17 My “literary style” (as much as a blogger can have one) as poorly constructed sardonic prose owes itself to a small collection of authors that I have read and loved. I didn’t read much fiction growing up – I had a hard time appreciating the need to commit my time, but the fiction that I did read tended to be regarded as iconic social commentary. Tom Robbins is someone that also would count as one of my favorite authors, for instance. But few compare to Kurt Vonnegut.
They both remind me that questioning everything is necessary and opining is noble if not free of risk, but taking myself too seriously is a stupid goddamn thing to do.
So long, Billy Pilgrim.
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So it goes.
so it goes.
How’s his brother these days (the relatively more schizophrenic)?
Why does scientific writing have to be so stifling? Why can’t it be more free flowing…?
Another chemist bites the dust jacket. Talent such as his is hard to find.
I was kinda hoping he would be immortal. Busy, busy, busy.
I’m a student at Cornell, and this is what our daily newspaper printed Vonnegut saying:
“I went to Cornell from Indianapolis for the excellent reason that my Uncle Tony was a great quarter-miler there in the Class of [19]06 or thereabouts. I was told by my father that I could go to college only if I studied something useful. He said that chemistry was useful, so I set out to be a chemist. The subject annoyed and bored me, and I had no gift for it. I was flunking everything when I departed in my junior year to become an infantry private. I was glad to leave.”
The full article is here: http://cornelldailysun.com/node/22838
Well…no one is perfect.
ice-nine baby
I am biting the dust jacket of his Cat’s Cradle just now
By coincidence, I got hold on four of five his novels to refresh my memories on his work some month ago.
The Czech communist censors thought Kurt Vonnegut was ideologically suitable because he wrote unflatteringly about US.
When I was a kid I was reading his translated novels (published in paperback sci-fi series, the Mechanical Piano, Slaughterhouse and Cat’s Cradle) and could not help laughing and shaking my head: I thought the government censors made hell of a mistake – by allowing us to read all this subversive anti-authorian stuff! The communist propaganda guys did not realise that when Vonnegut was writing about pompous morons, it was just like them.
Don’t feel so bad. I was also very down when Joseph Heller died. The solution is to become a great writer yourself and replace him. Good luck! (I’m still working on it…)
He’s gone up to heaven.
He’s just stuck in time.
a tribute to a great humanist.
R.I.P. Mr. Vonnegut
I found this obituary by Fox News rather good. I’m sure Vonnegut would have liked it as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SiVasR2Gzo