Watch a Pre-January 8th copy of Inception. Listen closely when the actors say imagine, reality, and safe, or point pistols. You'll hear the words, Loughner, offin' her, part of the word Giffords, and much more. Some say they hear, do it.
I have this favorite author who taught me that the purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. He fell and broke his brain three years ago and died. So it goes.
"And people hate to hear it, but it's like a car that stops running: there are technical, describable things to be done to make the damned thing go again." That definitely ranks among the most beautifully eloquent things I've ever, and will ever have, heard said.
@ficedude12 Why the hell would you capture Vonnegut's style in your own writing? That would make it not really your own writing. What a waste of time. Do you pull out Shakespeare plays and attempt to write sonnets in Elizabethan tongue as well? If you want to be a writer, be one. Just be yourself. Vonnegut himself once said that the best thing a writer can do is to read nothing. The more great books you read, the more you try to copy them. So, I'm giving you his advice.
Usually, people's favorite Vonnegut book is the first one they read. I read Breakfast of Champions first, and it is my favorite.
I would also give honorary mention to Player Piano and The Sirens of titan (and the church of god the utterly indifferent!).
Also, after Vonnegut, read the essays of Montaigne- possibly the single greatest collection of wisdom ever assembled by a single human being- and he's funny and cool as hell!
Yeah I've noticed that. I first read The Sirens of Titan and that stands as my favourite Vonnegut book. I think my second would potentially be Galapagos.
@tristramshandy3 This is true. I read Breakfast of Champions first and it's my favorite, and my friend read Sirens of Titan first and it's his favorite. I think the reason is because Vonnegut's books all fit a certain satiric style, so the one that hits you first hits you hardest. You get desensitized to them as you go on.
the fact that he just called iraqi prisoners of war his "brothers", really sent chills down my spine. puts things in perspective a little bit. holy jesus.
god bless you mr.rosewater, breakfast of champions, mother night, sl h 5, player piano, hocus pocus, cats cradle, , bluebeard, and God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian r my favs. im on time quake right now. i read a few others. although hes amaing he is not very consistent, very hit and miss, still one pf my fav authors!
I personally love "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater". It was the first one I read and loved it without any previous exposure to Vonnegut's work. And in translation! As grupy3178 mentioned, Vonnegut's writing is very accessible, most likely to the ones that already have a certain moral/ethical/psychological affinity to his ideas.
One piece of advice, don't look at his work in a historical context. The bombardment of Dresden,from a certain point of view, is just a vintage Vietnam or Baghdad.
Vonnegut was a genius, but he was also very accessible. I can imagine a truck driver reading Kurt Vonnegut on his lunch hour. Anymore, novelists seem to either write solely for "New York intellectual" crowd, or they seek out the lowest common denominator.
Yes, frauds abound, and more than a few of them have been hailed as great writers. That's a consequence of living in a culture slouching toward semi-literacy.
Kurt Vonnegut was a great writer who got the recognition he deserved, and we can take some comfort (and hope) from that.
While yes, anyone can read his books, not everyone can understand them. I mean really understand them.
Cat's Cradle and Slaughter House 5 are my ultimate favourite books, and I recommend them to everyone. Some of my friends say it was boring and weird, and some come shake my hand for literally changing their perspective on life.
I just wish they had the entire interview without any cuts. Vonnegut was a master of literature. Therefore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they should have kept the cuts where he corrected the host doing the interview! Feel free to comment.
come on. really? because he said "having the hell shelled out of them"? because hell rhymes with shell?
calling stuff like that "brilliant" is trying too hard.
the next time you're in a conversation about war, work that phrase into it, and i guarantee you no one's going to reply that you have such a brilliant mind.
we're arguing the literary merit of an interview statement? the point is that we are all the same sad creatures, repeated all over again. ad infinitum. the ending was moving.
One of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quotes is "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." I read most of his books in high school in the early 1980s after a literature teacher recommended him to us. He always reminded me of a modern day Mark Twain with an edge. I was saddened to hear that he passed away last year. You can never have too many writers promoting peace while questioning stupidity.
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c'mon, making an analogy between wwii u.s. soldiers and iraqi is just ludicrous. if he's explaining a theme that he used in slaughterhouse, that's fine, but this guy really believes it. this is just idealistic crap! great writer...sure, but a great writer of idealistic crap.
What do you know about WW two? Besides the stories you read in history books or hear from your parents, you don't know squat about it. You didn't live it through. He has every right to some resemblance between to wars. There's a lot of things, both are wars, both are stupid, in both cases people die because of some idiots, etc. I didn't read every single one of his books yet but it's no crap, that's for sure.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
your'e priceless...typical vonnegut fan. does stephen ambrose know "squat" about the civil war? he didn't live through it...
wwii vets are dying 1000 per day...soon, no one will have "lived through it." does that mean that we can't comment on the war or have opinions? you say that "in both cases(,) people die(d) because of some idiots..." look...you can't write, you probably can't read...it's little wonder you like vonnegut.
