Kurt Vonnegut passed away today leaving behind a legacy of 19 novels. Vonnegut's style of writing was of satire that portrayed the inherent absurdity present in modern society.
His novels are known for their bizarre and humorous situations which always had a message and a subtle commentary about society or human reasoning. Two of his most well-known novels; Slaughter-House 5 and Cat's Cradle. Slaughterhouse-5 describes a semi-autobiographical look at Vonnegut's time as a POW in Germany during WWII. In the novel, the protagonist views the senseless bombing and brutal destruction of the city of Dresden, Germany which killed 135,000 people. Cat's Cradle documents what the Vonnegut seems to view as the dominance and potential for destruction caused by increased technology in modern society. The action of the characters in the novel mirrors that of scientists working on the Manhatten Project during WWII, except the weapon that is developed is the lethal substance known as ice 9 which changes water's structure and is capable of freezing all of Earth's water.
Personally, Kurt Vonnegut had a profound effect on my own writing. I have read both Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-5. (I strongly recommend these books to anyone.) What always impressed me about his writing was his sense of humor that he would present absurd situations for the purpsoe of satire. There was always a point to his humor. Sometimes I think I laughed so hard I missed the message behind some of what he was trying to say, yet there was always a point and a message to what he wrote.
Vonnegut, is one of the great American writers that I think those that truly desire progress should admire. He transmitted his unconventional ideas through his literary works through satire and humor, and always made sure that he was moving for progress. Progress was always at the heart of what he wrote; he didnt want things to go any farther awry and knew that by writing about it knowledge was the best way to combat poor decisions.
Bloggers can take at least a little bit of what Vonnegut did and learn a little more about how to fight for progress. This is at the heart of what this whole blogging thing is about...right?
:(
Agreed.
I really admired Mr. Vonnegut's writing. His death is a great loss.
percivale
was wearing black today...because if his death...maybe thats a little overobsessive, but yes it is sad that such an amazing writer died
Em <3
My english teacher was also wearing black today. He said that was the reason too. He really was a great writer and it sucks that he died.
But as Vonnegut himself might have said
"So it goes."
Thank you for posting on the death of Kurt Vonnegut as I had not yet heard of his passing. His writing is funny, but so "why didn't I think of that."
The last book that he wrote was actually really good, I thought. I can't think of the name of it right now, but the cover is black and white. He said it would be his last book, so I felt like I was saying good-bye when I read that one.
If you havent read this last book he wrote yet and if you have yet to read a Vonnegut title (so that includes everyone) I would recommending going through this one because it reveals a lot about the man's life. You really get to know who Kurt Vonnegut was.
You really don't have to read his novels cover to cover, either. I mean you can, but I sometimes flip to a random page in one of his books and start reading.
Cat's Cradle is a strange, strange book. Though I understood the basic plot and premise, the unorthodox writing style did confuse and put me off at first.
The beauty of his works are that they dont follow ordinary methods. They are expressive of the sometimes illogical way society works and I really love his satire of modern society. If you can read past all the craziness he has a lot of really interesting ideas.
I just bought "A Man Without a Country," but havent gotten around to reading it yet. It's a shame that he passed away.
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Should some study abroad destinations be "off limits?"
I haven't read any of his works, alackaday. I really should start; I was in a similar situation with Hunter S. Thompson a couple years ago, and I've still only read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Someday, sometime...
There's some black irony to be had in that he died the same day Baghdad's most historically significant bridge (and, er, it's parliament building) was bombed to hell.
"CONSERVATIVE, n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
There is no coincidence; only the illusion of coincidence.
Sorry, still writing that V for Vendetta paper.
Is it about the movie or the comic? The movie was pretty good as far as action flicks go, but rather melodramatic for what the comic was.
However, I still love his first lines, with that V-based monologue.
"CONSERVATIVE, n.
A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others."
- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
All I keep thinking about when I see this post's title is the song "So it Goes" by Billy Joel... I sang that at a high school graduation once. The weeping seniors really pulled the sopranos down, but the altos stood tough. Really, we were just excited that we were that much closer to graduating ourselves.