So it goes - The Kurt Vonnegut Discussion Thread.

I'm pretty sure there isn't one already.

I read Slaughterhouse 5, The Sirens of Titan, and Cat's Cradle. The thing I've noticed is there is connections between each book, such as a reference to Rumfoord in Cat's Cradle, and the alien from Tramalfadore in both Slaughterhouse 5 and The Sirens of Titan. Slaughterhouse 5 is my favorite so far. So it goes.

 

My favorite is Sirens of Titan and the Harmoniums and all that. But yes, Vonnegut does tie all his books together, and the name "Rumfoord" is used from Sirens of Titan on. He loves putting characters from old books into new ones. In fact, out of all the books I've read, the only character I HAVEN'T seen mentioned outside their own book is Billy Pilgrim. Hmmmm...maybe because it's a reflection on Vonnegut himself.

But the author shows up in every single one, Rumfoord does, he always mentions the wife from "Breakfast of Champions" and how she killed herself by drinking cleaning fluid or something like that...and the Tralfalmadorians also first showed up in Sirens Of Titan -- although they were slightly different because I believe they were more robotic aliens than they were in Slaughterhouse 5 -- my second favorite novel.

BTW, has anyone been able to get through TimeQuake? I read the first 5 chapters of it and couldn't figure out where the heck he was going so I quit.

 

I'd recommend Player piano and Hocus Pocus as good examples of Vonnegut's unique style.
Having said that my favourite remains Slaughterhouse 5, which is comic and tragic by turns. It veers between the inspired lunacy of aliens kidnapping a dentist in order to mate him with a gorgeous female, to the vivid description of the aftermath of the fire bombing of Dresden, which Vonnegut witnessed whilst serving in WW2.
I once read a Vonnegut book, more a collection of his essays and thoughts, the name of which escapes me, which went into a lot of biographical detail, about his mother's suicide, his own battle with depression, his thoughts on Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which helped give an insight into his writing and subject matter.

 

I've only read Cat's Cradle, but I absolutely adored it! And that was at the age of fourteen-- all young teenagers should be required to read it.

My school library also has Slaughterhouse 5. Is it as good as Cat's Cradle?

 

Yes it is.

 

Better than Cat's Cradle. I'm not a huge fan of Cat's Cradle. I felt there wasn't much of a climax. It was like...la la la...ice...la la. (yawn). I suggest Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan.

 

Slaughterhouse was okay but it didn't hold my interest. Cat's Cradle was fantastic. Sirens of Titan was fantastic. Player Piano was one of my favorites as a kid. I really enjoyed Breakfast of Champions, as well.

My advice is to check out any of those but to seek out his short story collections as well. Welcome to the Monkey House is a good one