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Since: Apr 17, 2007
Posts: 21
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(Msg. 1) Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:33 am
Post subject: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why?
Archived from groups: alt>books>kurt-vonnegut (more info?)
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100 words or less...
Just kidding. It just sounded like such a college lit question...
And while I"m at it, What is your least favorite Vonnegut book, and
why?
My fave is probably Slapstick, or Mother Night, or Breakfast With
Champions.. (Too hard to pick just one...) Although I appreciate Cat's
Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 and some of the "meatier" books, I seem to
prefer the less-meaty, more satirical ones. Mother Night is very dark,
and actually Breakfast and Slapstick are pretty dark, too, in their
subject matter. Maybe that's what I like about them, that very dark,
dry sense of humor, the dark subject matter.
My least favorite is "Hocus Pocus". Or maybe "Jailbird". I have to
re-read them both, because it occurs to me that maybe I just didn't
"get" them... They seemed to take a long time to set up, have too many
characters, or something... I'm just taking a shot in the dark, here,
really, because it was a long time ago that I read them (when they
came out, actually) so I don't really remember exactly WHY I didn't
like them that much... Which is why I should read them again.
If you can't pick a "favorite" book, then which one have you read the
most times?
I've read Slapstick 5 times, now, and Breakfast Of Champions 4 times
(6 times if you count the audio book read by Vonnegut, which I highly
recommend if you can find it; mine's on cassette tape). I've read
Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle each 3 times.
Palm Sunday and Fates Worse Than Death I've read several times each,
but kind of jumped around in them, so it's hard to say...
I'm just rambling now... Okay. Done. |
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External
Since: Dec 09, 2006
Posts: 15
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(Msg. 2) Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:41 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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<A.Nonimus.TakeThisOut@nospam.tv> wrote in message
news:81pb23d967jj23bt3eebb756jj735oft0l@4ax.com...
> 100 words or less...
> Just kidding. It just sounded like such a college lit question...
>
> And while I"m at it, What is your least favorite Vonnegut book, and
> why?
>
> My fave is probably Slapstick, or Mother Night, or Breakfast With
> Champions.. (Too hard to pick just one...) Although I appreciate Cat's
> Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 and some of the "meatier" books, I seem to
> prefer the less-meaty, more satirical ones. Mother Night is very dark,
> and actually Breakfast and Slapstick are pretty dark, too, in their
> subject matter. Maybe that's what I like about them, that very dark,
> dry sense of humor, the dark subject matter.
>
> My least favorite is "Hocus Pocus". Or maybe "Jailbird". I have to
> re-read them both, because it occurs to me that maybe I just didn't
> "get" them... They seemed to take a long time to set up, have too many
> characters, or something... I'm just taking a shot in the dark, here,
> really, because it was a long time ago that I read them (when they
> came out, actually) so I don't really remember exactly WHY I didn't
> like them that much... Which is why I should read them again.
>
> If you can't pick a "favorite" book, then which one have you read the
> most times?
> I've read Slapstick 5 times, now, and Breakfast Of Champions 4 times
> (6 times if you count the audio book read by Vonnegut, which I highly
> recommend if you can find it; mine's on cassette tape). I've read
> Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle each 3 times.
> Palm Sunday and Fates Worse Than Death I've read several times each,
> but kind of jumped around in them, so it's hard to say...
>
> I'm just rambling now... Okay. Done.
Galapagos. It's the quintessential distillation of his ideas in a pretty
good story, but it has a happy ending even with the death of humanity, or at
least most of it. It takes the really long view that his other stories
miss.
Technology is too depersonalizing, humans are too evolved for their own
good, and the planet will use the tried and true method of evolution to
solve the problem. Humanity, tragic as it can be, is only a temporary
condition. Nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience. So it
goes.
Too many people overlook or dismiss this book, but it's Vonnegut's best.
-- Dave
Read my latest astronomy column!
http://starry-starry-nights.blogspot.com/ |
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Since: Apr 18, 2007
Posts: 1
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(Msg. 3) Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:04 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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Dave Adalian wrote:
> Galapagos. It's the quintessential distillation of his ideas in a pretty
> good story, but it has a happy ending even with the death of humanity, or
> at
> least most of it. It takes the really long view that his other stories
> miss.
>
> Technology is too depersonalizing, humans are too evolved for their own
> good, and the planet will use the tried and true method of evolution to
> solve the problem. Humanity, tragic as it can be, is only a temporary
> condition. Nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience. So it
> goes.
>
> Too many people overlook or dismiss this book, but it's Vonnegut's best.
