Before enduring his stay at slaughterhouse five he was caught up in a place called the Schnee awful. Against all odds he survived both and the world was better for that.
Certain of KV's elders in Milwaukee would no doubt have bandied-about humorously cynical adaptations of stirring catchphrases from ex-Nebraska-Congressman William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech delivered in Chicago in 1896. [From Wikipedia:] "In the address, Bryan supported bimetallism or 'free silver', which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. He decried the gold standard, concluding the speech, 'you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold'. Bryan's address helped catapult him to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination; it is considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history."
@@johnbarber9417 it was a play on words with a duel meaning: cross in a biblical sense (crucifixion) and cross of the 2 axes he used in his illustration. At least that's how I understood it.
@@helio2k John Kennedy and his brother Robert had both been assassinated, MLK had also been assassinated, the Vietnam war showed no signs of slowing, race riots were burning through major cities, violent clashes between students and police became regular, and corruption within the Democrat party handed the presidency to Nixon… many have argued that the late 60s was the period when the country lost its “innocence” and Americans became cynical about their government (relative to the country’s previous post-WWII optimism). It’s just one period of turbulent cultural change in America.
I saw him give it in 1997 or so, and was glad to be able to shake his hand and thank him. Not sure all our appreciation ever reached him, sadly. But he made a deep difference in my life, and I quote this lecture often to this day in trying to explain to people how degenerate our cultural production has become.
@@martinet1985 And YOU'RE pretentious for having pointed that out. And now I'm pretentious for pointing THAT out. Let's all just sit around and huff our own farts.
A towering intellect and titan of literature, more than happy to play the fool if that's what it takes to entertain you. So humble and deeply human it's staggering to think about.
that ending to the speech made me cry, the rumble in the room, all those names, remembered, and not forgotten. if this isnt nice, I dont know what is...
Me too! I never had a teacher like that, but I did have a students parent say that about me, out of the blue, right in front of my own dad, who taught me how to teach. So now I'm gonna think about that moment as "peak Ben Palmer".
@@BenPalmer3000 teacher cross our paths in many shapes, your father was a teacher to you even though it was not his profession and now you made it your calling to pass some on to kids who are not "your" kids but who you treat as though they were your own. so love grows in the world and one single act cascades into a symphony of life that even outlasts the death of the person. thank you for sharing!
yeah, the new algoritms are working as a charm, wonder how long it will take them to hep us alter our story and help us see more 'good news' around us, right?
I owe this guy a minute or two. A weekend psychiatrist let me go home from a mental hospital giving me a Kurt Vonnegut quote. "Civilization is an unnatural act."
If you like that thought, I think you'd like his books as well...also, along the same vein: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Catch 22 and Veronica Decides to Die.
Breakfast of Champions was really good to sums up the craziness of life.....except it started to trigger my mental illness had to keep putting it down....
@@graydonb8957 Even though it has more whimsy, and is probably the most accessible, Breakfast of Champions is no light read, despite the sharpie drawings(Turn around, you just passed Sacred Miracle Cave!) As a person with depression myself, i totally get it. i often have to steer clear of things like this when i am mentally vulnerable. Mother Night is my favorite, but 2 weeks of depression generally follow a reading of it. Mr. Vonnegut has a gift beyond most any other author....the ability to intertwine the most awful, regrettable part of the story with such deft humor that you laugh, but then it falls away and you realize the humor works to ramp up the sense of tragedy. One of the best examples of that is in the last chapter of Mother Night. Of course all his books contain this. Slaughterhouse Five has it in spades, too. Hopefully this wont bring up anything bad for you, but i do feel compelled, given my name, to close this post with: Make me Young!
hey tommy - when i was 13 my english teacher gave me "invisible man" by ralph ellison. No one else in the class was reading that. Sometimes we are seen for what we are by elders, they do they're best.
Elf Sieben Dude, Hamlet was written 58 years BEFORE Paradise Lost. Milton was 0 when Hamlet premiered. Shakespeare didn’t steal anything from Milton. In fact, Milton has said that he was influenced by Shakespeare so that line in Paradise lost is possibly inspired by Hamlet.
Haha I always wondered whether Kurt Vonnegut was a happy person or not. Its so hard to tell from his books, he's so critical and cynical so much of the time but yet there's sort of crazy optimism and lighthearted humor too. Now I got my answer lol
I think Kurt Vonnegut is a happy man ultimately. But I think that's so much more potent because he grapples so honestly with how much sadness is in life and the human condition and how he has met it first hand
He tried to commit suicide at least once, possibly more, so he was never what you’d call a happy person, as in generally happy. KV surely had happy moments, but also lots of deep abysses of dark depression too.
for me it was John Connors a University Professor who was crucial in that pivotal moment that I really saw myself for the first time, as successful and positive.
ain't that the truth. most of them were so wrapped up in their own egos and just looking for a paycheck that not a single one of them from CU could've even tried bullshitting that if said paycheck depended on it. that's in part why I think higher-ed is pretty fucked among many other reasons. on the outside of higher ed? thankfully I have a best friend who does that along with me more times than I would've ever believed and did it again just last Thursday. And if that isn't nice, then I really don't know what is.
life's not over yet, and if you think outside the box of the educational "system," I'll bet you can think of someone in your life who helped you feel that way. College education is not the end-all, be-all.Plenty of people who don't have degrees or even high school diplomas have intellect and critical thinking skills (cabbies, bartenders, janitors often have more critical thinking skills than professors) - plus you yourself have these skills innate in your being. Imagine that!
@@b.bailey8244 However, Vonnegut only said "teacher." Most of us inferred he was referring to someone working at a school with an education degree. To me, a teacher can be anyone who educates you in any way. I agree with you that everyone in the world has the capacity to teach someone else.
