captain's logue

Title: Bluebeard

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Year of Publication: 1987

I recently reread this book for a second time when I found it under my brother’s desk on the floor. (grr such disrespect to this book) The first time I read it I was around 11 so my appreciation of this book was almost non-existent never the less it is a great book.

Kurt Vonnegut just might be my favourite author. He has written 14 books and 9 short stories compilations. One thing I really like about his books is that he included a couple of characters into different stories. One example is Kilgore Trout a science fiction writer in both Breakfast of Champions and in Galapagos. One thing to note about Vonnegut is that he really did serve in the army. In several other stories he also had characters who served in a war. One final note about Kurt is that he passed away in 2007 at the age of 87.

Summary time (hehe get it, it sounds like the season.) So the story is written from the perspective of an autobiography written by Rabo Karabekian. In his book he talks about the past but is drawn to talking about the present when an interruption occurs from a widower who is staying with him. Her name is Circe Berman. She is not the only one staying in the house as a guest with Rabo, there is also Paul Slazinger a writer who severed in the army with him and his cook Allison White and her daughter Celeste. In the past there is his parents and his two ex wives Dorothy who had his two children, and Edith who when she died left him with her fortune and house. The last people I will mention are Dan Gregory and Marilee Kemp. The former is a master artist who apprenticed Rabo, and the latter is Dan’s mistress.  I don’t want to give to much more information on the plot so I would just say one final point. What Rabo is writing in his autobiography is mainly how he grew up poor and his apprenticeship with Dan and then joining the army. Then he writes about the post war and the events leading up to the present which he also writes about through the story.

In my opinion Kurt has manifested himself as the main character, Rabo Karabekian. For one they both have low self-worth and served in the army and saw mass death. The reason for me saying that about Kurt’s self-worth is that he tried to kill himself and the reason for him seeing the mass death is that he was at the bombing in Dresden. I am assuming here but I think that Kurt was underappreciated as a writer just like Rabo was as an artist. Another character that I liked was Dan Gregory or Gregorian as Rabo’s mother refers to him as. It was quite interesting to have a character who worshiped Mussolini.

I loved this book very much and I believe that you will too. I loved it for several reasons the first being the ties between the book and Kurt’s life. Like as I mentioned earlier they both served in the war and witnessed a mass killing during a war that was the goal was extinction of a race. I also liked how coincidences were weaved in through-out the book I don’t want to go into specifics because that might ruin it for you but one that was very funny was the man who tricked Rabo’s parents for almost all their money and near the end of the book a relative of this man has a connection to Rabo again. Finally, and you may not understand what I am talking about but the thing that is in the potato barn is quite poetic but you have to think back after you have read what is in there. Another thing I have to say is that after reading every Kurt Vonnegut book I have been content with everything and it also seems to send me into a thought provoking state which lasts for hours. His work is just so amazing so I am going to give it five super awesome stars. If you would like to buy Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut it is available at Amazon.ca
, Amazon.com
and Chapters along with Barnes & Noble