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Hello.
Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if you could share your first encounters with Vonnegut.
I was raised with him. He was the favorite author of my parents, and I grew up hearing his name along side Plato and Aristotle and Christ and Buddha. I had a very hazy grasp of when folks lived, and thought that he was roughly their contemporary until a concerned parent tried to ban Breakfast of Champions from my junior high school when I was in fourth grade. It made my mother so mad that she ran for the school board--and won. I read Sirens of Titan in sixth, and it formed my worldview on meaning and purpose in life. Then I read the rest of Vonnegut in the seventh and eighth, and remained on a steady, daily diet until I was twenty five or so.
Then I had to lock my Vonnegut books in a trunk, along with my Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Kafka--under doctor's orders. Those were a tough couple of years. Now the books are back out, but I'm mostly weened. As far as the Vonnegut were concerned, I'm pretty sure they were too late--I already had all the stories internalized and memorized. Hi ho.
Anyway--I'm curious to hear what other people's paths have been with dear old Kurt.
Ilana
Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if you could share your first encounters with Vonnegut.
I was raised with him. He was the favorite author of my parents, and I grew up hearing his name along side Plato and Aristotle and Christ and Buddha. I had a very hazy grasp of when folks lived, and thought that he was roughly their contemporary until a concerned parent tried to ban Breakfast of Champions from my junior high school when I was in fourth grade. It made my mother so mad that she ran for the school board--and won. I read Sirens of Titan in sixth, and it formed my worldview on meaning and purpose in life. Then I read the rest of Vonnegut in the seventh and eighth, and remained on a steady, daily diet until I was twenty five or so.
Then I had to lock my Vonnegut books in a trunk, along with my Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and Kafka--under doctor's orders. Those were a tough couple of years. Now the books are back out, but I'm mostly weened. As far as the Vonnegut were concerned, I'm pretty sure they were too late--I already had all the stories internalized and memorized. Hi ho.
Anyway--I'm curious to hear what other people's paths have been with dear old Kurt.
Ilana
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Thu, August 4, 2005 - 8:26 AMSirens of Titan was my first Vonnegut book. I suppose I was about thirteen at the time. In pretty quick order after that I plowed through Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, and Breakfast of Champions. My parents also fed me Venus on the Half Shell, which is not technically Vonnegut, but it was a great read after Breakfast of Champions. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Thu, August 4, 2005 - 9:22 PMi was given Cat's Cradle as a gift from an older friend when i was about seventeen. immediately after finishing it, i picked up and read through Breakfast of Champions, Slaughterhouse Five, Sirens of Titan, and Galapagos. Then I read Sirens again.
as children, my sister and i were obsessed with this odd movie about brother & sister twins. maybe we didnt fully understand it at the time, but regardless, we watched it over and over until the tape broke. i had forgotten all about it until years later, halfway through Vonnegut's Slapstick. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, August 5, 2005 - 12:09 AMZero--
I loved Venus on the Half Shell--I didn't discover it until I happened upon a copy while working at Half Price Books when I was 25, but it's one of my prize possessions. Some of those metaphors he uses should be outlawed!
JaMeS--
That's interesting about your resonance with Slapstick. That work really took off with my imagination too, although for me it was the communication with the dead aspect and the belonging to a group. What was the movie called?
Ilana -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, August 5, 2005 - 5:03 AMi believe it is called Slapsticks of an Other Kind.
what is this Venus on the Half Shell you speak of? -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, August 5, 2005 - 9:38 AMVenus on the Half Shell is a book written in the name of Kilgore Trout by Phillip Jose Farmer. Vonnegut was impressed in that it took Farmer six weeks to write a book which would have taken Vonnegut six months. It was considered one of Scince Fiction's great mysteries for a while.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, August 5, 2005 - 12:34 PMI was 24 and dating a new boy, who entranced me. On one of our first dates he gave me a copy of Bluebeard and said "The main character is Armenian like you!" I devoured it and, after the entrancing boy wandered off, kept picking up other Vonnegut books... in times of stress he takes me out of my bad mood and gives me a nice place to live for a while before I go back to the stressful time with the rich fats. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sun, August 7, 2005 - 7:42 PMHis work papered America by the mid-70s and I was an SF-besotted kid living in Indianapolis with my dad when I picked up "Slaughterhouse-Five." I then spent two weeks tracking down and reading every Vonnegut novel then in print, which by that point was all of them. I've never loved anyone's books as much. They made me a better American.
