4.35 stars

In Hocus Pocus, Vonnegut masterfully blends seriousness, emotional depth, humour, and absurdism while cataloging the life of the fictional Eugene Debs Hartke, a man whose life is similarly serious, emotional, humorous, and absurd.

Funnily enough, I was looking through my notes and found that I had bought Hocus Pocus almost a year and a half ago, the same time I bought Arthur Clarke’s (C. not K.) 2001: A Space Odyssey. What a coincidence, eh?

“Hocus Pocus” is an interesting title, given what the book is about. Of course, the absurd nature of Gene’s experiences both at home and in Vietnam are reflected in the titular phrase. (I.e. “What hocus pocus, how ridiculous the world has become; how ridiculous we are to be destroying it, causing all these problems.” Paraphrased.) The people who cause the hocus pocus are the people in charge, the ones who say things that even they don’t believe. The politicians and the Preachers.

As a side note, one of my favourite chapter was chapter 21 (135-37). It features a very interesting description of an experience one of Gene’s students had, which Gene compares to his feelings after coming back from the war. To suffer for your country and be greeted with silence. Really, chapters 17-25 (116-66) was my favourite section as a whole. As Pamela says, “‘Welcome to Vietnam’” (155).