Kurt Vonnegut and
Tim O’Brien share the same unique writing style yet their writing also sets
them apart. Their narration is personal yet casual. In a way, it is almost intimate as if Vonnegut and O’Brien
are sharing a secret to just you, the reader. Their writing allows the reader
to take a glance in their chaotic minds and it also reflects how we think.
There is really no
beginning or starting point in their literary work. You immediately dive in the
story and are welcomed in this wild world. In reality, that’s how most stories
are among people. For example,
when you’re among your friends and you are talking about what you did last
weekend, you don’t necessarily introduce your story with a proper opening or
formal beginning. On that note, in “How To Tell A True War Story” and Slaughterhouse-Five, the reader jumps
headfirst in the story. I also admire how casual Vonnegut and O’Brien’s writing
is. They tend to use informal vocabulary rather than ostentatious, pompous
words. It makes their work much more appealing because their writing style is
fresh.
Although Vonnegut
and O’Brien share the same writing style, they also happen to have a different
manner to approaching their readers. To elaborate further, Vonnegut writes
satirically. His writing reflects a dark humor that even in the most gruesome
scene, Vonnegut, without fail, manages to make his readers laugh. Whereas
O’Brien’s writing style reflects a bitter tone that borders on sardonic and
cynical. However, the one quality that they possess in their writing is that
they are not trying to glorify war. They are straightforward and frank.
They admit to
their readers that the story they are telling us may or may not be true,
therefore, we should be skeptical. They repeat themselves over and over but
only to tell the story in the truest of manners. They often go off on a tangent
and emphasize on a detail that they are transfixed on. All in all, Vonnegut and
O’Brien’s writing style is extraordinary and admirable. Sure you may have to
take their writing with a pinch of salt, but as Vonnegut oftentimes says, so it
goes.
I totally agree with you about their casual writing style. It makes those stories so much easier to read. They do not use many complicated and lengthy words. It helps a lot, especially when English is my second language. Reading takes very much longer when I have to stop and use the dictionary to find out the meaning(s) of the words.
ReplyDeleteO’Brien and Vonnegut do not see themselves as war heroes but rather victims of the war. Billy saw a war movie backward where the bombs went back to where they started, no one got hurt, and all the substances used to make them return to their original forms so “they would never hurt anybody ever again.” They never did want the war to happen nor did they volunteer to participate in the war.
You are spot on with your commentary on their style of writing. Nobody in the real world starts a story with a "once upon a time" and end with a "happily ever after" that’s not how it works. Just as no one has a linear thought process that goes from a logical sequence to the next. It’s true that the fact that it is so casual makes it easier to understand and makes it more personal. That style of writing makes the authors feel like our grandfathers telling us stories and not some random person locked in a room. I also believe that both Vonnegut and O’Brien use humor, albeit being dark and cynical, to alleviate the situation they witness without taking away the message they want to send: war is not the fairytale people like to think it is.
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