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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:10 pm Post subject: Kurt Vonnegut - RIP |
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So it goes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
From the obituary:
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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.� � |
Edited to add quote
Last edited by Woland on Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:43 am Post subject: |
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Poo tee weet?:
I know my brain was changed in measurable ways by reading Cat's Cradle at the age of 14. I've owned all of his books at one point or another, except the most recent ones, but I usually ended up giving them away to people ... best tribute a reader can offer a truly-loved author, seems to me.
I still remember favorite lines, though. From Cat's Cradle :
"The only way you can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that never got a chance to sit up and look around."
Every once in a while, I feel the least bit important ... and lucky. |
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Jarome_Turner
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| Breakfast of Champions was a hoot! |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:08 am Post subject: |
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I sent this off hurriedly, in the midst of other work, and now see another, similar thread has garnered more replies. If a mod (or the accident) wills it, move this into that one.
Yes indeed, lucky us that we got to read such mud.
But my favorite line is his reminder to us in Mother Night that "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."
While he was a pessimist (see the ends of Deadeye Dick and Hocus Pocus), he was also a champion of kindness and decency, and outraged by the right things - indifference, pettiness, self-importance. The pessimism perhaps reflected his thought that the bad guys were winning.
I'm sad that there will be nothing more new to read from him. |
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captain kirk
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:21 am Post subject: |
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| 'Cat's Cradle' was great as a teen read, in high school, so creative that other books seemed to be set in stone. 'Slaughterhouse Five', the movie, was out about that time, too, and that was so fantastically strange, delightful. 'Slaughterhouse Five' the book, though, is terrifying. Because it's so true, Vonnegut lived thru those events. The surreal, freaky book was the only way to describe the horrifying absurdity, like 'Catch 22'. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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