Armageddon in Retrospect

Kurt Vonnegut
Armageddon in Retrospect Cover

A companion volume to Slaughterhouse Five

Bormgans
9/26/2016
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Armageddon in Retrospect and Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace was published exactly one year after Kurt Junior Vonnegut's death on April 11, 2007. It's a diverse collection: a moving 10 page introduction by his son Mark, a horrifically blunt 3 page letter from Kurt to his family, dated May 29, 1945--written in Germany right after the war, a speech he was supposed to deliver on April 27, 2007 in Indianapolis, and--the bulk of the book--11 short stories, undated, ranging from 4 pages to 26 pages each. Armageddon In Retrospect is also illustrated by Vonnegut's characteristic drawings, often including text.

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The real value of this book aren't really the stories. They're good, don't get me wrong, and some are even excellent--Spoils is haunting in its short, brutal simplicity. But the real value is the introduction, the letter, the speech, Wailing Shall Be In All Streets and a few of the illustrations. Combined they provide a look at the tormented person that's behind the facade of witty satire. It's not that the tragedy doesn't shine through in his other writing--the facade is cracked, and translucent in places--but these texts provide a direct, unobstructed look.

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Please read the rest of this review on Weighing A Pig...

https://schicksalgemeinschaft.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/armageddon-in-retrospect-kurt-vonnegut-2008/