Pajiba

"I honestly can't remember the last time that a celebrity's passing truly affected me."

Yeah, Kubrick was mine--I'm still not over it, in the sense that I still haven't really absorbed the fact that's he's 6FU. I'm also kind of still reeling from Iris Murdoch's tally-ho. Okay, and Dirk Bogarde.

We all know these iconic cultural figures are made of flesh and blood, yet it seems plenty of us are completely taken aback when they up and die on us. Some of them--especially the ones who were already flourishing when we were born--seem so freaking eternal. It's like art acts as a kind of fixative--gives these mortals some characteristic of durability.

May KV enjoy the RIP of champions.

I think you'll enjoy this tribute video we've put together:

http://digg.com/videos/people/Kurt_Vonnegut_Tribute

I thought he was dead years ago. He certainly wrote like it.

Thank you Pajiba. I just knew you'd do this. I'm not one for impromptu shrines and mass outpouring of grief, but I really wanted an appropriate place to mark this man's death. Growing up in a different country, I wasn't exposed to Vonnegut until college, but then I took to him obsessively. I'm glad he lived a long life even though he claimed he smoked as a sure form of suicide. I'm glad he lived to once again castigate society over the Iraq war (and make us laugh at ourselves by telling us that our war protests were "as powerful as banana cream pie"). Of course the most wonderful thing about great writers is that they never really die. As soon as my nieces and nephews are old enough, I will give them their first Vonnegut and make sure the legacy continues.

Aw damn. I don't like crying before noon. An appropriate tribute. Thanks.
Also very nice, Storey.

im still reeling over robert altman's death, so its totally understandable that his passing could affect you so much.

The ideal time to discover Vonnegut is when one is a smart teenager, but for me, he will always be forever.

http://maxi-mumm.livejournal.com/2381.html

The ideal time to discover Vonnegut is when one is a smart teenager, but for me Kurt will always be forever.

I'd post a link to my essay about him, but Pajiba's spam detector won't let me. *sigh* It's at the maxi_mumm livejournal.

I'm sure it came as a relief for KV, and I sincerely hope he is at peace. I will also hope for an undiscovered manuscript.

I started reading Vonnegut as a teenager, and re-read his books today. I doubt very much I'll ever grow out of my "Vonnegut phase". The man wrote music.

If this thread prompts writers to reminisce about the books or experiences that first made them believe they could create a story, I'll consider it a success.

For me, it was Bradbury. He swore in interviews that he'd always be 12 at heart, and when I was 12 in body, that sounded like a dream career to me.

Authors die, but the work goes on. Nonetheless, I've been misty-eyed all morning.

You know, the first time I ever heard of of Kurt Vonnegut was from a line in "Just One of the Guys", where Buddy -- truly one of the classic, under-rated characters in film history -- is discussing the various Playboy centerfolds he put up on his wall. In an attempt to show his sister that he is interested in more than just their bodies, he mentions that one of the Playmates "reads Vonnegut in the bathtub."

That's really my only Kurt Vonnegut memory.

First Hunter S. Thompson, now Vonnegut. Why did they have to go out during the bleakness that is Bush's America? Ah, well...

Good-bye Kurt Vonnegut. We'll miss you.

I was fortunate enough to take a fiction class in college with a great prof who assigned Slaughterhouse-Five. I hadn't read any Vonnegut to that point. I was floored, absolutely floored. I think, between my bf and I, we own damn near everything he wrote, and I was getting tickets to see him speak for my bf, but, alas, that will have to wait. A sad day....so it goes....

So it goes.

The Sirens of Titan is one of his lesser known works but is one of my favorite books of all time. Give it a read if you're up for a mind-blow.

"This is what their assholes looked like:"

RIP to a true genius.

So it goes.

I will miss you Kurt, although i never knew you. That's about the biggest compliment i can give you.

So it goes.

It describes an afternoon I spent with my wife-to-be. Shame, shame, to have lived scenes from a woman's magazine.

