Vonnegut's place in your personal heirarchy

[Buck]

Where does Vonnegut stand among American writers of fiction?
Where does he rank?
I rank him very high, behind Salinger but ahead of Hemingway and Steinbeck.






JD editor's note: Subject line adjusted to fit Buck's clarification later on this page. I throw in this service for free.

 

[Ace]

Re: Vonnegut's standing


He's in the Top 10 (Salinger isn't).

 

[OnTheRiver]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Where does Vonnegut stand among American writers of fiction?
Where does he rank?
I rank him very high, behind Salinger but ahead of Hemingway and Steinbeck.

Here's how subjective the question is: I'd flip-flop your take, and put him behind Hemingway and Steinbeck but ahead of Salinger.

 

[Chi City 81]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

What about Twain? And Poe?

 

[Ace]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Twain, Faulkner and Fitzgerald would probably be my top 3

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

I can say for certain, having done it myself, often, that downplaying Hemingway's going to get you flamed.
I'd put Vonnegut behind Twain, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Willa Cather and Eudora Welty, but not far behind any of them.

 

[cranberry]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

My Top 5 based solely on personal preference:

Steinbeck
Twain
Hemingway
Faulkner
Fitzgerald

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Where does Vonnegut stand among American writers of fiction?
Where does he rank?
I rank him very high, behind Salinger but ahead of Hemingway and Steinbeck.

I'd have him the exact opposite. Ahead of Salinger but behind Hemingway and Steinbeck.

I'd also put him ahead of contemporaries Joseph Heller, and Ken Kesey

Historically he's behind Twain (obviously), Melville and Poe

Its a toss up between him and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Huxley, Faulkner, Henry James, William Golding, Jack London and Hawthorne. I say toss up because these lists all come down to personal preference

 

[writing irish]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Steinbeck and Hemingway, to me, rank above both Salinger and Vonnegut. Although I'm not a big Hemingway fan, personally.

Still, I'd say Vonnegut's a solid top-tier writer...put him up there with Baldwin, Updike, Algren, Mailer, Miller, McCullers, O'Connor....I'm just thinking 20th century...

****, you people post quickly!

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Let me also say that Hunter S Thompson was a bug in the afterbirth in comparision to Vonnegut.

 

[Football_Bat]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Vonnegut's standing? I thought he just died.

 

[Buck]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

I've got Fitzgerald ahead of him, too.
But I'm putting him ahead of Twain, Faulkner and Mellville.
I love Kesey, but I think I've got to go with Vonnegut.
He's behind Hawthorne.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

I've got Fitzgerald ahead of him, too.
But I'm putting him ahead of Twain, Faulkner and Mellville.
I love Kesey, but I think I've got to go with Vonnegut.
He's behind Hawthorne.

Ahead of Twain? You're a ****ing moron. Go **** a snapping turtle you weirdo

 

[Ace]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

I've got Fitzgerald ahead of him, too.
But I'm putting him ahead of Twain, Faulkner and Mellville.
I love Kesey, but I think I've got to go with Vonnegut.
He's behind Hawthorne.

Ahead of Twain? You're a ****ing moron. Go **** a snapping turtle you weirdo

It's so pleasant when the Algonquin Round Table gets together over apertifs.

 

[writing irish]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

So much for this thread being an island of intellectual sophistication and civility in the ****stew that SportsJournalists.com's been ever since the Imus gaffe.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

The SportsJournalists.com English Department meets for sherry with Dean Chris L.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

Buck and I are mortal enemies - like Space Ghost and that other guy in that cartoon thingy.

Just because he sits around all day in his anal bead store and reads books doesn't make him an expert on literature.

Vonnegut < Twain

 

[Ace]

Re: Vonnegut's standing


You are correct, Chris L.

So where is Dean Koontz in that equation?

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

You are correct, Chris L.

So where is Dean Koontz in that equation?

Koontz, Ellroy and King all have to wait a few years to let how good their material really was be appreciated. (And I say this not as a big Koontz fan.)

King may be the most difficult to gauge since he wrote for the masses so successfully - but then again so did Charles Dickens in an earlier time.

 

[Buck]

Re: Vonnegut's standing

My title for the thread does not accurately reflect what I was thinking about.
'Standing' connotes stature and some kind of generally accepted scale of greatness and importance.
Within that context, Vonnegut is clearly behind Twain, Melville, Hemingway, Poe and Steinbeck.
I was thinking more about personal preference within the pantheon of accepted great American writers of fiction.