By the time I got to "Venus on the Half-Shell," I'd already read PJ Farmer's "Doc Savage: His Apocayptic Life" (along with the first "Riverworld" book) and figured it was him before too many pages passed. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, August 8, 2005 - 12:51 AMRockstar--
You read all of Vonnegut in two weeks? Wow!
I have to sip his mind. Large gulps make me antisocial and strange.
Ilana -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, August 8, 2005 - 1:17 AMWell, he was only up to "Slapstick" by then! For an already antisocial and strange early-teen who read at SF paperback speed, no sweat. I've since reread them all multiple times and novels like "Breakfast of Champions" and "Mother Night" repay a slow pace.
Still, I went through "Timequake" VERY slowly. -
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Unsu...
Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sun, August 14, 2005 - 8:32 AMI went through a phase in my teens where I read only the classics. By that I mean books I heard people talking about or refering to when they talked about books. I think Vonnegut was around, on my parent's book shelves, but I didn't seek him out until then (15 or 16?) Anyway, I fell in love with his writing almost immediately. He is one of the few authors who can make me laugh out loud on a regular basis. I devoured whatever I could get my hands on and then sort of fell away from reading him. About two years ago a friend sent me a copy of "Galapagos" and now I'm back on the train. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, August 16, 2005 - 11:28 PMRockstar--
Timequake had that effect on me too. Strange.
Andre--
Welcome back!
Ilana -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, August 16, 2005 - 11:59 PMWell, the Rerun takes as long as the 90s took the first go-around! I really liked the idea and wouldn't mind reliving that decade.
Also, it's his last one and I didn't want it to end... -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Thu, October 13, 2005 - 8:16 PMI was born in '74, and was in grade 7 when I read`"cat's Cradle".The man is responsible for me laughing at the absurdity, instead of crying for hopelessness.
god bless the lies
evl
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Unsu...
Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sun, October 16, 2005 - 5:02 PMlast year at 25
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Wed, December 7, 2005 - 5:33 PMmy first Vonnegut book was Cat's Cradle, read in Russian, at the age of 13 or 14.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, February 6, 2006 - 12:46 PMWhen I was about 10 I saw the movie "Slaughterhouse Five" and was very moved by it. I ended up reading the book too, then moved on to 'Breakfast' and became a fan.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, February 6, 2006 - 4:31 PMHigh school - 10th grade... Deadeye Dick was the first one I read.
Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five was on our 11th grade reading list.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, February 6, 2006 - 4:32 PMI discovered him only recently, in 2004, at age 36, when I read Cat's Cradle for the first time
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, February 7, 2006 - 4:37 AMin high school, 1990. breakfast of champions. then the summer of 1991, i read thru most of vonnegut's work: slaghterhouse five, cat's cradle, etc.; galapagos is my favorite. i was completely taken with his style, and his seemingly un-pretensious way to convey very heavy, heady matters with the lightest turn of words. unfortunately, because i went from book to book, much of his work runs together for me. i got about half way thru slapstick, and then put it down and never picked it (or any other vonnegut book) up again. it's funny, because people often tell me that slapstick is their favorite of his books.
i just re-started slapstick today... -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, February 10, 2006 - 7:25 PMI was 10 years old when I first saw Slaughterhouse on TV. I was real impressed, even though they cut out most of the pornstar scenes! My first attempt to find a book was Slapstick at 11, and I was like "Is this guy for real?"