I love this man. His work influenced me throughout my life. His overall point - Don't take anything or anyone too seriously. It's your life, so live it. I was working on a stage adaptation of Breakfast of Champions many years ago and wrote to him to get his permission. He was kind enough to write back to me and signed his letter with his usual hand drawn 'asshole' signature. * I still have and will always treasure that letter!
@@nealalexanderarmstrong4711 He explained in the letter that the rights had already been given to someone else. So it never happened. I was just thrilled to have gotten a reply from him! I just noticed your name. Cool. I did get to meet the original Neil Armstrong when I was asked to present an award to him. My dad also worked with Neil at NASA/Dryden when Neil was an X-15 pilot.
I like how it's only towards the end of this talk that you realize he was joking about primitive stories being stupid and dead, and that in fact they too are as much a masterpiece as any masterpiece, in that they testify for the paradoxical and confusing nature of life, the mystery that evades the simple minded ideas such as good and bad news
Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. RIP Kurt Vonnegut and the heavy role he still plays on my life to this day, and remember: If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable.
"I'm an Creative Writing major, when am I ever going to use trigonometry?" Vonnegut: "Here's how you can make stories out of sine and cosine functions."
The idea behind the graph was that it was an irrelevant simplification of the complex, sporadic nature of stories and how a stories are not actually based around an arch in protagonist gratification, but singular and unique ideas that convey a deeper meaning in a specific way.
Yeah, I also thought sine and cosine functions, and actually Cinderella and The Metamorphosis are kind of like tangent and cotangent. But a sine or cosine function simply presents position on a unit circle in two different dimensions,...which is just what Vonnegut has done here,...regarding story telling. It would be interesting to try to relate a novel to hyperbolic functions. Maybe it would be a good idea to try to design a novel to do so. Keep in mind the unit circle is x^2 + y^2 =1 while the unit hyperbola is x^2-y^2 = 1. If the classic story relates to the former equation as Vonnegut states, then how will it be different using the latter equation?
@@johnknox1537 Hi John, Thanks for the corrected time period. I see Vonnegut had an anthropology degree, which not only informed this talk but probably the rest of his writing, I'm sure. Hope you are doing well!
I attended the same talk in 1986 as a freshman at Radford University. I skipped classes the rest of the day and read Slaughterhouse Five cover to cover. What a brilliant introduction to genius and freedom. I have enthusiastically told the story of this lecture to many people over the years. Thanks Kurt!
I attended a lecture by him in about 1991 in London, afterwards I had the honour of meeting him and exchanging a few words, I had read everything he'd published just about. He's the only hero of mine I have ever met.
Quite possibly Vonnegut is Twain reincarnated. If you entertain such concepts. For your consideration; Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) died in 1910, and Vonnegut was born in 1922. Both born in November and died in April, following a flyby of Halley’s Comet. Vonnegut and Twain were both from the midwest, Indiana, and Missouri, respectively. They were both heavy smokers. Both were fascinated by science and technology and wrote about time travel with Vonnegut's most notable being Slaughterhouse 5. Twain wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Each was a master of satire and subtle pun. Each writer gave us a story centered around the earth equator, Galapagos and Following the Equator. Both were ardent anti-imperialists. Twain becoming so in later life. They both suffered from depression and lived many of their final years in Manhattan, New York.
erestube thank you for those kind words. I had the honor and pleasure of attending one of Mr.Vonneguts crash courses at Rutgers. If ever i become unstuck in time, I wish to return to that classroom for an extended lesson.
"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." RIP Kurt Vonnegut and the heavy role he still plays on my life to this day, and remember: "If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable."
Kurt Vonnegut: great man. The greatest describer of the positive possibilities for humanity, and someone who was never scared to challenge sacred cows, not just in Religion, but in 'History' and 'Sociology' too.
I heard him give this talk at MIT in the mid 1980s. It's nice to be able to hear it again. I remember the same "Beginning and.... Entropy!" joke back then.
After reading Kurt for many many years since childhood, that felt like watching a Great Uncle give a presentation and based on the feel of the audience, they all felt the same way - a true sign of Kurts reach. That sign off brought a lump to my throat. The master of social dystrophy ending with the most valuable lesson on happiness. And so it goes....RIP to the best!
That's great but the denigration of Native American stories by a famous author is not something that High Schoolers need to hear. I hope you at least criticize that part of the lecture in front of them.
I love this man. Have read every single one of his novels and much of his other work. He has both hardened an softened my soul. He is my favorite author.
I clicked because of the title. I gave Kurt/the video a chance, because he made me laugh in the beginning. I continued watching because of wanting to hear the overall point(s). Then finished the video with amazement that: 1) a nearly 18 minute video was finished before I realized it, 2) its topic, presenter and points were unexpected, 3) ended on a wonderful note (teacher sharing moment), 4) he kept me interested the entire time and smiling, & 5) points valid throughout and presentation memorable.
I was so lucky to see him do this lecture at Randolph Macon as a High School Class trip in 1983. I am so blessed. and I tell everyone who doesn't care and I think Kurt would approve.
@@alfjones6377 that you're a madman? Lol 😊 social contract and lame jokes apart, I can totally choose to feel nothing but remove myself away from you physically, or laugh at your madness; or feel pity and compassion for the same, or get affronted and feed my ego "how dare he, or get in rage and hit you back. 😊 all my choice how I think and feel about an external event 😊
I was a teacher. I hope to God that one of my students raised a hand. I had two high school and one elementary , and one junior high teacher that made me love Science and English.
Reading his stories in middle school were very memorable, Harrison Bergeron was such a cool story. Even as a little kid you could appreciate how deep that story was.
