“Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, ‘Why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.”
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Only Vonnegut I read was Gallapagos, and one of his short stories. Very interesting guy to say the least.
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He represents about as far away as I get from the scifi genre.
His work does not typically disappoint. Although I’m sure I’ve heard negative opinions of the stuff I fail to remember anything specifically. About 98% of people I know all agree that Vonnegut was genius.
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He was. Like I can write a little bit but this guy has all sorts of degrees and never short of relevant insight that doesn’t necesarrily hit home with him. I can only write about my experiences for the most part. This guy can make a story about of anything. I consider it as close to sci-fi as I read ha.
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That’s funny man.
That’s kind of why I hate reading sometimes. Makes me feel so dumb.
His insight interwoven into all of his stories is what made them so rich. A small epiphany around each turn. As well read as he must have been, you can also tell he was thinking for himself the whole time. Trying to take in the big picture. Such efforts have exhausted me and driven me insane.
Still influential on my life. That’s for sure. I can’t really recall all the stuff he said, but it kind of shapes how you see the world even if you can’t remember why.
I want this psychosis to go away so I can have my old mind back.
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I know the feel man. Alan Watts makes me feel dumb. I read his auto-biography, the first 100 pages at least and he was just so…damn accomplished. Same way you described Vonnaguet…so well read, at such a young age, but able to form opinions for himself. I like to think I’m at an advantage in my experiences and all I’ve gone through
I wrote about it
" John James went on and started talking about Alan Watts, one of the authors that Garrison had suggested to him. “Ah, so you read Watts. He’s a good one isn’t he?” “Yeah he’s good, I wish I could be as smart as him but I never will be.”
“Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses though” Garrison said. “Yeah but…” “No but’s”…John interrupted Garrison for once and said that he “just wanted to say his talk about how a potato is enlightened was interesting. About how he talked about how a potato…”
“I don’t remember that one” Garrison said, doing the interrupting this time"
lol, i like quoting my story
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Oh gosh I just figured out your username.
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It’s been a long time since I’ve read Vonnegut, but I remember loving Sirens of Titan the best. I should read it again to remember why.
From your linked list:
“There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
Don’t know that I ever read GBY,MR. But now I think I ought.
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Dude good passage.
So it goes… so it goes.
I like everyone else was born to a series of accidents.
I went on a big Vonnegut kick in high school - forty years ago. I don’t think his short stories got enough attention. Read “Welcome to the Monkey House”. He was a master of the short story.
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I think I’ve read that one, but yeah its been years for me too I can’t recall.
They made Slaughterhouse 5 into a movie. Yeah, wasn’t Vonnegut considered to be a counter culture writer?
It would seem anyone who encourages people to think for themselves gets pushed into the counter culture.
He defines a whole pillar of culture to me though. For an author that was contemporary he is pretty well known.