Vonnegut

[David Andignac]

>Someone mentioned (sorry the lack of attribution, this mainframe isn't
>so friendly, but it is a cast iron and steam-powered obscurity, which is
>Pynchonian in its own right) Vonnegut appearing in his novels.  I
>remember this from Slaughterhouse Five, going something like "that
>corporal back there puking his guts out was me" when he's describing the
>aftermath of their Christmas dinner.
>
>Anyway, any references to Vonnegut in GR?  Any idea of Vonnegut's
>opinion of Pynchon?
>
>Brett
>(bcoley at vnet.ibm.com)
>
I looked up the reference to Pynchon in Vonnegut's Palm Sunday. It was 
rather unexciting. During a speech to a Cornell Alumni Group Vonnegut states 
that he did not know Pynchon or Nabokov while he was attending. I think the 
reason that I had remembered this as negative was Vonnegut's earlier and 
frequent discourses against English programs as breeding grounds for 
writers. At one point he criticizes Howl saying that Ginsberg didn't know 
"the best minds" of his generation because he was talking about his friends 
in the Liberal Arts arena.

However, his assertions that science and technical backgrounds are better 
sources for good writers would make one think that he might be a fan.

BTW, is the connection between all those writers mentioned on the list the 
other day Cornell?

David A.