I too saw Kurt Vonnegut speak but about 17 years before you when I was steeped in his work -- I read all his books or in a short period of time, a phase, sort of pop-lit, Breakfast of Champions I forgot how mind-blowing I felt it was. Venus on a Half Shell by Kilgore Trout I really liked as well. He was my transition from Robert Heinlen to Jack Kerouac,. He also was a counter culture star in ways writers are no longer and in ways that by 1993 had petered out but was still a viable context when I was a teen. I don't pick him up often, I found his post heyday work like slapstick forgettable. but he is also a humorist, like a Mark Twain and I think somebody who doesn't know the work can appreciate that aspect regardless of age. Perhaps it's not so much the reader can only be a teen/young adult to best understand KV but that reading as a middle aged person what you loved in youth is a slippery slope. Nostalgia has a dark side, doesn't always reap the expected reward. Re-reading can reveal more about the reader than it does about text, which is why I stay away from Herman Hesse, whose oeuvre I consumed around the same time as KV.
Thanks a lot Timothy for the insightful comment as usual! I had always wanted to track down a copy of Kilgore Trout's novel, but never managed to find one, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it. Marc Vonneguts novel, The Eden Express, is really a bad trip into schizophrenia. And really quite odd now that I recall, was that he and his friends were attempting to set up a hippy commune, away from society, with goats. If I'm not mistaken, up around these BC parts of the world. It was strange when I came back to Canada and it felt like this country was stuck in a time warp. Nothing had changed from when I left in 2000, except that everything was a lot more expensive. But they were still playing the same god damn guitar music on the radio. North Americans love that rock and roll guitar sound. I had got used to the European techno sounds, and found going back to Canada to be like travelling 25 years into the past.
I MUST re-read this book! I read it so long ago and thought it was one of the strangest, and yet most fascinating, books I'd read up until that point in my life...I must have been in my 20's. Later in life, when I read about his struggles during the war and how that truly informed his writing, well, it makes me want to now go back and re-read this one, Mother Night and Cat's Cradle. But, you may very well be right...these books might be most enjoyed when one is young. I have this book on my TBR at all time and still haven't made it to my re-read. So many books, so little life. I hope you are well, Grant! Given the disgusting nature of politics in my country and what almost happened last night with our nominee, I'm wanting to bury myself in a pile of books and never re-enter normal life. I feel very sad today. But the good news is, I'm starting a Steinbeck novel and he's always so uplifting! lol. I think he's a fantastic writer, but he rips my little heart out each time.
Hello Nikki, thanks for writing! I think Mother Night still might be good to read. And I would hope that Cat's Cradle is also one to go back to. I had forgotten how 'what a silly old man I am' Vonnegut can be. But I don't think he kept using the same phrase over and over again (so it goes), to the point where I wanted to tear the book in half, in any of his other novels. I hope life in America is calmer than it seems in the media these days. I through George W. in 2000 was bad, but this is really going to some unprecedented extremes. Good call with the Steinbeck, he always made me feel good. I would also like to go back and revisit Tortilla Flat and Canary Row, but I'm a bit worried they might not be as good as I remember them Hope you are doing well Nikki!
Mother night was quite good, if I am remembering well. I think the moral was, 'Be careful what you pretend to be, because you might end up being the thing you pretend to be.' Which I thought was an interesting idea that has really stuck with me over the years. Perhaps it has something to do with the way we see ourselves, compared to how others see us. I would read Mother Night again, but I think it will be a while before I go back to Vonnegut again.
@@grantlovesbooks Hope my reaction to your stories was okay. It isn't easy to write something like that in a foreign language. Overall good stories, liked them very much.
@@the3rdpillblog934 Hello, sorry I haven't responded for a while. Things have been busy at school and it was my birthday so my Facebook got bombarded with friendly messages and happy greetings. I liked what you wrote about my stories. I hope you are doing well. It's been a little hard recently to stay on top of everything.
I've got to be honest with my opinions, or I'll have to change the name of the RUclips channel. "Grantrecommendsbookbecauseeveryoneagreestheyaregreat." It just isn't as spunky as Grantlovesbooks.
