Book Review: Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
Slapstick, or Lonesome No More! is a science fiction novel written by American author Kurt Vonnegut. The book apparently was written in 1976 and depicts the author's views on loneliness.
This science fiction novel brilliantly captures the nature of the closeness Vonnegut had with his sister Alice, who died of cancer in 1958. Apparently, her husband had died in a train accident two days before her death. Kurt Vonnegut raised her children. He wrote this book after the death of his uncle. In Slapstick, Vonnegut imagines himself and his sister as these giants Wilbur and Eliza. The Swains are Neanderthaloid dizygotic twins (giants). The twins live in a huge mansion on an asteroid with apple trees. They have servants and spend their time reading and discussing. Wilbur and Eliza's genius is unparalleled when their minds are combined but they become idiotic when separated. They return to saying 'Duh' and 'Buh' to prove their stupidity. The twins spend their time reading: Wilbur reads out to Eliza as she can't read or write. The twins feel that they become ugly ducklings as separated individuals. Their parents are also ashamed of the twins.
The novel is in the form of an autobiography of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. Dr. Swain tells us that he lives in the ruins of the Empire State Building with his pregnant granddaughter, Melody Oriole-2 von Peterswald, and her lover, Isadore Raspberry-19 Cohen. Dr. Swain is a hideous man whose ugliness, along with that of his twin sister Eliza, led their parents to cut them off from modern society.
The siblings create, among other things, a plan to end loneliness in America by creating vast extended families. In the plan, all Americans would be provided with new middle names, made of the name of a random natural object paired with a random number between 1 and 20. Everyone with the same name would be cousins, and everyone with the same name and number would be siblings.
Eliza is still deemed retarded, and is sent to a mental institution. Wilbur however is sent to a prep school and eventually goes to Harvard University and earns a doctorate. Eliza gets out of the asylum and sues Wilbur to regain her wealth. When the twins meet again they realize their combined genius and create a manual for rearing kids. When Eliza dies tragically on her way to Mars, Wilbur wonders if he can go on without his twin.
Armed with the plan created with Eliza and the slogan, "Lonesome No More!," Dr. Wilbur Swain wins the election and becomes the President of the United States. Swain then explains the effects of the gravity effect and how the middle name assigned by the government unites the people. Hi Ho!
This was my first science fiction novel after a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has the signature Kurt Vonnegut style of writing in spurts. After Cat's Cradle, Slapstick was delightful.
This science fiction novel brilliantly captures the nature of the closeness Vonnegut had with his sister Alice, who died of cancer in 1958. Apparently, her husband had died in a train accident two days before her death. Kurt Vonnegut raised her children. He wrote this book after the death of his uncle. In Slapstick, Vonnegut imagines himself and his sister as these giants Wilbur and Eliza. The Swains are Neanderthaloid dizygotic twins (giants). The twins live in a huge mansion on an asteroid with apple trees. They have servants and spend their time reading and discussing. Wilbur and Eliza's genius is unparalleled when their minds are combined but they become idiotic when separated. They return to saying 'Duh' and 'Buh' to prove their stupidity. The twins spend their time reading: Wilbur reads out to Eliza as she can't read or write. The twins feel that they become ugly ducklings as separated individuals. Their parents are also ashamed of the twins.
The novel is in the form of an autobiography of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. Dr. Swain tells us that he lives in the ruins of the Empire State Building with his pregnant granddaughter, Melody Oriole-2 von Peterswald, and her lover, Isadore Raspberry-19 Cohen. Dr. Swain is a hideous man whose ugliness, along with that of his twin sister Eliza, led their parents to cut them off from modern society.
The siblings create, among other things, a plan to end loneliness in America by creating vast extended families. In the plan, all Americans would be provided with new middle names, made of the name of a random natural object paired with a random number between 1 and 20. Everyone with the same name would be cousins, and everyone with the same name and number would be siblings.
Eliza is still deemed retarded, and is sent to a mental institution. Wilbur however is sent to a prep school and eventually goes to Harvard University and earns a doctorate. Eliza gets out of the asylum and sues Wilbur to regain her wealth. When the twins meet again they realize their combined genius and create a manual for rearing kids. When Eliza dies tragically on her way to Mars, Wilbur wonders if he can go on without his twin.
Armed with the plan created with Eliza and the slogan, "Lonesome No More!," Dr. Wilbur Swain wins the election and becomes the President of the United States. Swain then explains the effects of the gravity effect and how the middle name assigned by the government unites the people. Hi Ho!
This was my first science fiction novel after a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has the signature Kurt Vonnegut style of writing in spurts. After Cat's Cradle, Slapstick was delightful.
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