So It Goes
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- and his "dark comic talent and urgent moral vision" (in the words of The New York Times) -- dead tonight at the age 84.
Discuss.
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April 11, 2007
Posted in in the news 2007. |
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Apr 12, '07
First Hunter S. Thompson, now Kurt Vonnegut. A true tragedy, though quite a legacy. ANd so it goes...
Apr 12, '07
Don't forget about Molly Ivins. All the good ones are going away.
Apr 12, '07
Vonnegut was my absolute favorite author when I was a young man and a major inspiration. My favorite was "Sirens of Titan", but I also loved "Player Piano" and "Cat's Cradle."
I'd love to hear from others what their favorites were.
Apr 12, '07
Oy,read about this on-line this morning. Vonnegut has been my favorite author, ever since i happened upon a copy of "Mother Night" at my junior high school library. Great writer, humanist. I'm sad to hear that he is gone.
8:47 a.m.
Apr 12, '07
Dave, I re-read God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater every year, so it's likely my top favorite. But I adore Cat's Cradle. I have a slight soft spot for Hocus Pocus, mainly because I think it's a shaggy dog story.
Apr 12, '07
We could really use some Ice 9 right now.
Apr 12, '07
I met Mr. Vonnegut one time at an art gallery next to my dorm at NYU. He was showing his paintings. I was surprised at how tall he was.
Apr 12, '07
Kurt Vonnegut is my personal hero. What a loss. I might add, though, that I too have a soft spot for Hocus Pocus, and also Timequake. I think the general consensus is that Vonnegut's later writings weren't as good as his earlier ones. To me, it seems like he kept telling the same story -- only, he understood it a little better over time. <img src="http://a44.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/50/m_8c8a0219d6ce1e78a28a56a2bd4cd4e3.jpg">
Apr 12, '07
I'd have to say "Mother Night" is my favorite. The movie, starring Nick Nolte and John Goodman, is also pretty good. I would highly recommend that any Vonnegut fans check it out. The film version of "Breakfast of Champions," starring Bruce Willis, is also worth watching. I haven't seen "Slaughterhouse-Five," but everyone I know who has said it was terrible...
Apr 12, '07
Vonnegut was primarily a fiction writer, and not a political commentator. Even so, consider this recent passage, where the old World War II veteran considers the plight of young people today being asked to die and kill for their country:
"By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?" he wrote. "Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas in December."[19]
11:35 a.m.
Apr 12, '07
Ayup,
A writer widely dismissed by the literary establishment as a lightweight, and one of my top five all time favorite "contemporary" authors.
The first Vonnegut book that I read, checked out from the American embassy library in Ascuncion, Paraguay circa 1972:
Breakfast of Champions
Not much of a narrative, but just the tonic for an intellectually sheltered, socially retarded christianist groping around in the dark for windows on reality.
Like B!x, I read God Bless You Mister Rosewater every year or so........Just waiting for the GM industry to create the reality of Cat's Cradle in some form or another.
Phil Dick, Hunter Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut...........Yep gettin' old for sure and So it goes.
12:03 p.m.
Apr 12, '07
Just waiting for the GM industry to create the reality of Cat's Cradle in some form or another.
On a related note, the Tv series Alias, in either its final or next-to-final season, featured a terrorist weapon called "Ice-5". It was, at least, a blatant theeft/homage (clearly intended to be recognized), and offered the chancee to see, thanks to modern CGI effects, to see what Ice-9 could do to a human being.
Apr 12, '07
Every book mentioned above is one of my favorites. Check out also JAILBIRD and PALM SUNDAY. And I thought the film of SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE was quite well done.
Vonnegut is one of those rare people who can make one believe humans have redeeming qualities in spite of all the insanities of our various cultures. Let's hope that some day we shall learn to put these big brains to good use.
Apr 12, '07
His short collection, including "Welcome to the Monkey House" was great also. Remember "Harrison Bergeron" and the Handicapper General?
Apr 12, '07
I was startled to read in the NYT that a mere 500 copies of "Cat's Cradle" were sold. I was one of the 500, and the book knocked me for a loop. I proudly display that and other first printings of Vonnegut on my favorite authors shelf.
Apr 12, '07
I'm with you, Tom. "Jailbird" was great. Definitely one of my favorites, right up there with "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater."
Apr 12, '07
"Sirens of Titan" was also really good. It's hard to pick a favorite between so many classics..... And if you recommend the "Slaughterhouse-Five" movie, Tom, I'll make it a point to check it out. Just as soon as I'm done with "Borat" (I rented it the other day, but haven't seen it yet. Hopefully, I can watch it tonight).
Apr 12, '07
I own the movie version of "Slaughterhouse Five" on VCR and I think they did a great job. Billy's wife frantically driving her cadillac to the hospital after his plane crash only to die of CO poisoning, poor Edgar Derby being executed by the SS for simply picking up a piece of crockery in the ruins of Dresden, Billy ending up between the sheets with the voluptuous Montana Wildhack on the planet Tralfamadore... all great scenes remarkably well done. And, more importantly, completely true to the novel.
4:23 p.m.
Apr 14, '07
I had a run-in with Kurt Vonnegut years ago in NYC. I was entering the Brentano's Book Store through the revolving door, as he was coming out. I thought he was a god, and here, for the briefest of moments, we were almost face to face.
How many people have I similarly passed, but forgotten. I'll never forget that moment, though.
I was going to post something from "A Man Without A Country" but looking for a quote, got suckered into reading it again. And so it goes.
"How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something. We are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different."
Apr 14, '07