Home Again
July 6, 2009
Got back exhausted last night from my weekend DMing gig down in the Springs. There might be a lot to say about that, but it might take another day or two to decompress. One thing I will say is that many of the kids I DMed for were from out of state, but I may have a couple leads working, so keep your fingers crossed for me…
Also, it is the Dalai Lama’s birthday today. His Holiness began this most recent incarnation 74 years ago…
I finished Welcome to the Monkey House last night, and am thoroughly confirmed as a fan of Kurt Vonnegut. Despite the dark nature of his humor, his underlying sensibility is clearly not empty cynicism but a true respect for humanity and morality, and it is this that sets him apart from mere “wits” and makes him a satirist – among the best I’ve ever read. This retrospective of his 50′s and 60′s short fiction contains everything from love stories originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal to speculative science fiction, and it is generally quite good reading.
Have you read Slaughter House 5 by KV?
I have not read Slaughterhouse Five yet, but it is on the infamous “List”. I am taking a break from the list right now to just read some throwaway fantasy (since I am dungeon-mastering so much, I’m trying to keep myself marinated in the fantasy genre), but when I get back to it, Slaughterhouse Five is about two dozen books away, so it might be next year before I get to it – this is the kind of thing that drives Rebekah crazy about me and the list, by the way.
I would recommend Bluebeard personally. I think it is his best book.
Have you read Catch 22 by Joseph Heller? If not read it and Slaughter House 5, both Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller were POWs in the same camp during WWII
I’ll be sure to check Bluebeard out. Catch 22 was hilarious – funnier than anything I’ve read by Vonnegut. Vonnegut has this whole speculative science fiction side to him, though, which makes him very cool. Short stories like “Harrison Bergeron”, “The Euphio Question”, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, and “Welcome to the Monkeyhouse” are all terrific examples of this. It is surprising how relevant some of these 40 year old stories manage to be – anyone involved in public schools will probably find the notion of a “handicapper general” easy to imagine, for example.
I’ll admit, I hated Slaughterhouse 5. Dylan convinced me to read it when we still lived in FoCo. I found nothing redeeming in the book and there was cruelty to an animal. Since then, I haven’t been too keen on Vonnegut. I am glad that Dylan has you to discuss him with.
If, for any reason, you decide to give ol’ Kurt a second chance, I would recommend Welcome to the Monkeyhouse as a good candidate – no cruelty to animals, at least that I recall…
Not a fan of Slaughterhouse 5. In fact, what is the polar opposite of fan? The only Kurt Vonnegut book I really liked was Hocus Pocus although Cat’s Cradle wasn’t terrible.