I read this and my one regret is I finished it. It ended. It’s over. Now what? Just continue on as if nothing had happened? Consider my life choices, trying to figure out where I went wrong? I don’t know. There are few books that can do that to me. Why did I even read it? Of course if I knew how it would leave me I wouldn’t have. But I did, and having done, I’m left to getting on with my life. But it’s hard.
Kurt Vonnegut wrote a tale full of foreshadowing, but given the plot I guess he had to. It was full of woe, the only kind you can have in wartime. It was also full of pain, even after wartime. It had ennui, the kind you get after surviving a war and put back into society, but you’ve seen too much to ever really return, mentally. It had a happy ending, but as you read it you knew that it would. But that doesn’t stop it from being a page turner. I caught myself devouring the last few chapters, itching to see what would happen next. That was a mistake, because in my fevered desire to see what happens, I found it, and the book was done.
Vonnegut’s writing is a welcoming journey written specifically for you, the reader. Or in this case, me. Even with describing the tragic yet magnificent life of one Billy Pilgrim, you get the feeling that Vonnegut isn’t just writing a story as he’s welcomed you into his home and sat you by the fire to read to you. Perhaps that’s why I feel sad about finishing the book.
His is the kind of style I wish to emulate. Not to say I want to write like him. More like, to have a decent style of writing of my own. I find that with the books I’ve been reading lately the authors have their own style. It’s all well and good to follow the rules of writing. But really good books, and I mean the good ones, have a certain style that you relate to. No pretense, no flash, no stoic adhering to the rules. It’s natural, personal, and from a place inside the author that’s private. A number of authors I can list fall into this category. Besides Vonnegut, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin (my next review), Ken Kesey (a past review), and Harper Lee (although I didn’t like her story). There are others whose style stood out, like in Jordan Peele’s book Out There Screaming. The authors in that book all had a style, a way of creating stories that was different from each other. It’s one of the things I enjoyed.
So go out there and get this book! It’s a great read and a great story. Just do it already. But of course, going by the book, you already have.
Arid Testimony 