Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage

Skip them, first a boring genealogy then how great he is and how many famous authors he knows before getting on with the real

Would I enjoy Kurt Vonnegut's books if i didn't know who Kurt Vonnegut was? Would the stories be as good, if I didn't know the sound of his voice? I like to think that the man comes thru the stories, that his soul is evident in the words on the page. It's true, i loved his fiction before i'd read about him. I loved his way of storytelling before i knew why he told the stories that way. the conversational tone of his words drew me in, his wit and honesty kept me there. but the more i read about his life, the more i listen to interviews and speeches, the more real kurt vonnegut becomes to me, the more i love him. This 'biography' is told with writings by other people, as well as writings by mr. vonnegut. it's as if you're spending the afternoon with him, listening to his stories and reading the works that compliment them. an inspired idea, pulled off without a hitch.

This volume is a time-capsule of information about Vonnegut's life, as revealed by Vonnegut himself. This book is timely information not only as a memorial to his life, but also as a source of insights about the nature of the world he lived in, specifically including the McCarthy red-baiting years, but the shadows of WWII. Anyone who isn't already familiar with the U.S. fire-bombing of Dresden should be required to read this book in order to get a fuller understanding of the full consequences of warfare. There are implications for current U.S. war efforts.

Palm Sunday is exactly what it is advertised - an autobiographical collage. KV tells his life story through bits and pieces of short stories, interviews, and ancestral writings. It gives you insight into his motivations from various points of view. The origins of all the plots of all his novels are revealed through him recounting his life experiences, the people he knew, the things he's seen. I feel as if all his novels I've read were clues in some elaborate murder mystery, and the long sought missing link has suddenly been revealed, and I now understand the butler did it.

Of interest to all Americans who feel rootless because we live in cities (see Spengler also) and because we are no longer hyphenated Americans. Vonnegut bemoans that his family, 'Indiana-Germans', lost the language and thereby passed none of the former culture on to him, leaving him (like the rest of us) at the mercy of football, basketball, TV, and shopping. Good and bad news for him, however: where the German language still survives after 150 years (central Texas ranchers, e.g.), it carries with it none of the German culture.Prerequisite for both 'Mother Night' und 'Schlachthof Funf'.

I just recently read, "Palm Sunday" and thought it was very, very good. I found it interesting, reading about Vonnegut's experience, and reading about other writers and his experiences with them. I recomend it to anyone.