What a wonderful person. He is one of the few authors whose works I intentionally did not read back to back so I could lengthen my time with his greatness. He is sorely missed.
Saw this lecture in Stratford, Ontario in 1994. I was riveted and remember it well. Laughed at every joke and still teach this story structure to my students to this day.
I miss him so much. I believe that the day he died (I wept) that the human condition changed. People started moving opposite of the way they once were, writers, men, people, like him started to die out with him. It was a sad end of an era. It has only become worse since. He was a beautifully raw and honest man. He is terribly missed. Everyone needs to read him.
I watched this for the first time several years ago before reading any Vonnegut and was stunned and thought I really needed to check his work out. Life got in the way and it took me a minute. Now I rewatched this after finally reading Slaughterhouse Five a month ago, and I loved it even more than ever. Kurt’s writing and essence has really deeply changed my life. What a legend. RIP to one of the greatest minds ever (“as far as we know”, he might say) ❤️
What a wise Man. His chuckles as he faces the chalkboard and recounts each story are PRICELESS and finishing with the "shape" of Hamlet brings his entire point to a wonderful conclusion.
The first time I read him was in high school, more than 45 years ago. It floored me. Vonnegut was one of the most brilliant, aware, honest writers this era. I've read (I think!), now, everything he's written. And I feel a better person for it. Thank you for posting this.
"Ah, there's an interesting story behind this nickel. In 1957, I remember it was, I got up in the morning and made myself a piece of toast. I set the toaster to three: medium brown." - Kurt Vonnegut
Was lucky enough to hear Vonnegut speak once and he included this routine in his speech. When he told the audience that Shakespeare was a poor storyteller, the whole room laugh for about 5 minutes.
Saw him do this in person while at Virginia Tech in 1984. I was inspired and it left a lifelong memory - loved his humor and wisdom. The Kafka trajectory always makes me laugh.
Vonnegut left Chicago after his Master’s thesis, “The Fluctuations Between Good and Evil in Simple Tasks,” was rejected, and he decided to take a job in public relations. Years later, the University accepted Cat’s Cradle as Vonnegut’s thesis, awarding him an A.M. in 1971. He says at 3:50 "I can't stand primitive people, they're so stupid."
@@marleyo5065 So you're one of those self-deluded people who are sure they'd achieve great things if only they put their mind to it. Super smart but just a bit lazy, right? Fuck off.
@@Nnonetwo I think it's kind of funny how triggered you are by an internet comment. I feel like when I do something subpar it makes me want to prove myself, so sometimes I'm motivated to do more. If I'm honest I haven't been like that in awhile but I like the idea of doing that. Let me live out my Super Saiyan fantasies, you Debby Downer!
I really love & appreciate this post. It was invaluable to me while I was majoring in literature & creative writing in college and is invaluable to me even now.
Kurt V. was the first of my personal literary "holy trinity" I discovered starting Senior year of high school. He was the first writer I had ever read that was actually a pleasure to read (sorry, Herman Melville). This lecture made me fall in love with him all over again.
Dude brings the holy without a drop of hubris. What an utterly delightful human. Basing some of that on his remarks about loving animals. Thanks for the upload.
That was great. I love his last point. Good teachers are such an invaluable thing in this world. In my opinion, if you're not actively engaged in and passionate about the thing that you're teaching then it's just a job. And if it's just a job then you're robbing someone of the joy of curiosity in life. I have been a Music teacher for a good part of my life. And to see the curiosity and wonder on a student's face, and to feel the electricity that discovering the magic of creativity brings is worth more than anything money can buy. And the good news is ... we are ALL teachers! In one way or another.
I may have seen him, Eastside, midtown, not a bump exactly, but will try to remember any knowledge that might have fallen if only . . .well he WAS among the produce!
I saw this lecture on his tour. How the Nobel committee didn't award him the award in literature is, to me, content for a story. He did receive much acclaim, rightfully so, but remained humble and hilarious. He is my favorite author of the modern era. Jersy Kozcsinski was very gifted also.
His view on Hamlet is actually one of the key differences, if not THE key difference, between genre fiction and literary fiction! Literary fiction doesn't tell you whether something good or bad has happened. Stuff just happened, and the stuff that happens is all kinds of a mix of good and bad. Genre fiction is plot driven, and works on a level where the audience NEEDS to know whether what has happened is good or bad. I guess this is why Kurt Vonneguts stuff is considered literature, not science fiction. The literature label is still something other classic sci fi authors like the Big Three of Heinlan, Asimov, and Clarke haven't achieved (which George RR Martin has complained about), and is absolutely why stuff like Harry Potter, Stephen King, Star Wars, and Marvel movies are looked down upon by some/a lot of people.
This man was a POW in WW2 and subsiquently lived through The Bombing of Dresden, one of The Allies greatest crimes during the war. He went on to teach writing, made a career out of short stories, then novels, and raised a family which included children he adopted. I'd love to have met him, so it goes
This is a man who knows about real power. What a treat to get to see him after reading so many of his novels in the late-Sixties. Thank you, Eva Collins Alonso, for posting this.
Profound, funny, educational and beautiful. This needs to be watched by everyone. I'm not sure we deserved him, but we can certainly learn much from him.
What a wonderful man; what a wonderful presentation. I find myself usually leaving only negative comments (on video)… because that “good ones”, I never feel to mention their _goodness_ This was a good video. And, if this isn’t happiness, I don’t know what is🤙
Developing a habit of noticing the good things in our lives is something every parent needs to teach their children and it needs to be reinforced in schools. What made you happy today? What will make you happy tomorrow? It's important.
He is 81 years old here. What a hero.
Still sharp as hell!
