time warp

Solid story telling of the old fashioned kind, with plot, setting, heroes and conclusion. These stories were written between 1950 and 1968 are something of a time capsule of that fascinating era. When I first read them as a teenager in the mid 70's they were becoming cult classics. It is remarkable now to observe how dated and innocent they seem today.

I see a much greater continuity looking back on these stories with Clarke and Heinlein than I did at the time. Vonnegut majored in chemistry at Cornell University before joining the U.S. Army and serving in Europe. His heroes all manifest the 'can-do' mindset that so characterized America at mid-century.

Although his subject matter may have been controversial at the time, all of Vonnegut's stories are fundamentally hopeful, as if all the world needs is a bit of clear thinking to get straightened out. Oddly enough, for me that story that didn't work is the title piece, "Welcome to the Monkey House." Its use of non-metaphoric rape as an avenue of political and spiritual liberation has always been disturbing -- at least it was for a lot of us who read the book in the 70's, and may explain why this author is considered a guy's writer.

By and large though, I found his work has aged quite well, and I was left almost a bit nostalgic for this earlier and more innocent time. Andy