan, creating weird science fiction stories and tossing them in the trash can outside a writer's group office there. His mind turns out to have been flexible enough to understand the danger of the sudden appearance of free will after ten years of mindless repetition. He springs into action and saves the world by creating and quickly spreading the mantra that helps everyone handle their sudden responsibility.
Spread throughout this simple and hard-to-fathom story are snippets of Vonnegut talking about his own life, and memories of his family. Not knowing much about the man's life, I can only assume that this was truly autobiographical material. Regardless, it is terrific reading in its own right. But being interlaced with the material of the life of Trout and the way the timequake affected the world around him... it was rather hard to get used to. But once you do get used to it, it becomes a book that is as hard as any Vonnegut book to put down. And it will be as hard to forget.