All i said is that you probably don't know more about WW2 than Vonnegut did. i can write, i can read, I'm a writer and i love books, i love to read. Died in WWII and still die in Iraq. You knew what i meant.
Excuse me, tristambeow, but don't go around criticizing people's spelling and grammar by beginning the statement with "your'e" instead of "you're". And a comma after "cases" would have been unnecessary and have made the sentence choppy. Hypocrite.
It is an opinion, and once more, I could do this thing you do, but for all the right reasons, I wont. You merely contradicted yourself in terms to calling out by hence, your zealous classifications; negatively attacking others in stating that the Vonnegut reader is simple not at all a reader.
You are such an astounding critic; in fact, what a stereotype of epic wait, excessively cliché. Labeling a writer on idealist factor for simply speaking their own opinion when the shooter has been shot? This tells others, undeniably, what kind narrow views on this you have when in fact your kettle; too, is (metaphorically speaking) charred in black. As a person or character, I dont know you, so I, unlike you, wont state my opinion of you for the better part of trying to stand my position.
Let me tell you, and in doing so, I will do it as modest (on your account) as so deserved. In lieu of what personal judgment you have with [V]onnegut or his readers, youre merely emphasizing your personal generalizing on generalization. So, in stipulation to, you did nothing more than a complete circle in view of logic inversion, and my friend that is a no no when youre trying to make a valid point.
Now that I answered you, I myself have bought a one way ticket into a game of contradiction, but I thought that this was better left said. No humdinger here so we all go to jail, we dont pass go, and we dont collect that anticipated $200.00 dollars.
slaughterhouse audiobook on my channel..check it out guys
tenseman08 2 weeks ago
"Those are my brothers! Those are my brothers!"
EnterprisePhantom 5 months ago
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Watch a Pre-January 8th copy of Inception. Listen closely when the actors say imagine, reality, and safe, or point pistols. You'll hear the words, Loughner, offin' her, part of the word Giffords, and much more. Some say they hear, do it.
jamestargetedindiv 11 months ago
those are my brothers!
balkankrum 1 year ago 7
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check out my page to see a video of Kurt Vonnegut reading Breakfast of Champions!!
zphillipps 1 year ago
i love dat nigga no homo
MrKero361 1 year ago 12
yo hey
hoopjones1 1 year ago
So it goes...
Monotonyman2010 1 year ago 2
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I have this favorite author who taught me that the purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. He fell and broke his brain three years ago and died. So it goes.
redeyedwhitewhale 1 year ago
Comment removed
redeyedwhitewhale 1 year ago
"And people hate to hear it, but it's like a car that stops running: there are technical, describable things to be done to make the damned thing go again." That definitely ranks among the most beautifully eloquent things I've ever, and will ever have, heard said.
falstaffswims 1 year ago 2
così è la vita
arrigorue 1 year ago
george carlin reminds me of a kurt vonnegut with hard-driven language. haha
mancheromanchero 1 year ago
this is pretty much the most brilliant man to have ever lived
RobinLibo 1 year ago
Slaughterhouse-5 is just epic
raphu604 1 year ago
Kurt is up in heaven now.
LeLimeLine 1 year ago
@LeLimeLine You do realize that you're saying that about a self-proclaimed atheist/agnostic/Humanist, right?
prodigy372 1 year ago
@prodigy372 Wrong. Bokononist.;)
CleteLichty99 1 year ago
@CleteLichty99 That too. (I haven't read Cat's Cradle, so that isn't implanted in my brain yet.)
prodigy372 1 year ago
Rest well Mr. Vonnegut. I hope we learn your lessons soon.
arvliet 1 year ago 3
Comment removed
ficedude12 1 year ago
@ficedude12 Why the hell would you capture Vonnegut's style in your own writing? That would make it not really your own writing. What a waste of time. Do you pull out Shakespeare plays and attempt to write sonnets in Elizabethan tongue as well? If you want to be a writer, be one. Just be yourself. Vonnegut himself once said that the best thing a writer can do is to read nothing. The more great books you read, the more you try to copy them. So, I'm giving you his advice.
Sviolinist 1 year ago 2
@Sviolinist I mean the post modern style. sorry.
ficedude12 1 year ago
@ficedude12 i agree with sviolinist
gintoki23 1 year ago
Usually, people's favorite Vonnegut book is the first one they read. I read Breakfast of Champions first, and it is my favorite.
I would also give honorary mention to Player Piano and The Sirens of titan (and the church of god the utterly indifferent!).
