Apr 12
My favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut has passed away. I’m currently working my way through every novel he’s ever written. The things I’ve read are intend to read are listed below:
- Player Piano: Loved his take on what a society that no longer needs manual labor does with itself. It was a little slow to get going, which is uncharacteristic of most of his novels.
- The Sirens of Titan: This is a weird, weird book. There are a few themes here I like in the novel, but it’s not my favorite.
- Mother Night: The first book I ever read by him. Really good take on who you think you are versus how people around you think of you.
- Cat’s Cradle: Bokononism and Ice-9. A wonderfully strange bit of story.
- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: I loved his “Just be KIND” message. This book ask a lot of questions that seem funny, then you sort of wonder why no one else is saying the same thing about the world we live in today.
- Slaughterhouse-Five: I’ve read this multiple times. I love this book so much. If there was ONE book you have to read by Vonnegut, this is it. Superb.
- Breakfast of Champions: This book is very strange. A must for Kilgore Trout fans. He’s a character in a novel that finds out he’s a character in a novel. His one request, “Make me younger!”
- Slapstick: Wow. This book is really strange in a good way. Very different. I’ll have to read it again. The stuff about inclusiveness seems to parallel the rise of blog-cliques very well.
- Jailbird: I haven’t read it yet. I will purchase this on first sight.
- Deadeye Dick: Currently reading this.
- Galápagos: The human race evolves to live on the Galapagos islands as told by a ghost. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
- Bluebeard: Meh. Abstract impressionism isn’t my bag I guess.
- Hocus Pocus: I didn’t care for this story much.
- Timequake: It’s an interesting twist on the idea of “fate”. Watching yourself make mistakes that you’ve already made in the past but are powerless to prevent seems like a special sort of hell.
A wonderful mind has passed away. He is one of my biggest influences as a writer, and I find his work a joy to read. Even at his strangest, his stories teach about mankind and morals that I thought were provoking and challenging. I’ll miss him dearly.