Welcome to the Monkey House: Stories
by Kurt Vonnegut

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Book Reviews of Welcome to the Monkey House: Stories

Book Review: Some sci-fi, some character study, but all Vonnegut
Summary: 5 Stars

The stories here that made his reputation as a sci-fi writer (a reputation that doesn't come close to covering his oeuvre) are startling in their originality and awe-inspiring in their execution. `Harrison Bergeron' is a quick drawing of a "utopian" society, where the strong and smart wear handicaps to level the playing field. Vonnegut manages to create a unique world, and then destroy it, while saying much about our world. I'm sure anyone who has seen the film version of this story wonders why they tried to stretch it out to an hour and a half, when all was already said in those seven pages. The title story is another futuristic utopia, where overpopulation has created the need for voluntary suicide clinics and a complete repression of sexual desire. It's a society ripe for rebellion, and that's just what it gets. `Unready to Wear' follows a society in which those who have learned to transcend their physical bodies are at odds with those who haven't. None of these tales follows any long, drawn out narrative. They all tend to make their point, quickly, and move on with other business. Vonnegut never gets lost in his creations, or bogged down in trying to make them sound credible. He has an incredible knack for simplicity within complex ideas.

There are other stories here besides the sci-fi tales. My favourite is `Miss Temptation', which shows us a small town, mesmerized by the daily walk up Main Street of a hermit-like woman of startling beauty. The twist near the end is heartbreaking, and manages to not only indict the characters in the story for their objectification, it indicts the reader as well. `More Stately Mansions' is a tale of modern suburbia, which says something about one woman's obsession with decorating, as well as all of our obsessions with `looking the part'. `All the King's Horses' is loaded with dramatic tension, as an American Army Colonel, captured by a Communist guerrilla chief during the Vietnam war, is forced to play chess using his battalion and his family as pieces. Any captured pieces are executed. Besides the tension of the game, Vonnegut manages to slip in some criticism of xenophobia.

These stories are just a few of my favourites. The book is filled with wonderful pieces, each of equal strength, all showcasing Vonnegut's early-career skills as a writer.

Summary of Welcome to the Monkey House: Stories

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