I agree! But I think it's a very very good story. I like the parallel
stories taking place. Have read it at least 10 times, must remember to
get a new copy, this one is getting rather worn out...
Most disappointing to me was the long awaited Timequake. >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 1
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(Msg. 4) Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 3:21 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:33:43 GMT, A.Nonimus RemoveThis @nospam.tv wrote:
>100 words or less...
>Just kidding. It just sounded like such a college lit question...
>
>And while I"m at it, What is your least favorite Vonnegut book, and
>why?
>
>My fave is probably Slapstick, or Mother Night, or Breakfast With
>Champions.. (Too hard to pick just one...) Although I appreciate Cat's
>Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 and some of the "meatier" books, I seem to
>prefer the less-meaty, more satirical ones. Mother Night is very dark,
>and actually Breakfast and Slapstick are pretty dark, too, in their
>subject matter. Maybe that's what I like about them, that very dark,
>dry sense of humor, the dark subject matter.
>
>My least favorite is "Hocus Pocus". Or maybe "Jailbird". I have to
>re-read them both, because it occurs to me that maybe I just didn't
>"get" them... They seemed to take a long time to set up, have too many
>characters, or something... I'm just taking a shot in the dark, here,
>really, because it was a long time ago that I read them (when they
>came out, actually) so I don't really remember exactly WHY I didn't
>like them that much... Which is why I should read them again.
>
>If you can't pick a "favorite" book, then which one have you read the
>most times?
>I've read Slapstick 5 times, now, and Breakfast Of Champions 4 times
>(6 times if you count the audio book read by Vonnegut, which I highly
>recommend if you can find it; mine's on cassette tape). I've read
>Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle each 3 times.
>Palm Sunday and Fates Worse Than Death I've read several times each,
>but kind of jumped around in them, so it's hard to say...
>
>I'm just rambling now... Okay. Done.
I fell in love with Breakfast of Champions the first time I read it
and have read it at least 1/2 dozen more times since. I think it was
written by Vonnegut at his peak and it always brings joy to me when I
think of snippets from the book.
RIP, Kurt! >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Apr 17, 2007
Posts: 21
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(Msg. 5) Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:49 am
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:41:02 GMT, "Dave Adalian"
<dave.adalian.RemoveThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
><A.Nonimus.RemoveThis@nospam.tv> wrote in message
>news:81pb23d967jj23bt3eebb756jj735oft0l@4ax.com...
>> 100 words or less...
>> Just kidding. It just sounded like such a college lit question...
>>
>> And while I"m at it, What is your least favorite Vonnegut book, and
>> why?
>>
>> My fave is probably Slapstick, or Mother Night, or Breakfast With
>> Champions.. (Too hard to pick just one...) Although I appreciate Cat's
>> Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 and some of the "meatier" books, I seem to
>> prefer the less-meaty, more satirical ones. Mother Night is very dark,
>> and actually Breakfast and Slapstick are pretty dark, too, in their
>> subject matter. Maybe that's what I like about them, that very dark,
>> dry sense of humor, the dark subject matter.
>>
>> My least favorite is "Hocus Pocus". Or maybe "Jailbird". I have to
>> re-read them both, because it occurs to me that maybe I just didn't
>> "get" them... They seemed to take a long time to set up, have too many
>> characters, or something... I'm just taking a shot in the dark, here,
>> really, because it was a long time ago that I read them (when they
>> came out, actually) so I don't really remember exactly WHY I didn't
>> like them that much... Which is why I should read them again.
>>
>> If you can't pick a "favorite" book, then which one have you read the
>> most times?
>> I've read Slapstick 5 times, now, and Breakfast Of Champions 4 times
>> (6 times if you count the audio book read by Vonnegut, which I highly
>> recommend if you can find it; mine's on cassette tape). I've read
>> Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle each 3 times.
>> Palm Sunday and Fates Worse Than Death I've read several times each,
>> but kind of jumped around in them, so it's hard to say...
>>
>> I'm just rambling now... Okay. Done.
>
>Galapagos. It's the quintessential distillation of his ideas in a pretty
>good story, but it has a happy ending even with the death of humanity, or at
>least most of it. It takes the really long view that his other stories
>miss.
>
>Technology is too depersonalizing, humans are too evolved for their own
>good, and the planet will use the tried and true method of evolution to
>solve the problem. Humanity, tragic as it can be, is only a temporary
>condition. Nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience. So it
>goes.
>
>Too many people overlook or dismiss this book, but it's Vonnegut's best.
>
>-- Dave
>
>Read my latest astronomy column!
>http://starry-starry-nights.blogspot.com/
>
I've read it twice (or three times?), and I love it, but will have to
read it again in light of what you say.
