What a unique stylist! No one could mix humor and sci-fi the way he did.
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
So it goes.
A sad day indeed. Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
So It Goes Indeed.
What a magnificent life. What a magnificent person.
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
I just saw this. Oddly, on the same day one of my classmates hung flyers for her thesis defense on "Cat's Cradle" next week.
Its really hard imagining a world without him.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Wow. I caught a rare wiki-hack on my first view, there. Some crazy guy hijacked the wiki and was rejoicing Kurt's death...that's just weak.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
This makes me sad. He was a great man. Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
quote:So it goes.
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
I read the article on AP, and now I want to cry.
I dont cry!
How come only things like this make me!!!
He was the man. Amazing. Amazing.
We really lost a piece of this earth.
Posted by Sopwith, again (Member # 9457) on :
Man, I'm going to miss him, he's alway been one of my favorite authors.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
Goodbye Blue Monday...
Oh, God. He died? Are you serious? Tell me this is a late April Fools' joke. If it is, it's not funny.
I really want to cry now. Seriously.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Terribly sad. At least his work will live on to affect countless generations. I know it did mine.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Let's not go too far here. Kurt Vonnegut wasn't an angel. He was what I would call a "magnificent bastard". Rough around the edges, but with jelly center. The guy was divorced, and lived with his second wife for years before getting the divorce; he raised his sister's three children as his own; he battled with depression; he was an inveterate smoker; he was an unapologetic pessimist; he was an idealist; by all accounts he was ornery, difficult, and decent.
*poo-tee-weet*
-Bok
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Bokonon!
Where's your Calypso?
Posted by Eduardo St. Elmo (Member # 9566) on :
Sad tidings indeed. Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
I've never read him, but your testimonials here are quite persuasive.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Such a loss. Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
He's one of my favorite authors. Sirens of Titan is one of the greatest books I've ever read.
Edit: Misplaced apostrophe.
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
It was in this morning's Indianapolis paper that because of an ilness he would not be coming to speak in Indy about them choosing one of his books for "One Book, One Town." His son was to speak instead.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
aiua, I recommend that you read the following 5 books of his:
1) Player Piano -- His first, and most conventional, novel 2) Cat's Cradle -- Because it is my favorite 3) Mother Night -- Just an excellent story, and less sci-fi than the others, which will prepare you for some of his other books 4) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater -- Probably my second favorite of his 5) Slaughterhouse-Five -- I consider this one, his most famous, as overrated... Or maybe I just don't like how experimental he got with the narrative, or can't appreciate the author writing his life story into a novel. Still, this worth reading to see what the hype is about
Others I have liked: His short story collection, Welcome to the Monkey House; Sirens of Titan, Bluebeard.
-Bok
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
quote:Originally posted by aiua: I've never read him, but your testimonials here are quite persuasive.
You HAVE to read Breakfast of Champions.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
quote:Originally posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion:
quote:Originally posted by aiua: I've never read him, but your testimonials here are quite persuasive.
You HAVE to read Breakfast of Champions.
I strongly recommend you DO NOT read Breakfast of Champions or Slaughterhouse-Five first, unless you enjoy non-traditional narrative structure. They are worth reading though.
-Bok
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Odd. I read SF first and that was what convinced me to read his other works, all of which I have enjoyed tremendously.
---
"I got so much, and most mud got so little. Thank you for the honor! Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep. What memories for mud to have!"
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
I read it first as well (as required summer reading in high school), but find that unless you have a tolerance for weird narrative form, you may ask what the fuss is all about. I read Cat's Cradle next, the next summer, I believe, and that novel was what really hooked me (obviously )
-Bok
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
quote:... but find that unless you have a tolerance for weird narrative form, you may ask what the fuss is all about.
Tolerance?! I have a freaking addiction. Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
He will be missed.
Ironically, when I first saw this thread it was adjacent to the thread "again" and as I was quickly scanning down the page I read "Kurt Vonnegut dies again". That seemed oddly like something I might have read in one of his novels.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I heard this on the radio coming home. Said "Oh, no."
I always kind've felt that if reincarnation was real, Samuel Clemmens came back as Kurt Vonnegut.
His voice is one I will miss.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sterling: I always kind've felt that if reincarnation was real, Samuel Clemmens came back as Kurt Vonnegut.
I was going to say something like that, unless more poorly worded.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Posted by Feer (Member # 9846) on :
He got me into reading books, I never really read anything until a teacher had us read Mothernight and I loved it. So I read Welcome to the Monkey House and just didn't stop reading from there. I owe alot of my reading enjoyment to him.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
He's about as dead as Elvis Presley, friends.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sterling: I always kind've felt that if reincarnation was real, Samuel Clemmens came back as Kurt Vonnegut.
Damn. Spot on.
He's one of my very favorite writers. My top five:
Slaughterhouse-Five
Breakfast of Champions
Sirens of Titan
God Bless You, Mister Rosewater
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse
Cat's Cradle was the first of his books that I read. It's not among my favorites, but it was good enough to keep me reading his works. Player Piano was the only book of his I did not enjoy. I disagree with Bok's suggestion, because I don't think you tiptoe into Vonnegut; you dive on in. Reading the book that is least Vonnegut-like won't tell you anything about whether or not you enjoy Vonnegut.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
quote:Originally posted by Icarus:
He's one of my very favorite writers. My top five:
Slaughterhouse-Five
Breakfast of Champions
Sirens of Titan
God Bless You, Mister Rosewater
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse
I'm yet to read Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, so if we slot Galapagos in there instead, this could be my top 5 as well.
