I read my first Kurt Vonnegut novel over my break

[TimeChaser]

I read Galapagos and I loved it!

Anyone have any specific recommendations for the next one I read?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I've read them all

Dead Eye Dick would be my next recommendation..or read them all in order

here..I'll make ordering it easy for you :D

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385334176/104-7882061-8999103?v=glance&n=283155

[Parrcrow]

6. I think Dead-eye Dick is severly underated

Cat's Cradle would make a good choice for the next one to read as would Sirens of Titan.

Hey, they're all good.

[Mojambo]

2. I rather enjoyed Mother Night.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend
to be."

Reads very fast.

[CanuckAmok]

15. Have you seen the movie?

It was quietly released without much distribution support.

Nick Nolte plays Howard S. Campbell, and I think it's the performance of his life.

If you can find a copy, it's a must-watch.

[Mojambo]

21. I was just looking at the entry on Imdb.

I'm definitely going to pick it up.

[CanuckAmok]

23. "Howard Campbell" has a cameo in "Slaughterhouse Five", too.

In his tailored baby blue SS uniform with the American Flag armband. I wonder if Dick Cheney has one.

[Common Sense Party]

3. Breakfast of Champions.

Then Slaughterhouse 5.

[democracyindanger]

4. Welcome to the Monkey House

Collection of short stories, including one of my all-time favorites, "Report on the Barnhouse Effect."

[Hugin]

18. Seconded!

The short story collections are the best!

[CanuckAmok]

25. "Thomas Edison's Dog" is my favourite story written by anyone.

It's the height of comedy.

[pokerfan]

5. Doesn't matter. They're all good.

Sirens of Titan, perhaps. It retains a character from Galápagos.

[hfojvt]

7. Sirens of Titan kinda threw me

I found Vonnegut because he was in the very, very meager science fiction section of the University library. I read Sirens of Titan and Welcome to the Monkey House and decided that I did not like Vonnegut very much.

Then after I finally graduated and got my first, and only, job I was wandering through the local library and picked up Sirens of Titan and started reading blurbs that I remembered. I found it to be absolutely hilarious and profound at the same time. So I decided to read some more Vonnegut, and loved him so much that I read every book they had of his in that library. Except for Sirens of Titan and Player Piano, Vonnegut is a very fast read.

Anyway, then I re-read Sirens of Titan, and really did not like it. I just thought that was odd, since I loved it as vignettes, but the totality of the story did not amuse or inspire me. I did not like his last book either, I found it to be too pessimistic. Maybe I will goto the library tomorrow and see if they have his new one.

[yellowdogmi]

8. Which one talks about the bokonists?

I don't recall but that was my favorite.

[hobo_baggins]

9. Thats Cats Cradle.

My favorite as well, along with Slaughterhouse 5

[CanuckAmok]

10. Mine too! "No damned cat, no damned cradle!"

[CanuckAmok]

11. Breakfast of Champions, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Cat's Cradle.

Hell, all of 'em.

You'll see some of the same characters passing through the stories: Midland City, Kilgore Trout (Vonnegut's literary alter-ego), Dwane Hoover/Wayne Hoobler, the Maritimo Brothers. Sometimes they're central to the story, and sometimes they're on the periphery.

I like his collection of short stories: "Welcome to the Monkey House", the best, but I think that's because I really enjoy the short-story format.

[CanuckAmok]

12. What's the one with the RAMJAC Corporation?

The one where the Chinese have miniaturised themselves, and the US Dollar crashes because RAMJAC is given to the American People?

I tend to re-read the books all at once, so I get the titles and contents mixed-up.

[Parrcrow]

22. That's Slapstick

[leftofthedial]

13. Slaughterhouse Five

(noone had mentioned it)

so it goes

[CanuckAmok]

14. And it's,one of those rare books that inspired a faithful movie.

The movie version manages to capture every element of story in the book, and does it well.

[barb162]

30. I saw that movie and it was excellent

Never got around to reading the book

[leftofthedial]

34. it's one of the great books of the last century

IMHO

[dajoki]

29. billy pilgrim...

is unstuck in time. i loved it.

