Recently I have received a few emails from friends who wanted to know about my recent readings. It was news to me that some folks actually enjoyed and were influenced on the few very unprofessional book reviews I’ve posted. So here’s another one:
Galapagos- Kurt Vonnegut
It’s no secret that I am in love with Vonnegut’s writings. I’ve read a number of his works, both fiction and non-fiction, and have really just begun my journey through his mind. His humanistic viewpoints on the pros and cons of humanity are portrayed elegantly through knowledgeable observations, quick wit and lots of humor. Galapagos is no exception.
The story plays with the idea on what would happen if a small group of humans were separated for a million years on an island in the Galapagos chain. It has two parts: the getting there and the there. While the theory of Natural Selection has few holes in it’s logic, Vonnegut cleverly shows the role of chance and happenstance in the process in regards to human evolution. Not only freak occurrences, but the choices that people with “big brains” make throughout their lives.
The whole story is told from the viewpoint of the spirit of a man in the year 1,001,984. In 1984, depression and war thrust the human species into chaos, all the while to be blind sided by a virus that cripples their reproductive capabilities. Through his trademark style of simplistic detail and masterful storytelling, Vonnegut gives the history of how the human species survives.
It was a fun book and I recommend it. It started kinda slow, and you kept expecting some big thing to happen. But like actual evolution, events are rarely spectacular and take a million years to change.
