First of all, thank you for sponsoring bananas, and giving robot-content the air. Secondly, "Sirens of Titan" was my first Vonnegut. It was the Dell paperback cover from the 70's, with the 3 half naked ladies on the cover, which is what made my 14-year old self crack it open to start with. Third, thank you for putting "Mother Night" in A+. It's the first one I re-read after the great man's demise, and I was very touched by it all over again. BTW you should see, if you haven't yet, the movie, starring Nick Nolte. It's the best of the Vonnegut movie adaptations.
My top 3 would be Sirens of Titan, Cats Cradle and Player Piano although I haven't read them all. I find myself recommending Player Piano a lot recently. More relevant than ever. Great video :)
I never found BoC to be that weird. I felt like in terms of some of Kurt’s views, it was very straightforward and digestible yet funny. I think it’s my favorite.
This was a cool watch. I read 10 of these books in high school, but I haven't read anymore in the past decade. I guess I should finish off his bibliography 😅 Sirens of Titan was my favorite.
I have read every Vonnegut novel except Deadeye Dick. My top three are Slaughterhouse Five , Cat’s Cradle, and Mother Night. Least favorite Slapstick. I have a sentimental favorite of Jailbird because it was the first Vonnegut novel I read in the 80s and I still remember the ditty with the clapping.
Would you consider uploading a beginner’s guide to reading Kurt Vonnegut? Maybe separating by sub-genre or tone, and what a reader might want to get out of his novels?
If there’s enough interest I might. To start I’d recommend The Sirens of Titan for adventurous sci-fi, Slaughterhouse-Five for darkly humorous sci-fi, Cat’s Cradle if you want absurd comedy, and Mother Night if you want something heavy and less sci-fi.
Just read Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse V, Cat’s Cradle and Monkey House. There’s not some large, hard to digest meaning looming in delicate threads with his work. You’re not tackling Ulysses or Gravity’s Rainbow and you’re not commuting yourself to War & Peace or The Brothers Karamazov. You’ll get what’s being said, if you just read it. Vonnegut was largely a Humanitarian. When you read his books, you feel that. You feel it in a lot of ways, whether it’s the happiness of what is, or a broken hearted look at what is, or could have been. He’s not opaque. He’s genuine, just quirkily so.
My favorite for a long time was Breakfast of Champions. Now it is whichever book I'm reading. There was a large gap from the time I read some of the books until I reread them. It's very interesting how they affected me differently the second time around.
I've read all of his novels at least once, several twice. Easily one of my favorite writers. I don't think there's anyone that juggles rolling on the floor laughing at absurdity with rolling on the floor sobbing from grief as well as kurt. A note on slapstick, it's a very good read for anyone grieving from heartbreak. It helped me a lot when I was going through a divorce. I read it once as a teenager and only enjoyed it as a sort of silly sci fi what if. Got a lot more out of it the second time around.
I've read "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Mother Night". Both made me regret not reading him sooner. By the way, Vonnegut would be proud of your sponsor clip.
Shout out for the short story compilation 'Welcome to the Monkey House' some of the best. Also it IS a tough field to make these choices, but I would have breakfast of champs in A.
I have yet to read The Sirens of Titans (among many others). I’ll likely fix that omission later this year. Great video, and I love how you used the ranking as green screen backdrop. 👏
Thank you WordsInTime! I've read 5 of the 14 but I never know which to do next, now I'm all organized and I know! It's Deadeye next, then Sirens. See you on the other side
I feel like it’s time for me to reread Vonnegut again, in chronological order. For me, Timequake was my favorite. Reading Vonnegut always makes me feel like I’m sitting in my grandpa’s knee, and he’s telling me a tall tale… Timequake made me feel that the strongest. All of the characters from his previous novels come back in a beautiful way… it’s a great end-of-career novel.
