My memory of reading Timequake 15 years ago was that it was a disappointing, disjointed final novel for Vonnegut, so I wasn't looking forward to re-reading it that much. What a difference a changed head space can make. It's not even a pure novel but more like a wizened old man's greatest life lessons, beliefs, jokes, and tragedies distilled into a final love/hate letter to the world. There is also half a novel woven in that involves a "timequake" that rewinds time 10 years and everyone is forced to live those years over again in exactly the same way. That part is great too, but the book is a true treasure for the parts in which Vonnegut is just talking to the reader like a friend. Seemingly every page contains a striking and/or hilarious passage, and it is a more than worthy end cap to Vonnegut's incredible string of novels published between 1952 and 1997.
9.2/10
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