Friday 22 June 2007

Kurt Vonnegut


'Join a gang, any gang', Kurt implores us in this one of his last interviews. I like the way he describes how the gang/group/herd is important to our well being and how the industrialised society with its scientific method spawned (my words) the atomised lifestyle and the nuclear family. He also talks about who cares if Jesus was the son of God, because what he said was beautiful and that's what matters. I've never read any of his books but hope I get a chance some time to check out his work. Somewhere that the the phone is off and Wi-Fi is out of range.


9 comments:

  1. some of kurt vonnegut's books are amazing and you really should read at least one. there's one that i can never remember the name of, but it's about this 150 year old man who's living in a sanctuary that what was new york city, but is now the sewers of new new york city, a completely automated metropolis. it's fantastic (in every sense of the word)

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  2. Hi Lauren. Its not Sewer, Gas & Electric is it?

    I'll make that the first one to tackle if it is.

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  3. Bluebeard and Galapagos are two lesser-read works of his, but are really, really good ( and funny).

    There's a really good website that encapsulates most of his written work, interviews, honorary degrees, and even commencement speeches:

    http://www.vonnegutweb.com/

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  4. Hey thanks Amber. This is what I like the most about blogging. Making small connections though shared interests :)

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  5. 'From Breakfast of Champions' I learnt and never forgot how much americans love their cars. Place your business next to a road, let them park or drive through & you've got your customers. Business can flop if the parking issue is not addressed.

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  6. Hi Cat. I always park drive culture in the area of, something humans want but don't need. From human obesity to the sense of alienation that car culture encourages we've built our cities erroneously. That doesn't mean I'm not a sucker for 50's U.s. car design.

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  7. breakfast of champions, cat's cradle, galapagos.

    all required reading. all so beautiful. all so sad. cynical in the truest sense of knowing we should all be better.

    when he died i was sad for a long time.

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  8. o and speaking of 50's - the new Bryson on growing up then - Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - is lovely.

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  9. Thanks dude. I originally wrote this post because TIGS called my attention to Kurt. The Mao book I've been reading got stolen along with my bag last night in the Commercial Tavern (weird eh) so I'm going to get myself a Vonnegut today.

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