3 ms·

As someone who hasn't read any Vonnegut, what would you recommend I read first?

mmmpop 10y ago
Slapstick was one of my favorites, plenty of sarcasm to go around. I've been trying to get through Player Piano (his first novel) but it's a tad dry.
ranko 10y ago
Slaughterhouse-five - probably his most well-known work, and at least partly based on his own experiences in Dresden in World War II. It's a very Vonnegut book, and a great gateway to the rest of his writing.
- sharkweek 10y ago
  Second vote for Slaughterhouse Five - the "war backwards" section of the book, to me, is one of the most beautiful passages in any novel I have ever read. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/279125-it-was-a-movie-about-american-bombers-in-world-war http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/279125-it-was-a-movie-about-...
djeikyb 10y ago
Cat's Cradle. Not too long. Themes include science, apocalypse, and religion.
beautifulfreak 10y ago
I liked the Sirens of Titan. Here, read a couple of pages: https://www.flickr.com/photos/romasita/2766136797 https://www.flickr.com/photos/romasita/2766136797
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  For some additional context, Sirens of Titan is one of his earlier works. The grammar is also more "standard", and is a more straightforward read than some of his more famous works.
ashark 10y ago
The Big Two are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five. They're the two you're mostly likely to end up talking with someone about, or to have familiarity assumed by an article or something. If we were to make it a Big Three the third one would be Breakfast of Champions. His worst are probably Slapstick and Timequake, and the latter's so full of references to his earlier works that you wouldn't want to make it an early read regardless. The short fiction/non-fic collections published during his lifetime are generally great. Big exception for A Man Without a Country which was pretty mediocre overall. Anything posthumous is suspect and should be deferred until you've worked through the earlier stuff, if not avoided entirely. Not that there's nothing good in there, it's just that the average quality is way lower. Personal favorites of mine that don't generally make best-of lists are Deadeye Dick and Bluebeard. If you're reading him for the sci-fi connection rather than as general fiction, you want the Big Two plus Sirens of Titan (which would probably be #4 in a "big four" as far as importance-to-have-read) mainly.
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  I've read all the books you mentioned other than Slapstick and agree with your synopsis and recommendations. I'd personally start with Cat's Cradle over Slaughterhouse Five. Deadeye Dick is strange and hilarious, but probably better after reading a few of his books first. :)
  - ashark 10y ago
    > Deadeye Dick is strange and hilarious, but probably better after reading a few of his books first. :) Probably true about Bluebeard, too. Both read almost as a review of the major themes and messages of Vonnegut's work, though Bluebeard more so than Deadeye Dick.

Slapstick was one of my favorites, plenty of sarcasm to go around. I've been trying to get through Player Piano (his first novel) but it's a tad dry.

ranko 10y ago

Slaughterhouse-five - probably his most well-known work, and at least partly based on his own experiences in Dresden in World War II. It's a very Vonnegut book, and a great gateway to the rest of his writing.

sharkweek 10y ago
Second vote for Slaughterhouse Five - the "war backwards" section of the book, to me, is one of the most beautiful passages in any novel I have ever read. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/279125-it-was-a-movie-about-american-bombers-in-world-war http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/279125-it-was-a-movie-about-...

djeikyb 10y ago

Cat's Cradle. Not too long. Themes include science, apocalypse, and religion.

beautifulfreak 10y ago

I liked the Sirens of Titan. Here, read a couple of pages: https://www.flickr.com/photos/romasita/2766136797 https://www.flickr.com/photos/romasita/2766136797

hkmurakami 10y ago
For some additional context, Sirens of Titan is one of his earlier works. The grammar is also more "standard", and is a more straightforward read than some of his more famous works.

ashark 10y ago

The Big Two are Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five. They're the two you're mostly likely to end up talking with someone about, or to have familiarity assumed by an article or something. If we were to make it a Big Three the third one would be Breakfast of Champions. His worst are probably Slapstick and Timequake, and the latter's so full of references to his earlier works that you wouldn't want to make it an early read regardless. The short fiction/non-fic collections published during his lifetime are generally great. Big exception for A Man Without a Country which was pretty mediocre overall. Anything posthumous is suspect and should be deferred until you've worked through the earlier stuff, if not avoided entirely. Not that there's nothing good in there, it's just that the average quality is way lower. Personal favorites of mine that don't generally make best-of lists are Deadeye Dick and Bluebeard. If you're reading him for the sci-fi connection rather than as general fiction, you want the Big Two plus Sirens of Titan (which would probably be #4 in a "big four" as far as importance-to-have-read) mainly.

hkmurakami 10y ago
I've read all the books you mentioned other than Slapstick and agree with your synopsis and recommendations. I'd personally start with Cat's Cradle over Slaughterhouse Five. Deadeye Dick is strange and hilarious, but probably better after reading a few of his books first. :)
- ashark 10y ago
  > Deadeye Dick is strange and hilarious, but probably better after reading a few of his books first. :) Probably true about Bluebeard, too. Both read almost as a review of the major themes and messages of Vonnegut's work, though Bluebeard more so than Deadeye Dick.