So it goes
While the world ignored the horrors in Iraq and Afghanistan to focus attention on Don Imus' big mouth, Kurt Vonnegut died last night. And, so it goes. I would pay good money to read a novel by him, inspired by the current conflict in Iraq, 9/11, the Bush administration and our nation's other recent history. If you've got galleys, post here with contact info. It will make my year, at the very least.
Like much of the generation I grew up with, I was influenced greatly by the work of Kurt Vonnegut. It all just seemed so logical to me, from Bokononism to Ice Nine to the fuel spill that ended the universe. It seemed less that it became part of me in the reading than that the reading of it identified parts of me that were there the whole time, waiting to be recognized. So it goes.
The movies that came from the writing were often inspiring, doomed though they were to never match up to the experience of reading the stories. That may have helped me to understand that a movie can never equal the experience in a readers mind from a well written book.
So, it goes without saying that the world is a poorer place today for the absence of this writer. In writing about World War II, he helped us to understand the horror of Viet Nam. It is likely that helped to end it earlier than it might otherwise. In writing about the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent he helped me to accept that some people may actually need religion in their life, and that's ok. Would you deny an amputee a physical crutch? Why deny an emotional crutch to those in need?
He found himself labeled a Science Fiction writer, yet he managed in time to transcend the genre. By continuing to do the work, he was eventually cited as creator of a whole new genre of novelist. That's something worthy of admiration. Looking and, perhaps, thinking like Mark Twain didn't hurt, either.
I am sorry to see him go, but encouraged to see that his passing can still cause a ripple in that obtuse pond of largely mindless news coverage we have come to accept lately. I hope that someone else out there picks up one of his books, and finds pieces of themself in it this week. I think he'd like that.
Like much of the generation I grew up with, I was influenced greatly by the work of Kurt Vonnegut. It all just seemed so logical to me, from Bokononism to Ice Nine to the fuel spill that ended the universe. It seemed less that it became part of me in the reading than that the reading of it identified parts of me that were there the whole time, waiting to be recognized. So it goes.
The movies that came from the writing were often inspiring, doomed though they were to never match up to the experience of reading the stories. That may have helped me to understand that a movie can never equal the experience in a readers mind from a well written book.
So, it goes without saying that the world is a poorer place today for the absence of this writer. In writing about World War II, he helped us to understand the horror of Viet Nam. It is likely that helped to end it earlier than it might otherwise. In writing about the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent he helped me to accept that some people may actually need religion in their life, and that's ok. Would you deny an amputee a physical crutch? Why deny an emotional crutch to those in need?
He found himself labeled a Science Fiction writer, yet he managed in time to transcend the genre. By continuing to do the work, he was eventually cited as creator of a whole new genre of novelist. That's something worthy of admiration. Looking and, perhaps, thinking like Mark Twain didn't hurt, either.
I am sorry to see him go, but encouraged to see that his passing can still cause a ripple in that obtuse pond of largely mindless news coverage we have come to accept lately. I hope that someone else out there picks up one of his books, and finds pieces of themself in it this week. I think he'd like that.
Labels: 9/11, armageddon, bad hair, balls, childhood, Great writing, happiness, sleight-of-hand, venality, White House
posted by Fuzzy2k at 4/12/2007 10:27:00 AM