I too saw Kurt Vonnegut speak but about 17 years before you when I was steeped in his work -- I read all his books or in a short period of time, a phase, sort of pop-lit, Breakfast of Champions I forgot how mind-blowing I felt it was. Venus on a Half Shell by Kilgore Trout I really liked as well. He was my transition from Robert Heinlen to Jack Kerouac,. He also was a counter culture star in ways writers are no longer and in ways that by 1993 had petered out but was still a viable context when I was a teen. I don't pick him up often, I found his post heyday work like slapstick forgettable. but he is also a humorist, like a Mark Twain and I think somebody who doesn't know the work can appreciate that aspect regardless of age. Perhaps it's not so much the reader can only be a teen/young adult to best understand KV but that reading as a middle aged person what you loved in youth is a slippery slope. Nostalgia has a dark side, doesn't always reap the expected reward. Re-reading can reveal more about the reader than it does about text, which is why I stay away from Herman Hesse, whose oeuvre I consumed around the same time as KV.
Thanks a lot Timothy for the insightful comment as usual!
I had always wanted to track down a copy of Kilgore Trout's novel, but never managed to find one, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Marc Vonneguts novel, The Eden Express, is really a bad trip into schizophrenia. And really quite odd now that I recall, was that he and his friends were attempting to set up a hippy commune, away from society, with goats. If I'm not mistaken, up around these BC parts of the world.
It was strange when I came back to Canada and it felt like this country was stuck in a time warp. Nothing had changed from when I left in 2000, except that everything was a lot more expensive. But they were still playing the same god damn guitar music on the radio. North Americans love that rock and roll guitar sound. I had got used to the European techno sounds, and found going back to Canada to be like travelling 25 years into the past.
I MUST re-read this book! I read it so long ago and thought it was one of the strangest, and yet most fascinating, books I'd read up until that point in my life...I must have been in my 20's. Later in life, when I read about his struggles during the war and how that truly informed his writing, well, it makes me want to now go back and re-read this one, Mother Night and Cat's Cradle. But, you may very well be right...these books might be most enjoyed when one is young. I have this book on my TBR at all time and still haven't made it to my re-read. So many books, so little life. I hope you are well, Grant! Given the disgusting nature of politics in my country and what almost happened last night with our nominee, I'm wanting to bury myself in a pile of books and never re-enter normal life. I feel very sad today. But the good news is, I'm starting a Steinbeck novel and he's always so uplifting! lol. I think he's a fantastic writer, but he rips my little heart out each time.
Hello Nikki, thanks for writing! I think Mother Night still might be good to read. And I would hope that Cat's Cradle is also one to go back to. I had forgotten how 'what a silly old man I am' Vonnegut can be. But I don't think he kept using the same phrase over and over again (so it goes), to the point where I wanted to tear the book in half, in any of his other novels.
I hope life in America is calmer than it seems in the media these days. I through George W. in 2000 was bad, but this is really going to some unprecedented extremes.
Good call with the Steinbeck, he always made me feel good. I would also like to go back and revisit Tortilla Flat and Canary Row, but I'm a bit worried they might not be as good as I remember them
Hope you are doing well Nikki!
I loved Mother Night. Maybe even more than Slaughterhouse 5. But it is a looooong time since I've read his novels.
So it goes.
Mother night was quite good, if I am remembering well. I think the moral was, 'Be careful what you pretend to be, because you might end up being the thing you pretend to be.' Which I thought was an interesting idea that has really stuck with me over the years.
Perhaps it has something to do with the way we see ourselves, compared to how others see us.
I would read Mother Night again, but I think it will be a while before I go back to Vonnegut again.
@@grantlovesbooks Hope my reaction to your stories was okay. It isn't easy to write something like that in a foreign language. Overall good stories, liked them very much.
@@the3rdpillblog934 Hello, sorry I haven't responded for a while. Things have been busy at school and it was my birthday so my Facebook got bombarded with friendly messages and happy greetings.
I liked what you wrote about my stories.
I hope you are doing well. It's been a little hard recently to stay on top of everything.
@@grantlovesbooks Belated birthday greetings (fun fact: My birthday was last sunday). No worries. I hope you have a great time.
No longer twenty five. So it goes. Thanks Grant.
I've got to be honest with my opinions, or I'll have to change the name of the RUclips channel. "Grantrecommendsbookbecauseeveryoneagreestheyaregreat." It just isn't as spunky as Grantlovesbooks.
@@grantlovesbooks not only that, but way too long.
Hi, Grant. Have a good week!
Thanks a lot Deb! Monday is not my favourite class, but at least it is an easy start to the week!