Was just thinking to myself how Player Piano has never been more appropriate than the AI age we’re in such a hurry to usher in.

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JKCalhoun 10 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Agree. It's just not a very good Vonnegut novel though. You can see him without (yet) a voice in the novel.

If "Breakfast of Champions" is a little too nutty though, I think I might like his "Mother Night" best. (But maybe we like nutty Kurt?)

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dillydogg 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think "Hocus Pocus" is his best, followed by "Cat's Cradle". But how lucky are we to have so many good ones to pick from?

	▲	JKCalhoun 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Thanks. Hocus Pocus slipped past me somehow. Now I have something to look forward to reading. (I liked Cat's Cradle too but it is also on the loopier end of Vonnegut's writing spectrum—but we need some more of that.)

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beardbound 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Mother night was my favorite Vonnegut book.

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jandrese 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Mother Night is the book that has become more relevant every year since it was published, in 1962.

Every time someone is an "Ironic Nazi" online I think of that book, and how 4chan evolved into the modern political juggernaut it is today.

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sehugg 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Bluebeard is a good one too; it ruminates on the nature of art and how/why meaning is assigned to it.

	▲	afc 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Thank you for your comment. I like Vonnegut (my favorite is Hocus Pocus) but hadn't read Bluebeard. I only started it and I'm already enjoying it significantly.
	▲	liamconnell 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Loved Bluebeard as well. A mature Vonnegut who knew how to use motifs from his earlier work. And for an old guy, he kept his writing fresh and energetic. The miniature story of the dog without a tail always comes back to me.

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neilv 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

My programming teacher in 9th grade spent half the class time on Pascal and programming, and half like a literature or social studies class, including reading and discussing "Player Piano".

Today, the people who most should read it and other things are not the people in our field. Just like the people who most should've been reading about the effects and dangers of Wall Street scamming, were not the coked-up bros doing the scamming.

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thinkingtoilet 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I happened to reread it recently and was absolutely blown away by how relevant it is today, and how it is almost certainly more relevant today than when it was written.

	▲	detourdog 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think Vonnegut really had his pulse on the human condition. Writers such Aldous Huxley could capture parts of it but Vonnegut seemed to capture it in just about every book.

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tsunamifury 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Maybe the reason westworld made it such a prominent theme in the show. All of season 3 is essentially that story.

But what vonnegut missed or questioned is what is we aren’t much more either. (Core thesis of the show is that skinner proved we are mostly the same as a player piano anyways)