If no one’s said it yet, I will: Kurt Vonnegut was American literature’s finest satirist since Mark Twain. (Whom the mustachioed, frizzy-haired Vonnegut increasingly came to resemble in later years.) Like Twain, he had a merciless eye for those aspects of American life (and human nature) that we’re quickest to bury under layers of politeness, particularly our quickness to resort to violence. Like Twain, he progressed from laugh-out-loud funny to ruefully bitter as he aged. By the end of his 84 years, Vonnegut was hoping for a spectacular, suicidal death, like a plane crash into Mt. Kilimanjaro. But death came to him in more mundane fashion yesterday, as he succumbed to brain injuries suffered in a recent fall at his Manhattan home. Vonnegut would have been the first to appreciate the irony; he probably would have greeted it with a sigh: "So it goes."
Verbal shrugs like "So it goes" and "Hi ho" became catchphrases in his work, shorthand distillations of the wistful, ironic, sad-clown view of humanity that permeated his books. His ability to express a complex philosophy in simple, comic terms was one of the paradoxes that fueled his greatest works. Most of his books were novels of ideas, but novels that were accessible to general readers. He told fantastic, wildly imaginative stories that were often based on experiences from his own life. He embraced science fiction (space travel, time machines, robotics, chemical warfare, and environmental apocalypse were routine in his books) but was taken seriously by the literary establishment. It’s no wonder that one of his most beloved recurring characters was Kilgore Trout, a hack sci-fi writer who’s also something of a Cassandra, embedding prophecies in his strange tales that go unappreciated and unheeded.
Vonnegut’s voice found its fullest expression in his 1960s books, The two indispensable ones are Cat’s Cradle — a riotous satire on Cold War politics, sex, religion, technology run amok, xenophobia, and the end of the world — and Slaughterhouse-Five, his most autobiographical novel, a slight fictionalization of his experiences as a POW during the Allied bombing of Dresden at the end of World War II. Of course, Slaughterhouse-Five also features time-traveling aliens from the planet Tralfamadore, who observe the protagonist’s life with philosophical detachment; the suggestion is that human folly and savagery can be understood only from the perspective of a great remove. Indeed, Vonnegut began to distance himself from his own subjects, at least metaphorically, in 1973’s Breakfast of Champions, the author’s 50th birthday gift to himself, in which he took his formal experiments to their logical conclusion and bid a fond, Pirandellian farewell to his stable of recurring characters.
After that, Vonnegut’s satirical view began to curdle into something more despairing; by the end of his life, the ever-prolific author had abandoned fiction altogether. Still, his 2005 essay collection A Man Without a Country was a best-seller, and he remained a popular draw on the lecture circuit and on college campuses, where his iconoclasm always seemed to be in fashion. (He even appeared as himself in a cameo in the 1986 campus comedy Back to School.) In 1997, he was the subject of an Internet hoax in which a newspaper columnist’s list of funny/sad advice tips for young people was circulated globally as an email that misattributed the tips to a Vonnegut commencement speech. (Baz Luhrmann was inspired to set the list to music, before he learned Vonnegut didn’t write it, and had a hit single with "Everybody’s Free [To Wear Sunscreen].") Vonnegut may have been a literary school unto himself, with few novelists following in his footsteps (um… Thomas Pynchon? Don DeLillo? Douglas Adams?), but it’s nice to know that his ideas and sensibility have permeated pop culture.
UPDATE: Want to hear Vonnegut’s indispensable voice? Check out this lengthy 2005 interview he did on PBS’ NOW, in which he talks about his life, his work, contemporary politics, and the end of the world. It’s streaming at the show’s website.
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America has truley lost one of it’s most facinating voices today.
While Cat’s Cradle, Slaughter House Five, and Breakfast of Champions get all the hazzahs. I highly recomend Sirens of Titan, and Godbless you Mr. Rosewater….as well as his other collection of short stories Welcome to the Moneky HOuse (I phrase I use at least twice a week).
For the last few years I have been holding off on any unread KV novels as I knew there were only so many left, and I wnated to cherish each one. Looking forward to reading the rest, but sad knowing that there will never be any more.
KV is my literary hero. I read A Man Without a Country on my plane ride home from FL this week and I had to put it down several times. It really challenged me to rethink the way this country is headded. I recommend Bluebeard and Gallapagos. True genius…
I attended Smith College while he was a professor, and while I did not have the honor of attending one his classes, I do remember seeing him ride around campus on his bicycle. It was such a treat! He was a wonderful author and will be missed in the literary world!
I attended Smith College while he was a professor, and while I did not have the honor of attending one his classes, I do remember seeing him ride around campus on his bicycle. It was such a treat! He was a wonderful author and will be missed in the literary world!
It is a sad day for America
Vonnegut was (and remains) the best author I have ever read. Welcome to the Monkey House (I also use the phrase daily) absolutely captured and expressed a view of the world I could never find the words to. This is a sad day, and maybe tonight I’ll go reread my favorites in his memory.
Who could forget his funny cameo in the Dangerfield classic “Back to School”?
R.I.P. Kurt, you made a difference.
