[HN Gopher] An Interview with Robert Caro and Kurt Vonnegut (1999)
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An Interview with Robert Caro and Kurt Vonnegut (1999)
Author : cocacola1
Score : 38 points
Date : 2024-07-27 18:10 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.robertcaro.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.robertcaro.org)
| baxtr wrote:
| I highly recommend "Working" by Robert Caro, his latest book.
|
| It's an excellent book to start with if you want to get an
| exposure to his way of working and his thinking.
| cocacola1 wrote:
| I second the recommendation. Can easily be read in a single
| sitting.
| pjmorris wrote:
| Agreed. It's a short read that demonstrates his writing skill,
| his methods, and his goal of explaining how political power is
| acquired and used. It inspired me to start on the LBJ
| biography.
| readthenotes1 wrote:
| Power doesn't corrupt, it reveals -Robert Caro
|
| One of my favorite insights, ever.
|
| I also like the line in there or Vonnegut and Caro agree that 4
| to 5 hours a day is the max you can truly focus.
| kayo_20211030 wrote:
| Two of Caro's books remain in my favorites today: The Power
| Broker; and Master of the Senate. The concept of political power,
| mentioned in the conversation, is fully limned out in both of
| them. Worth reading by anyone with an interest in how the real
| world works. Unfortunately, Vonnegut, I never quite got. YMMV.
| slothtrop wrote:
| I'm a fan of both Caro and Vonnegut, prefer some of his novels
| over others. Cat's Cradle is my favorite.
| skeeter2020 wrote:
| Player Piano and Sirens of Titan were the options when I was
| in high school. I can't remember which I read first but I
| liked it so much I begged to borrow a copy and read the
| other. I've never agreed with a lot of his viewpoints, and
| Vonnegut was (like all of us) a flawed human being, but his
| writing transcended a lot of that, which is somewhat odd
| because it's so incredibly personal. That contradiction
| probably says more about me than him.
| nonrandomstring wrote:
| t'other way about for me. I love Vonnegut loads so I read it,
| but discovered an American writer/reporter that I never heard
| of. Most interesting. Particularly that theme where idealists
| seek power to achieve objectives independently of functional
| democracy; it seems human, vital, problematic and American -
| all in a wholly positive way - but clearly different cultures
| have different takes on power and where the limits of
| 'visionaries' ought to be.
| fredgrott wrote:
| Vonnegut was that soldier described in some of his
| stories...WII prisoner during Dresden Germany fire
| bombing....his painting art is treasure as well.
| thimkerbell wrote:
| (Meaning 2 of "limn" is "to outline in clear sharp detail", but
| as it is not Meaning 1,this is fine.)
| whyenot wrote:
| The podcast 99% Invisible is doing a series of monthly podcasts
| on The Power Broker. I don't live in NY and I don't pretend to
| really understand NY, but it's so interesting to listen to the
| hosts as they work their way through Caro's massive book. I
| really enjoy it and just wish the episodes were more frequent
| than once a month.
| dang wrote:
| Related:
|
| _Robert Caro and Kurt Vonnegut interview each other (1999)_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26018824 - Feb 2021 (46
| comments)
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