Player Piano

“Man has survived Armageddon in order to enter the Eden of eternal peace, only to discover that everything he had looked forward to enjoying there, pride, dignity, self-respect, work worth doing, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.”

3/5 ⭐

Kurt Vonnegut’s first book tells the story of a man, Paul Proteus, who seems to have everything. Namely a job in a world in which machines have taken over almost all production, and decisions are made by a supercomputer.

The first outing by Vonnegut reads like a tame imitation of his later work. The usual biting wit, satire, and rebellion are there in spades, but the non-linear storytelling and surrealism are largely absent.

I had a hard time connecting with Paul, who seemed apathetic for too long, and when he finally does act, he acts blindly and foolishly. He was a character of weak motivations, tugged along by vague guilt or even boredom. I would have liked to follow Lasher or even Finnerty (characters who get into trouble much earlier and seemed to have more concrete reasons for acting—if equally unheroic).

The b-story with the Shah of Bratpuhr was odd, but in such a tame Vonnegut book I welcomed the detours. The book was made for me by the sobering final chapter. I will not spoil it, but it is the kind of scene that stuck with me days after I put down the book (it is a worthwhile read just for that).

Give this book a try for a simple, dystopian satire that doesn’t try anything too bold, but does what it sets out to do, and does it very well.

Some underline-worthy quotes:

“I’m going to get myself a uniform, so I’ll know what I think and stand for.”

“There must be virtue in imperfection, for Man is imperfect, and Man is the creation of God.”

“A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.”