Reviews

Galapagos is probably my least favorite of the four Vonnegut novels I've read so far, but it's not a bad experience by any means. It's full of humor, environmental and societal commentary, and plenty of unique narrative decisions (such as setting the narration one million years in the future compared to the plot). The cyclical nature of the story was my biggest issue, as Vonnegut lays out pretty much every major event in the book before it happens. This is ideally to drill into the reader how small human errors can have massive butterfly effects later on, but some of the events are incredibly anticlimactic because they've been teased for hundreds of pages (like a certain shark attack). Other Vonnegut novels like Slaughterhouse and Cats Cradle do this as well but to a lesser extent. I'm not calling this book predictable by any means, but it's less unpredictable than any other novel in his bibliography.

Some of my favorite parts that I couldn't help bookmarking:

The Ecuadorian Navy exchange (115)

The poignant commentary related to current world events of: "This new explosive was regarded as a great boon to big-brained military scientists. As long as they killed people with conventional rather than nuclear weapons, they were praised as humanitarian statesmen." (146)

"...a living museum, a patch of what the area used to be before Europeans decreed that no plant or animal would be tolerated which was not tamed and edible by humankind." (222)

"Oh, well—he wasn't going to write Beethoven's Ninth Symphony anyway." (244)

On the life sustaining water spring on Santa Rosalia: "If the Captain had had any decent tools, crowbars and picks and shovels and so on, he surely would have found a way, in the name of science and progress, to clog the spring, or cause it to vomit the entire contents of the crater in only a week or two." (271)

rintalake's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

dariamoga's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

meissner's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.5

Kurt Vonnegut: The one man brave enough to ask, "Wouldn't life be better if we were all fur seals?" Genuinely, though, this book was an absolutely wonderful meditation on humanity, evolution, and birthright. From its wacky narration style to its distinct cast of characters, I loved every page. Couldn't recommend enough!

More...