Timequake is one of those stories that would make a great short story or episode of a sci-fi tv series, but as a novel or movie it just drags on and on, long after the point has been made, and I didn't get any more out of the book by the end than I'd already gotten out of the first quarter of it.
I've only read Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse Five, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, and Cat's Cradle, which I would rank in that order exactly. I find it intriguing that most reviews I've seen of Cat's Cradle are raving, but I found it just alright in comparison to the other works. Maybe I need to give it another go but I just couldn't come to appreciate the characters and humor of Cat's Cradle. The plot and themes were intriguing, so I still found it to be a good and worthwhile read. Soft 8/10 for me. I'm glad to see others appreciate Sirens of Titan. I read it all during a 12 hour car ride and the two acts in the book had me absolutely floored. One of the rare times I put a book down and was still thinking about the intricate details, allegories, foreshadowing, and dialogue months later. Easy 10/10 for me.
My favorites are very similar to yours. Deadeye Dick & Slaughterhouse Five would swap places... I like Breakfast of Champions more than you & I'm not as quite as high on Hocus Pocus ... but otherwise pretty much the same. I mentioned that Deadeye Dick was the standout in your classic SF book haul comments - glad you liked it! I really think Player Piano deserves to be mentioned along the dystopian greats 'Brave New World', '1984', & 'Fahrenheit 451'. "Welcome to the Monkey House' is a great short story collection. Thanks for this video, Jonathan!
Besides Timequake, which I read about 20 years ago, I haven't read a Vonnegut book in about 30 years ago! Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle, and Mother Night, I always considered my favorites. Loved Galapagos and Sirens of Titan as well.
I re-read Timequake recently, having read it once a decade or so ago. I thought I'd like it upon re-read since I still remembered the premise so well, but it was a slog and a half. It's basically a great short story stretched out into a full novel that's mostly a grandpa with ADHD telling a meandering story that keeps going off on tangents.
Weirdly, Slapstick and Breakfast of Champions were the first I ever read and they got me hooked. The reason must have been that they were the only available English books in the used books section of the small grocery shop in Germany I used to wash the windows for. So it goes. Most memorable now, after having read most of them, is Cat's Cradle. I have always envied Kurt Vonnegut for inventing such a unique style that you know it's him after the first couple of lines. Oh and... bananas don't need sponsoring. Papayas do.
Yes he’s my favorite author now. I also watched the documentary about him and read man without a country and god bless you dr kevorkian (I just didn’t count them as novels technically). My Top five are 1. Mother Night 2. Slaughter House five 3. God Bless you Mr RoseWater 4. Cats Cradle 5. Jailbird.
Loved this! My Vonnegut phase was during and right after college, but looks like I left some of the essential reads out! I might go: S: Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five A: Breakfast of Champions, Bluebeard B: Player Piano, Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, Galapagos I really need to try out Deadeye Dick, Sirens of Titan, and Mother Night!
Vonnegut is also my fave, have read every available word over and over since I first stumbled on his work at 14, just before his late ‘80s renaissance started, so it was pretty exciting getting those then new books hot off the presses. Agree Cat’s Cradle is tops, but personally Galapagos is my #2, and those two books pair well. Sure do miss KV. Is there any comparable contemporary author? What little I’ve read of George Saunders comes close wit-wise but falls short for me when it comes to the complete moral/ethical package.
@@robderiche I’m glad you also connected with Vonnegut! I’ve never read another author like him. I’ve heard him compared to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett but I don’t know if they are very good comparisons.
@@WordsinTime Got a kick out of Adams as a teen but haven’t revisited since. Pratchett came up recently in another context so maybe I’ll give him a shot. Thanks!
I've never really made it a point to read any Vonnegut, but this video has convinced that maybe I should add at least your Top 5 to my loose TBR interest list to get to Someday(TM).
After watching this I went on Amazon and bought his complete novels for 85 bucks and his complete stories for 30 bucks. I kinda feel like I won the lottery. All things now seem possible for me as a writer now that I have all of the goats writings. Almost all I guess, so it goes.
