Kurt Vonnegut died last several hours ago. Vonnegut was the famous author of Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle.
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Kurt Vonnegut died last several hours ago. Vonnegut was the famous author of Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle.
15 Comments
As bitter as he was as his life went on, I hope he’s in a better place now.
Top books: Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, God Bless You Mr Rosewater.
Best short story: Harrison Bergeron (sp).
Bext character: Kilgore Trout (based on either Sturgeon or Dick).
“To Mr. Vonnegut, the only possible redemption for the madness and apparent meaninglessness of existence was human kindness. The title character in his 1965 novel, “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,” summed up his philosophy:
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”
“Dog-eared paperback copies of his books could be found in the back pockets of blue jeans and in dorm rooms on campuses throughout the United States.”
Yep, that was me. But in Canada. They’re probably still in a box in my mother’s basement.
I’ve got a dozen or so of his book on my bookshelf right behind me–some of which I have two or three copies: forgot I had already read them when I went to the bookstore (you must admit, some of them were pretty forgettable)). I guess you could say I went through my Vonnegut phase a bit later in life than most (I was into Stephen King and Jules Verne as a teenager and Franz Kafka, Clive Barker, Emile Zola and Victor Hugo as a student).
PS. Thanks to Vonnegut, the asterisk will always look like a rectum to me.
He was overrated and he died insane.
So it goes.
Loved the guy in “Back to School.” Doing Rodney Dangerfield’s book report of a Vonnegut novel was classic.
Why do so many of America’s most well-known humorists (Twain, Vonnegut, Carlin, Hunter Thompson) turn so bitter when they get old? Is there some kind of formula that says “humor plus American optimism plus age” equals nasty, well-nigh Schopenhauerian pessimism?
The guy lived past his usefulness.
Vonnegut was a much needed antidote to the insanity perpetuated every day by chicken fried fuckheads such as Bush and Cheney.
If you can remember, he was a great critic of fascism his whole life.
May he rest in peace.
It never ceases to amaze me, all you Bush and Cheney haters offer that these guys are bad actors. You never offer up a better answer or candidate. What would Gore be doing now? Hmm?
I’ve always loved Vonnegut. His ideas were so simple and strange.
“To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for Life.”
I miss him. He gave me great pleasure and hope.
As for hating Bush and Cheney, that comes easy. Their motives are so transparent. Their arguments so self-serving. Their actions have always reeked of cronyism.
But of course it’s difficult to offer an alternative you are sure of. They are politicians. I could apply the above to any of them. None of them seem to have anything to offer the “as-yet-unborn”. I always hope one will surprise me.
Would you really rather be ruled by Vonnegut and his ilk? He’s fun to read, but that’s it.
R.I.P., Kurt, and thanks for the stories. Some authors glorify war, but not you, my friend. Not you.
As for hating Bush and Cheney, that comes easy. Their motives are so transparent. Their arguments so self-serving. Their actions have always reeked of cronyism
If cronyism keeps airplanes from smashing into our buildings, bring it on. The terrorists have hit Europe since 9/11, but not the U.S.