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VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Player Piano

0 votes

The Sirens of Titan

2 votes

Mother Night

4 votes

Cat's Cradle

4 votes

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

2 votes

Slaughterhouse-Five

6 votes

Breakfast of Champions

3 votes

Slapstick

0 votes

Jailbird

0 votes

Deadeye Dick

0 votes

Galapagos

1 votes

Bluebeard, The Autobiography Of Rabo Karabekian

1 votes

Hocus Pocus

0 votes

Timequake

0 votes

Vic Sage Aug 15 2011 09:49 AM Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Aug 15 2011 01:14 PM

PICK UP TO 3 of your faves -- ------------------------------ [the following was originally posted in "what are reading in 2011" thread] VONNEGUT annotated bibliography: Kurt Vonnegut had more of an impact on my adolescent self than any other writer i can recall. After my HS English teacher had us read CAT'S CRADLE, I ran through every other word he'd written to that point in a wide-eyed rush of excitement. This 20th century Twain offered a unique blend of satire, cynicism, anti-authoritarianism and a humanism that was sort of ruefully - dare i say - optimistic. And his punchy, pithy style, while structurally and narratively adventurous, was eminently readable, eschewing the kind of tortured or purely aesthetic prose i had no patience for. And to top it off, his stories often took the form of SF and fantasy, which was my preferred genre. It was as if someone had created in a lab a writer to speak directly to me. And he did. By the time i went to college, though, he had "set free" all those continuing characters i had grown to love, in his epic BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS, and his later output seemed like pale, lesser versions of his earlier works, and made no impact on me. After a while, i just avoided them. Movie adaptations of his work, while numerous, have been invariably unsuccessful (to lesser or greater degrees) since his work is so idiosyncratically about his authorial voice and tone, and his imaginative ideas, and much less about elements of narrative and character on which Hollywood films generally rely. [*]Player Piano (1952) - His 1st novel. i remember it as a somber Orwellian SF book, blending elements of 1984 and BRAVE NEW WORLD in attacking industrialization's effect on humanity. While i liked it, if this had been the first one I'd read, i probably wouldn't have gone on. [*]Sirens Of Titan (1959) [Hugo Award nomination] - a billion ideas float in this sort of rambling, good-natured alien invasion story. In retrospect, I can definitely see how a young Douglas Adams might have been influenced by it and become Vonnegut's successor as leading "humanist humorist" of his generation. [*]Canary in a Cathouse (1961) [Short story anthology] - Vonnegut sold a ton of short stories to periodicals in the 1950s and 60s. Most of this collection were later reprinted in the seminal MONKEY HOUSE collection. [*]Mother Night (1962) - This one took me by surprise. It wasn't SF or fantasy; it was his first WWII novel, and a devastating indictment about the nature of guilt (""We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be"). but as much as anything it was a story about storytelling, employing a range of meta-fiction techniques that called attention to the very processes of storytelling. And this was not some arbitrary self-conscious device; it was inherent to Vonnegut's theme of defining oneself through carefully constructed artifice, and then taking responsibility for that construct. This one just blew me away. The movie adaptation (1996, with Nick Nolte) doesn't really work -- it's tedious and too focused on narrative and character to capture the tone and themes of the book. [*]Cat's Cradle (1963) [Hugo award nominee] - This is where it started for me. I read it in Mr. McCarthy's Sci-Fi lit class in HS and never looked back. Satire, morality, cynicism, religion, SF, meta-fiction... its all there. Theodore Sturgeon described its storyline as "appalling, hilarious, shocking, and infuriating," and concluded that "this is an annoying book and you must read it. And you better take it lightly, because if you don't you'll go off weeping and shoot yourself." While i didn't shoot myself, i didn't take it lightly, either. [*]God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Or Pearls Before Swine (1965) - I found it an endearing little book, perhaps a bit too sentimental, which reverberated throughout his later books, including the presence of KILGORE TROUT, his SF Writer/alter-ego that popped up often as a "fiction suit" that Vonnegut donned to inject himself directly into his work. Noted SF writer Phillip Jose Farmer later wrote a book, VENUS ON THE HALF SHELL, under the pseudonym of "kilgore trout" that hilariously captured the fictional writer's tone, much to Vonnegut's reported consternation. I have a soft spot for this one, though i think it's a minor work. Interestingly, it was adapted as an off-Broadway musical by Howard Ashman & Alan