Your video was amazing! Thanks a lot. I also just went and bought two pieces of Vonnegut art on eBay. A poster of Cat’s Cradle and a 3d Line drawing Vonnegut did of his face In profile smoking a cigarette with the words “So it Goes.”’ Dead Eye Dick was the first book of his I ever read. I was a teenager the book just came out in paperback and a friend lent it to me and I stayed up all night and read the entire book in one sitting. After that I was hooked and my brother and I greedily read and loved everything he wrote. I love your channel, I love reading especially short stories these days. I’ll check out all your videos thank you very much!
@@s.williamc. Thanks for the kind words! This was a special video to make and I’m glad you also connected so deeply with Vonnegut. I would like to purchase some Vonnegut art one day too!
I wonder if you've read any Greg Egan? 'Permutation City' is a good starting point if you ever get a chance. 'Diaspora' or 'Quarantine' is probably a good second. He's definitely one of my favourite Sci-Fi authors of all time. As regards Vonnegut, I've only read Slaughterhouse and Sirens, but loved them both. They definitely get better on subsequent readings _(One of the benefits, I suppose, of not being Tralfamadorian)_ I shall pick up a couple more from this list... if only because I always have done. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts : )
I knew you liked vonnegut but didn't know he's actually your favorite writer. The first book I read by him was slaughter house five back in 1969 I think and it's still my fave of all the books by him I've read. The titans of siren is a close second. Your review makes me want to read some of his earlier stuff I've not yet read like cat's cradle which I've heard so much about. Vonnegut's take on the absurdity of it all mirrors my own and along with his humor is one of the reasons I like him.⚛😀
Hi Jonathan. Thanks for this Vonnegut overview. So far I've only read ...Mr. Rosewater. My rating was in line with your experience. I look forward to reading more Vonnegut in the coming days.
Listen! Ranking my all time fav author is difficult. Outside 'Player Piano' which I would rate a B (like Kurt himself), I'd argue the rest are between A+ and A; Breakfast of Champions Slaughterhouse 5 Sirens of Titan God Bless you, Mr Rosewater Cats Cradle Mother Night Deadeye dick Slapstick Bluebeard Timequake Jailbird Galapagos Hocus Pocus Player Piano So it goes...
I read Slaughterhouse 5 a couple of years after it came out, then read it at least 3 more times after that. Then came Sirens of Titan, which I also re-read often. I became a Vonnegut freak, buying all of the books as they came out in paperback in the UK. Later, I even started a Ph.D. comparing Vonnegut with the British writer Anthony Burgess (my UK university insisted I include an English author as I was working in the English department ...). Later still, I had the opportunity to teach Cat's Cradle to undergraduates and try to infuse some of my enthusiasm into them! I largely agree with your ranking, though I'd probably put Deadeye Dick lower, perhaps B or C, and raise both Breakfast of Champions (to B) and God Bless You, Mr Rosewater (to A). Mother Night has always been a critical favourite, and the story is loosely based on the British war time traitor William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, who broadcast to the UK from Germany during WWII. If you have the time, I recommend reading the volume of Vonnegut's letters. They start when he was young and his writing voice is there almost from the beginning, at least from his early 20s. He was very conversational in style even then. What a shame there'll be no more Vonneguts to read, eh? :( (There was a slim paperback of one of his plays, Happy Birthday, Wanda June, and I think a film was made of it, too. )
That’s awesome that you got write about and teach on Vonnegut! I have read some of his other works, but I will make my way through the rest slowly as I will be sad when I finish it all!