Before enduring his stay at slaughterhouse five he was caught up in a place called the Schnee awful. Against all odds he survived both and the world was better for that.
The brain is a muscle…he had the Dwayne Johnson of brains!
Powering through the emphysema
If this isn't nice I don't now what is
nice, nice, very nice.
Well played. :)
Music please!
so it goes
Ice nine is nice.
"A true masterpiece cannot be crucified on a cross of this design"
Certain of KV's elders in Milwaukee would no doubt have bandied-about humorously cynical adaptations of stirring catchphrases from ex-Nebraska-Congressman William Jennings Bryan's "Cross of Gold" speech delivered in Chicago in 1896.
[From Wikipedia:] "In the address, Bryan supported bimetallism or 'free silver', which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. He decried the gold standard, concluding the speech, 'you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold'. Bryan's address helped catapult him to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination; it is considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history."
With respect, I thought he said, “...on a cross of it’s design.”? I could be wrong. If what I heard was true, I thought it was insightful.
John Barber I'm certain that's what he said too, it makes more sense, and its more impactful
@@johnbarber9417 it was a play on words with a duel meaning: cross in a biblical sense (crucifixion) and cross of the 2 axes he used in his illustration. At least that's how I understood it.
@@nuthineatholl6434 Not quite good enough, however.
that "shit" was perfectly timed, perfectly said. most perfect shit i've ever seen
When?
The most perfect shit that came out of someone's moutg
Almost a "Precision F-Strike", for the TVTropes-rabbit-hole-inclined.
The man is a genius.
"ABSOLUTELY!👏
I saw Mr. Vonnegut give this presentation as a college student, in 1968. We laughed until we cried. That was a year when most stories were sad.
Were it so dark times?
@@helio2k John Kennedy and his brother Robert had both been assassinated, MLK had also been assassinated, the Vietnam war showed no signs of slowing, race riots were burning through major cities, violent clashes between students and police became regular, and corruption within the Democrat party handed the presidency to Nixon… many have argued that the late 60s was the period when the country lost its “innocence” and Americans became cynical about their government (relative to the country’s previous post-WWII optimism). It’s just one period of turbulent cultural change in America.
@@jabrokneetoeknee6448 Thank you for such a good answer
I saw him give it in 1997 or so, and was glad to be able to shake his hand and thank him. Not sure all our appreciation ever reached him, sadly. But he made a deep difference in my life, and I quote this lecture often to this day in trying to explain to people how degenerate our cultural production has become.
I saw the same @ college in 1985
This was funnier than most Netflix stand-up specials.
oooof, those pretentious laughers that celebrated every tiny insignificant word kv said, this vid would be better of without them
@@lucasreta6625 You are pretentious for having written that.
@@martinet1985 And YOU'RE pretentious for having pointed that out. And now I'm pretentious for pointing THAT out. Let's all just sit around and huff our own farts.
@Sharad Kazimi Sounds like a Catcher in The Rye reference....... Uber Pretentious
Kurt Vonnegut Netflix stand up comedy special "Triggered"
A towering intellect and titan of literature, more than happy to play the fool if that's what it takes to entertain you. So humble and deeply human it's staggering to think about.
how was he playing the fool?
he may be human but he aint humble - humble people don't hurl insults at the rate he does. Bitter man
drew nucs who did he insult?
He was a fuckin' ham bone, he was great.
@@paytonking4673 The "windbag" Polonius, pay attention mate! ;)
that ending to the speech made me cry, the rumble in the room, all those names, remembered, and not forgotten. if this isnt nice, I dont know what is...
Nice of you to make this remark, thanks.
Dude the flood gates were released at that ending, wow just wow
If this comment isn't nice, I don't know what is
Me too! I never had a teacher like that, but I did have a students parent say that about me, out of the blue, right in front of my own dad, who taught me how to teach. So now I'm gonna think about that moment as "peak Ben Palmer".
@@BenPalmer3000 teacher cross our paths in many shapes, your father was a teacher to you even though it was not his profession and now you made it your calling to pass some on to kids who are not "your" kids but who you treat as though they were your own.
so love grows in the world and one single act cascades into a symphony of life that even outlasts the death of the person. thank you for sharing!
*Sometimes UA-cam recommends me very good stuff*
..it's kinda creepy,..but nice.
YES!!!
If you haven't read his books I highly recommend them. His writing has changed my life and way of thinking in many ways
If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.
yeah, the new algoritms are working as a charm, wonder how long it will take them to hep us alter our story and help us see more 'good news' around us, right?
'Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.' Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922 - April 11, 2007)
He captured the essence of human existence with those words
I owe this guy a minute or two. A weekend psychiatrist let me go home from a mental hospital giving me a Kurt Vonnegut quote. "Civilization is an unnatural act."
If you like that thought, I think you'd like his books as well...also, along the same vein: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Catch 22 and Veronica Decides to Die.
he was right to quote, cuz Kurt was right.
Breakfast of Champions was really good to sums up the craziness of life.....except it started to trigger my mental illness had to keep putting it down....
@@graydonb8957 Even though it has more whimsy, and is probably the most accessible, Breakfast of Champions is no light read, despite the sharpie drawings(Turn around, you just passed Sacred Miracle Cave!)
As a person with depression myself, i totally get it. i often have to steer clear of things like this when i am mentally vulnerable. Mother Night is my favorite, but 2 weeks of depression generally follow a reading of it.
Mr. Vonnegut has a gift beyond most any other author....the ability to intertwine the most awful, regrettable part of the story with such deft humor that you laugh, but then it falls away and you realize the humor works to ramp up the sense of tragedy. One of the best examples of that is in the last chapter of Mother Night. Of course all his books contain this. Slaughterhouse Five has it in spades, too.