Slaughterhouse is definitely my favourite.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"he was an inveterate smoker;"
I really am getting old. I am of an age where one did not cast aside a person's strength of character because they smoked cigarettes.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Given Bok's username, I think it's safe to say he has a lot of admiration for Vonnegut regardless.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Nonetheless, I still don't judge people's character by whether or not they smoke cigarettes, and I do think it is something that marks me as being from a different generation.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Icarus, I think some people drive in, and others take a walking tour. It's rather amazing how you can see his craft change/improve with every novel.
It's not so much that I care, but as the man himself said (and I paraphrase), "It's the classy way to commit suicide." He smoked a ton, knew it was bad for him, but was unrepentant. I don't think you can construe that as anything but a negative, if not the man himself, than in other's opinions. He probably didn't find anything wrong with separating from his wife, shacking up with a younger woman, but waiting almost a decade to finalize the divorce.
I just wanted to provide a little grounding, that's all. To do a mini-Speaking, as it were.
-Bok
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
I think he would have appreciated it. I don't really think he was one to mince reality,
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
Wow. Just ... wow. I've never actually felt loss at the death of a author before, but I really do right now. So many memories ... I remember first discussing Harrison Bergeron with my sister when she read it for ENC1102. I remember reading it when I took the class and writing my paper on dystopic literature, with an emphasis on Vonnegut. I remember being pissed off at "Slaughterhouse 5" and loving "Player Piano" to the extent that I still recommend it today (I'm with Bok on this one). "Welcome to the Monkey House" is the only book I've ever not given back to the library. It's sitting by my toilet right now. The look on my mom's face when I described to her the meaning of the title was priceless. And most recently, when I was staying in the psych ward at the hospital I picked up a raggedy copy of Breakfast of Champions next to the DSM-IV in the reading room. Someone had a delicious sense of irony.
Dang it, I'm sitting here getting kind of misty eyed over my memories of some old coot I've never met. *sigh*. For the record ...
Posted by RunningBear (Member # 8477) on :
Ohhh....
I am still sad.
And he was a good old bastard.
God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut.
[ April 13, 2007, 01:53 AM: Message edited by: RunningBear ]
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
This cheap shot obit really makes me mad and disgusted with Fox News and the reporter, James Rosen. It's the most disrespectful obit I have ever seen. Some highlights:
quote: continued in his [ ] despondent leftism "left-wing screeds and random musings" “rich and irrelevant,” a “sacred cow,” “sci-fi mumbo-jumbo,”
Ahh, but here's the big finish:
quote: Vonnegut, who attempted suicide a number of years ago, said he hoped his children wouldn't say of him when he was gone "He made wonderful jokes but he was such an unhappy man." So I'll say it for them.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
So it goes.
-Bok
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Morbo:
“sci-fi mumbo-jumbo,”
Not just "sci-fi mumbo-jumbo", but self admitted sci-fi mumbo-jumbo!
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
quote:Wow. Just ... wow. I've never actually felt loss at the death of a author before, but I really do right now
I still routinely get choked up when I see a video of, or an interview with, Douglas Adams. And I still am routinely saddened by the fact that I will never be able to read a new work by the man.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
That's how I feel about Octavia Butler.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
For me, Theodore Sturgeon's death hit very hard. He taught me so much about people, and the different ways to love.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I didn't really get into Sturgeon until after his death. I was aware of him, but had only read one of his novels and a few of his short stories by '85. Had he died a few years later his death would have hit me in the same way Butler's did.
Other famous people whose deaths I actually mourned (as opposed to just being bummed out because they weren't going to give me any other great stories/songs/etc) include Jim Henson and George Harrison.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
I second those and raise you a Heinlein.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Octavia Butler is dead???
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Octavia Butler is dead???
Sadly enough, yes. She died in Jan. or Feb. of 2006, I think. She collapsed in her driveway. Or on her sidewalk. Not sure which.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I hadn't even hit double digits yet when Heinlein passed away!
Asimov is the only other author I can think of whose death occurred in my life time and whose works profoundly affected me. Though it wasn't until a few years after his death that I got really into his books. So Douglas Adams remains the only author whose death affects me the way it does.
I need to read more Butler. I loved Wild Seed, reading it on OSC's recommendation. Not personal recommendation mind you, but he talked about it in "How to write Fantasy and Science Fiction". It saddens me to know there is no possible way I will ever read all the books I want to read before I die.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
quote:Originally posted by Strider: I hadn't even hit double digits yet when Heinlein passed away!
I had already read everything he had published. It was striking to realize that I wouldn't ever read a Heinlein for the first time. And then we got "For Us the Living" as a bonus.
[ April 17, 2007, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: kmbboots ]
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
actually, given what you just said, I don't see why his death would have stopped you from reading any more of his works. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:I loved Wild Seed, reading it on OSC's recommendation. Not personal recommendation mind you, but he talked about it in "How to write Fantasy and Science Fiction".
Yeah, that was my introduction to her work also. I think that it's still my favorite of her novels, but all of them are worth reading, and most of them are very, very good.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Ooops!
Thanks. Fixed.
(I'm not that old!)
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Aw, you should have left it. It was funnier that way.
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Just a tad delusional though. Centuries from now when scholars are trying to figure out how one man wrote so much (a la Shakespeare) my wayard post would have been the subject of many misguided doctoral theses.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
:: laugh :: Probably so.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
lol!
It's really sad that she died so young. I was hoping to enjoy many more years of her writing. I didn't know until now.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, I was shocked when she died. Apparently, though, she'd been in poor health for some time, but I hadn't been aware of it.
Steve Barnes blogged a personal rememberance of Butler that I found moving, and Karen Joy Fowler wrote areally good piece for Salon.com eulogizing Butler (note that you'll have to click through an ad to read the whole thing. It's well worth doing).
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