I always considered it less than great. Personally I like Mother
Night, God Bless You Mr. Goldwater, Breakfast of Champions, and
Slapstick the best.
But I will re-read Galapagos, soon, and re-evaluate it. >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Nov 10, 2005
Posts: 14
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(Msg. 6) Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 11:06 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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Dave Adalian wrote:
> <A.Nonimus.TakeThisOut@nospam.tv> wrote in message
> news:81pb23d967jj23bt3eebb756jj735oft0l@4ax.com...
>
>>100 words or less...
>>Just kidding. It just sounded like such a college lit question...
>>
>>And while I"m at it, What is your least favorite Vonnegut book, and
>>why?
>>
>>My fave is probably Slapstick, or Mother Night, or Breakfast With
>>Champions.. (Too hard to pick just one...) Although I appreciate Cat's
>>Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 and some of the "meatier" books, I seem to
>>prefer the less-meaty, more satirical ones. Mother Night is very dark,
>>and actually Breakfast and Slapstick are pretty dark, too, in their
>>subject matter. Maybe that's what I like about them, that very dark,
>>dry sense of humor, the dark subject matter.
>>
>>My least favorite is "Hocus Pocus". Or maybe "Jailbird". I have to
>>re-read them both, because it occurs to me that maybe I just didn't
>>"get" them... They seemed to take a long time to set up, have too many
>>characters, or something... I'm just taking a shot in the dark, here,
>>really, because it was a long time ago that I read them (when they
>>came out, actually) so I don't really remember exactly WHY I didn't
>>like them that much... Which is why I should read them again.
>>
>>If you can't pick a "favorite" book, then which one have you read the
>>most times?
>>I've read Slapstick 5 times, now, and Breakfast Of Champions 4 times
>>(6 times if you count the audio book read by Vonnegut, which I highly
>>recommend if you can find it; mine's on cassette tape). I've read
>>Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle each 3 times.
>>Palm Sunday and Fates Worse Than Death I've read several times each,
>>but kind of jumped around in them, so it's hard to say...
>>
>>I'm just rambling now... Okay. Done.
>
>
> Galapagos. It's the quintessential distillation of his ideas in a pretty
> good story, but it has a happy ending even with the death of humanity, or at
> least most of it. It takes the really long view that his other stories
> miss.
>
> Technology is too depersonalizing, humans are too evolved for their own
> good, and the planet will use the tried and true method of evolution to
> solve the problem. Humanity, tragic as it can be, is only a temporary
> condition. Nothing to worry about. Sorry for the inconvenience. So it
> goes.
>
> Too many people overlook or dismiss this book, but it's Vonnegut's best.
>
> -- Dave
>
> Read my latest astronomy column!
> http://starry-starry-nights.blogspot.com/
I agree with you in part. It's not his BEST in my estimation, but it's
ONE of his best, ranking right up there with my other favorites,
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS and SLAUGHTERHOUSE-5. It's a great book, with
all of the essential Vonnegut style, such as humor and the
interconnection between odd events. I'm saying that it ranks right up
there, and for some reason, people didn't appreciate it the same way we
did. He seemed to have regained his stride in this one.
On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that). But I
recently read E. L. Doctorow's THE MARCH, and it was some of his best
writing since RAGTIME. And the collection of short stories before that
-- SWEETLAND STORIES -- were absolutely brilliant examples of the finest
writing. I think Vonnegut became duller in his old age because he was
so badly out of shape. Too many cigarettes, maybe.
--
______________________________________________
Alric Knebel
http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Apr 17, 2007
Posts: 21
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(Msg. 7) Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:34 am
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:06:00 -0500, Alric Knebel
<alric@[cableone.net]> wrote:
>On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
>TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
> blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
>get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that).
I think you should read Timequake again some day.
I cannot remember well enough to rate it against his other novels,
right now, but I will say that I liked it MUCH better the 2nd time
through, and will definitely read it a 3rd time and probably more.
It's kind of an "insider's" book, imho, kind of tying a lot of stuff
together, repeating concepts and things, yet tying them all together
in a new and humorous way. I enjoyed it quite a bit the 2nd time
through. >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Apr 28, 2007
Posts: 1
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(Msg. 8) Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:49 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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A.Nonimus.RemoveThis@nospam.tv wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:06:00 -0500, Alric Knebel
> <alric@[cableone.net]> wrote:
>
>
>> On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
>> TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
>> blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
>> get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that).
>
> I think you should read Timequake again some day.
> I cannot remember well enough to rate it against his other novels,
> right now, but I will say that I liked it MUCH better the 2nd time
> through, and will definitely read it a 3rd time and probably more.
