Scan barcode
cutcamera's review against another edition
2.0
What happens when most jobs are replaced by automation? Player Piano warns us of a different kind of dystopia -- one where everyone has food, and homes and material possessions, where technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, but also, where a divide has been created between those who can be replaced by machines and those who thrive. The novel does a great job of raising important questions about increased classism and job instability for displaced workers.
Certainly not my favorite Vonnegut book, but that seems to be the theme.
Certainly not my favorite Vonnegut book, but that seems to be the theme.
chammerdata's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
allan_p's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
stolee's review against another edition
4.0
Vonnegut's first novel lacks some of his signature style (for instance, it has a standard narrative device) but does not lack any of his wit and cynicism. His imagined America which is taken over by managers and engineers with no work left for the poorly-educated (i.e. no PhD!) masses leaves people with nothing to do and no hope. In one sense, this is the absolute opposite of "Atlas Shrugged."
The only part of this book that doesn't hold up is the technology involved in computers. Otherwise, everything is disturbingly accurate.
The only part of this book that doesn't hold up is the technology involved in computers. Otherwise, everything is disturbingly accurate.
littlephuton98's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
postnet's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
The Butlerian Jihad by Kurt Vonnegut!
The primary thematic elements of the book have aged like fine wine. Humanity has such a deep seated desire for progress, growth, and innovation we will remove the need for humans to that end.
On the other hand due to the time period it was written in the gender politics and presentation of female characters is lacking and has not aged nearly as gracefully.
I loved this book for what it says about humanity. The same reason I love almost ever Vonnegut novel. He presents polished mirror for ourselves to look at. Our flaws, our triumphs, how they intertwine, and why that complete mess of contradictions that we are is so beautiful and worth caring about.
This novel so accurately portrays the working experience even 70 years after its publication. The corporate charade, the pretending, the cast of characters found all over the corporate world are so pristinely represented in a way that you cant help but laugh at, even while rolling your eyes with exasperation.
With all that praise deservedly earned if you have read his other novels like i have its very obvious this was his first. There are elements of his writing style and humor that he mastered to a sharper edge in his later novels that are certainly here, but not as refined. It also has pacing issues in the middle. The beginning is rocking, the middle starts to drag and can feel aimless at times, and then everything happens all at once in the last ~80 pages.
Regardless, I really enjoyed this!
The primary thematic elements of the book have aged like fine wine. Humanity has such a deep seated desire for progress, growth, and innovation we will remove the need for humans to that end.
On the other hand due to the time period it was written in the gender politics and presentation of female characters is lacking and has not aged nearly as gracefully.
I loved this book for what it says about humanity. The same reason I love almost ever Vonnegut novel. He presents polished mirror for ourselves to look at. Our flaws, our triumphs, how they intertwine, and why that complete mess of contradictions that we are is so beautiful and worth caring about.
This novel so accurately portrays the working experience even 70 years after its publication. The corporate charade, the pretending, the cast of characters found all over the corporate world are so pristinely represented in a way that you cant help but laugh at, even while rolling your eyes with exasperation.
With all that praise deservedly earned if you have read his other novels like i have its very obvious this was his first. There are elements of his writing style and humor that he mastered to a sharper edge in his later novels that are certainly here, but not as refined. It also has pacing issues in the middle. The beginning is rocking, the middle starts to drag and can feel aimless at times, and then everything happens all at once in the last ~80 pages.
Regardless, I really enjoyed this!
garrettmajewski's review against another edition
5.0
A dystopian sci-fi novel written 70 years ago that is probably the closest to our reality out of anything else says a lot about how Vonnegut saw our society.
Interesting read and thought provoking themes that relate back to our current situation with the ever advancing technology and AI we are experiencing.
Interesting read and thought provoking themes that relate back to our current situation with the ever advancing technology and AI we are experiencing.
dmaurath's review against another edition
3.0
Vonnegut is prescient here. He tells of the social consequences of replacing labor without replacing meaning and purpose. Although told from the perspective of the 1950s where self-driving cars were too futuristic to even be dreamed, this aspect of the book is still relevant today. It's also one of the few reasons to read it.
The lesson here is plain: we must find something for people to do when their labor is replaced by machines, or now, AI. Unfortunately, this wasn't a lesson learned in the rust belt states and comes to explain the many deaths of despair in former manufacturing cities and towns. Maybe we'll do better with AI but I have my doubts.