Hopefully this wont bring up anything bad for you, but i do feel compelled, given my name, to close this post with:
Make me Young!
hey tommy - when i was 13 my english teacher gave me "invisible man" by ralph ellison. No one else in the class was reading that. Sometimes we are seen for what we are by elders, they do they're best.
“we don’t know enough about life to know what the good news is and what the bad news is” thanks king 🥰
Such a simple yet utterly disarming statement, and it's absolutely true. Whenever I think of that sentence I come back to watch this clip :)
he ended up his lecture in a high note just as the stories he described
Comedy follows a story shape, like any other!
After having spent more than 10 years on UA-cam, I think I have finally found the perfect video.
Watch 4 minute lecture Professor Shutt. You can thank me later
You know, I think I need to make a top ten list for myself
there's a video where bjork takes apart a tv you should check it out
In many years of arching UA-cam and reading comments. I think I have found the perfect response to one, ( yours not mine).
@@richcawte :) :)
"nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so"
Nice quotation from my favourite Shakespearean play 'Hamlet'. A brilliant story!
He stole it from Milton's "Paradise Lost", though:
"The mind is its own place
And in itself
Can make a heaven of hell,
A hell of heaven."
Elf Sieben Milton was zero years old when Hamlet first premiered. There are certainly similarities but it’s the other way around
Elf Sieben Dude, Hamlet was written 58 years BEFORE Paradise Lost. Milton was 0 when Hamlet premiered. Shakespeare didn’t steal anything from Milton. In fact, Milton has said that he was influenced by Shakespeare so that line in Paradise lost is possibly inspired by Hamlet.
A famous, but stupid quote, yes.
Haha I always wondered whether Kurt Vonnegut was a happy person or not. Its so hard to tell from his books, he's so critical and cynical so much of the time but yet there's sort of crazy optimism and lighthearted humor too. Now I got my answer lol
I agree with you.
I think Kurt Vonnegut is a happy man ultimately. But I think that's so much more potent because he grapples so honestly with how much sadness is in life and the human condition and how he has met it first hand
Indeed, I've pondered this as well. If you dig Vonnegut, check out Thomas C. Stuhr, 💀❤ He's the world's most underground author.
He tried to commit suicide at least once, possibly more, so he was never what you’d call a happy person, as in generally happy. KV surely had happy moments, but also lots of deep abysses of dark depression too.
George Carlin once said that if you scratch a cynic you’ll find a disappointed idealist underneath. Maybe that quote described Vonnegut?
"how many of you had a teacher who made you prouder, happier to be alive than you had previously thought possible"
god, i wish that were me
for me it was John Connors a University Professor who was crucial in that pivotal moment that I really saw myself for the first time, as successful and positive.
ain't that the truth. most of them were so wrapped up in their own egos and just looking for a paycheck that not a single one of them from CU could've even tried bullshitting that if said paycheck depended on it. that's in part why I think higher-ed is pretty fucked among many other reasons. on the outside of higher ed? thankfully I have a best friend who does that along with me more times than I would've ever believed and did it again just last Thursday. And if that isn't nice, then I really don't know what is.
life's not over yet, and if you think outside the box of the educational "system," I'll bet you can think of someone in your life who helped you feel that way. College education is not the end-all, be-all.Plenty of people who don't have degrees or even high school diplomas have intellect and critical thinking skills (cabbies, bartenders, janitors often have more critical thinking skills than professors) - plus you yourself have these skills innate in your being. Imagine that!
@@b.bailey8244 ❣
@@b.bailey8244 However, Vonnegut only said "teacher." Most of us inferred he was referring to someone working at a school with an education degree. To me, a teacher can be anyone who educates you in any way. I agree with you that everyone in the world has the capacity to teach someone else.
Kurt was an unique mind, funny and cutting, but absolutely _human._
I just liked your comment, and it's the 69th like. If this isn't nice I don't now what is.
If only humans were that human.
a unique
"she's so heavily made up that her relatives don't recognize her"
Daniel Malikov Don’t you remember the name of the movie? I would be so thankful, if you could share it! 😊
@@DanielMalikov thank you sooo much!
@@DanielMalikov thank you :]
Instagram type of stuff, sheilas Already got tons of make up yet they dare, have the audacity to use filters. Oh my gawd
I love this man. His work influenced me throughout my life. His overall point - Don't take anything or anyone too seriously. It's your life, so live it. I was working on a stage adaptation of Breakfast of Champions many years ago and wrote to him to get his permission. He was kind enough to write back to me and signed his letter with his usual hand drawn 'asshole' signature. * I still have and will always treasure that letter!
what do you mean by asshole signature
@@morpheusdamon348 he used to sign off letters/essays like that.
@@cptnmochi ohh thnx
That sounds awesome! Did you do the play?
@@nealalexanderarmstrong4711 He explained in the letter that the rights had already been given to someone else. So it never happened. I was just thrilled to have gotten a reply from him! I just noticed your name. Cool. I did get to meet the original Neil Armstrong when I was asked to present an award to him. My dad also worked with Neil at NASA/Dryden when Neil was an X-15 pilot.
I like how it's only towards the end of this talk that you realize he was joking about primitive stories being stupid and dead, and that in fact they too are as much a masterpiece as any masterpiece, in that they testify for the paradoxical and confusing nature of life, the mystery that evades the simple minded ideas such as good and bad news
And so it goes.
and so on.
and so forth. Listen: i am glad you typed that. :)
This slipped into my daily vocab so quickly
like the river flows
Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. RIP Kurt Vonnegut and the heavy role he still plays on my life to this day, and remember: If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable.