>
> It's kind of an "insider's" book, imho, kind of tying a lot of stuff
> together, repeating concepts and things, yet tying them all together
> in a new and humorous way. I enjoyed it quite a bit the 2nd time
> through.
Interesting....
I think Timequake is one of my favourites....
Love all that self-referential stuff!
Kilgore Trout running around shouting 'freewill, freewill!' was a superb
image...
Steve >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Jan 21, 2007
Posts: 3
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(Msg. 9) Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:58 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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In article <4iIYh.66700$aB1.2101@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk>, Man Mountain
<ploppy.DeleteThis@ploppy.net> wrote:
> A.Nonimus.DeleteThis@nospam.tv wrote:
> > On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:06:00 -0500, Alric Knebel
> > <alric@[cableone.net]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
> >> TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
> >> blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
> >> get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that).
> >
> > I think you should read Timequake again some day.
> > I cannot remember well enough to rate it against his other novels,
> > right now, but I will say that I liked it MUCH better the 2nd time
> > through, and will definitely read it a 3rd time and probably more.
> >
> > It's kind of an "insider's" book, imho, kind of tying a lot of stuff
> > together, repeating concepts and things, yet tying them all together
> > in a new and humorous way. I enjoyed it quite a bit the 2nd time
> > through.
> Interesting....
>
> I think Timequake is one of my favourites....
> Love all that self-referential stuff!
> Kilgore Trout running around shouting 'freewill, freewill!' was a superb
> image...
>
> Steve
I will always remember _Timequake_ for my favorite KV joke (or *ANY* joke)
of all time: the ballet dancer's possible descent down the stairway. I read
this episode from _Timequake_ while I was in a room awaiting a call for
possible jury duty. I, too "laughed like hell!"... which elicited plenty of
responses from folks looking at the book which made me laugh....
--
To reply offline, please remove "SpamErzByte"... Thanks! >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: Apr 14, 2007
Posts: 5
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(Msg. 10) Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:37 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 09:34:56 GMT, A.Nonimus.DeleteThis@nospam.tv wrote:
>On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:06:00 -0500, Alric Knebel
><alric@[cableone.net]> wrote:
>
>
>>On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
>>TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
>> blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
>>get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that).
>
>I think you should read Timequake again some day.
>I cannot remember well enough to rate it against his other novels,
>right now, but I will say that I liked it MUCH better the 2nd time
>through, and will definitely read it a 3rd time and probably more.
>
>It's kind of an "insider's" book, imho, kind of tying a lot of stuff
>together, repeating concepts and things, yet tying them all together
>in a new and humorous way. I enjoyed it quite a bit the 2nd time
>through.
I quite like Timequake although it is a rather odd novel, jumping as it does
from the story to Vonneguts own reminiscences. I think my favorite thing about
it is that it features Kilgore Trout so prominently. He's my favorite of KV's
characters. >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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Since: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1
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(Msg. 11) Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 7:04 pm
Post subject: Re: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Apr 30, 2:37 am, Phil P. <p....TakeThisOut@nospam.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 09:34:56 GMT, A.Noni....TakeThisOut@nospam.tv wrote:
> >On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 23:06:00 -0500, Alric Knebel
> ><alric@[cableone.net]> wrote:
>
> >>On the other hand, the really atrocious work was his last novel,
> >>TIMEQUAKE. It was so bad, I was angry. I read an interview in which he
> >> blamed his then-current literary flaws on his age. He said writers
> >>get dumber once they reach their 60s (or something like that).
>
> >I think you should read Timequake again some day.
> >I cannot remember well enough to rate it against his other novels,
> >right now, but I will say that I liked it MUCH better the 2nd time
> >through, and will definitely read it a 3rd time and probably more.
>
> >It's kind of an "insider's" book, imho, kind of tying a lot of stuff
> >together, repeating concepts and things, yet tying them all together
> >in a new and humorous way. I enjoyed it quite a bit the 2nd time
> >through.
>
> I quite like Timequake although it is a rather odd novel, jumping as it does
> from the story to Vonneguts own reminiscences. I think my favorite thing about
> it is that it features Kilgore Trout so prominently. He's my favorite of KV's
> characters.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Yes, who doesn't love Kilgore Trout?
Have you seen the tv special (check youtube) where a character plays
Trout through various novels?Mostly I recall Breakfast of Champions. I
think it was that book where he said , "I feel like I am a character
in a book written by someone who likes to write about someone who
suffers all the time!"
That cracked me up. I have felt like that at times, myself. >> Stay informed about: What is your favorite Vonnegut book and why? |
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