Comment by prat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by prat | Hacker News Reader

"Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages."

After having read most of Vonnegut's books, I can say that this is a big hallmark of his work. Vonnegut has such a microscopic view of events and characters that doesn't exclude even the slightest and faintest of the details or idiosyncrasies. Its refreshing to have that view but sometimes too much - but more than that, it leads to a very special relationship between the author and reader - Its probably just me, but I think of Kurt as a member of my family or karass because of this.

I liked that in Cat's Cradle, which is the only book of his I read. It was interesting having the Ice-9 tracked throughout the story, even before we knew what it was or what it would do. At the same time, it was a little exhausting, and it made the narrative feel somehow shallow. While it was enjoyable reading, there was no point in the book where I actively felt a desire to know what would happen next. That's the problem with the lack of suspense, I guess.

"there was no point in the book where I actively felt a desire to know what would happen next"

I agree - at the same time, after reading a couple of his other books, I feel this is the only kind of fiction that I can simply go to a book store and read for 15 min without feeling the need to finish the book (although I do finish it eventually). His style is quite haiku like in the sense that the beginning or end take a back seat. I should mention here that I am no haiku aficionado - so the reference might sound amateurish to someone who knows.

If this the only one you have read, then try slaughterhouse 5 too.

I think Hocus Pocus is more similar to Cat's Cradle than Slaughterhouse 5 is. Both are great though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com