sallycinnamon
Bluelighter
I just read Slaughterhouse Five. I've wanted to read a Vonnegut book for ten years (since we had to read an excerpt in our freshman literature class). I was rather disappointed; however, I'll say what I did like about it first.
1. I liked some of Vonnegut's prose, like the way he compared things to completely unlikely other things.
2. I could understand what he was trying to do with the story (he made the world seem like a bleak place that no one could escape).
Even though I appreciate point #2, that's actually where the problem starts for me. I never agree when anyone presents a bleak look at the world. I know it was an ironic bleakness, but it still said the same thing: "You cannot change anything that matters."
Even though Vonnegut attempted humor, I only found a few things amusing in the book. These few times were outweighed by the ubiquitous sexist, juvenile language. Tits were actually illustrated on one of the last pages. I know, I know, I probably don't "get it." I understand that it was written in another time for a completely different audience. I just got sick of reading the word "pecker." I am so glad no one says "pecker" anymore.
A lot of people seem to like his writing, but it was mostly lost on me. I found it's humor base. I thought it was really one-dimensional to make the male characters unsavory in so many ways and then to have the female characters unsavory in only one way, which was that he portayed them as being completely stupid. Individuals' appearance was also an important standby: if a person was dirty he had acne, if she was fat, she was always eating. Cheap, cheap unfunny jokes. Anyone can do that.
My question is this. Can you tell me why you like Kurt Vonnegut? Tell me something I may be missing from his writing. Do you like his books other than Slaughterhouse Five?
1. I liked some of Vonnegut's prose, like the way he compared things to completely unlikely other things.
2. I could understand what he was trying to do with the story (he made the world seem like a bleak place that no one could escape).
Even though I appreciate point #2, that's actually where the problem starts for me. I never agree when anyone presents a bleak look at the world. I know it was an ironic bleakness, but it still said the same thing: "You cannot change anything that matters."
Even though Vonnegut attempted humor, I only found a few things amusing in the book. These few times were outweighed by the ubiquitous sexist, juvenile language. Tits were actually illustrated on one of the last pages. I know, I know, I probably don't "get it." I understand that it was written in another time for a completely different audience. I just got sick of reading the word "pecker." I am so glad no one says "pecker" anymore.
A lot of people seem to like his writing, but it was mostly lost on me. I found it's humor base. I thought it was really one-dimensional to make the male characters unsavory in so many ways and then to have the female characters unsavory in only one way, which was that he portayed them as being completely stupid. Individuals' appearance was also an important standby: if a person was dirty he had acne, if she was fat, she was always eating. Cheap, cheap unfunny jokes. Anyone can do that.
My question is this. Can you tell me why you like Kurt Vonnegut? Tell me something I may be missing from his writing. Do you like his books other than Slaughterhouse Five?
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![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
