Well he's up in Heaven now.
(Just to clarify, Kurt was a gentle, humanist, religious skeptic who would get a laugh from that statement in the absurdist way it is intended.)
He was my favorite writer of all time. I have all of his novels/plays/short-stories/non-fiction on my bookshelves and have read them all. Some of them, several times. I feel like I knew him.
I suppose the consensus pick for his best would be Slaughterhouse 5, although I lean towards Breakfast of Champions. Slightly more off-the-beaten-track recommendation: Timequake.
Saw him speak in Toronto about 12 years ago too. A very entertaining evening.
It's no big surprise that the end has come. He loved his Pall Malls his whole life and was looking very feeble last I saw him a couple years ago. And he had already declared that he had said all he had to say and was through with writing. So there are really no loose ends on that front.
Thanks for everything Kurt.
(Just to clarify, Kurt was a gentle, humanist, religious skeptic who would get a laugh from that statement in the absurdist way it is intended.)
He was my favorite writer of all time. I have all of his novels/plays/short-stories/non-fiction on my bookshelves and have read them all. Some of them, several times. I feel like I knew him.
I suppose the consensus pick for his best would be Slaughterhouse 5, although I lean towards Breakfast of Champions. Slightly more off-the-beaten-track recommendation: Timequake.
Saw him speak in Toronto about 12 years ago too. A very entertaining evening.
It's no big surprise that the end has come. He loved his Pall Malls his whole life and was looking very feeble last I saw him a couple years ago. And he had already declared that he had said all he had to say and was through with writing. So there are really no loose ends on that front.
Thanks for everything Kurt.
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<HR style="COLOR: #fdde82" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Why would anybody waste their time reading fiction?
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I started reading the 100 greatest English language novels of the 20th century a few years ago and learned to appreciate good fiction.
I also am working on a few fiction books of my own, so it is important to see different styles.
Prior to that I was much like you in that I never read fiction and felt it was a waste of time.
RX Senior
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<HR style="COLOR: #fdde82" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Why would anybody waste their time reading fiction?
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I also am working on a few fiction books of my own, so it is important to see different styles.
Prior to that I was much like you in that I never read fiction and felt it was a waste of time.
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<HR style="COLOR: #fdde82" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->It is amazing to me that a great author like Vonnegut dies last night and all the cable news channels are talking about is the Imus thing. I guess they figure most of their core audience doesn't read(or can't) so why deal much with it. He was one of my all-time favorites.
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Concur with you there 100%. Sadly it is a reflection of what idiots we are as a society.
RX Senior
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<HR style="COLOR: #fdde82" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->It is amazing to me that a great author like Vonnegut dies last night and all the cable news channels are talking about is the Imus thing. I guess they figure most of their core audience doesn't read(or can't) so why deal much with it. He was one of my all-time favorites.
<!-- / message --></TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #fdde82 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #fdde82 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #fdde82 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #fdde82 1px solid">
</TD><TD class=alt1 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #fdde82 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #fdde82 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #fdde82 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #fdde82 1px solid" align=right><!-- controls --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Concur with you there 100%. Sadly it is a reflection of what idiots we are as a society.
I guess there are three things to say about that.
1) One reason why people would spend their time reading Vonnegut's fiction is it promotes thought and laughter. A lot of humans, myself included, like to laugh and learn.
2) Vonnegut didn't just write fiction. He published several collections of very thought provoking (and funny) essays. I would highly recommend Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons, Palm Sunday, Fates Worse Than Death and Timequake.
3) I guarantee there are things you do to pass your time that would seem like a complete waste of time to other people. Humans have different interests. IMO, a thread eulogizing a beloved icon was not a good place to express that particular disinterest of yours.