Menken (their first collaboration, before LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS established them). [*]Welcome To The Monkey House (1968) [short story anthology] - This collection includes "Harrison Bergeron", a landmark story of libertarianism. I remember the book as being very hit-and-miss, but "Bergeron" is well worth reading, and was adapted as a Showtime movie in 1995. Also, the story "Who Am I This Time" was filmed in 1982 by Jonathan Demme, with Chris Walken and Susan Sarandon, and is worth a look. [*]Slaughterhouse-Five, Or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance With Death (1969) [nominated for Nebula and Hugo Awards] - This was Vonnegut's CATCH-22, an autobiographical account of his WWII POW experiences combined with an SF story about Billy Pilgrim, a man "unstuck" in time. It's his best known, most acclaimed, and most personal work of fiction. It's got all the Vonneguttian elements: meta-fictional devices, crossover characters, SF motifs, political satire, black humor mixed with a rueful almost Chekovian fatalisim ("and so it goes"). That schools are still banning it to this day speaks to its ongoing power and truth. The movie (1972, by George Roy Hill) is also probably the best filmed adaptation of his work (which is to damn it with the faintest of praise). [*]Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970) [Play] - This revision of his 1960 play, Penelope, was adapted as a screenplay for the film version (1971). I never read it or saw the play, but the movie sucks the big one. Ostensibly about pacifism, Rod Steiger sinks it like a stone. [*]Between Time and Timbuktu (1972) - [TV] This adaptation of various Vonnegut works is utterly incomprehensible, and not in a good way. [*]Breakfast Of Champions, Or Goodbye Blue Monday (1973) - Kilgore Trout takes center stage in this "Fin de siècle" sort of book, marking the end of his period of greatest work. At the end, Vonnegut, as narrator, sets Trout and his other ongoing characters "free", though some of them did turn up again in later books. Its a bizarre, funny, profound book that has stayed in my head for 35 years. I was going to read it again, but the 1999 film adaptation (with Bruce Willis and Albert Finney) so damaged my memory of it as to burn away any desire to revisit it. [*]Slapstick, Or Lonesome No More (1976) - Hi Ho. I remember finding it funny but inconsequential and somewhat disappointing, coming on the heels of one of his most monumental works, BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. It may be better than i remember, but the 1984 film version, however, is one of the worst ever. [*]Jailbird (1979) - A Watergate-style fictional memoir. I had no desire to read it. In Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage (1981), a non-fiction collection, Vonnegut graded his own works up to that point. He states that the grades "do not place me in literary history" and that he is comparing "myself with myself." His grades are as follows (with my own grade in parentheses): [indent]* Player Piano: B [C+] * The Sirens of Titan: A [B+] * Mother Night: A [A] * Cat's Cradle: A+ [A] * God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A [B ] * Slaughterhouse-Five: A+ [A+] * Welcome to the Monkey House: B- [C+] * Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D [F] * Breakfast of Champions: C [B+] * Slapstick: D [C] * Jailbird: A[/indent] His subsequent novels include: [*]Deadeye Dick (1982) - I didn't read it. [*]Galapagos (1985) - I read about half of it before hurling it out a window. [*]Bluebeard, The Autobiography Of Rabo Karabekian (1987) - I don't even remember this one coming out. Apparently it was pretty well received, so I probably will pick it up some day. [*]Hocus Pocus (1990) - I had a similar experience as with GALAPAGOS, getting only part of the way through it before rendering it airborne. [*]Timequake (1997) - his last novel; I sort of liked it. It combines fiction and non-fiction, and is (like his best works) a story about storytelling, and about humor in the face of doomed fatalism. Since then, there were numerous collections of short works published (fiction and non-fiction, reprints and unpublished works), some of which I read, most of which I did not. There have even been some works published after his death in 2007, but I can't face them. And I don't need to. A writer who knocked out a magnificent 7 of Player Piano, The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Cat's Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Breakfast of Champions in a 20 year span doesn't need to have ever written another word. That his subsequent 7 novels over the next 20 years were nowhere near as good does not diminish the accomplishment. And to those who want to pick his bones for later unpublished or reprinted work, have at it. As for me, I am content to have had him at his best when I needed him the most.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Aug 15 2011 10:03 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