Shameful, maybe. But certainly less so than a guy getting misty-eyed about it in the back of math class at 16!"

Digression: this makes me sad, on both counts. Why is it still the ultimate in derogation to compare a man to something considered feminine?

Goodbye, Kurt.

The Sirens of Titan was great, but I just re-read Cat's Cradle a few months ago when I was craving a fix, and it just really amazed me that a book with so many diversions and side notes could be so readable and tight. Not that you can really go wrong with any of his works. I really think KV was one of the few authors who never really wrote anything unreadable, though I'm sure that'll be challenged in the comments to come. So it goes.

Yeah, I wrote about it last night as well. I came back to my screen to see an IM from my friend saying simply "Kurt Vonnegut just died." I teared up, I didn't even understand it. He was a great guy.

Here's the short stuff I wrote:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=7831304&blogID=252307991&MyToken=43529ac0-daab-4c21-9c9d-5b76a0a6f005

I discovered Vonnegut as a smart teenager, and I'm convinced that his books were a significant part of what kept me from having my soul crushed by the evil place that was my high school.

We've lost a master, but he left us a hell of a lot of good books before his peephole closed.

Here's to you, Mr. Vonnegut.

I love everyone that said, "so it goes." That was my first thought when I heard he died. I was crossing my fingers that Pajiba would post something about him, so I thrilled that they came through.

I'm just grateful he lived and left us his writing... I will always be thankful for Harrison Bergeron.

I can't remember which book contained my favorite KV line...if anyone here recognizes this, please speak up. He describes all the bloody and horrendous things that have been done in the name of love, and concludes that "what the world really needs is a little less love, and a lot more human decency."

Pretty good motto to live by, I'd say.

I never met him but I felt like I knew him. The world has lost one of the great literary masters. Celebrity deaths don't tend to bother me but I've been tearing up all day. I'm sure Mr. Vonneguts' in heaven now :)

So it goes.

Here's the funniest joke I know: Kurt is in heaven now.

I discovered Vonnegut not as a "smart teenager" but as an adult with two advanced (?!?!) degrees. I was still floored. The stories in "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse," my first experience with KV's work, are pure gems (I want to set three of them, including "Long Walk to Forever," to music someday). The world is a less interesting place without him.

I never enjoyed his books.
That being said, he influenced a lot of writers I do enjoy. His influence will continue as long as Twain's or Wilde's. I met him once back in the eighties. He was just how you picture him, only more so.

Damn, this is just too soon after Altman. First, one of the men who made me a film buff. Now, one of the men who made me a reader.
I had the good fortune to meet Vonnegut in a NYC bookstore some years ago, not during a reading but while he was browsing, and he was exceedingly gracious.
You'll be missed, Kurt.

KURT VONNEGUT was the greatest writer of the 20th century.

So it goes...

i discovered vonnegut during my smart teenager phase and never grew out of him. (i think if someone were to grow out of him, then they never really got him in the first place.) he certainly didn't die a premature death but it's sad knowing that the world will now exist without him. i talked about it with my literature professor today, who is also a huge vonnegut fan and cut some more "important" works from the syllabus so that we could read the sirens of titan and he said "and he was a heavy smoker his whole life" and we both shook our heads in quiet admiration.

jack, i actually laughed at loud at your post.

Just to clarify, because so many seem to be addressing this point: I don't think you HAVE to be a smart teenager to appreciate Vonnegut, nor have I outgrown him. I just have known people who do claim to have outgrown him, and I think it's an interesting phenomenon, and unique to something about his style and spirit. Something I like.

He was my best friends favorite writer, I had to be the one to break the news to her this morning.
The funny think is, completely unknowinly he was the topic of our conversation last night.

If you enjoyed Vonnegut, you should read Tom Robbins he is excellent as well.

This is the first I'd heard of his death (I've been in class all day). I'm glad to hear about it from a fan, especially one on Pajiba. I was trying to make time to reread all of my Vonnegut, and now I have a reason, eh?

