So it goes (Vonnegut Fave & Rave)

[dirtworship]

VONNEGUT: It will be a way of achieving what I've always wanted more than anything - something I could have had, if only I'd managed to get myself killed in the war.

INTERVIEWER: Which is - ?

VONNEGUT: The unqualified approval of my community.
(From this interview.)

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So we may or may not read Vonnegut as a classic in August. But as book loving citizens, I would love to hear some folks weigh in on ol' Kurt.

Have you always secretly hated him? Really loved a book no one else talks about? Read "Slaughter House Five" a million times?

For me, I'd have a hard time nailing it. Vonnegut was there right at the time I needed his wisdom and I've read them all (the novels) more than once. I've always been partial to "Sirens of Titan." Well, and "Jailbird." Well, and.......

I'd recommend his short stories, "Welcome to the Monkey House," to any one.
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Fnord

[JeffKamin]

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20035688,00.html?xid=email-ThisWeekend-20070419-5Things-Story5

John Irving on Vonnegut, a father figure to him

I've only read the three I named before, but I'll read more. I loved those three and they do remind me of a time and a place, a younger me, if you will.

[dirtworship]

Great interview. Homey and personal.

I always wonder about the kind of idea you bring up, recalling a younger time. Is an author less solid because he seems to be read mostly by high school and college kids (oops, um, "people")? Are his ideas less mature?

I started reading one I hadn't before, Hocus Pocus, published in 1990. And it has everything you'd expect: disjointed narrative, repeated phrases, consistent anti-war (and anti-technology) mentions, and general bemused misanthropy.

But I still enjoy it. Of the cuff, I would say that Vonnegut helped solidify my worldview in a way that was more literary and humorous than any political or social group. So reading him feels nostalgic, yet it also strums my most basic chords. If, after decades of experience, you still hold those thoughts, are they more true? Or merely unsloughed youth?
_________________
Fnord

[AEDewar]

I've always been partial to Cat's Cradle. Slaughterhouse Five was a little too time-jumping for my jr high brain to understand.