I adore how Vonnegut so effortlessly works critique of American life and values into his fiction and his creations like Kilgore Trout (and Trout's stories) and the
tralfamadorians are among my favourites of all time.
Slaughterhouse Five
This book made me fall in love with the tralfamadorian idea of time and existence and kind of sparked my interest in it. The tralfamadorians are one of the greatest
sci-fi creations of all time, they way they view the world is so neutral but chaotic at the same time, it's brilliant! The "so it goes" phrase throughout the book
is inspiring and allows for reflection on one's own life without regret or complex feelings of rage or PTSD. I mean, obviously it's not a be all and end all solution
to dealing with the past, but I found Vonnegut's communication of this perspective on life enlightening and beyond helpful when applied to my own life. This rhetoric
also works as a device to show the horrors of war however, it communicates, the attitude of a nation toward death in war, like "It's a necessary evil" so oh well,
all this loss of life and destruction of land and property is fine because it's in the best national interest. I'll be sure to write a lot more about Slaughterhouse Five
upon my second reading of it. But that'll take me a while to get around to...
"There was a still life on Billy's bedside table-two pills, an ashtray with three lipstick-stained cigarettes in it, on cigarette still burning and a glass
of water. The water was dead. So it goes. Air was trying to get out of that dead water. Bubbles were clinging to the walls of the glass, too weak to climb out."
"I, Billy Pilgrim... will die, have died, and always will die on February thirteenth, 1976."
"...There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sicj and so much of the listless
playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters."
Breakfast of Champions
I loved Vonnegut's use of humour in this book... Blah Blah Blah
Player Piano
Vonnegut's first book is one filled with brilliant critique and hopelessness. It find hope, only for it to be crushed and weighed down upon by
the soulless of the society Paul Proteus is part of. There are so many themes and issues Vonnegut picks up in this book;
but largely the overwhelming theme of the novel is the growing power of technology and the bourgeoisie crushing the human spirit.
I find this theme to be inredibly important,
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A book to force anyone into a deep fit of reflection.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
THE AI REVOLUTION IS IMMINENT! PROTECT YOURSELVES!
I devoured this book so quickly and easily, I loved it and found Kerouac's description of nature beautiful and transcendential (whatever that means).
I just didn't like the misogyny of it all, and how it made Buddhism look like a misogynistic faith with that weird orgy scene, but really it's not.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The beautiful book that got me into literature. Frankenstein is a gorgeous insight into the meaning of humanity and the role of humanity in creation.
As capitalism drives the relentless growth of power humanity holds (the bourgeoisie I should say), the more power we strip from nature and natural forces; the more we co-opt the
role of God - I discuss this in an essay I wrote eariler, here.
Berlin by Jason Lutes
KAFKA
Movies
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a must watch for any Marxist. The Marxist undertones in this film are brilliant. And while they may be chickens, it's excellent to see the revoltion
actually be carried out by a group of people in a story. In most anti-capitalist films, the issue will be pointed out, but it is left with no solution. This peeves me to no end.
Yes, capitalism leads to poverty and whatnot, but what about it? The movie always ends with some terrible thing happening as a result of capitalism. Yeah it's fair
because y'know that's probably what would happen, but I think movies (at least some of them) have a role to inspire change. No change is going to come from
Squid Game, in fact, the opposite, everywhere you see corporations profiting off the commodification of the TV series, completely missing the point... or rather, the
people buying their products are completely missing the point. Change did not come from Chaplin's Modern Times, and it surely won't come from the bajillions of anti-capitalist
media we recieve today from the corporations these movies and TV serieses are critiquing. Don't get me wrong, I love a good capitalist critique movie, they rock, but
they always fail to provide a solution to these issues - I believe this is because the only solution is worker's revolution and the production companies know that, and
won't produce anything along those lines out of fear for their own power - Chicken Run does provide a solution to these issues, under the strategic guise of a
children's movie, and that's what's genius about it. And obviously it's not a perfect portrayal of Marxism or anything, far from it, but it at least provides a revolutionary
solution to workers' oppression.
Even stories about a revolution fail to communicate truely radical ideas and leaders, because they're set in such extreme world's that seem impossible, and will usually feature a single Katniss Everdeen type at the forefront of everything. Not Chicken Run,
Chicken Run has a communal focus, everyone takes part in Chicken Run, the chickens organise, and work collectively and efficiently toward a collective goal of emancipation. No chicken is left behind in Chicken Run.
It's also just a genuinely entertaining and beautiful movie.
Frankenweenie
Alienation Nation
Baa Baa
Akira
Anyone who watches this movie knows how good it is, you don't need me to tell you.
Prince of Egypt
One of the most unequivocally gorgeous and majestic animated movies you will ever watch. The story is brilliant, insightful and true to the source material, the music
is heavenly and captures the grand scale of the film, and the character design is just perfect.
There is nothing wrong with this movie
My cat committed a sin and should've been zapped to death with God's mighty power when she pissed on the DVD of this movie
Apparently his novels are post-modernism which sure, whatever I guess, but I live for them, Vonnegut's critiques hit so close to home.
Vonnegut's style is satirical, irreverent, and ultimately entertaining. I eat his novels up like it's dinner time and I haven't eaten a crumb all day.
Simone de Beauvoir
Albert Camus
Absurdism is dumb, but it's fun. THanks Camus.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
This man's poetry makes me feel things I've never felt before. It's indescribeable.
Mwah Mwah Mwah! Belissimo! Yes! Critique the government! Critique Napoleon! Show support for the Irish! Write your poetry! Ditch your wife for an 18 year old! Critique the very nature of monarchy! Get mad at Wordsworth and his collegues for ditching the romantic tradition! Yes! Do it all Percy Bysshe! Romantic hero of the working class. His words are more beautiful than I can describe! They are exactly what the period
is - ROMANTIC! I can't help but get swept away in my little world.
