A few couple months ago I read the book Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a relatively easy read. It was Vonnegut's first book, and it was published in 1952. I would highly recommend it. Here's a brief thematic synopsis:
Set in a "futuristic" society (futuristic for 1952), in which nearly all jobs have been replaced by machines, Player Piano is a social commentary on the effects of mechanization on society, workers, and managers. The society in the book has two very distinct classes: 1) the lower classes of people who used to do manual labor for a living, but whose jobs have been replaced with machines. Many of the middle-age people in this class have "retired" (which means they go to the bar and hang out with other retired folks). Young people in this class are forced to choose between joining the military or joining a civil service program that handles the manual labor projects (e.g. repairing potholes) that machines don't do. 2) the upper classes of people who are managers or engineers, who enjoy the privileges of wealth. People are sorted into these two classes based on their IQ.
Vonnegut's overall theme is that by replacing manual labor with machine labor, society became more efficient, but removed the dignity of manual labor. Also that in this society, people became increasing disassociated from each other and from the tangible world. At one point, the main character wants to buy a farm so he can work the farm and actually grow real plants, because he feels such a yearning for a connection to the land.
Dr. Paul Proteus is the main character. He is a promising young manager of one of the major manufacturing plants in the East. He starts the book as a great supporter of "the system". But by the end of the book, he realizes how the system has de-humanized them and how it does more harm than good. He becomes part of a revolution to try to over-throw the system.
In posts to follow, I'll be taking selected quotes from the text, giving them some context, and then discussing their significance. Hope you enjoy!
Keep reading!
Set in a "futuristic" society (futuristic for 1952), in which nearly all jobs have been replaced by machines, Player Piano is a social commentary on the effects of mechanization on society, workers, and managers. The society in the book has two very distinct classes: 1) the lower classes of people who used to do manual labor for a living, but whose jobs have been replaced with machines. Many of the middle-age people in this class have "retired" (which means they go to the bar and hang out with other retired folks). Young people in this class are forced to choose between joining the military or joining a civil service program that handles the manual labor projects (e.g. repairing potholes) that machines don't do. 2) the upper classes of people who are managers or engineers, who enjoy the privileges of wealth. People are sorted into these two classes based on their IQ.
Vonnegut's overall theme is that by replacing manual labor with machine labor, society became more efficient, but removed the dignity of manual labor. Also that in this society, people became increasing disassociated from each other and from the tangible world. At one point, the main character wants to buy a farm so he can work the farm and actually grow real plants, because he feels such a yearning for a connection to the land.
Dr. Paul Proteus is the main character. He is a promising young manager of one of the major manufacturing plants in the East. He starts the book as a great supporter of "the system". But by the end of the book, he realizes how the system has de-humanized them and how it does more harm than good. He becomes part of a revolution to try to over-throw the system.
In posts to follow, I'll be taking selected quotes from the text, giving them some context, and then discussing their significance. Hope you enjoy!
Keep reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment