Comments on: The Works of Kurt Vonnegut

By: ultrahedonist

ultrahedonist — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:25:31 +0000

my favourites are slaughterhouse five, cat’s cradle and, most passionately of all, sirens of titan. i have its line about a meaning of human life being to love whoever is around to be loved framed on my bedside table. and those moments are why i find vonnegut uplifting rather than depressing, because when someone who really gets how confusing and scary the world is comes out with stuff like that it actually seems meaningful and inspiring.
just finished player piano on a friend’s recommendation and found it nice enough but, like you say, a bit clunky and unsubtle..

By: John M. Sweeney

John M. Sweeney — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:43:32 +0000

Cat’s Cradle. That and Slaughterhouse Five were my seminal coming-of-age bibles. Then Monkey House, Sirens of Titan and all the good, old stuff. Woody Allen-esque. But Breakfast of Champions put me off Wheaties for decades and, to me, Mr. V. was never the same again.
Now I have a younger friend and we enjoy books and film. “Tinker, Tailor …” was our latest reading-screening. I told her Le Carre and KV were my two favorites and she said, “Oh, yeah, ‘Breakfast of Champions’ and all that foolishness.”
She is one of the most literate persons I’ve ever met. I’m thinking of suggesting SH5 for our next little project. Does anyone have a better idea? Especially for the book part. We sometimes do a book read only.
When I was young, KV was my writer’s soul. Then, I had many newspaper accounts to write and everything KV seemed ridiculously positive. Now, these books seem just a bit juvenile. It is me?
Which book should I re-read after 40 years? I really don’t want to re-read them all; I suppose after finishing Welcome to the Monkey House, I’ll re-read either SH5 or Cat’s Cradle.
Then, hopefully, I’ll be able to say to my friend, “This is Vonnegut. You’ll like it.”

By: Despina Efstathiou

Despina Efstathiou — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:47:02 +0000

I was introduced to Kurt Vonnegut at college where we had to read Slaughterhouse 5 and I fell in love with his writing. The second book I read was Timequake and I loved it! I don’t understand why nobody likes it! It’s not only tragic it’s funny too! But yes my favorite has to be still The Sirens of Titan. I recently finished reading it for the 3rd time and I just love it! Still have to read Slapstick.

By: MO

MO — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:59:12 +0000

My Top Three:
1. Breakfast of Champions (I like that you say it is written for an unknowing audience of children. I have always described it as being written for an audience from anothe planet. I also love scatology in literature).
2. Galapagos (the first KV I read. It changed my life)
3. Mohter Night (Fantastic novel and dare I say an even better movie…both are superb).
I have read and enjoyed other works, but I doubt any will ever creep into my top 3. Now how about a Galapagos film (I assume Nolte will be in there somewhere).

By: Sam Forsyth

Sam Forsyth — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:49:38 +0000

I’m reading Hocus Pocus right now. I’ve ready everything else already.
My Favorite is probably Sirens of Titan.

I actually really liked Slapstick. Never understood why it took soo much greif from everyone.

By: casey horner

casey horner — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:56:40 +0000

My vonnegut collection now consists of 26 of his books. I have read 19 of these thus far and just cannot figure out a favorite. Theres just something special about each of them, and I love them all for completely different reasons. But the books that made me respect this man the most were: Sirens of titan, mother night, deadeye dick, and Galapagos.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 05:14:21 +0000

Mother Night, the way that book deals with the self and personal identity is truly amazing. I’ve read a fair deal of Vonnegut but basically all in one summer binge which i still haven’t decided if that was a good thing or a not-so-good (not that reading KV at anytime isn’t good) to truly absorb each novel. I haven’t re-read slapstick, and it’s been a while since I read it but I remember that i liked it very much (especially the part of how the egyptians built the pyramids), seeing his personal grade shocked me a little, but i guess that just means its time to re-read it to confirm or deny my first impression.

By: Biz Opie

Biz Opie — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:28:32 +0000

“Sirens of Titan”

Hands down.

By: kendall

kendall — Thu, 10 May 2007 09:16:01 +0000

Cat’s Cradle is my favorite. I love the calypso’s, especially this one which I often quote:

Tiger got to hunt
Bird got to fly
Man got to sit and wonder why, why, why?

Tiger got to sleep
Bird got to land
Man got to tell himself he understand

As an atheist myself, this one rings very true. I also love the fact that the Book of Bokonan is proven to be only true holy book ever written because it opens with the verse, “All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies.”

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:13:37 +0000

George: Dang, I caught that from someone else’s tribute earlier and meant to fix it, but I forgot. It’s fixed now. It’s probably been 20 years since I read this one, so some of the details are a little fuzzy.

Oh, and thanks for the heads-up.