Welcome to Litsy!

And that's a wrap! I saved Vonnegut's last for last, which turned out to be the right call, I think. If this had been the first thing of his I'd read, I'm not sure I would have known what to make of it. As a swan song, though, it's perfect - a novel not quite coming together, the well of ideas running dry, repurposed into a meta-narrative reflecting on a life approaching its end and all of those who were a part of it.

5 Stars • Welcome to the Monkey House is a 1968 collection of 25 short stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., blending science fiction, satire, and social commentary. The title story depicts a dystopian world with overpopulation and government-enforced anti-sex drugs. Rebel Billy the Poet kidnaps a Suicide Parlor hostess to restore human connection, critiquing societal control. ⬇️

#Read2025

Listened to for #AuthorAMonth September #KurtVonnegut Overall, I enjoyed this college commencement speeches, although they do get repetitive, especially toward the end. With the two stories read & listened to previously, I feel like I have read enough for now. Would I try one of his better known novels at some point? Maybe.🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm feeling this quote about #poetry. I'm learning to appreciate poetry more these days, but it seems like such a personal thing, more so than any prose.

#kurtvonnegut #aam

For crying out loud Vonnegut, stop meandering on about yourself and write a damn story!

#AuthorAMonth

Well.

I got to a quarter deep and just couldn‘t continue. I‘m sure there‘s more inviting Vonnegut to try instead but this was all that was available in my library at this moment. I told myself I‘d allow one author to be DNF if situation called, I guess this one‘s it for me. #AuthorAMonth

Billed as extremely funny, I was so looking forward to listening to this book. Alas, I started it right after reading his If This Isn't Nice, What Is? I felt so preached at in that book, so when it started up again with this book I bailed. Maybe I‘ll try it again someday but it just didn‘t work for me this month. On another note, I am enjoying his short stories that I‘m currently reading. #authoramonth @Soubhiville

Mark Twain, not long before he died a bitter old man, was writing a book much like John Latham's.... Like Latham, he chose to laugh in agony rather than sob in agony about how irresistible forces, whether physical or economic or biological or political or social or military or historical or technological can at any time smash our hopes for moderately happy and healthy lives for ourselves and our loved ones to smithereens.

We like to pretend that so many important discoveries have been made on a certain day, unexpectedly, by one person rather than by a system seeking such knowledge, I think, because we hope that life is like a lottery, where simply anyone can come up with a winning ticket...

Who knows? Tomorrow morning, some absolute nobody, maybe you or I, might fall into an open manhole, and return to street level with a concussion and a cancer cure.

A rather odd collection of previously unpublished stories that will probably be most appreciated by fans. My favorite part of it was an essay about American myths and decline, which is even more painfully relevant than it was in the 90s.

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville