There is nothing that isn't grand about Slaughterhouse 5.
There is nothing that isn't grand about Slaughterhouse 5.
Yeah this still ranks as my top Vonnegut, Galapagos after that.Originally Posted by simonj
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” -Buddha
Identity
Cat's Cradle is my favorite. I've only read a few others, but I noticed that if you've read one Vonnegut...you've kinda read them all.
Mother Night still sits as my favorite Vonnegut book.
I don't think so. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many people who, once they've read one Vonnegut book, immediately go out and buy and then read another 5.
i don't know why, but i just don't like vonnegut so much.
i just feel like it's mostly affected unnatural dialog between flat characters.
that said, if you can believe it, the scientist father from cat's cradle was based off of a real person, namely langmuir for whom vonnegut had worked a number of years (i don't remember in what capacity). langmuir was aethical when it came to science just like the father, and his public experiment unbeknownst to local authorities was to seed clouds over arizona without giving a thought as to what detrimental effects on health or the environment there might be.
still, langmuir was an important figure, and he has a number of things named after him, including a type of monolayer polymer film (langmuir-blodgett) as well as an american chemical society journal simply titled the langmuir.
Last edited by sycld; 01-18-2010 at 07:50 PM.
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Oh thanks.
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” -Buddha
Identity
*sigh*
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I'm halfway into Robert Howards original collection of "Conan the Cimmerian" stories from the 30s, and they are fucking amazing. I want to be Conan when I grow up.
Just read Tartuffe. About to read The Rape of the Lock and An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope. Jonathan Swift is on the horizon...probably in two weeks.
I hear the voices inside my head. They counsel me. They understand. They talk to me.
Finally finished American Gods. Hated the protagonist, loved pretty much everything else about the book. Well-constructed, interesting and unique. I really enjoy his delivery which reminds me of Stephen King (one of my favourite thing about reading King) without actually seeming to rip it off.
About 4 chapters into Catch-22, but I'm really confused. I really enjoy the sense of irony and the jokes - all of this is incredibly appealing. But it's really boring and I have a hard time reading it for very long.
My thoughts exactly. It's the only book I've never finished.
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” -Buddha
Identity
When I had to read this one for school I just watched the movie.. even the movie was awful, but at least it was over in a couple hours
I didn't like it at first either (I found it confusing) but it gets good once you get a few chapters in and get to know the characters. It's one of my favorite books. Fuck the movie.
Best American Essays 2009
I read one today about a man whose hope in the universe was restored by copulation of perregrin falcons into a special hat some guy wore in order to save the species from extinction as well as two birds that were "fucking" (as he put it) 4 feet above his head.
Yes.
Last edited by sycld; 01-23-2010 at 04:07 AM.
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If you don't like them, then get the fuck out.
Neverwhere and Anansi Boys have the same uniqueness
their protagonists are different from Shadow: typical mundane and passive British men
The Sandman is epic
the protagonist is a cold omnipotent badass
The Sandman will be next on my list then, although there was an Anansi Boys excerpt at the end of American Gods that looked pretty interesting.
you faggots better finish catch-22
I am reading Lords of Finance by some cameljockey, which covers the involvement of the four heads of the central banks of America, England, France, and Germany from World War I and how their actions precipitated the economic collapse of the late 20s and early 30s.
It's written by an economist and wall street financier, which provides an interesting perspective on the economic decisions. Unfortunately, he's an awful writer and spends two paragraphs introducing men whose meaningful actions are quickly summarized in two sentences. I'm more than halfway through and the analysis is interesting (though he still lacks any sort of real thesis other than "these guys did it"), but he strikes me as a Steven Levitt lacking a Stephen Dubner; he navigates the magnitude and complexity of decisions and expertly explains the economic principles (particularly of the effect of the gold standard), but falls flat on his face when describing settings and actions. I wish he would write a textbook, not a nonfiction novelization.
I concur with this; I got used to the writing style and plot devices after a while, and then they became a real boon for the themes and action; refreshing and interesting rather than obscure and annoying (although I admit I have a higher tolerance threshold for obscure and annoying than most so I'd be lying if I claimed I totally empathised with the common complaint that it is confusing/exasperating etc., nevertheless, I see where you're coming from and I did move from enjoying the style in a literary masochist sort of way to genuinely relishing it in a "this doesn't feel forced at all any more; just suitable" kind of way)
Last edited by Think; 01-24-2010 at 01:51 AM.
Catch 22 was great. Finished reading it earlier this week. It made me laugh and felt that it related to me in someway being in the military myself.
Just picked up The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Two chapters in and I dig it.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Albert Einstein
I picked up Batman and Philosophy. It's kind of interesting. Started on The Odyssey in anticipation for my Ancient World Lit class that I'll take next semester.
I hear the voices inside my head. They counsel me. They understand. They talk to me.
...is it subtitled 'The Dark Knight of the Soul'?
did you read the iliad first? it's better, and i would say more useful
the iliad is the action, the odyssey is the romance so theyre both good in their own respects, i wouldnt call eithur more useful because they are both probably by the same unreliable source.
YO HO YO HO
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The Illiad is terrible, is that a joke?
Edit: in this book Achilles cries a lot and nothing happens.
The crying is important in defining Achilles and Odysseus as Greek heroes, men who show compassion after their actions, only letting emotion affect them after they establish themself. This compassion distinguishes them and the Homeric hero from the barbarians that are completely disattached from their emotions and the Persians, which are seen as effeminate and weak, letting emotions cloud their manhood
Last edited by sailor jack; 01-25-2010 at 11:02 PM.
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sorry i said cries in the sense of the american colloquialism for "whines like a little bitch"
atmosfaggot you are the very epitome of the ignorant american, the stereotype despised by the rest of the world.. in case you didn't realize.
In an effort to avoid derailing this thread, I am just going to laugh at the irony of that comment.
OK guys Ive just finished reading the Atmosfessy and SPOILER ALERT, on the very first page, the protagonist is more homosexual than any Greek ever was with little boys, attempts to kill the supposedly 9 headed Sycldian Hydra, that only had one head, but found the other 8 by means of being solidified within 8 loads of what must have been the Hydras defence mechanism, and then found a godlike man crying after feeling remorse for his enemies whom he had dispatched so easily and telling him to stop "whining like a bitch"at which the man jumps up and grabs him. The next page is all the protagonists dialogue, which goes "AAAGHHHRRRRHHGGGGRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHAGREAHHHHHHHHNGH RRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......." and so on for the whole page, ending with the godlike man dropping the protagonists larynx and stating "motherfucker aint worth my tears" and sailing away to skullfuck the main characters mother.
YO HO YO HO
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^ uh...huh
sounds like the conclusion of an amazon.com customer review.
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Am I the only one who actually understood Gwahir's mocking of Pepsi?
Hint, he wasn't opening a debate about the merits and follies of ancient greek texts.
no, atmosfuck did that
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No, dickfuck. Read it over and you'll find you're the one who fucked up first.
Please don't make me explain it to you. You'll make me angry. And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
oh no ok yeah i see your point
but please explain
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Christ, you're a retard.
well that doesnt help me at all....
i wish SOMEBODY would explain, now it looks as though ive derailed this whole thread and made simonj hate me. I do hope i can figure this puzzle out. Darned kids...
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