2023 Booker Prize Winner Shehan Karunatilaka and the hosts discuss Kurt Vonnegut's 'Galapágos', its significance in Vonnegut's career, its timeless relevance, and its impact on Karunatilaka's work. They also explore Vonnegut's popularity with readers and his fluctuating critical reputation.
Vonnegut's Galapagos remains relevant today, tackling themes of economic crises, pandemics, climate change, and technology's impact on society.
Vonnegut's personal experiences, including surviving WWII bombing, greatly influenced his writing, showcasing his humor in despair and belief in the power of laughter.
The podcast examines the dangers posed by humanity's big brains, questioning how our capacity for thought and imaginations can lead to beneficial or destructive actions.
Deep dives
Bonnegut's Career and Reputation
Bonnegut's career is often divided into pre and post-slaughterhouse five, and his later books were sometimes seen as a decline in quality. However, his work continues to have a lasting impact, especially on readers who discovered him at a young age. His books are still in print and read by young people today, and he remains an influential and beloved author.
Galapagos and its Relevance
Galapagos tackles various themes, including global economic crises, pandemics, climate change, and the impact of technology on society. Vonnegut's use of satire and his exploration of language, connection, and survival make the novel as relevant today as it was when it was first published.
Vonnegut's Personal History and Influences
Vonnegut's personal experiences, such as surviving the bombing of Dresden during WWII, greatly influenced his writing. His ability to find humor in despair and his belief in the power of laughter to confront absurdity are evident in his works. Vonnegut often explored the concept of time and its impact on human existence, as well as the consequences of greed and unchecked growth.
The Role of Big Brains in Human Evolution
The podcast episode discusses the concept that human big brains, while capable of great things, also pose a threat to humanity. The narrator explores how our brains, with their capacity for thought and imagination, can lead to both beneficial and destructive actions. The podcast suggests that the power of our big brains may have been a significant factor in the downfall of the human race.
Examining Evolution and Human Behavior
The podcast delves into the idea that inherent flaws or deficiencies in human nature, possibly caused by evolution, may be driving self-destructive behaviors. It explores the notion that humans, with their copious and irresponsible imaginations, often prioritize short-term satisfaction over long-term survival. The episode raises thought-provoking questions about human motives and actions, particularly those of the powerful and wealthy, ultimately questioning what drives our species towards self-destructive tendencies.
In this episode we are delighted to welcome 2023 Booker Prize Winner Shehan Karunatilaka to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s eleventh novel, Galapágos. First published in 1985, it is one of his most radical, intricate and humorous works, a Darwinian satire narrated by a ghost from a million years in the future. As Lorrie Moore wrote about it at the time, Vonnegut’s ‘grumbly and idiomatic voice has always been his own, unfakeable and childlike, and his humanity, persisting as it does through his pessimism.’ We talk about where Galapágos book stands in Vonnegut’s long career, its continuing relevance to a world even more dominated by technology and the climate emergency, and whether with the two novels the followed (Bluebeard and Hocus Pocus) it represented a return to form. We discuss Vonnegut's second career as a quotable talk show guest and ponder the seeming mismatch between his enduring popularity with readers and his less stable critical reputation. Shehan also offers us frank and fascinating insights into the influence that this book and ‘Uncle Kurt’s work in general has had on his own work, particularly the Booker winner The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, also narrated by a ghost.
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