Again, so it goes.

I think this might be one of his last appearances. Pretty funny imagining Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving!

Kurt on the Daily Show:
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=18090

Enjoy, Amanda

As John Stewart said
"He made my adolescence bearable"

I think his last appearance was on the Daily Show. I tried to post the link but the spam filter stopped it. You should be able to go to
ComedyCentral.com and enter "Kurt Vonnegut".

He tells a story of John Irving. Very sweet interview really...

AO

Mustang Sally - it was Slapstick - the greatest book I have ever read.

So it goes.

I can't quite explain the feeling of deep sadness I have at his passing. He touched me more profoundly than most people I have actually met. I can only hope that someone from my generation will be able to pass his wit, sagacity, and humanism on to the next.

Rest in peace, dear friend.

So it goes.

Reading Cat's Cradle changed my life. Thank you for living, Kurt.

Thanks forever to my fifth grade teacher who had us read "Harrison Bergeron". Blew my 10-year-old mind.

Hope Vonnegut's enjoying more journeys of the ridiculous up in heaven.

I picked up my dad's copy of Cat's Cradle at 13 and it was all downhill from there. God Bless You, Kurt Vonnegut. So it goes.

@Ajax19: I loved that movie, and you're so right about Buddy.

My fondest memory of Vonnegut is when he made a cameo appearance in 'Back to School' with Rodney Dangerfield. He was helping Rodney cheat by writing a paper. The professor dismissed it with a poor grade, saying that it was obvious that Rodney didn't understand the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut. Good times!

I had a highschool physics teacher who was an ex-Dow chemist that hated to teach physics but loved Vonnegut. So that year I learned way more about Vonnegut than I did physics. The first book of his that I read was Breakfast of Champions. Since then, I'm pretty sure I've read all of his books (I've read so damn many I can't remember), but I have a particular love for Slaugherhouse Five and Cat's Cradle. May angels wing you to your rest, Kurt. So it goes.

We've lost one of the truly great voices of several generations. I was so sad to hear of his passing. I read every thing he ever wrote at least 3 times. A voice for generations to come. A talent, an amazing person/persona that will not likely ever come again--at least in a form such as Kurt's. Thank you, Mr. Vannegut for so many things. For giving me the best 'reads' of my life. For your exquistite, pointed, so-very-directed observations about so very many human conditions. Where ever you are, I can only hope that I can go there, too--and be part of the fan club that will sit at your feet forever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,,,,

I just finished "A Man Without a Country." I don't even know what to say.

My friend Bryan gave a presentation on Kurt Vonnegut for a Modern Lit. presentation and enlightened us with the following quote by KV:

"An review who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae."

My favorite Vonnegut quote:

"If you die on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us."

So true...

I second that emotion - "Voila une Homme!", as Napoleon would have said if eh'd ever been lucky to read mid-century American fiction...
As in any worthwhile (and celebrity used to be based on merit, can you imagine?) life, it's not the death that matters. The life of this writer cannot be done justice except to promote his work to a new wave of readers.

Here's my plug for a noteworthy Vonnegut novel:

Bluebeard.

I no longer feel so bad about being weepy all day. thanks.

I'll eschew all the "So it goes" and add a "Hi Ho".

Vonnegut also helped me get through the hell that was high school. He was an essential part of my teen years. I can't say for sure that I was intelligent though, my grades certainly wouldn't give anyone that impression.

Back to the point of the website. The movie adaptation of Slaughterhouse-five was surprisingly good. To me it ranks as number 1 in the list "Books you never thought would be competently translated into film, but surprisingly were".

I don't think that I'm sad about his death. To me he always seemed ready to die. With slaghter house 5 and then again in timequake. I always had the impression that he was ready. But he will be missed.

The first play I ever did was an adaptaion of Harisson Bergeron called "The Handicaper General". The first book I ever read that made me actually think was Slapstick (still my favorite, as much for the nostaligia as for the writing).