Otherwise the book plods along two two separate but equally uneventful storylines about characters who are too stilted and unexplored to be liked. One storyline is about a visiting foreign religious leader that mostly serves as a simple plot device for exposition on various aspects of an automated society. We never learn the purpose of the visit or much about this leader.
The other more prominent storyline is about a leader of the ruling class whose motives are largely left unknown until they are thrust upon the reader in a forceful way with little foreshadowing or build up.
The pacing is way off. Nothing happens for 70% of the book (I counted) and then in the last 30% the reader is ripped through the plot without a moment to stop and think about what is happening. The characters also do not think. None of their motives make sense. The tone also shifts suddenly from a light satire on 1950s work culture to a tragedy and then ends with something like hope.
This is Vonnegut's first book and it shows. I am eager though to move on to his more mature works.
The lesson here is plain: we must find something for people to do when their labor is replaced by machines, or now, AI. Unfortunately, this wasn't a lesson learned in the rust belt states and comes to explain the many deaths of despair in former manufacturing cities and towns. Maybe we'll do better with AI but I have my doubts.
Otherwise the book plods along two two separate but equally uneventful storylines about characters who are too stilted and unexplored to be liked. One storyline is about a visiting foreign religious leader that mostly serves as a simple plot device for exposition on various aspects of an automated society. We never learn the purpose of the visit or much about this leader.
The other more prominent storyline is about a leader of the ruling class whose motives are largely left unknown until they are thrust upon the reader in a forceful way with little foreshadowing or build up.
The pacing is way off. Nothing happens for 70% of the book (I counted) and then in the last 30% the reader is ripped through the plot without a moment to stop and think about what is happening. The characters also do not think. None of their motives make sense. The tone also shifts suddenly from a light satire on 1950s work culture to a tragedy and then ends with something like hope.
This is Vonnegut's first book and it shows. I am eager though to move on to his more mature works.
thomasindc's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Probably closer to a very strong 3.5/5. I had a good time with this!
A lot to think about with it, as usual. Vonnegut’s satiric style is biting and anything but subtle, but when the writing is this good, who needs subtlety? The themes around the first industrial revolution devaluing muscle power and the second (ongoing in the book) devaluing brain power/know-how are fascinating to read today. In 1952, I imagine Vonnegut would have been thinking mainly of very early computation and then robots in automotive plants (as one example). 70some years later we’re well into that, and into the emergence of a technology that got its start back in the 50s and is now sort of blasting into popular knowledge. A lot of the discussions I have around AI are tinted with fear of how emerging technologies could replace people. The little scene where an Engineer invents a gizmo that puts him and all 71 of his counterparts out of their jobs hits pretty well in that context.
It’s interesting to see that, from the very beginning, Vonnegut uses outsiders as a way to poke and prod at assumptions and ask very pointed questions. The interludes with the Shah, while pretty well divorced from the main narrative of the story, are great vignettes of life and opportunities for Vonnegut to interrogate ideas.
I’m rating this as a three (or 3.5) because it didn’t really smack me upside the head with inspiration. It was a fun read with a lot of ideas that really haven’t aged a day. But, it won’t be an annual re-read like Slaughterhouse Five.
A lot to think about with it, as usual. Vonnegut’s satiric style is biting and anything but subtle, but when the writing is this good, who needs subtlety? The themes around the first industrial revolution devaluing muscle power and the second (ongoing in the book) devaluing brain power/know-how are fascinating to read today. In 1952, I imagine Vonnegut would have been thinking mainly of very early computation and then robots in automotive plants (as one example). 70some years later we’re well into that, and into the emergence of a technology that got its start back in the 50s and is now sort of blasting into popular knowledge. A lot of the discussions I have around AI are tinted with fear of how emerging technologies could replace people. The little scene where an Engineer invents a gizmo that puts him and all 71 of his counterparts out of their jobs hits pretty well in that context.
It’s interesting to see that, from the very beginning, Vonnegut uses outsiders as a way to poke and prod at assumptions and ask very pointed questions. The interludes with the Shah, while pretty well divorced from the main narrative of the story, are great vignettes of life and opportunities for Vonnegut to interrogate ideas.
I’m rating this as a three (or 3.5) because it didn’t really smack me upside the head with inspiration. It was a fun read with a lot of ideas that really haven’t aged a day. But, it won’t be an annual re-read like Slaughterhouse Five.