Write a blurb for Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
Example Blurbs:
"Splendid art...a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears." Wilfrid Sheed, Life
"Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful...very Vonnegut" New York Times
"Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer...a zany but moral mad scientist." Time
"Unique...one of the writers who map our landscapes for us, who give names to the places we know best." Doris Lessing, The New York Times Book Review
"Our finest black-humorist....We laugh in self-defense." The Atlantic Monthly
"A laughing prophet of doom." New York Times
***
A good blurb captures the nature of the book and offers an opinion (implied or overt).
Some blurbs use figurative language (similes, analogies, metaphors).
Vonnegut is a "zany but moral mad scientist". Vonnegut "maps our landscapes for us." Reading Slaughterhouse-Five can feel like riding several rollercoaster at the same time.
Some blurbs use comparisons. "Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer." Slaughterhouse-Five makes one wonder what would happen if, first, one of Adam Sandler's absurdly incompetent characters took over Saving Private Ryan and then that story were put into a blender.
Some blurbs use paradox: "a funny book at which you are not permitted to laugh, a sad book without tears" "A laughing prophet of doom" "We laugh in self-defense"...
Some blurbs simply rely upon adjectives: "Very tough and very funny...sad and delightful..."
Have fun. Try more than one if you'd like.
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19 comments:
"A true tribute to the tralfamadorian style of writing"
"A journey through time and space....sort of "
"A witty satire on moral issues in society"
"Hilariously fast-paced..serious and ridiculous ...putting an absurd spin on history through Vonnegut's eyes."
"A satirical awakening of our historical souls"
"A force that unstucks a 'failure' "
"Vonnegut's honorable execution will conceptually challenge you"
“A dark tale with brilliantly complicated simplicity…Vonnegut undermines all of his readers’ minds as he turns absurdity into a believable reality."
“A playful narrative of an intriguing story…Vonnegut mixes foolishness with realism to create an account that should not go unread.”
"Vonnegut delivers a witty story of a young man unrestricted by the confines of time. Brilliant and fast-paced, Vonnegut manages to be playful while examining the absurdity of the human race."
"An immersion into the irrationality of the universe we nervously blind ourselves to...Billy Pilgrim's expertise in optometry can offer clarity into our own condition"
"Yesterday, tomorrow, the explosion of the universe, the demise of existence. Vonnegut cleaves us from the bounds of time and frees us to see implications of our own perspectives."
N. Frye
"The most successful 'failure' I have ever read...a truly Tralfamadorian novel, limited only by what language cannot say."
"An absurd depiction of tragedy... Vonnegut uses twisted humor to comment on the human condition in ways which evoke delight, uneasiness, and wonder simultaneously."
Molly A.
"Outrageously eye-opening... Vonnegut equips his readers with an absurd sense of reality and a newly formed outlook on birth, death, and the jumble in between."
Vonnegut's wry humor and witty style of writing make this interesting blend of literature, war, and comedy a must-read.
Prepare yourself for a journey between fiction and reality...a novel with an unflinching look at the condition of the human race...be prepared to laugh and cry.
"Anti-war at its best, with added humor!...The closest we're going to get to stopping a glacier"
"Poo-tee-weet, tweet tweet-poo-teeweet?
H. Ono
"The only anti-war book filled with aliens and side trips that goes so much deeper"
"Like Alice travels through a Wonderland of subtle symbols so will you through Slaughterhouse Five"
Revision
Vonnegut's "Billy" travels through a land of deep symbolism through twisted imagery. As does Carroll's "Alice" through Wonderland.
Vonnegut's use of a life time of imagination captured in just 215 pages...and not only just for a Tralfamadorian...stunning.
"An interesting anti-war work that questions our way of thinking and goes beyond it's intent."
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