Galápagos (Excerpts)

I finished the second of the fifty-two books given to me by my generous coffee shop friend two months ago: Galápagos, by Kurt Vonnegut. This was the second of the two books that he most highly recommended during our brief conversation. I must admit I was nowhere near as big a fan of this book as I was Steppenwolf (excerpts), which I read first. I also did not enjoy this as much as Cat's Cradle, currently my favorite Vonnegut book, but quite a bit more than Slaughterhouse-Five. I really seem to be in the vast minority when it comes to Slaughterhouse-Five, but alas...

Here are a few choice bits.

(7)     It was late in the afternoon now, and hotter than the hinges of hell outside.

(41)   What made marriage so difficult back then was yet again that instigator of so many other sorts of heartbreak: the oversize brain. That cumbersome computer could hold so many contradictory opinions on so many different subjects all at once, and switch from one opinion or subject to another one so quickly, that a discussion between a husband and wife under stress could end up like a fight between blindfolded people wearing roller skates.

(112)   In all the encounters between Davids and Goliaths, was there ever a time when a Goliath won?

(138)   Some automatic device clicked in her big brain, and her knees felt weak, and there was a chilly feeling in her stomach. She was in love with this man.
           They don't make memories like that anymore.

(142)   And I pity him, because I can still remember what I was like when I was sixteen. It was hell to be that excited. Then as now, orgasms gave no relief. Ten minutes after an orgasm, guess what? Nothing would do but that you have another one. And there was homework besides!

(145)   There are all these people bragging about how they're survivors, as though that's something very special. But the only kind of person who can't say that is a corpse.