Previous SFF Author: Nghi Vo
(1922- )
Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis and studied at the universities of Chicago and Tennessee and later began to write short stories for magazines. His first novel, Player Piano, was published in 1951 and since then he has written many novels, among them: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Mother Night (1961), Cat’s Cradle (1963), God Bless You Mr Rosewater (1964), Welcome to the Monkey House; a collection of short stories (1968), Breakfast of Champions (1973), Slapstick, or Lonesome No More (1976), Jailbird (1979), Deadeye Dick (1982), Galapagos (1985), Bluebeard (1988) and Hocus Pocus (1990). During the Second World War he was held prisoner in Germany and was present at the bombing of Dresden, an experience which provided the setting for his most famous work to date, Slaughterhouse Five (1969). He has also published a volume of autobiography entitled Palm Sunday (1981) and a collection of essays and speeches, Fates Worse Than Death (1991).
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The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
The Sirens of Titan is a tough book to review. And it’s not really SF at all though it adopts the trappings of the genre. The thing about Kurt Vonnegut’s books is that they are so deceptively simple. The prose is spare, humorous, ironic, and to the point. And yet the story is very ambitious, as it seeks to provide answers to some very basic questions. Why do we exist? What is the universe for? Do we have any free will to determine our lives?
Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
“Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.”
Like all of Kurt Vonnegut’s books, Cat’s Cradle (1963) is very easy to read but fiendishly difficult to review. It’s basically about two main themes: 1) Some scientists are completely unconcerned with what their research and inventions are used for, as long as they given the opportunity to pursue their own research. 2) Religion is a bunch of lies, but at the same time it can make you happier and less angst-ridden about life.
Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
Kurt Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden during World War II. He only survived the allies’ bombing of Dresden because the Germans housed the American prisoners in a meat-locker in a building they called Slaughterhouse-Five. For years afterward, Vonnegut attempted to write a book about his experiences,
Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Kilgore Trout, who appears in many of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels, is a science fiction writer whose ideas and stories are interesting even though his plots and characters are dreadful. My favorite Kilgore Trout story is summarized in Breakfast of Champions. Here, Trout writes about extra-terrestrials that come to earth to prevent nuclear holocaust. Unfortunately, they rely on tap dancing and farts to communicate, so the confused humans immediately kill their furiously farting and tap dancing visitors. This depressing depiction of humanity is common in both Trout and Vonnegut’s writing.
Ryan Skardal, Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Kurt Vonnegut | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut’s A Man Without a Country collects essays about living in George W. Bush’s America. Published in 2005, these essays were written after America invaded Iraq in order to defeat terrorism, to find and neutralize weapons of mass destruction, and to spread freedom and democracy throughout the Middle East.
Briefly summarized, Vonnegut is critical of the state of America, which has been hijacked by psychopaths, and let’s not forget the state of the world,
Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Kurt Vonnegut | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Collection: The Big Trip Up Yonder, 2BR02B
Brilliance Audio is now producing some science fiction story collections on audio, and recently they sent me a few of them to review. The first one that caught my eye was this one by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It contains two related stories: “The Big Trip Up Yonder” narrated by Emmett Casey and “2BR02B” narrated by Kevin Killavey. I recognized both as stories that were produced on audio by Jincin Recordings and have been available at Audible.com for a couple of years. In case you didn’t know (and in case you’re interested),
Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young by Kurt Vonnegut
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young collects nine graduation speeches delivered by Kurt Vonnegut. Published in 2013, this posthumous collection is introduced by the writer Dan Wakefield. The earliest speech was delivered in 1978, while the latest was given in 2004.
These speeches are almost exactly what Vonnegut’s fans would expect of him — so much so that I wish I’d attempted to write a speech from the point of view of Kurt Vonnegut before beginning this book.
Ryan Skardal and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kurt Vonnegut | Edge, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
“The Uncarved Heart” by Evan Dicken (Nov. 2016, free at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 99c Kindle magazine issue, 0.99£ UK magazine issue)
It’s hard to tell what someone is really made of, at least until you crack them open. Some have hearts fragile as spun glass, quick to break and impossible to put back together; others have iron in their chests heavy enough to weight the whole of their being.
Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories edited by John Joseph Adams
Even people who don’t usually read science fiction will often be familiar with a few classic titles in the “dystopian SF” sub-genre. After all, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and of course the famous Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World are some of the few SF titles that have entered the mainstream literary canon to such an extent that they’ve become assigned school reading for many students.
Stefan Raets and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Caitlín R. Kiernan, Carrie Vaughn, Charles Coleman (C.C.) Finlay, Cory Doctorow, Genevieve Valentine, Harlan Ellison, Kate Wilhelm, Ken Liu, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kurt Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg, Tobias Buckell, Ursula K. Le-Guin | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Nghi Vo
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.