It's been 10 years or more since I read KVJ. I read Slaughterhouse and Champions for the first time in high school and the rest up to the disappointing Hocus Pocus in my early 20s. His writing style appealed as much to me as the stories especially then. He didn't waste a single word in those later works, outrageously efficient.

sharpie Aug 15 2011 10:48 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I've read them all through Bluebeard. Most of them in my teens and twenties. After Slaughterhouse-5 he became too enamored of his cuteness but still was mostly worth reading. I went "Sirens of Titan" "Cat's Cradle" and "Slaughterhouse-5" as those were the three that affected me the most in first reading. Almost went with "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse" but some of the stories were far weaker than the rest. Went to see him give a talk once. He was very entertaining.

TheOldMole Aug 15 2011 10:56 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I'm the first vote for "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater." Had dinner with Vonnegut once.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Aug 15 2011 11:03 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

What'd you order? What'd he have?

Frayed Knot Aug 15 2011 11:10 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I too went through a HS phase of Vonnegutting but it's been so long since I've read anything at this point that I really couldn't cast an honest vote.

Willets Point Aug 15 2011 11:22 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

So you're all saying I really should've read Vonnegut when I was in high school?

TransMonk Aug 15 2011 12:13 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Frayed Knot wrote: I too went through a HS phase of Vonnegutting but it's been so long since I've read anything at this point that I really couldn't cast an honest vote. This.

Ceetar Aug 15 2011 12:21 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I read a couple of them 4-5 years ago. I was mildly entertained, but wasn't wowed or anything. There was some interesting stuff, but it felt too much like a chore to read it at times. I'm usually pretty good about remembering books, especially after a brief synopsis, but I don't remember enough of the handful I read to vote.

RealityChuck Aug 15 2011 12:49 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I reread Cat's Cradle a few years ago and it was even better than I remember. Mother Night is underrated. I didn't vote for it, but Player Piano was a favorite because it took place in a thinly-disguised Schenectady.

Vic Sage Aug 15 2011 12:57 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

but it felt too much like a chore to read it at times. a chore? really? I can understand saying that of Melville, Shakespeare, dickens... but Vonnegut? I don't think there was ever a more significant figure in the annals of literature who made a greater effort to be an easy read. Short chapters, short paragraphs, short sentences. Humor everywhere... pithy, entertaining. I can certainly understand not liking his work, but to call it a "chore"... what would be easier to read? a "Family Circle" cartoon? a milk carton?

Vic Sage Aug 15 2011 01:01 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

RealityChuck wrote: I reread Cat's Cradle a few years ago and it was even better than I remember. Mother Night is underrated. I didn't vote for it, but Player Piano was a favorite because it took place in a thinly-disguised Schenectady. Sage/Chuck similarity score = +1 (except any references to Schenectady should be thickly disguised, as a matter of course).

Ceetar Aug 15 2011 01:28 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Vic Sage wrote: but it felt too much like a chore to read it at times. a chore? really? I can understand saying that of Melville, Shakespeare, dickens... but Vonnegut? I don't think there was ever a more significant figure in the annals of literature who made a greater effort to be an easy read. Short chapters, short paragraphs, short sentences. Humor everywhere... pithy, entertaining. I can certainly understand not liking his work, but to call it a "chore"... what would be easier to read? a "Family Circle" cartoon? a milk carton? againn, i'm speaking on a 4 year old memory of the books that managed to leave very little imprint. I'm not talking about structure, but there were chunks I remember thinking "Would you just get on with it already?"

Fman99 Aug 15 2011 07:17 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Went with Rosewater, Titan and Mother Night. Could have easily chosen a half dozen others that I also enjoyed.

batmagadanleadoff Aug 16 2011 09:15 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

You guys keep this up and I might be tempted to actually finish the damn Cat's Cradle book.

Ceetar Aug 16 2011 09:37 AM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

batmagadanleadoff wrote: You guys keep this up and I might be tempted to actually finish the damn Cat's Cradle book. I might go back and read a Vonnegut something or other after I finish Song of Ice and Fire. He's a decent follow on Twitter though.

Fman99 Aug 16 2011 07:35 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Just started re-reading God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater on my Nook last night.

A Boy Named Seo Aug 17 2011 02:28 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I thought 'Galapagos' was cool & liked 'Timequake' a hell of a lot. The 're-run' and absence of free-will was great and I loved KV's first person rambling about his sister and cancer and whatever else he felt like rambling about whenever he felt like rambling. I think I shoulda voted 'Timequake' instead of 'Galapagos', eh. 'Slaughterhouse' and 'Brekky of Champs' were my other 2 picks. 'Bluebeard' is the only KV I didn't like at all.

MFS62 Aug 17 2011 09:26 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

I heard (must have been a radio interview, not tv) that he said that Slapstick was as close as he came to writing something autobiographical. I've never read it. For those of you who have, does that sound right? Later

Vic Sage Aug 17 2011 09:29 PM Re: VONNEGUT annotated bibliography

Just started re-reading God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater on my Nook last night. I might go back and read a Vonnegut something or other after I finish Song of Ice and Fire. You guys keep this up and I might be tempted to actually finish the damn Cat's Cradle book. my work here is done... Hi Ho.