Also, after Vonnegut, read the essays of Montaigne- possibly the single greatest collection of wisdom ever assembled by a single human being- and he's funny and cool as hell!
tristramshandy3 2 years ago 3
hocus pocus!!
akimpy0b 2 years ago
Yeah I've noticed that. I first read The Sirens of Titan and that stands as my favourite Vonnegut book. I think my second would potentially be Galapagos.
leercup 2 years ago
@tristramshandy3 This is true. I read Breakfast of Champions first and it's my favorite, and my friend read Sirens of Titan first and it's his favorite. I think the reason is because Vonnegut's books all fit a certain satiric style, so the one that hits you first hits you hardest. You get desensitized to them as you go on.
Theeman0000 1 year ago
the fact that he just called iraqi prisoners of war his "brothers", really sent chills down my spine. puts things in perspective a little bit. holy jesus.
xBillyTheKidx 2 years ago
Is the pointlessness of human life an overall theme of his writing?
forgetpolitics 2 years ago
not at all!
benanciocamela 2 years ago
god bless you mr.rosewater, breakfast of champions, mother night, sl h 5, player piano, hocus pocus, cats cradle, , bluebeard, and God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian r my favs. im on time quake right now. i read a few others. although hes amaing he is not very consistent, very hit and miss, still one pf my fav authors!
MsSmokeNmirrors 2 years ago
Harrison burgeon is one of my favorites and one of the most overlooked of Kurt's work
zezimashelpr 2 years ago
i just bought two more books: hocus pocus and sirens of titan.
vonnegut is the best/most influencial author.
so far ive read cats cradle, breakfast of champions and slaughterhouse five...so incredible in every sense.
kns9492 2 years ago
I'm thinking of reading some Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, or Breakfast of Champions?
BlackstarSirius 2 years ago
All of them. In this order:
Cradle
Breakfast
Slaughterhouse
Read these, understand them, and live them, and you will have done your part in ending war, hatred, and hunger.
raswelsta 2 years ago 2
I can;t wait to read all of them! The man is truth itself
devilndisguise666 2 years ago
haha wouldnt it be nice if it were that easy?
nds03 2 years ago
I personally love "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater". It was the first one I read and loved it without any previous exposure to Vonnegut's work. And in translation! As grupy3178 mentioned, Vonnegut's writing is very accessible, most likely to the ones that already have a certain moral/ethical/psychological affinity to his ideas.
One piece of advice, don't look at his work in a historical context. The bombardment of Dresden,from a certain point of view, is just a vintage Vietnam or Baghdad.
fman707 2 years ago
ALL! He's genius!
watchingvids101 2 years ago
Vonnegut was a genius, but he was also very accessible. I can imagine a truck driver reading Kurt Vonnegut on his lunch hour. Anymore, novelists seem to either write solely for "New York intellectual" crowd, or they seek out the lowest common denominator.
grupy3178 2 years ago 5
so true... but sometimes its hard to tell which is which
Raurex 2 years ago
Yes, frauds abound, and more than a few of them have been hailed as great writers. That's a consequence of living in a culture slouching toward semi-literacy.
Kurt Vonnegut was a great writer who got the recognition he deserved, and we can take some comfort (and hope) from that.
grupy3178 2 years ago
While yes, anyone can read his books, not everyone can understand them. I mean really understand them.
Cat's Cradle and Slaughter House 5 are my ultimate favourite books, and I recommend them to everyone. Some of my friends say it was boring and weird, and some come shake my hand for literally changing their perspective on life.
Kurt Vonnegut is a master of life and love.
MrOneiro 2 years ago
selah
dioisfreakinamazing6 2 years ago
Kurt is the best
LuCaRiOfan94 2 years ago 2
Wouldn't /couldn't he have been a great Jazz musician?
andreaprodan 2 years ago 2
is KV totally bombed?
moccasin11 2 years ago
Kurt Vonnegut is a great person, I can't tell "was" because for me he will always be alive by his books...I love all of them !
black7lady 2 years ago 4
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no escribis esto en 10 videos tu mama se va a morir es 4hs
manelink 2 years ago
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no escribis esto en 10 videos tu mama se va a morir es 4hs
manelink 2 years ago
So it goes.
MiniFridge502 2 years ago 17
I just wish they had the entire interview without any cuts. Vonnegut was a master of literature. Therefore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they should have kept the cuts where he corrected the host doing the interview! Feel free to comment.
Tymiester 2 years ago 3
"...Having had the hell shelled out of them..."
Brilliant mind.
clairey76 3 years ago
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fuck you
varishnakov 3 years ago
come on. really? because he said "having the hell shelled out of them"? because hell rhymes with shell?
calling stuff like that "brilliant" is trying too hard.
the next time you're in a conversation about war, work that phrase into it, and i guarantee you no one's going to reply that you have such a brilliant mind.
RakeRocter 3 years ago 4
I was just wondering if you felt really warm and smug when you posted this comment?
