Kurt Vonnegut Jr. died yesterday.
I have to admit that I've been pretty shaken up by that all day. Vonnegut was one of the first authors that I was truly captivated with, to the point that I had to read whatever I could find that he had written. "Breakfast of Champions" was the first novel I read (thanks to seeing my brother read it--basically I wanted to do everything he did--he's pretty much the reason I play music as well), then came "Slaughterhouse-Five" (classic), then "Welcome to the Monkey House" (still my favorite collection of short stories), and then "Cat's Cradle" (that one pretty much solidified my love of anything Vonnegut for the rest of my life). Everything in life that I was starting to question: religion, society, class, universal truths, the big "why?" quesions; all of these novels dealt with these themes, and in a dark, humorous way! And there was science fiction thrown in! It was all too hard to pass up.
I honestly feel that my perspective on life was permanently changed for the better by Kurt Vonnegut's work.
From "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater":
"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.’ ”
I really believe that.
So it goes, I guess. So it goes.
1 comment:
You know, Adam, you're the one that introduced me to Kurt Vonnegut, and today his books take up almost an entire row on my bookshelves. I was broken-hearted to hear that he died- almost like an old friend. But I don't know if I ever said thank you for opening my eyes to him, so thanks.
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