"I'm an Creative Writing major, when am I ever going to use trigonometry?"
Vonnegut: "Here's how you can make stories out of sine and cosine functions."
The idea behind the graph was that it was an irrelevant simplification of the complex, sporadic nature of stories and how a stories are not actually based around an arch in protagonist gratification, but singular and unique ideas that convey a deeper meaning in a specific way.
My liberal arts education brain: tee hee fun story time look like math wave
Yeah, I also thought sine and cosine functions, and actually Cinderella and The Metamorphosis are kind of like tangent and cotangent. But a sine or cosine function simply presents position on a unit circle in two different dimensions,...which is just what Vonnegut has done here,...regarding story telling. It would be interesting to try to relate a novel to hyperbolic functions. Maybe it would be a good idea to try to design a novel to do so. Keep in mind the unit circle is x^2 + y^2 =1 while the unit hyperbola is x^2-y^2 = 1. If the classic story relates to the former equation as Vonnegut states, then how will it be different using the latter equation?
The way he cued the music! This felt like a scene from Dead Poets Society and I lived for every moment of it.
I saw Vonnegut do this in the 1980's at the University of Michigan. I still think about the graph when dealing with life's ups and downs.
Dean! I was there too! And as I watched this I said the same thing. It was in the late 70s!
John Knox small world. Now kiss?
@@wmascolin that would be gay. Nobody wants that.
@@johnknox1537 Hi John, Thanks for the corrected time period. I see Vonnegut had an anthropology degree, which not only informed this talk but probably the rest of his writing, I'm sure. Hope you are doing well!
I attended the same talk in 1986 as a freshman at Radford University. I skipped classes the rest of the day and read Slaughterhouse Five cover to cover. What a brilliant introduction to genius and freedom. I have enthusiastically told the story of this lecture to many people over the years. Thanks Kurt!
I attended a lecture by him in about 1991 in London, afterwards I had the honour of meeting him and exchanging a few words, I had read everything he'd published just about. He's the only hero of mine I have ever met.
This seems like one of those few cases where “Never meet your hero” does not apply.
I have never met him but I carry part of him with me in my humor.
he's so comfortably and effortlessly himself that he couldn't stop the outpour of his knowledge and humor.
I think Kurt was the most human any human being has ever been
4:11 is the funniest joke he told. "missionaries, ethnographers, and other types of imperialists."
funny and insightful i should say
Maybe...
Adro Gman it IS ! Typical Vonnegut magic, sly, wise, funny and disposably whimsical.
unfortunately no one in the audience got this one
@@user-te7cy3zz2n apparently we did;)
what a genius, kurt vonnegut has come unstuck in time
Taki Ferrag coming unstuck in time. What a wonderful line!
A masterclass in comedic timing.
@@usernametaken2tekken Kurt & Billy Pilgrim (look it up)
From the amber
Our modern day Mark Twain! Forgot how much they even look alike.
Holy shit. You're right.
Quite possibly Vonnegut is Twain reincarnated. If you entertain such concepts. For your consideration; Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) died in 1910, and Vonnegut was born in 1922. Both born in November and died in April, following a flyby of Halley’s Comet. Vonnegut and Twain were both from the midwest, Indiana, and Missouri, respectively. They were both heavy smokers. Both were fascinated by science and technology and wrote about time travel with Vonnegut's most notable being Slaughterhouse 5. Twain wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Each was a master of satire and subtle pun. Each writer gave us a story centered around the earth equator, Galapagos and Following the Equator. Both were ardent anti-imperialists. Twain becoming so in later life. They both suffered from depression and lived many of their final years in Manhattan, New York.
@@eddyfree33 That comment is as good as the video!
erestube thank you for those kind words. I had the honor and pleasure of attending one of Mr.Vonneguts crash courses at Rutgers. If ever i become unstuck in time, I wish to return to that classroom for an extended lesson.
@@eddyfree33 Thank you for this interesting information :)
Essential viewing for anyone who has to make a decision, or wants to understand anything...
"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." RIP Kurt Vonnegut and the heavy role he still plays on my life to this day, and remember: "If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable."
Wow.
Kurt Vonnegut: great man. The greatest describer of the positive possibilities for humanity, and someone who was never scared to challenge sacred cows, not just in Religion, but in 'History' and 'Sociology' too.
Indeed. But loved the Sermon on the Mount.
My hands are up.
He left us with laughter and wisdom and then Vonnegut danced off the stage!
To be exact, he WALZED off the stage 😉
"Why is she so low? Well her mother's died."
*malicious grin*
I heard him give this talk at MIT in the mid 1980s. It's nice to be able to hear it again. I remember the same "Beginning and.... Entropy!" joke back then.
I went through HS thinking reading was a chore. In college a friend loaned me Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and the book changed my life.
Same book that changed my life as well.
After reading Kurt for many many years since childhood, that felt like watching a Great Uncle give a presentation and based on the feel of the audience, they all felt the same way - a true sign of Kurts reach. That sign off brought a lump to my throat. The master of social dystrophy ending with the most valuable lesson on happiness. And so it goes....RIP to the best!
07:15 Best Kafka’s Metamorphosis review I’ve ever seen!!!
I play this for my 9th grade ELA students as they prepare to start their narrative unit. His humor makes them realize that they have nothing to fear.
That's great but the denigration of Native American stories by a famous author is not something that High Schoolers need to hear. I hope you at least criticize that part of the lecture in front of them.
@@noahhertzman7999 lmao
@@noahhertzman7999 He says Shakespeare was just as bad about five minutes later. I don’t think he was being serious lol
I love this man. Have read every single one of his novels and much of his other work. He has both hardened an softened my soul. He is my favorite author.
