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A review by thomasindc
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
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.