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By Sam C.

Over the past month or so, I've had the pleasure of reading a Kurt Vonnegut classic, Player Piano. The characters weren't meant to jump off the page, but rather adapt to the dilemmas they faced over the course of a long period of time. My favorite character was obviously Paul Proteus because of how he handled his situation given the circumstances, but the most underrated has to be Reverend James J. Lasher simply because of how subtle his importance is to the story. Overall, the few characters in the story manage to make the story interesting without detracting from its edge. I also admire the title of the story, "Player Piano". It is a highly appropriate metaphor for how things once done by human are now being done by machines.

The story, though not entirely original, is intriguing and suspenseful enough to detract from said fact. It reminds me of 1984 or Animal Farm by George Orwell, but with far superior writing. While 1984 felt too bloated and takes way too long to get going, Player Piano has the proper formation of how to write a story that won't put you to sleep down-pat. Many a dystopia novel have been written in the past, but this one stands out because of Paul Proteus's conflict: to continue his work or become rich and famous. Since his dad is important to turning a human-run society to a machine-run society, this makes things all the more interesting for Paul. Thankfully, Vonnegut gets storytelling and has him revolt against the machine. After a long while of fighting from Paul, his wife Anita, Ed Finnerty and James Lasher, they ultimately fail in their task, but show the optimistic side of themselves by admitting that although they failed, at least they tried. This is a much better ending compared to 1984, where not only was there little effort in the rebellion, but the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. This ending is much better because you leave the book with a sense of closure instead of uncomfortableness.

8.5/10