Bluebeard
The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988)
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Bluebeard
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Narrated by:
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Mark Bramhall
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By:
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Kurt Vonnegut
About this listen
Bluebeard, published in 1987, is Vonnegut's meditation on art, artists, surrealism, and disaster.
Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters) with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence. Vonnegut's intention here is not so much satirical (although the contemporary art scene would be easy enough to deconstruct), nor is it documentary (although Karabekian does carry elements of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko). Instead Vonnegut is using art for the same purpose he used science fiction clichés in Slaughterhouse-Five: as a filter through which he can illuminate the savagery, cruelty, and essentially comic misdirection of human existence.
Listeners will recognize familiar Vonnegut character types and archetypes as they drift in and out through the background; meanwhile Karabekian, betrayed and betrayer, sinks through a bottomless haze of recollection. Like most of Vonnegut's late works, this is both science fiction and cruel, contemporary realism at once, using science fiction as metaphor for human damage as well as failure to perceive.
Listeners will find that Vonnegut's protagonists can never really clarify for us whether they are ultimately unwitting victims or simple barbarians, leaving it up to the listener to determine in which genre this audiobook really fits, if any at all.
©1987 Kurt Vonnegut (P)2015 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Bluebeard
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-02-20
meh, not anything special.
interesting to see the topic of the armenian genocide being tackled. otherwise, no deep insights. i was looking forward to a criticism on abstract expressionism but nothing interesting was said about it
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Priestley
- 18-11-21
One of Kurt’s best.
Just finished listening, absolutely brilliant story and performance. Really thought provoking, excellent ending. Has to be up there with slaughter house 5.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 25-06-21
Magnificent
If I was forced to pick a favourite novel I think this might be it. I have read and listened to it several times and every time it leaves me smiling. I hadn’t heard this recording before but Mark Bramhall does a great job. It has a more conventional narrative than some Vonnegut’s books and I think it’s very accessible even to people who maybe haven’t liked everything that he did. It deals with interesting questions about art and life in general with a light touch and without telling you want to think. I have every intention of reading and listening to it again. A masterpiece.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Georgina
- 03-02-23
awful
I have no idea what this book was trying to be but whatever it was it failed to hit it's target
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