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Topic: Kurt Vonnegut (Read 222 times)
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Ghey
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Kurt Vonnegut
« on: June 14, 2005, 05:30:32 pm »
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I just read Slaughterhouse Five, and I'm in love. Vonnegut's description of characters thoroughly amused me: "She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies. Men looked at her and wanted to fill her up with babies right away. She hadn't had even one baby yet. She used birth control."
Everyone told me that this book was the best introduction to his work, but not his best work. Has anyone read any other amazing Vonnegut novels?
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takasugi
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2005, 02:52:35 am »
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Kurt Vonnegut is one of my top three authors. I love his dark sense of humour - he's cynical but witty so that makes it funny.
I've enjoyed most of his works. Slaughterhouse Five tends to get the most recognition. Another good one is Breakfast of Champions - it's even got entertaining pictures, and you get to read about Kilgore Trout.
I also rather like Slapstick. It's kind of a weird book but man is it hilarious.
You could also try short stories of his in Welcome to the Monkey House. Epicaq is one of my favourite stories in there, with The Barnhouse Effect being a close second.
He's just great. I hope you'll read more of him. 
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PHF1138
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2005, 11:42:04 am »
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I LOVE KURT VONNEGUT!!! Tiff, you rock!  I haven't read many novels, but I have read a play and a few short stories - some of those are even weirder. The thing I love most about his writing is that's it's really satirical and a little frightening, but side-splittingly funny at the same time. There aren't a whole lot of people that can pull that off, y'know? (Neil Gaiman is another one, by the by - he's more into fantasy and horror than sci-fi though.)
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takasugi
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2005, 02:10:50 am »
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Neil Gaiman is not like Kurt Vonnegut though. Some things of his make me laugh but he's just...I don't know, Vonnegut has this richness to him and Gaiman is just kind of dark. Like dark but not satirical so much. I don't know, I don't really like the comparison of the two of them since I only like a few of Gaiman's things (Neverwhere's my favourite, which is funny because no one seems to like that one) and I adore Vonnegut. Have you read Mother Night? Talk about a strong book.
Gaiman just doesn't do that for me. Eh.
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PHF1138
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2005, 10:29:01 am »
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Hmm... I laugh out loud quite a lot at some of Neil's stuff. Have you read "Good Omens?" That's a great one. Not as dark as some of the others. (Neverwhere's my favorite too! I don't get the stigma either.)
*starts making a list of all the Vonnegut stuff I haven't read yet*
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takasugi
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2005, 03:33:58 pm »
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See, that's the thing: Good Omens is heavily Pratchett and very little Neil Gaiman. If you read Pratchett (I've read almost all his books now) as well as Neil Gaiman, you'll see what I mean. That isn't Neil Gaiman's humour, it's Pratchett's. Nearly everyone who reads that book says "oh wow, Neil Gaiman is so funny!" But I've read both authors (have just begun Stardust, my third Gaiman book so far) and I am telling you, what you're enjoying is Pratchett with some of Gaiman's angels and demons thrown in. That's how the styles seem to fit together. Gaiman is darker in his stories; Pratchett is witty and sharp. I like both for different reasons.
But on topic: Vonnegut is still alive, right? I don't remember anything new coming out since Timequake, and I didn't like that book as much. I'd really like to re-read God Bless You Mr. Rosewater. Or Sirens of Titan. Hooray for Malachi Constant.
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SamwiseTheBrave
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2006, 11:29:14 pm »
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I am bringing this back from the dead instead of starting a new one. Hope no one minds. 
Kurt Vonnegut is still very much alive. I do believe I saw him recently on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
I love this man. A Man Without a Country is a fantastic read. Everyone should read it!
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PHF1138
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2006, 07:10:20 pm »
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I've very excited because I just recently located a short story that I absolutely loved called "Harrison Bergeron." (sp?) It's from a collection called Welcome to the Monkey House and it's about a dystopian society in which everyone is "equal", but what that amounts to is everyone who would normally be better at something is taken down a notch in order to bring them down to mediocrity. Example: the newscaster has a stutter, a ballet dancer stumbles a lot, and anyone who's unusually smart has to have this thing in his/her ear that makes a really loud noise every few minutes so that they can't concentrate and have any groundbreakingly original thoughts. The title character is someone who tries to overturn all that. It's really great - it stuck out in my mind, but I couldn't find it or remember the name for the longest time. I'm really looking forward to reading it again!
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takasugi
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Re:Kurt Vonnegut
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2006, 09:10:43 pm »
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Oh yeah, I remember reading that in my ninth grade Humanities class. It's actually what first got me into reading Kurt Vonnegut! I think my favourite short story of his remains Epicaq though (however you spell it - I always mix up the q's placement). Something about a machine learning just enough to hurt that gets to me.
I think my favourite book of his right now is Slapstick.
Hi ho.
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