Intellectuals be damned, I've never left my Vonnegut Phase. I'm too thick-headed.

RIP, Kilgore Trout...

I became obsessed with KV when I was 19 and didn't stop obsessively reading every day until I had made my way through his entire collection.

When 'Man Without a Country' came out, I was at the bookstore that day before it opened, like a crazed groupie.

Vonnegut changed my mind and helped define the way I see the world. I will always read his books, and if I ever get to the day that I consider myself as having outgrown him, it will be a sad day for me indeed.

Thanks for the tribute. It's comforting to know that there are so many others out there similarly affected by Vonnegut.

I had a celebrity sighting of Vonnegut when I was in college. He had done a lecture at Brown U on Friday and that Saturday a good cross section of the college drove down to DC in buses for the March on Washington. KV was on our bus.

Naturally I and most of the others on the bus recognized him and would have killed to sit with him and talk about his work.

But Mr. V was in his own space. He was drinking from a hip flask much of the way down from Providence. So people respected his choice and left Mr. V alone.

In retrospect it seems like a very Vonnegut moment. This brilliant, Kilgore Trout kind of guy, surrounded by young fans, who keeps to his own personal universe. He could probably have unraveled all kinds of issues for the rest of us but each of us had to make that journey on our own.

I try to sneak as much Vonnegut as possible into my curriculum each year. The kids have a ball with "Harrison Bergeron." I've used "Long Walk to Forever" as a creative writing assignment by giving them half of the story and allowing them to finish it. I've tried it with other stories, but it has only worked well with this one. The girls generally go for the obvious, with most allowing Newt and Catharine to live happily ever after. A few young ladies (those who are bitter from a recent breakup usually) pair Catharine with Henry Stewart Chasens.

The guys, however, are a totally different story. Since they're at an age where they don't dare show a softer side, their stories tend to be funny or violent. One student decided that his story would include Henry showing up and challenging Newt to a duel--ninja style. Another decided that Newt's walk was actually a ploy to get Catharine into the woods so that he could kill her and hide the body. I even had one that seemed headed in the romantic route, only to reveal at the end that Newt is actually hallucinating after a gunshot wound on the battlefield.

My first Vonnegut was Breakfast of Champions, which made me want to write AND doodle. Remember the sketch of a butthole? I remember sitting in class, seeing that and thinking I had discovered something special. And I had. Vonnegut accompanied me through high school and college, and he is now even a part of my career. No other author brings out the creativity in my students like Vonnegut does. Whether it is my younger students drawing pictures of Harrison or my older students finishing a short story, Vonnegut continues to make my life (and theirs) more interesting.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

And God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut. You and Kilgore should have some interesting conversations wherever you are. I'll smoke a Pall Mall for you tonight.

Yes, Jack--he and Isaac are undoubtedly sharing a good laugh.

A couple of years ago i finally got off my ass and read Slughterhouse Five like I was supposed to in school.

Not but a few months later while riding the subway in NYC, I sat down right next to an odd looking old man, who still had all his curly grey hair and these signature baggy eyes. I was reading a book. He was reading something and carrying all his things in a plastic grocery shopping bag. This man struck me as interesting for some reason but i couldn't put my finger on it, so I lifted my nose out of my book and we exchanged acknowledging looks- as both avid 'underground' readers. This old man looked familliar but I couldn't remember from where.

When I got off the next stop of the subway it struck me all at once in perfect irony. I realized I just said hello and goodbye to one of the greatest writers of the 20th Centrury. Kurt Vonnegut.

I've often regretted that I didn't recognize Vonnegut while I was on the train. But in recollection, everything that needed to be said, was, in that kind glance between fellow readers.

Ever since the news broke of Kurt Vonnegut's death I've been flashing on the late 60's and 70's when I discovered his books and sprinkled them throughout high school and college studies.
Whenever a new one came out it was a gift and a treasure to be read and reread.