@@WordsinTime Thanks Jonathan for the recommendation! "The Sirens of Titan" purchased and it is currently 3rd on my TBR (behind Roadside Picnic and Blindsight) 📚
As someone who read most of these these 35-40 years ago, I don't remember much of mother night, thus i would probably rate that a little lower and still remember much of God bless you, so i would rate that higher. I will add i never read his first of last novel, so i have no opinion there. Otherwise, i think your list is very close to mine. Great job! (I don't mean to suggest great job because your list was close to mine, but rather, you have captured/expressed the timelessness of his novels as i can recall. Let me add, cats cradle was always my favorite) Also good reads, his few collections of short stories
@@joex9865 I’m glad you also connected with his books! I haven’t read all of his short stories but I did enjoy the collection Welcome to the Monkey House.
@@murraydrummond7013 I’m glad you enjoyed the video and you also love Vonnegut! I haven’t read Armageddon in Retrospect yet. There’s a couple of his essays and short stories that I’m saving and waiting a little longer to read because I know I’ll be sad once I’ve finished everything he wrote haha
Vonnegut is the best. Even when I read modern sci-fi, I often come away with the feeling that “Vonnegut already did that idea, and his book was much funnier and much shorter.” I would have bumped Galapagos up to A+ tier as it’s one of my personal favorites, but I respect your list, as Cats Cradle and Deadeye Dick are my other top favorites from Kurt.
I read Cat's Cradle and absolutely loved it. Then I read Sirens of Titan, and it just fell flat for me. I don't even no why now, so I'm going to read it again, because obviously I missed something! And then I think I'll delve into more Vonnegut as well.
I think his authorial voice comes through in all of his books, but some have slightly different style so you may enjoy some more than others, but I liked pretty much all of them haha
When I frist read Cat's Cradle, I lived in a town called Bolivar with an old hirtorical site outside of town called Fort Lawrence (a very short step to San Lorenzo. Ice9 was also the Grateful Dead's music publishing company. I will alswys remember the 14th chapter of the Book of Bokonon. And the Lyman Boyd Johnso--LBJ) was pure magic I think this one is my favorite.
Very interesting. I've read a lot (though not all) of Vonnegut over the years, but it's hard for me to rank them because I read them at such different times in my life. I mostly agree with your rankings (including putting Cat's Cradle at the top-I'm due for a reread of that one), but I would have put Player Piano lower (it's been a long time, but if memory serves, I thought it didn't have enough that was distinctly Vonnegut about it, and didn't do much that other books didn't do better) and Timequake higher (it maybe doesn't work that well strictly as a novel, but it has plenty of Vonnegutty goodness).
I read Player Piano in early 1963, followed it up with Sirens of Titan, then Cat's Cradle. I wouldn't read another Vonnegut book until Slaughterhouse 5, in 1970. I picked up Mother Night after, and, a few years later, hoped Slapstick would be a return to form. It wasn't, so I stopped paying attention to Kurt Vonnegut books.
@@WordsinTime Agreed, on the '70s. I saw an interview with the author, in the late '80s, and he said essentially the same things. It was probably around the time of Bluebeard, but I don't recall him pimping a book. Player Piano is still my favorite novel, but I like Welcome to the Monkey House best, overall. He was an incredible short story writer! I even liked God Bless You, Dr Kervorkian, for its dystopian flavor, and cutting wit.
I have no idea how Vonnegut can be your favorite author and you put Slapstick at the bottom of your list. It's his most sincere and most Vonnegut-ish book he ever wrote. It's heart-breaking, it's beautiful, it's absolutely unhinged, it's his autoboigraphy for godsake! Good video but you *need* to re-read that book. It's the obvious winner.
@@soiboisixtnine8848 I like all of his books so unfortunately something has to be at the bottom. Vonnegut himself graded it as his lowest, but I still like it!
I love most of your top picks, though Mother Night ranks a little lower for me and I don't remember a thing about Deadeye Dick. Will have to reread it soon. Breakfast of Champions made me laugh out loud more than any of the others, so I'd have to rate it higher than a C.