I clicked because of the title. I gave Kurt/the video a chance, because he made me laugh in the beginning. I continued watching because of wanting to hear the overall point(s). Then finished the video with amazement that: 1) a nearly 18 minute video was finished before I realized it, 2) its topic, presenter and points were unexpected, 3) ended on a wonderful note (teacher sharing moment), 4) he kept me interested the entire time and smiling, & 5) points valid throughout and presentation memorable.
I was so lucky to see him do this lecture at Randolph Macon as a High School Class trip in 1983. I am so blessed. and I tell everyone who doesn't care and I think Kurt would approve.
"Nothing's good or bad but thinking makes it so."
so true
So if i slapped you, unprovoked..
How will you judge that action?
@@alfjones6377 that you're a madman? Lol 😊 social contract and lame jokes apart, I can totally choose to feel nothing but remove myself away from you physically, or laugh at your madness; or feel pity and compassion for the same, or get affronted and feed my ego "how dare he, or get in rage and hit you back. 😊 all my choice how I think and feel about an external event 😊
@@alfjones6377 If he's a masochist he'll thank you for it
My hero, favourite author, and subject of my Honours English thesis more than a few years ago. RIP Kurt.
Just watching this now didn't know he passed... so sorry 😓
Me too except it was a high school English paper comparing Evelyn Waughs Men at Arms and Vonneguts Slaughterhouse 5
And he ghost wrote papers for Thornton Melon at Grand Lakes University.
Where to begin?
I love him so much, my personal hero. Every time he speaks, or I read his work, it’s like sitting with an old friend.
I was a teacher. I hope to God that one of my students raised a hand. I had two high school and one elementary , and one junior high teacher that made me love Science and English.
Reading his stories in middle school were very memorable, Harrison Bergeron was such a cool story. Even as a little kid you could appreciate how deep that story was.
My first was Cat's Cradle. I gave it to a friend and we became big fans. I recently gave it to my friend's son. It's our wampeter.
that story slaps
Met Vonnegut outside the Will Rogers Follies in 1991 with my dad. He got to tell him his favorite novel of his was Player Piano.
This balance of irritation and genius and generosity of intellect is amazing. He was an Amazing communicator
What a wonderful person. He is one of the few authors whose works I intentionally did not read back to back so I could lengthen my time with his greatness. He is sorely missed.
how can someone be so wise and charming!
He suffered.
Saw this lecture in Stratford, Ontario in 1994. I was riveted and remember it well. Laughed at every joke and still teach this story structure to my students to this day.
I love Vonnegut...the first serious book I read as a child was Breakfast of Champions which was a real eye opener for a 10 year old boy.
I miss him so much. I believe that the day he died (I wept) that the human condition changed. People started moving opposite of the way they once were, writers, men, people, like him started to die out with him. It was a sad end of an era. It has only become worse since. He was a beautifully raw and honest man. He is terribly missed. Everyone needs to read him.
3:06 “oh BOY, this is my lucky day! --- shit..”
I didn't understand all of it but it was nice listening to him. :)
Ditto here!
Oof
"If this isnt nice, i dont know what is." I just had this moment after watching this video. Thank you for upload!
I watched this for the first time several years ago before reading any Vonnegut and was stunned and thought I really needed to check his work out. Life got in the way and it took me a minute. Now I rewatched this after finally reading Slaughterhouse Five a month ago, and I loved it even more than ever. Kurt’s writing and essence has really deeply changed my life. What a legend. RIP to one of the greatest minds ever (“as far as we know”, he might say) ❤️
What a wise Man. His chuckles as he faces the chalkboard and recounts each story are PRICELESS and finishing with the "shape" of Hamlet brings his entire point to a wonderful conclusion.
There are some great minds and talents out there, but do we have anyone like this now that he's gone? Not an easily replaced individual, this one.
Yes. Her name is E.L. James.
@@captainkev10 If you are referring to the E.L. James who wrote the 50 shades series than I just don't... I mean... what?
@Tom Upton bwahahahaha . funniest thing ive heard all week
Why do you want the same thing over again?
We don't replace great individuals, we either build on their achievements or ignore them.
The first time I read him was in high school, more than 45 years ago. It floored me. Vonnegut was one of the most brilliant, aware, honest writers this era. I've read (I think!), now, everything he's written. And I feel a better person for it. Thank you for posting this.
From all the Kilgore Trouts in the world, Thank you Mr. Vonnegut, it's been an honor and a pleasure. Rest In Peace.
OH MY GOD I NEVER EVEN THOUGHT OF FINDING THIS FUCKING GOD OF LITERATURE SPEAKING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT AND JUST HOLY SHIT MAN
KURT VONNEGUT THE GOAT
This is 1000 times better than any TEDx, both on the entertainement and information levels
so is a soap commercial
You don't get the label of genius by your adoring public and peers for no reason... Thank you for saving this for us.....
Growing up I was stunned knowing Vonnegut was listed in the phone book. What trust in human nature." If this isn't nice Idk what is." 👍👍
"Ah, there's an interesting story behind this nickel. In 1957, I remember it was, I got up in the morning and made myself a piece of toast. I set the toaster to three: medium brown." - Kurt Vonnegut
Gimmen 5 bees for a quarter you'd say!
In those days, Shelbyville was called Morganville.
He was brilliant!
i have many teachers who makes me feel more alive,happier than i was earlier and you are now one of them too
Was lucky enough to hear Vonnegut speak once and he included this routine in his speech. When he told the audience that Shakespeare was a poor storyteller, the whole room laugh for about 5 minutes.
Brilliant guy - fantastic hair *
Twainesque.
One has to love the hair.
he looks like Einstien when he's writing on the board
@@narwhal5447 I've never seen Einstein writing on the board.
