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/lit/ - Literature

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File: 33 KB, 170x256, Kurt_Vonnegut_at_CWRU.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
551277 No.551277 [Reply] [Original]

Which Vonnegut books are worthwhile apart from SH5?
All of them?

>> No.551280

i personally love Sirens of Titan, Breakfast of Champions, Timequake, Galapagos, and Cat's Cradle (on top of Slaughter-House 5). all are God-tier listed

>> No.551279

Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, some would argue Siren of the Titans. Not necessarily in that order.

Avoid Deadeye Dick like the plague.

>> No.551281

Depends how much you like him. I'd recommend these books to anyone, though:

Cat's Cradle
Mother Night
Jailbird
The Sirens of Titan

>> No.551285

>>551281
I jizzed everywhere when I read Slaughterhouse 5, so I guess I like him quite a lot.
Are Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and The Sirens of Titan generally considered to be his best then?

>> No.551326

Vonnegut gave grades to his own books, and I think Cat's Cradle and SH5 were at the top.

>> No.551335

>>551285

If you jizzed everywhere you'll probably like most everything he's done. The only book I've ever thought was outright bad was Timequake. It's jam-packed with largely irrelevant digressions on random topics Vonnegut thinks you should read about with little insight and no real feeling. It's like sitting around and shooting the shit with the author, except you aren't allowed to respond.

>> No.551387

Depends if you're a college freshman. if so, then yes, all of them, if not, they're not for you.

>> No.551399

I am currently reading Galapagos, is my first novel from him, and I'm liking it, even if it's a translation to Spanish and not the original work

>> No.551402

>>551387
>implying you shouldn't be finished with Vonnegut by the end of high school

>> No.551442

>>551402
I really liked him when I first read him at the behest of my english teacher.

Really, it feels like intro stuff. Vonnegut never reaches any real satisfying conclusion and for the most part I felt like I was reading horoscopes or something, it means what you decide it means and the whole novel is him presenting things and connections.

At his best he weaves a very human tale, at worst hes a journalist.

>> No.551445

harry bergeron
harry bergeron
harry bergeron
harry bergeron

>> No.551451

>>551399


Niiiice, I'm currently reading this too. I like it so far. Already read Slaughterhouse 5, Cat's Cradle, etc.

>> No.551479

>>551442

Interesting. I mostly agree, however his style is what makes these books attractive. He randomly imparts his beliefs to you, and from reading of few of them you can tell that the author was a logical, peaceful man. His stories are amusing, wacky, and easy to relate to. Drawing your own conclusions is part of the fun.

>> No.551498

imo Kurt Vonnegut tries too hard to be like Mark Twain and fails.

You want good satire read Twain's Letters from the Earth or even some of Poe's more satirical short stories, not entry-level garbage like Slaughterhouse Five.

>> No.551503

cats cradle is my favorite Vonnegut and one of my favorite books period

>> No.551504

>>551498

>entry-level garbage

go back to /mu/

>> No.551507
File: 7 KB, 300x180, marenghi.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
551507

>>551479
Yes. This approach works. I also agree with the other anon, and was considering mentioning something about how important comedy or levity is to his writing.

I think what other people and myself tend to dismiss in Vonnegut is that while this is a viable approach, it is more hands-off than we'd like. I prefer authors who have a pointed agenda in their work. I can value and judge the quality of a work by the intensity or persuasions they execute towards their idea. I like being sold on things: good writing is one of those things. That's probably why I tend to dismiss Vonnegut.

"But that's just my opinion."

>> No.551511

>>551507
I kept reading that in Garth Marenghi's voice... ARGGHHH DAGLESS, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!

>> No.551515

>>551479
>logical

>peaceful

These are two words that only a drooling idiot would use in the same sentence

>> No.551525

>>551479
>Writing style is attractive
>randomly imparts his beliefs to you

Good literature should not be preachy.

>> No.551528

>>551515
I am going to re-word this and use it in my novel. I hope you didn't rip it from somewhere really famous I'd hate to look like a plagiarist.

>> No.551549
File: 23 KB, 288x254, Cordwainer_Smith_in_red_chair.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
551549

>>551525
I disagree. But I think there's room for both of us in the world.

>> No.551548

>>551528

your novels gonna suck coz youre a shitty writer and probably 15 years old

>> No.551551

>>551549
Who's that pencilnecked dork? He looks like his head's about to fall off his shoulders if the wind blows by....

>> No.551559
File: 24 KB, 300x368, cordwainer2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
551559

>>551551
U MAD?

>> No.551568

>>551549
he has a creeper face

>> No.551587

>>551515
HAH! get your head out of pop culture and read real philosophy, logic equates to peace in many ways, especially in ethics

>> No.551604

>>551587
>implying I pay attention to pop culture

>Reads Vonnegut and accuses OTHERS of being too deeply engrossed in pop culture

Also, explain why the more peaceful civilizations like the Amish and Tibetans are the least technologically advanced?

>> No.551617

>>551604
technology DOES NOT = logic.

Tibetans and Amish are quite LOGICAL in their morality and ethics, being quite the Utilitarians, helping the most and performing actions the benefit the most people. They use their rational brains to act in beneficial ways for their prospective societies. GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

>> No.551622

>>551617
>act in progressive ways for their respective societies

>isolationist
>don't believe in modern medicine
>progressive

Yeah, right, I get you on that.

>> No.551628

>>551617
Both of them also base their society entirely on fairy tales and superstitions. How is that logical?

>> No.551627

Not ALL of them
but the best:

Cat's Cradle
Breakfast of Champions
Slapstick
Jailbird
Player Piano
Godbless You Mr Rosewater
Mother Night
Deadeye Dick (my favorite)
Welcome To The Monkey-House
Bluebeard

>> No.551634

>>551335

Timequake is among my favorite Vonnegut books actually. I think it's hilarious. "Ting-a-ling mother fucker, ting-a-ling". It is very random and almost stream of consciousness though so it is easy to get diverted.

>> No.551638

>>551628
the point was that technology does not equate to logic, that logic can be used in ethics to provide peaceful relations

either troll or uneducated swine i give up on you.

>> No.552114

>>551628
You're a silly little boy and need to be spanked. Go back to /b/ and I'll join you there in a minute.

Meanwhile "logical" is used colloquially to mean activity strongly directed by deductive or inductive reason.

The impetus to action remains entirely unreasonable. "The heart has reasons that Reason knows nothing of." So premises are never "logical."

And you knew this.

Now...ready?

>> No.553550

>>551515
Uh oh! Make way for the INTERNET TOUGH GUY

>> No.553558

>>553550

Just because you don't believe peaceful = logical doesn't make you a tough guy, or even a wannabe tough guy for that matter.
That said, many martial arts, which are based around the idea of FIGHTING, are extremely logical in practice

>> No.553562

>>553550
Way to completely misread that post

>> No.553573

>>551277

Breakfast of Champions is /b/: The Novel. Read it.

>> No.553622

>>553562
He basically said peace and logic can never be reconciled. Such an assumption goes beyond drooling idiocy.

>> No.554255

Nobody said Hocus Pocus? I loved that book.