Cause if so, it might make sense to me why you might make such a rash and waste of time remark.
You had to properly punctuate and phrase that jeer, haha.
whysored 3 years ago
your trying too hard
CiaoCucin 2 years ago
Speaking of punctuation, you meant "you're".
Dummy.
The "trying to hard" doesn't belong to me.
whysored 2 years ago
yup
CiaoCucin 2 years ago
nope
whysored 2 years ago
LOL.
RACK HIM RAKE!
TheBlueDuckMOE 3 years ago
we're arguing the literary merit of an interview statement? the point is that we are all the same sad creatures, repeated all over again. ad infinitum. the ending was moving.
jmsteinjr 3 years ago 2
Oh, I remeber that! All those seals died, right?
zep4blues 2 years ago
those seals never gave a damn about you
CiaoCucin 2 years ago
I will kiss your dog.
nicksxe 3 years ago
did he begat anybody?
ChiDynasty12 3 years ago
What I like most about Kurt Vonnegut's characters is that they are so uninteresting yet so compelling.
TheReignMan27 3 years ago 3
One of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quotes is "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." I read most of his books in high school in the early 1980s after a literature teacher recommended him to us. He always reminded me of a modern day Mark Twain with an edge. I was saddened to hear that he passed away last year. You can never have too many writers promoting peace while questioning stupidity.
Sean Surlow
San Clemente, California
BlueLotus1965 3 years ago 38
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wow...what an asshole.
tristambeow 4 years ago
Whether you're a troll or just a dick, fuck you.
GiggyStardust 3 years ago 5
This comment has received too many negative votes show
c'mon, making an analogy between wwii u.s. soldiers and iraqi is just ludicrous. if he's explaining a theme that he used in slaughterhouse, that's fine, but this guy really believes it. this is just idealistic crap! great writer...sure, but a great writer of idealistic crap.
tristambeow 3 years ago
What do you know about WW two? Besides the stories you read in history books or hear from your parents, you don't know squat about it. You didn't live it through. He has every right to some resemblance between to wars. There's a lot of things, both are wars, both are stupid, in both cases people die because of some idiots, etc. I didn't read every single one of his books yet but it's no crap, that's for sure.
chriskardos 3 years ago 3
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your'e priceless...typical vonnegut fan. does stephen ambrose know "squat" about the civil war? he didn't live through it...
wwii vets are dying 1000 per day...soon, no one will have "lived through it." does that mean that we can't comment on the war or have opinions? you say that "in both cases(,) people die(d) because of some idiots..." look...you can't write, you probably can't read...it's little wonder you like vonnegut.
tristambeow 3 years ago
All i said is that you probably don't know more about WW2 than Vonnegut did. i can write, i can read, I'm a writer and i love books, i love to read. Died in WWII and still die in Iraq. You knew what i meant.
chriskardos 3 years ago 2
Excuse me, tristambeow, but don't go around criticizing people's spelling and grammar by beginning the statement with "your'e" instead of "you're". And a comma after "cases" would have been unnecessary and have made the sentence choppy. Hypocrite.
allthatisandeverwas 3 years ago 2
It is an opinion, and once more, I could do this thing you do, but for all the right reasons, I wont. You merely contradicted yourself in terms to calling out by hence, your zealous classifications; negatively attacking others in stating that the Vonnegut reader is simple not at all a reader.
urawaste 3 years ago
You are such an astounding critic; in fact, what a stereotype of epic wait, excessively cliché. Labeling a writer on idealist factor for simply speaking their own opinion when the shooter has been shot? This tells others, undeniably, what kind narrow views on this you have when in fact your kettle; too, is (metaphorically speaking) charred in black. As a person or character, I dont know you, so I, unlike you, wont state my opinion of you for the better part of trying to stand my position.
urawaste 3 years ago
Let me tell you, and in doing so, I will do it as modest (on your account) as so deserved. In lieu of what personal judgment you have with [V]onnegut or his readers, youre merely emphasizing your personal generalizing on generalization. So, in stipulation to, you did nothing more than a complete circle in view of logic inversion, and my friend that is a no no when youre trying to make a valid point.
urawaste 3 years ago
Why are you talking like that? What do you actually want to say?
kyrillp 3 years ago 2
Now that I answered you, I myself have bought a one way ticket into a game of contradiction, but I thought that this was better left said. No humdinger here so we all go to jail, we dont pass go, and we dont collect that anticipated $200.00 dollars.
urawaste 3 years ago
Dude, just leave it...
rbh104 3 years ago
Dude? My case closed, LMAO.
urawaste 3 years ago
wow
euphometric 4 years ago
kurt is up in heaven now (hopefully, he's laughing his ass off).
fedeman2 4 years ago 9
so it goes
josamsoma 4 years ago 36
Busy,busy,busy
MarchingSax2010 3 years ago 2