@@davidcopson5800. that's because you're still Alive
that was a pleasant little gem! Thanks uploader!
Saw him do this in person while at Virginia Tech in 1984. I was inspired and it left a lifelong memory - loved his humor and wisdom. The Kafka trajectory always makes me laugh.
Vonnegut left Chicago after his Master’s thesis, “The Fluctuations Between Good and Evil in Simple Tasks,” was rejected, and he decided to take a job in public relations. Years later, the University accepted Cat’s Cradle as Vonnegut’s thesis, awarding him an A.M. in 1971.
He says at 3:50 "I can't stand primitive people, they're so stupid."
so?
This sounds like something I'd do. Not finish my thesis return with a novel about the human experience.
by the way, what is an A.M.?
@@marleyo5065 So you're one of those self-deluded people who are sure they'd achieve great things if only they put their mind to it. Super smart but just a bit lazy, right? Fuck off.
@@Nnonetwo I think it's kind of funny how triggered you are by an internet comment. I feel like when I do something subpar it makes me want to prove myself, so sometimes I'm motivated to do more. If I'm honest I haven't been like that in awhile but I like the idea of doing that. Let me live out my Super Saiyan fantasies, you Debby Downer!
I really love & appreciate this post. It was invaluable to me while I was majoring in literature & creative writing in college and is invaluable to me even now.
I'm thinking of pursuing a similar major and i'm curious, where has your major led you to now??
I'm studying slaughterhouse 5 now. Super interesting
@@notthedroidyourelookingfor8056 mine led to marketing copywriting and user experience writing for websites.
Kurt V. was the first of my personal literary "holy trinity" I discovered starting Senior year of high school. He was the first writer I had ever read that was actually a pleasure to read (sorry, Herman Melville). This lecture made me fall in love with him all over again.
And the other two??
"Thank you Bill" lmaoooo I don't know why but that made me crack up like crazy 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Kurt Vonnegut was a rare treasure of a human.
Dude brings the holy without a drop of hubris.
What an utterly delightful human. Basing some of that on his remarks about loving animals.
Thanks for the upload.
That was great. I love his last point. Good teachers are such an invaluable thing in this world. In my opinion, if you're not actively engaged in and passionate about the thing that you're teaching then it's just a job. And if it's just a job then you're robbing someone of the joy of curiosity in life. I have been a Music teacher for a good part of my life. And to see the curiosity and wonder on a student's face, and to feel the electricity that discovering the magic of creativity brings is worth more than anything money can buy. And the good news is ... we are ALL teachers! In one way or another.
I love this guy. His writing is just next level. It changed my whole way of thinking and seeing the world
For those who didn't know yet: Kurt wrote a mess of Very Good Novels. I advise you to find them and read 'em all!
Legend has it... If you'd bump into him... You could see knowledge fall off him...
i wonder if he is buried in Ilium.
i love that . xx
I may have seen him, Eastside, midtown, not a bump exactly, but will try to remember any knowledge that might have fallen if only . . .well he WAS among the produce!
This is the best Mark Twain video!
I was thinking the same >.
Ifjahdh
I saw this lecture on his tour. How the Nobel committee didn't award him the award in literature is, to me, content for a story. He did receive much acclaim, rightfully so, but remained humble and hilarious. He is my favorite author of the modern era. Jersy Kozcsinski was very gifted also.
He is so brilliant and joyful, so full of love and respect for life... and with such a sense of humour!
His view on Hamlet is actually one of the key differences, if not THE key difference, between genre fiction and literary fiction!
Literary fiction doesn't tell you whether something good or bad has happened. Stuff just happened, and the stuff that happens is all kinds of a mix of good and bad.
Genre fiction is plot driven, and works on a level where the audience NEEDS to know whether what has happened is good or bad.
I guess this is why Kurt Vonneguts stuff is considered literature, not science fiction. The literature label is still something other classic sci fi authors like the Big Three of Heinlan, Asimov, and Clarke haven't achieved (which George RR Martin has complained about), and is absolutely why stuff like Harry Potter, Stephen King, Star Wars, and Marvel movies are looked down upon by some/a lot of people.
Wow, some people disliked this! And so it goes.
And so it goes ....
poo tee weet
Republicans: getting rich isn’t the moral of the lecture 🙄
I feel sorry for those people. Empty hearts and heads. The tin man and the scarecrow rolled into one.
They can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut!
This man was a POW in WW2 and subsiquently lived through The Bombing of Dresden, one of The Allies greatest crimes during the war. He went on to teach writing, made a career out of short stories, then novels, and raised a family which included children he adopted.
I'd love to have met him, so it goes
this whole talk, but that ending especially, made my day. Thank you for sharing.
Aplausos! un genio. Gracias por compartir.
He would definitely be an answer to one of those imaginary dinner party guest questions. I just love him and his writing.
This is a man who knows about real power. What a treat to get to see him after reading so many of his novels in the late-Sixties. Thank you, Eva Collins Alonso, for posting this.
This was beautiful. Like a voice from up above guiding the mortals.
Profound, funny, educational and beautiful. This needs to be watched by everyone. I'm not sure we deserved him, but we can certainly learn much from him.
What a wonderful man; what a wonderful presentation.
I find myself usually leaving only negative comments (on video)… because that “good ones”, I never feel to mention their _goodness_
This was a good video.
And, if this isn’t happiness, I don’t know what is🤙
Absolutely adorable! 🙏 simplicity is elegance in eloquence...such a way with words.
Developing a habit of noticing the good things in our lives is something every parent needs to teach their children and it needs to be reinforced in schools. What made you happy today? What will make you happy tomorrow? It's important.