In sirens of titans Vonnegut kind of give the answer to what is the meaning of life, even when you think that life on earth should be absolutly meaningless, since we are a tool for extraterestrial life and nothing more, and that we technically mean nothing to the universe itself
Yes! I didn’t include short stories, essays, and plays just because I wanted to compare apples to apples and didn’t want the video to be too long. But Welcome to the Monkey House is great!
Ive read maybe half of these but pre 2000's so my appetite is whetted to reread and read for the first time. One question, you said that KIlgore Trout is a Vonnegit alternate character but theres also a (very funny) book "by" ahem "Kilgore Trout" called Venus on the Half Shell which is actually by Philip Jose Farmer. Do you know anything about how that works? Of the ones Ive read, Slaughterhouse 5 is the one that stands out, possibly helped by a film which AFAICR is very true to the book.
Kilgore Trout was created by Vonnegut and is his alter ego. Philip Jose Farmer asked Vonnegut for permission to write a book under the pseudonym of Kilgore Trout and Vonnegut agreed. Apparently some readers found it confusing so later editions put Farmer’s name on the cover in order to clarify.
Grading Vonnegut books is like grading diamonds. You need a magnifying glass. And even then I don’t think they are flaws. Sometimes some books resonate with the audience more than others. Some get more interesting over time. Or some seem a little less inspired.
Player Piano will always be my favorite. It might have done so because of it's simplicity, but it was like a Rosetta Stone for me when it came to encoding theme into story. I'd been reading all that John Truby, Robert McKee, Save The Cat bullshit, and thought there just had to be a better way to tell a story than prescriptive, "X is better than Y" plots; Player Piano literature is exponentially better than screenwriting. Not by definition, but intentionally, on the screenwriters part.
I don't think I've read Vonnegut since I was a teenager in the 60s, its about time I got back to him as there are so many later books. However, because of you (and MDC, and two guys each named Jack and a few others) I've picked up on Ruocchio's Suneater, currently in book 2. Vonnegut will have to wait a while longer.
@@WordsinTime My multiple personality disorder must have kicked in a while ago. I just looked through the list of ebooks I've got recently. I got Sirens of Titan early in March - even before Suneater 2. I need more rainy days to get through everything that's waiting for me.
Breakfast of Champions blows away all his other works cats cradle is what I always recommend to people people eitrher love it and totally get it or they completely don't get it. Also I feel like if tyou don't read these and listen to an audio book its not the same.
To all Kurt Vonnegut followers: there's One more juicy nugget: unfinished last novel, under working title " if God was alive today, he would be an atheist" . If I can find it, get it.
If i made this video it would be very short. I condemn all of them to the bottomest of bottom tiers, all on the basis of having read and HATED sirens of titan. 😀 I'll watch this properly later, see what I'm "missing out on"! Different strokes and all that...
I’ve only read Slaughterhouse Five. If I didn’t enjoy it, should I give up on reading Vonnegut? His absurdist humor only came across to me as absurdity. I didn’t recognize any of the humor, and it could use some.
@@michaelme1548 I found Slaughterhouse-Five darkly funny at times, but I don’t think it’s one of his most comedic books. If you want to try one that’s absurd and comedic I would recommend Cat’s Cradle. If you want to try something that’s more grounded then I’d recommend Mother Night.
@@WordsinTime I don’t feel like I got anything from Slaughterhouse-Five. I’ve kind of blamed my known problem with absurdist humor. I often recognize that it’s there but usually don’t find it funny. I don’t know how often I miss the attempt at humor completely. There are times I enjoy things because I see they are clever, even though I don’t find them funny. I tried Slaughterhouse-Five first because it seemed his most famous book. I don’t know how representative it is of his work in general.
@@michaelme1548 I’d say it is representative but if you don’t want as much absurdist humor I’d try Mother Night or Bluebeard. They are more down to earth in terms of the tone.
I've read all but six, and pretty much agree, though Breakfast of Champions gets sentimental points as my introduction to Vonnegut's work -- forty-nine years ago. Now, I have a hankering for a banana.
