So one thing we never really got around to talking about from the novel was the phrase goodbye blue monday. Vonnegut explains the phrase in the novel, what do you think is the purpose of the phrase within the social context of the novel?
Tag Archives: Breakfast of Champions
Breakfast of Champions Film
So after reading the novel and watching the film, what are everyone’s thoughts?
The film most certainly takes a different direction than the novel. This may have to do with the narratology that comes with writing the novel; Vonnegut specifically wrote the novel not to have conventional structure, but the film seems to drastically tear his version of the story up. Is there a point to this or is it just another viewpoint that comes from a restricted medium i.e. film.
Relationships in Breakfast of Champions
In many of Vonnegut’s Novels, we see how he constructs relationships between characters through power, money, gender etc. This novel seems to be an attempt to get closer with “real” America. By presenting Midland City, a sort of Anywhere USA, he is trying to satirize and poke fun at real American problems involving these social relationships.
What are some good examples of this from the novel? We can look at the main characters, Kilgore Trout and Dwayne Hoover, or some of the secondary characters such as Francine, Harry, or even some of the characters in Kilgore’s meta-fictional novels.
Narratology in Breakfast of Champions
The way in which Vonnegut presents us with his story is very amusing. It’s very different from the ways in which conventional novel writing is done, and very different from his past works as well.
The drawings, in particular, can be poignant or redundant, clever or vulgar. You never know what you are going to get with Vonnegut, a constant Wild Card.
The other thing that really jumped out at me was the way his narrative voice talks to the audience. It is as though he is talking to a two year old. Could this be a product of Vonnegut’s cynical maturity that has him thinking everyone in America is a moron?
Why the patronizing tone? It seems a bit alienating. But maybe there is something else to this technique. Any ideas?
Breakfast of Champions: Kurt at his most cynical?
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.