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/lit/ - Literature

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9883572 No.9883572 [Reply] [Original]

What is lit opinion on this guy?
I've read half of his books and wasn't impressed. Some ideas were good, some thoughts were good, but I felt he had a condescending, arrogant tone and could fit in /r/iamsosmart sometimes.

>> No.9883599

>>9883572
>and could fit in /r/iamsosmart sometimes.
More like r/books haha. I've read Cat's Cradle and slaughterhouse 5. The former was pretty good, and got me in to reading. The latter was kind of "meh" just because it doesn't seem to capture the horrors it wants to show us. And the horrible bits are quite short. You can't really feel for people who are wandering around in Luxembourg to get caught to get sent some place better. I liked the horsey bit though, just because it was so sad. His ideas aren't great but he's a good entry level author.

>> No.9883608

>>9883599
Same thoughts
>good entry level author
What would you advise to read next?

>> No.9883711

Also, Breakfast of champions was the worst

>> No.9883778

He's a good author who was propelled into fame because he was taken up by the 60's and 70's anti-war youth movement. He's not great, and if he hadn't arrived at his historical moment he would have been a cult author. You've touched on his major flaws.

>> No.9883888

>>9883572
>but I felt he had a condescending, arrogant tone
I wouldn't say his tone is condescending or arrogant. It's just the typical attitude of a lol-so-randumb humorist to deride things commonly considered as trivial. I see it as a combination of self-resentment and desire to fit in. Overall he is pretty humanistic and some of his things are pretty comfy but maybe he is self-conscious about it because people prone to sentimentality are generally looked down on. A lot of times he feels the need to profess that he is in fact a nice person, but then he wants to take an above it all stance so he wouldn't seem too personally invested.

>> No.9883960

>>9883888
I think both are right. I've met Vonneguth fans and they were exactly like him - hiding insecurities and weaknesses behind snarky remarks and patronising attitude

>> No.9883981

>>9883960
Rather than saying "I don't thing his tone is condescending or arrogant" I should have said "I don't think that makes him a condescending or arrogant person".

>> No.9884021

>>9883981
Well, like his characters. Though his personality is pretty evident throughout the books

>> No.9884680

He is like a Sheldon Cooper, that kind of guy

>> No.9885492

He started strong and then realized he'd be critically rewarded if he started sounding like an ur-Occupy Democrats shill. That's how you end up with your name on the binding of a book like Deadeye Dick.
In other words, he took the same path as Steppin King.

>> No.9885511

>>9883711
Breakfast of Champions is my favorite book of his and one of my favorite books I've ever read.

>> No.9885718

>>9884680
Haven't actually watched the show but this sounds pretty off the mark.

>> No.9885722

>>9883711
>(you)

>> No.9885766

I liked his appearance the Rodney Dangerfield comedy, Back to School.