Talk:Player Piano

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I think the statement "technically science fiction" is suspect - basically it seems to be saying that science fiction doesn't cover characters or social themes. Good science fiction often does. Also "sci-fi" is a loaded phrase. This seems to be a repeat of the old mantra "this is literature, so it can't be science fiction, because that's trash"... Notinasnaid 07:24, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

There is now a link from the protagonist's name, Paul Proteus. It doesn't seem likely there will be an entry on him, so I propose removing the linking. Notinasnaid 09:35, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] In my opinion, Player Piano is one of Vonnegut's best

novels. On Amazon, the editorial reviewer essentially dismisses it as "sci fi." The review sounds as if he or she never read it. But the customer reviewers laud it and seem to have read it carefully. I propose a link to the Player Piano page on Amazon to get people more excited about the novel and help the cross fertilization of ideas. -Richard Peterson

Glad to hear you like the book; I sure did too. However, I don't think linking to the Amazon page will pass muster. It would be an endorsement of a specific online retailer, which in this community is generally a no-no. (We provide the ISBN number, which lets readers check for themselves if they're motivated enough to click the mouse a few times.) Anville 14:41, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] A couple edits needed about the characters?

A couple observations on the character bios which might need editing: Anita: "However, she can not bear children which hinders Paul from continuing his family's success and prestige through a child." Is this reasoning about hindering Paul ever mentioned explicitly in the novel? I agree that it may be implied, but I think it's probably the least important of the issues coming from Anita's inability to have children. From my perspective, this was related mostly to the fact that she thought she was pregnant (when she just had some disorder related to her barrenness), which ultimately led Paul to decide to marry her. This causes a resentment (more about the forced marriage than the lack of children) that shows up in the story. Also, the lack of children allows Paul to ignore many of the problems of having children (IQ testing in particular) until the time of the story, when he suddenly is confronted by a number of stories from parents distressed about their children, allowing the problems with the system to become more apparent to him.

Also, Kroner: "...and he even refers to his wife as "mother" when speaking of her to Paul. He's overtly sexist..." Actually _everyone_ calls Mrs. Kroner "Mom" (not "Mother"), and she refers to everyone as her "children" as well. Everyone uses the term freely when they speak to her (to her face), and she encourages it; it's not a sexist title to her. And Kroner is not anymore sexist than any of the other characters of the story. This was written in the 50s -- they go on an all-male company retreat (with "the women and children" in a separate facility), all the business talk is among men, etc. The society may be sexist, as is clear anytime the role of women in society is mentioned at all, but Kroner is not exceptional in this respect. Just my opinion.... Jzmckay 05:39, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree w/Jzmckay & took out the stuff about the family's "success and prestige" and instead said her apparent pregnancy caused their quick marriage.Rich 00:41, 24 August 2006 (UTC)