[MissMillie]

35. DING DING!!! We have a winner!

But I also like Breakfast of Champions.

[Sanity Claws]

38. I missed your message

and recommended it too.

[NNadir]

41. Slaughterhouse Five is one of the greatest books ever written in English.

That one work alone should have been worth the Nobel Prize.

Imagine beginning a book (in the second chapter no less) on war with the word/sentence "Listen."

[last_texas_dem]

16. _Mother Night_ or _Jailbird_

_Mother Night_ is written in a very interesting way and will really get to you by the end.

_Jailbird_ has less of a message and is one of his less popular ones, but I found I couldn't really put it down until I finished it.

I still have several of his that I want to read myself.

[tonkatoy57]

17. Kudos for finding Vonnegut.

I just finished rereading a collection of Vonnegut novels I found on a bookshelf in my basement. This time around the two that really grabbed me were Slaughterhouse Five and Player Piano.

Slaughterhouse Five is a great anti-war novel with insights about war and the human condition that leap off the page at you. I found myself reaching for a pencil so I could highlight portions so that I could reflect on them at a later time.

Player Piano is a first rate indictment of the corporate system that may be more true and applicable to today's world than it was to the men "in the grey flannel suit" about which Vonnegut originally wrote.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

19. All of them...

I read "Cat's Cradle" when I was thirteen years old.

I haven't been worth a damn ever since.

[Crazy Dave]

20. I read a couple while I was in high school over twenty years ago.

I can't remember which two I read but back then they were a little too deep for me back then to understand, beyond my maturity level at the time. I like to see things 20 plus years later with a sometimes different perspective and more understanding than the previous time.

[Strong Atheist]

24. It doesn't matter; they are all weird ... you could read the

one about ice 9, if you want to be depressed ...

[CanuckAmok]

32. that's Cat's Cradle.

What is most depressing is that there's a band from where I grew up, who call themselves "Ice 9". So, you'd figure they'd have some interesting music, no?

No. They suck. They're a roadhouse bar-band and they do covers of ZZ Top stuff, etc.

[Strong Atheist]

33. Oh, well. I like ZZ top ... nt.

Edited to add:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4592404

[JitterbugPerfume]

26. Cats Cradle

and Slaughterhouse five

All of Kurt Vonneguts work is superior though

He is my favorite author---or at least one of them

[GrpCaptMandrake]

27. I first read "Galapagos" way back in college and found its take

on the end of humanity depressing.

I re-read it a few months ago and found it not at all so.

It's all perspective, I guess.

As for what comes next, I'd recommend "Sirens of Titan." Malachi Constant is a guy for the 21st century.

[CanuckAmok]

31. "Sirens" is probably his most personal work, next to Slaughterhouse Five

It was written shortly after his sister's death.

[m_welby]

28. they're all good.

I have loved vonnegut since I first read cats cradle 30 something years ago.

Player piano is brilliant if somewhat dated (though not in theme)

Cats cradle is brilliant as well, and one of his many end of the world books, along with galapagos and slapstick.

Breakfast of Champions is wonderful, especially if you are turning 50

Slaughterhouse 5 is probably my personal favorite, though.

Since you've started with galapagos, I'd probably recommend that you work your way backward through his work. All of it is rather depressing. Kurt has a dark side, but he is funny and brilliant always.

[The Magistrate]

36. 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater', Ma'am

Is the best of them in my view....

[Sanity Claws]

37. Slaughterhouse 5

I was surpised no one mentioned it in this thread. I read it about 25 years ago in high school and recall it concerned a WWII who had problems dealing with reality after participating in the firebombing of Dresden. n light of the current war and atrocities, it could remind us all of the psychological problems that our soldiers will face when they return.

[CanuckAmok]

39. He didn't have problems with reality, he was UNSTUCK IN TIME!

You think he just made-up Montana Wildhack?!

[Sanity Claws]

40. Of course! Silly me!

I don't remember Montana Wildhack. I do remember the main character going back and forth between time and place.
This is a book I must reread!