But after Cat's Cradle, I undersood. I now own every book except Deadeye Dick, Hocus Pocus and Wampats. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, February 10, 2006 - 8:57 PMCat's Cradle is definitely my fave... what is everyone else's fave?
(I still have many KV books to go, so recommendations are welcome!) -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, February 17, 2006 - 10:47 PMCat's Cradle was the first one I read. I was ~20 years old and my parents went through a bitter divorce and my dad told me that I would enjoy Vonnegut's books. Cat's Cradle is still my favorite. Its chapters are set up much like Joseph Heller's (amazing) Catch-22 which I had read right after. I've always felt that the story (Cat's Cradle), its digressions, its mystery, and Bokanism (sic?) beliefs were strung together so well humorously and pessimistically.
His short stories in Welcome to the Monkeyhouse are great. There is something about Bluebeard. The choice of words he used was. well a palate of an artist. I think he had a lotr of fun with that one. Breakfast of Champions has an amazing ending unlike any book - it is just too personal. Why would anyone want to make a film about it is beyond me.
I think Sirens of Titans and Slaughterhouse-Five are comparable to Cat's Cradle. I would recommend those two as well as the ones mentioned above. I could ramble on about his other work but I'll let someone else interject...
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Unsu...
Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Thu, April 20, 2006 - 4:15 PMSlaughterhouse Five @ 12. I've never been the same since, I'm afraid. ;o)
From there, Sirens of Titan and the list goes onandon... -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sat, April 22, 2006 - 2:56 PMHowdy all y'all,
He was one of a small handful of guests at my parents wedding. My pop taught at Iowa back then, and he and KV
hung a bit. Stories of their wedding was my introduction.
After plowing thru Watership Down a few times in the 7th grade, I quickly delved into Homer, and soon after Homer
and then Tolkein, cracked out my pop's worn versions of Cat's Cradle and God Bless You Mr Rosewater. I think I
was pro'lly about 13 or 14 by then.
Regardless of all the wedding tales, discovering those books were more transformative than I would've ever
pre-imagined.
Cheers,
M. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sat, April 22, 2006 - 6:19 PMWow, what a range of ages we have for our first exposure: everything from 10 years old to "haven't read him yet." ;-)
For me, it came about when I was mildly traumatized by a tv movie on PBS called Between Time and Timbuktu:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betw...d_Timbuktu
This was seven months before I turned ten. (Top that!) It gave me many a sleepless night, thinking about those disturbing possible futures. Shortly afterward, in an attempt to conquer my fears, I pulled Sirens of Titan out of my parents' bookshelves. It went on from there...and when Breakfast of Champions first came out, I remember insisting to my parents they had to buy it.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, May 5, 2006 - 6:05 AMi discovered him just this year at 14 and i love him... i think the 1st book i read was cat's cradle.. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sat, January 13, 2007 - 6:20 AMI confess, I didn't discover Vonnegut until my senior year in high school when I read Slaughter-house 5. We had to read like, 4 or 5 books before the beginning of the school year for my AP English class, and I just happened to choose it off a list of others (along with Dracula and Catch-22). I really enjoyed it, but didn't go searching for more. I stumbled upon a copy of Cat's Cradle during the year and started reading it, that I REALLY liked, but it was taken away from me for some reason I don't recall. But that's when I actively began my search. I found Timequake and gobbled it up - that's one of my favourites. Then Breakfast of Champions and Mother Night, and now I own every single book in print. Working on acquiring the ones out of print.
I even have the Vonnegut Encyclopedia. But alas, I have never heard of this PJ Farmer person. I may have the name wrong...
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sun, January 14, 2007 - 2:32 AMWhen I was a child, my father had Slapstick. I paged through it and moved on. I had discovered the erotica by then.
