So starting off reading Breakfast of Champions after Slaughterhouse Five, I am getting a very different vibe. The beginning of the novel somewhat portrays Vonnegut as an accomplished writer who is finally indulging in writing what he really wants to write about. We’ve kind of been conjecturing Vonnegut’s intentions with this or that, trying to read into things from his other novels which aren’t so explicit. In this one, I don’t think he is holding back. He has a lot to say about American lifestyle and he is not afraid of who he is offending.
Is this merely a sign of Vonnegut’s maturity as a writer, or are there other issues at play? Perhaps in the sociological, historical, or political perspective.
He’s definitely not holding back on this one, although, at the beginning of the novel, some of his commentary seems a bit forced. One thing that struck me is he comments on overpopulation a lot, and this is around the time that people were really worrying about the ‘population bomb’ as a threat to humanity. That’s about all I got in terms of historical/political perspective. However, at the beginning of the book he says that it’s his 50th birthday present to himself, so I think that he probably said, ‘screw it, this is my birthday present to myself, so I’m not holding back. I’m going to write what I want to write.”
Also, because of success of Slaughterhouse Five I think that Kurt felt more comfortable writing his true feelings about certain issues and thought that those who like it will like it and those who wont wont. This novel is also different than the ones we’ve read because it centers in America, without any further science or technology really. This also gives Kurt the chance to be pretty open with the lives of an unsuccessful science fiction writer and a rich suburban man.
I’d agree with Karina. Seeing as his previous book were successful (and I’d assume people were reading them at his present time), I think Vonnegut just wanted to have fun with this book. I really don’t think he cared too much if it was well read or in any way politically correct. As alex said, he wanted to write something more for himself than anything else. Something he could look back and giggle to himself about. In the book he pokes fun at not only the American culture, but at himself as well. Which I think is hilarious.
I think that definitely Kurt has much more openly (blatantly) spoken his beliefs and opinions in this novel. I also think that by the time he wrote this book his following was strong enough to allow for this. I believe that, more so, his following was smart enough to have interpreted these opinions from his previous novels. Having read what we have so far this term, the only difference I find in the ideas being portrayed is that they are written down straight from the horses mouth in BoC, as opposed to being hidden and wrapped up in fictional prose in the other works.