Vox

R.I.P. - Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr passed away Wednesday at the age of 84.

Vonnegut is one of the first authors I have a clear recollection of reading. That point where you seek out additional works by one writer, rather than just continuing in a genre. I found him through my brother, usually referenced here as TCHOTP (The Coolest Human On The Planet) - basically, anything he read or listened to or thought was cool in any way, I had to experience, as well. If it was in his record collection, I was listening to it. If it was on his bookshelf, I was reading it. Rush, Devo, E.L.O., Asimov, Sturgeon...

And Vonnegut.

His Welcome to the Monkey House collection introduced me to several ideas that still ring true. I remember clearly the message I perceived from Harrison Bergeron, about a society that tries to ensure complete equality by handicapping in some way those who are stronger and/or brighter. I remember the sweetness of the patient romance in Who Am I This Time? The silliness of Tom Edison's Shaggy Dog....

And who can forget him as Kurt Vonnegut in Back to School? ;-)

UPDATE: From the New York Times obit, a quote 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.’

Posted by Vox at April 12, 2007 09:32 AM | books , celebrities