Just last week my brother told us he had slipped several Vonnegut books into his son's pack as he headed for a long plane ride to New Zealand. He thought it the perfect time to introduce him to a very special writer who had shaped us all over the years.

The best I can do as thanks and goodbye is to pull out those old and darkening paperbacks and curl up with them this weekend and remember.

I honestly can't remember the last time that a celebrity's passing truly affected me less. I've always hated the way that people mention Vonnegut's name when I've said I like really good science fiction, when who I was referring to were Ursula LeGuin and Samuel R Delany. Granted, I've never had the chance to read KV; the one thing I always liked about him was his insistence that repulsoid Geraldo Rivera -- who was once married to one of Vonnegut's children -- was born Gerald Rivers and played up his purported Latiness for ratings and street cred. I also liked Bill Maher's interview with him last year on Real Time; the man was scathingly brilliant about the Bush administration.

I am a member of the group you described, the one that this man's writing was for. After learning of his death I tried to read Cat's Cradle in its entirety the next day, this would be my first time ever reading a book of his, and I'm sorry to say that it took me this long to get around to it. As of this posting I have read Cat's Cradle and Slaughter House Five, intending to re-read them especially the latter, because the story can easily go over your head. While I am still young, and when he died I had never read any of his work, this is the celebrity death that has affected me the most, as well as my friends, who were the first ones to urge me to read KV. And to the people who read this I urge you to read him also, from one member of Pajiba to the next.

I read Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions my freshman year of high school (during Geometry class), and I haven't looked at the world quite the same since (okay, I'm nineteen... not that much time has passed, so what?). I've kind of regarded Mr. Vonnegut as my surrogate grandfather. I would never condsider touching soles with someone I'm not going to marry.

KV spoke at my college some years ago. The venue they booked was not big enough, and loudspeakers were set up outside so the throngs of students could hear him. Two things he said that brought the biggest cheers from the audience:

"There is no one meaning to life; we were put here to fart around."

"The traditional family unit is outdated. If you want to survive, get yourself a gang. They do not have to be blood relatives. Just get a gang."

poo tee weet?

Peace.

The first time I read Vonnegut was late at night in bed while still at home. I was unprepared for his humor and by the second chapter I was stricken. It was after 11:00 in the evening and I pushed my head into my pillow to muffle myself. My mother tapped on the door to see if I was okay. When I turned over to say "yes" my face was red, swollen, wet with tears and screwed into a rictus. I couldn't talk, just gasp. She thought I was dying. Of course any effort on my part to control myself was met with a corresponding increase in hysterical gasping laughter. My folks tossed my room for drugs the next day.

The book was "Breakfast of Champions"--KV will always be relevant for me.

I tried reading Slaughterhouse Five, egad about 20 years ago. Could not get through it.

After he died, I took Cats Cradle out of the library, but haven't started it yet. Thanks fellow Pajibans - it's now next in my queue.

The Austin American-Statesman, the leading newspaper in the capital city of Texas, published (April 15, 2007) a damning eulogy for Kurt Vonnegut. The paper supplemented its condemnation by publishing a letter from a reader, who tagged Vonnegut as a "cynical, radical atheist" and a man of "true misanthropy."

I had submitted a letter to the editor to offer some balance to the bias the paper held. But a paper like the Austin American-Statesman has no interest in balance. Ignorant bubba bias rules here in Texas.

I've been looking for an intelligent forum for posting my letter. I believe I've found it here. My tribute to Kurt Vonnegut follows.

To the editor of the Austin American-Statesman:

Ouch. Was that supposed to be an eulogy for author Kurt Vonnegut? Your title read, "At his life's end, Vonnegut lost faith in people." You cited his last book, "A Man Without a Country," as damning proof. If Vonnegut had lost faith in people, why did he keep writing? Why did he write that last book? Kurt Vonnegut wrote because he had faith in his readers.

By the way, you didn't print a word on how Kurt's literary career grew from writing short stories. His "A Night for Love" may be the best love story ever written. ###