The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This is to discuss one of July 2017 group reads, Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut Jr..

I read this one a few years ago. I remember quite liking it, but not my favourite Vonnegut book.

One of the other members posted here with regards to audio books that are free to legally download and if anybody is looking for this book apparently it's available there.

I couldn't find Galapagos there. But the website has been updated. Seems less like something from 20 years ago.

I didn't check before, but I think it's this, and it's the book not the audiobook. https://archive.org/details/galpagos0...

Yes it's the e-book that I found, not audio.

I had looked for the audio book. So I logged in and tried to download the Kindle version.
Here's what I got:
Item not available
The item is not available due to issues with the item's content.

Aarghh

Well, in a way I'm not all that surprised. Good you tried Buck. I will trie it too this weekend. Maybe the issues are not appearing from a different continent.

"The book is currently on loan". Someone managed.

I've started it. And pretty quickly I realized that l have read it before. But so long ago that I don't really remember the plot. I do remember that it wasn't one of my favorites.

I finished it. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of his other books. Slaughterhouse Five is still probably the best to read if you've never read any of his books.

The story jumping back-and-forth in time was a bit annoying. He does that in many stories. In Slaughterhouse, it makes sense for the story. In this one, it mainly serves to disguise the fact that there isn't very much to the story. If it were told straight through in linear fashion, the plot would seem pretty thin.

However, plot isn't everything. The characters and humor and ideas are interesting. The big idea, of course, is that these big brains that we like so much make us do some pretty stupid things. Like put our faith in paper currency, or go on a cruise to some remote barren islands just because some famous book was written about them!

Funny enough, I was reading this at a public pool and the lady next to me turned out to have visited the Galapagos. Her big brain still seems to think that was a good idea, but I think the smart thing to do is watch a nature show about it on TV.

Look like Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan" is going to be made into a TV show. Hope that turns out well.

And so it goes...

There was an interesting paragraph or two describing how the tortoises eat some indigestible seaweed and then bask in the sun, using themselves as a cooking vessel to cook it into digestible form.

Evolution has come up with some weird stuff, but that sounded too crazy to be true, and it is:
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2...#

I visited Galapagos some15 years ago. It was unforgettable. Strictly regulated then, which I think made it possible to visit without doing harm. Still I think its best they shut it down for public.
Got word today that my copy from archive.org arrived!

Ed wrote: "There was an interesting paragraph or two describing how the tortoises eat some indigestible seaweed and then bask in the sun, using themselves as a cooking vessel to cook it into digestible form.
..."

Really interesting. Thanks.

Today Goodreads recommended that I read book 4 in a series of books on the Peloponnesian war based on the fact that I've "shelved" this book "Galapagos".

That is such a weird, random, suggestion. I see on the page for that book that other people have been puzzled by being recommended the same book based on their interest in fiction by Nick Hornby, or even "Freaky Friday"! What do these things have in common?

This just goes to show that the big brains of computers aren't any more reliable than the big ones in our heads. Poo-tee-weet!

Ed wrote: "Today Goodreads recommended that I read book 4 in a series of books on the Peloponnesian war based on the fact that I've "shelved" this book "Galapagos".

That is such a weird, random, suggestion. ..."

Yep; I've been recommended the whole 4 volumes of that book on the Peloponnesian war thanks to the fact I once read Monica Ali's Brick Lane. Huh???

Do you think this book is undergoing some sort of secret promotion, perhaps? No matter what you read, it'll appear on a 'Recommended' list near you ...

Donna Rae wrote: "Do you think this book is undergoing some sort of secret promotion, perhaps?"

If so, it has apparently been going on for years with this book. I suspect somethings is broken.

Amazon was once convinced I'd want to read "Acute renal insufficiency made ridiculously simple". I never did read it, but maybe I can suggest it for the next month's poll.

Ed wrote: "Today Goodreads recommended that I read book 4 in a series of books on the Peloponnesian war based on the fact that I've "shelved" this book "Galapagos".."
You're lucky. I get Spanish poetry on reading Galapagos.

Nice one, Ed.

I thought this book was a quick read and raised some serious issues caused by the people with the big brains-namely the increasingly more powerful missiles and bombs.
The ending brought back memories of hearing about the MyLai massacre in Vietnam for the first time (I was in high school) and how shocked everyone was.

I tried one other Vonnegut book before and abandoned it for going nowhere, I think it was Player Piano . He has a very typical way of writing. This one was easy reading and I agree had some big themes. It had in it some conclusions about the way we live and think, made clear bij the specific way the author descibed them. Apart from that I recognised the flora and fauna of this very special place Galapagos, which was great for me.