Brian’s Comments (group member since Sep 17, 2012)

Brian’s comments from the Completists' Club group.

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Any takers?"

Sold.

I've read 30 or so but am willing to re-read all of them. Do we all just start chewing through the list individually; or should we begin from the bottom and work our way up? A book a month?

Nice - thanks Jacob.

Jacob - is there a short fiction collection of his that you've read that stands out from the others?

Have read everything except "Let's Play Doctor"; TSFN was a let-down. My fave collection is still MC,MG.

Nathan - does any particular story or novel stand out for you?

Have any of you read Venus on the Half-Shell? I remember reading it in my '20s (not knowing that it wasn't written by Vonnegut) and loving it - especially reading the part that is referenced in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A Novel.

Last year I read his unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood and then read Simmons' Drood right after. While neither book was exceptional, I was amazed at the amount of research that Simmons invested in his fictional telling of the story of the last few years of Dickens' life, as told by Wilkie Collins (he nailed Collins' voice as the narrator).

I haven't read more than a handful of Dickens other books, though I would like to. David Copperfield is always somewhere on the horizon.

Mother Night and Sirens of Titan are my two favorites - have read them each a few times. Galapagos was my least favorite (was funny to read in Palm Sunday that when he graded his novels he gave it the worst grade).

Yes - I had no idea that Sun Moon Star was an art/children book. This is back in the day of no pictures nor descriptions of the book. I admit to feeling let down when I opened the box and saw what I got. It's also too large for my bookshelf and so it lays on top of its Vonnegut brethren.

MJ - are you interested in his recently published biography? I enjoyed The Vonnegut Statement - if for nothing else it introduced the early '20s version of me to Richard Yates (referred to several times in his interviews).

I purchased "Sun Moon Star" in the mid-90s (right when Amazon was first getting going) for something like $85. I thought it was going to be something more than what it was.

Other than that, I also have read everything by KVJ, some things a few times. What is your favorite novel? Least favorite?