Today’s news is sad regarding Kurt Vonnegut. He was truly a national treasure and I’ll pass along the written jewels he left behind to my children.
I was hurt that so many greats passed away in 2006. But I am feeling really blue about the loss of KV. Is 2007 going to be another year where more of American popular culture’s great icons leave this mortal coil? I hope not with all my heart.
“Everything was beautiful. Nothing hurt”. KV
Too many fantastic people have gone this year and in 2006. I heard on the news that Shakesperian actor and former Soap butler Roscoe Lee Browne passed on.
Vonnegut was a huge influence during the late sixties with Slaughterhouse five and the catch phrase “and so it goes”. Billy Joel even quoted it in his song “Lullaby”. He was not even a writer, but an artist. His words were paint his paper was a canvas. He was the Georges Seurat of our time. And yes, his Back To School cameo was too funny for words. K.V: “Hello, I’m Kurt Vonnegut.” … Professor:” “…and the person who wrote this paper does not know anything about Vonnegut!”
The only novel of his I read was Slaughter-House Five, but it’s still one of the most interesting novels I’ve read. For the past half hour, I’ve been looking into Kurt Vonnegut’s works all around the internet, just to see what our literary world would be missing. Apparently, it’s a lot. I need to read more of his writing, because they look like fascinating pieces of literature.
I also found this quote pretty funny that I came across this morning:
“If you want to disappoint your parents and don’t have the nerve to be gay, go into the arts.”
Wow. Words can’t express how much I will miss having him in the world.
I didn’t know him of course. But his books had a huge influence on me as a reader and as an inspiration to try and write my own novel. I was lucky enough to see him twice in person, and get one of his books signed. What I liked about him the most, though, was his honesty in interviews and saying just what he thought. A great American and a true hero of mine. Rest in peace, Kurt!
Another great read of Vonnegut’s is Timequake. Written later in his career and rarely gets much press, but it’s a fascinating look at linear time and free will. My favorite other than Slaughterhouse Five.
Sad news. I know his best are “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle,” but I’ll always have a soft spot for “Bluebeard.” It’s about the life of Rabo Karabekian (a minor character in “Breakfast of Champions”) and his involvement with the Expressionist painters after WWII. Wonderfully poignant, sharp and entertaining.
I sencond Mark in nyc’s recommendation of Sirens of Titan. An awesome satire of religion, the future and existence. Vonnegut was an amazing author who could make me laugh out loud while reading his books. It always amazed me that he could communicate so much (especially humor) with so few words.
I read Vonnegut when I was 11 years old, and it changed me forever as a writer and a person. This was a beautiful soul who had seen the darkest parts of humanity, and had lost his own mother to suicide, and yet he wrote with such sad, funny, and utterly loving concern for humanity.
He never succumbed to the easy way out of hatred and selfishness, and he continually called upon, and demanded, people’s better natures.
His influence kept me going through some of the darkest times in my life, and I’ll be grateful to him forever.
Although I may just be a poseur from a granfalloon, I always try to live my life as if I am in a karass with Kurt Vonnegut. I certainly see him as a central mentor, and I miss him terribly.
God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut. You were beautiful in and out of the water.
I think you’ll be moved by this stirring video tribute to the life of Mr. Vonnegut:
http://digg.com/videos/people/Kurt_Vonnegut_Tribute
One of the greatest! so sad he died, but if you think about it he lived a long life. Long live Vonnegut!
What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?
Nothing.
For some reason, I always sort of thought he’d be around forever… this is too sad. Galapagos is another good one by him, but honestly, I haven’t read a book by Vonnegut that I didn’t like. One of the great geniuses of our time is dead.
His words made sense to me when nothing else made sense to me.
I wish I could have heard your voice or looked into your eyes to solidify the connection I feel to your words when they spring from the page, to say thank you for helping me become the person I am today.
Thank you, Mr. Vonnegut.
Kurt Vonnegut truly was an inspiration. I am only sorry that I was never able to meet him in person! His writing changed my life, and I’m sure it has changed the lives of millions of others. Rest in peace, Kurt! You will be greatly missed!
Kurt Vonnegut truly was an inspiration. I am only sorry that I was never able to meet him in person! His writing changed my life, and I’m sure it has changed the lives of millions of others. Rest in peace, Kurt! You will be greatly missed!
That interview on NOW was really fascinating — great insight into the man behind the Slaughterhouse!
Why the hell is this in Popwatch? This should be a standalone story with a blurb on the front page. Geez, EW. Try to have some class for once.
I discovered Kurt Vonnegut in high school after a friend recommended him. I read about a page of his Dead Eye Dick and decided to go buy a book for myself. Since then, I’ve read every book he’s written, and they have never disappointed me – even if he wasn’t as fond of them as I was. His influence on American culture is unmeasurable, as was his subtle influence on the way I think about life.
bubba, EW did post several ‘Vonnegut passed away’ links on the front page as well as this popwatch post just for us bloggers to discuss his life. They’ve done more than enough to cover his death; just as much as Anna Nicole Smith’s death. I don’t see what you’re whining about.
“so it goes”
“If I should ever die, God forbid,let this be my epithaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC” KV