When I grew older, I held off on Vonnegut to save him for when I needed him. In difficult times I pick up an author that's guaranteed to be good, but whose work I'm entirely unfamiliar with, and read 4 books a week for as long as necessary. I finally dug into Vonnegut when I was 20. And it was good. Here's a quote from my journal around then: "I have been reading a lot a lot a lot of Vonnegut. It affects your brain. There's no way I could write anything original right now. I'm all Vonnegutized. So it goes."
I started with Slapstick, and I still have a soft spot for it. I'm also very fond of Player Piano for reasons not entirely clear to me. I've left a few novels unread, for when I need them, but I've also read a great deal of his short fiction. And I love love love Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons. If you haven't read it, you simply must. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Sun, January 14, 2007 - 8:06 AMIn my Junior year of high school we had to pick an author to do our term paper on and read three of his books. Looking over the list with my creative writing teacher, he suggested Vonnegut. I borrowed Breakfast of Champions from the library and that was it.
To this date I've read everything vonnegut. Some of them more then once. A few of them more then 5. I'm holding onto Happy Birthday Wanda June. I'll read that at some point just to be able to read new vonnegut. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, January 15, 2007 - 12:36 AMI didn't read Vonnegut until a couple of years ago. I was already out of college. I had grown up hearing so much hype about the fellow that I was convinced there was no possible way he could be any good. I'm not sure why I was sold on this idea, but I was. Anyway, I read Slaughterhouse Five in a hopes of having a more balanced opinion. And of course, that was that. I've never felt inclined to read everything the man has written, but I'll always consider Breakfast of Champions to be both the funniest and saddest book I've read.
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Unsu...
Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Mon, January 15, 2007 - 9:13 PMI was thirteen when I read my first Vonnegut book - Slaughterhouse Five. Once I started it I just couldn't put it down. I remember the night I started reading it... there was some problem with the lights in my room - they suddenly fused or something in the middle of the night when I was about halfway through the book. So I sat in my bathroom (where the light was still working) and finished the book just before dawn. I was hooked. mesmerized. I've read every book by him (many times over) including Venus On A Half Shell by his alterego Kilgore Trout, and although I've read a lot over the years, when asked the (rather irritating) question... "who's your favorite author?"... Vonnegut is still the first name that automatically comes to my mind. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, January 16, 2007 - 11:08 AMI was 18 when I read Slapstick...for three years, I thought that Tourette's was something he made up!
I've read pretty much everything by now, including Venus on the Half Shell which was not, in fact, written by him...but Philip José Farmer. Which pissed KV off severely.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venu...Half-Shell
but it's s fun read, anyway.
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, June 5, 2007 - 1:48 AM28
i started with Breakfast of Champions and went out and bought ALL his fiction books (that i could find at the local bookshop in Austin, TX) and read them one after the other... he's the only author i wanted to meet and am really mad at him that he died before that could happen... anyway, i wrote a personl poetic tribute if anyone is interested in reading and commenting: norhymeandnoreason.blogspot.com/
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, June 5, 2007 - 3:15 AM"Slaughterhouse-Five." was my intero and I was 15.....but it was back in 94 when I followed a man out of a book store in NYC "the Strand" for two blocks ...I was told by a friend that worked at this store that "Vonnegut just left"....... -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Fri, September 19, 2008 - 10:13 PMi was 14 i don't remember whitch book i went out and got every other one i could find not too many at the time one of my favroites is player piano ,as of now i've only read about 1/2 of his work but i'm in the midst of correcting this
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Wed, October 1, 2008 - 7:11 AMLike you my parents had most of his books and always said I should read them. Im 22 and just read Slaughterhouse V for the first time a few months ago. Breakfast of Champions is next on my list. Wish I would have started sooner. So many books so little time. -
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Re: How old were you when you discovered Vonnegut?
Tue, October 20, 2009 - 4:45 PMI was 11 or 12. Seventh Grade. I found Breakfast of Champions lying around the house. My mother had tried to read it & hated it.
I shared it with my best friend Xian. We scrawled "BOC" on our Pee-Chees and the other kids thought we meant "Blue Oyster Cult."
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