Kurt Vonnegut books

[IcarusAngel]

Which are his best books?
1. Mother Night
2. Player Piano
3. Slaughterhouse-Five
3. Cat's Cradle (tie)
4. A Man Without a Country

He graded his own books once, but those are the ones I've read.

To read:
Sirens of Titan
Deadeye dick
Buebeard

[Random Precision]

I don't really like Mother Night- he asks a good question, whether you can act in the interests of evil and yet still be a good person on the inside, but I don't think he searched well enough for a good answer to that question, nor did he consider the reverse. So it didn't really do anything for me as a moral statement. Also the book lacks his characteristic humor and flippancy toward life.

My ranking would probably be this:

1. The Sirens of Titan
2. Cat's Cradle
3. Slaughterhouse-Five
4. Welcome to the Monkey House (short stories)
5. Bluebeard

I believe he gave The Sirens of Titan an A-, the best grade he gave any of his books. I'm inclined to agree with him, as he's at his height with a crazy plot, deep philosophical statements, zany black humor, and touching characters in that book.

Vonnegut was also known for his sympathy toward socialism- he named characters after Eugene Debs and Leon Trotsky, for instance, although I haven't read the books with either of them yet. :(

[IcarusAngel]

Yes, I see what you mean. But I happened to like the character development of the book and liked following the character's development.

Sirens of Titan is on my bookshelf now and I was thinking of reading that before Bluebeard - I kind of wanted to gauge people's opinion of it, which is usually pretty good.

[x359594]

To the above I'll add God Bless You Mr. Rosewater.

[MarxSchmarx]

1. Mother Night
2. Player Piano
3. Slaughterhouse-Five
3. Cat's Cradle (tie)
4. A Man Without a Country

Mother night was nothing short of amazing.

However, I never really understood why Vonnegut apparently disliked Player Piano so much. I thought it was one of his best stories and arguably the most proletarian and pro-worker of his novels. Maybe that was why, but I found it surprisingly accessible and right on the mark.

[Pawn Power]

Well I've never read a Vonnegut story that I didn't like and I have read nearly his entire canon. However, my favorites would probably be Sirens of Titans, Slapstick, and Slaughterhouse-Five.

[Kassad]

It's not one of his more famous ones, but I implore you to read Breakfast of Champions. It's incredible, but there's really nothing political in it. It's mostly philosophical and random.

[hugsandmarxism]

Sirens of Titan is the only Vonnegut I've read, and I absolutely loved it.