tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1589188530348035004.post8204258536836053654..comments2024-03-26T18:53:21.796-07:00Comments on One Geek's Mind: Thoughts on "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater"Chimeradavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14373236451090168388noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1589188530348035004.post-75275508152646872382022-04-28T11:49:10.604-07:002022-04-28T11:49:10.604-07:00That is really interesting. Thanks so much for the...That is really interesting. Thanks so much for the comment and sorry I didn't see it for two years. Chimeradavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14373236451090168388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1589188530348035004.post-3767302435197521252020-08-16T16:55:53.557-07:002020-08-16T16:55:53.557-07:00Interesting to hear Vonnegut wouldn't categori...Interesting to hear Vonnegut wouldn't categorize himself as a science fiction writer. I actually considered God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater to be a science fiction novel simply because of this quote on page 21:<br /><br />"And it occurred to him that a really good science fiction book hadn't been written about money." <br /><br />After reading that line I immediately thought that that was exactly what Vonnegut was trying to do here- write a science fiction book about money.<br /><br />He goes on to say:<br /><br />"'Just think of the wild ways money is passed around Earth!...You don't have to go to the Planet Tralfamadore in Anti-Matter Galaxy 508 G to find weird creatures with unbelievable powers. Look at the powers of an Earthling millionaire!"<br /><br />So maybe it isn't a typical science fiction story like Slaughterhouse Five or cat's Cradle, but it certainly is an imaginative, fantastical, classic Vonnegut-style world, but instead of the protagonist exploring time travel or a magic ice-9 war weapon, we have different characters considering money ad its power in different ways. I'd say that's science fiction, but I suppose it would depend on your definition of the genre.<br /><br />Samantha Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05643965126086675206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1589188530348035004.post-17901219003407938992011-03-25T12:12:42.063-07:002011-03-25T12:12:42.063-07:00Thanks Bill, that was exactly the kind of thing I ...Thanks Bill, that was exactly the kind of thing I figured he'd said at some point. <br /><br />Can't remember if I'd ever seen this column.Chimeradavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14373236451090168388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1589188530348035004.post-66550093631776262412011-03-25T08:33:16.271-07:002011-03-25T08:33:16.271-07:00Nice review, John. I own this book, but I don'...Nice review, John. I own this book, but I don't think I ever read it. Certainly, your description rings no bell. Well, I used to haunt used bookstores, bringing back sacks and sacks of books, maybe of which I never got around to actually reading.<br /><br />Incidentally, you might be interested in <a href="http://www.vonnegutweb.com/archives/arc_scifi.html" rel="nofollow">this 1965 column</a> by Kurt Vonnegut, "On Science Fiction." That's where he claims to be a "sore-headed occupant of a file-drawer labeled 'science-fiction'" who wants out.<br /><br />I don't think SF fans were too pleased with that. But we tend to have an inferiority complex, anyway - or at least we did back then - so this kind of thing tended to provoke an angry reaction. Or so I suspect, at least.Bill Garthrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08552459555883204060noreply@blogger.com