![]() Most endearing was “D.P.” which was first published in the August 1953 edition of the Ladies Home Journal is about a little boy in Germany, after the second world war. Stories that stand out this time around are “The Hyannis Port Story” which I remember liking before and “Deer in the Works” which was likely connected to his work on his novel Player Piano. Makes me wonder how much of an influence RB was on. Stories like “Who am I this time?” and “The Foster Portfolio” could have been penned by Ray. Most of these were written in the 50s and early 60s and represent a more mainstream side of him that many of his fans and those not yet accustomed to his work would not readily recognize.Īctually, I was struck by how much like Ray Bradbury many of these were. Kurt Vonnegut’s 1968 anthology of previously published short stories is a good introduction to his earlier work. Stories like “D.P.”, “Adam”, and “Next Door”, though, originally published in Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan, reveal an unguarded sentimentality and humanity that is not as evident in much of Vonnegut’s later works. Several stories speak to Vonnegut’s stance on demilitarization and illuminating the idiocy of industrial war making. ![]() “Welcome to the Monkey House” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” both address over population, but from Vonnegut’s unique perspective. “Harrison Bergeron”, the dystopian classic, is undoubtedly the most recognizable of these shorts, but several others have clearly been influential to other writers and filmmakers. The stories in this collection, however, written earlier than most of his novels, displays a great variety of themes and models, and though Vonnegut’s signature humor is evident in many, he shows a different, often more emotional side in many stories. I agreed somewhat, but still liked the way he writes and have enjoyed every one of his works I have read. I have read one critic who did not like Vonnegut, saying that all of his novels are essentially the same, with his voice and tone narrating each new set of facts. Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut is a collection of short stories from the 50s and 60s and demonstrates Vonnegut’s tremendous range as a writer. Time passes: some things change and some things remain the same. That’s the only fun you’ve got, watching people jump for fear of what you’ll do to their bodies or take away from their bodies.” That’s the only skill you’ve got – how to scare yourselves and other people into doing things. “Now I understand you poor fish,” I said. And every story exudes an inimitable psychedelic aura… The tales may be mockingly dystopian, vaguely romantic or just everyday life scenes but everything is tinted with a slenderly blackish humour and somewhat bitter irony. The absolute conformity is a paradise for politicians… Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. The Year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. The novelist is known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)Įvery epoch tells its stories its own way and Kurt Vonnegut managed to catch the spirit of the last midcentury perfectly… Debs) and a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Vonnegut was a self-proclaimed humanist and socialist (influenced by the style of Indiana's own Eugene V. This acerbic 200-page book is what most people mean when they describe a work as "Vonnegutian" in scope. This event would also form the core of his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five, the book which would make him a millionaire. His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. He attributed his unadorned writing style to his reporting work. ![]() ![]() He left Chicago to work in Schenectady, New York in public relations for General Electric. Army and serving in World War II.Īfter the war, he attended University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology and also worked as a police reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago. Vonnegut trained as a chemist and worked as a journalist before joining the U.S. He attended Cornell University from 1941 to 1943, where he wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. He was recognized as New York State Author for 2001-2003. ![]() Kurt Vonnegut, Junior was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. ![]()
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