In Memoriam Kurt Vonnegut

IN MEMORIAM KURT VONNEGUT

On April 12, 2007 it was reported in the news media that Kurt Vonnegut had died. He was 84. One edition of the New York Times called him a "writer of classics of the American counterculture," and said that he had suffered "irreversible brain injuries as a result of a fall several weeks ago."

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an “American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat’s Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973)” (Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut ).

Slaughterhouse-Five is considered by many to be the best novel of the 20th Century. The novel grew out of Vonnegut’s experiences in the fire-bombing of Dresden by the Allies at the end of World War II. Vonnegut had taken part in the Battle of the Bulge and was taken prisoner by the Germans. He was one of just seven American prisoners of war who survived the Dresden fire-storm and was then put to work burying the countless civilian dead. There were so many bodies they had to be disposed of by flame-throwers. This experience of “carnage unfathomable” formed the theme of the novel and at least six other works.

Vonnegut wrote for the 25th anniversary edition of Slaughterhouse-Five: “A fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much), who, as an American infantry scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, “The Florence of the Elbe,” a long time ago, and survived to tell the tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying sucers come from. Peace.”

Slaughterhouse-Five became a slogan of anti-Vietnam war protestors in the 1960s. Many of Vonnegut's books resonated with the generation of the 60s and 70s, who resented the loss of control of their own destinies to government and authority, and who empathised with Vonnegut’s somewhat helpless and bumbling protagonists.

In the 21st century, the elements of science fiction found in Vonnegut’s work, the wild creative leaps and the irony, plus the simplicity, and the themes of rejection of enslavement to technology and the denunciation of the pursuit of affluence continue to appeal to fresh generations. Several of his books and have achieved almost cult status. Very often readers who otherwise prefer nonfiction, and would not normally consider ever cracking open a work of fiction, can be found reading these books for pure pleasure!

Here is a website with some quotes from Kurt Vonnegut:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Kurt_Vonnegut/

Here is a link to a New York Times article about Kurt Vonnegut’s life:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html?ex=1191988800&en=aa747f8e1cf65243&ei=5087&excamp=GGGNkurtvonnegut

Here is a link to a 1973 interview with Kurt Vonnegut:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6433433.html

These are Vonnegut titles available in Harford County Public Library (some are also available as audiobooks on CD or downloadable):

Cat’s Cradle (1963)

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: or, Pearls Before Swine (1965)

Slaughterhouse-Five (1965)

Welcome to the Monkey House: a Collection of Short Works (1968)

Breakfast of Champions, or, Goodbye Blue Monday (1973)

Jailbird (1979)

Galapagos: a Novel (1985)

Bluebeard: a Novel (1987)

Hocus Pocus (1990)

Timequake (1997)

Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (1999)

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999)

A Man Without a Country (2005)

Your comments on any work by Vonnegut are welcome. Have you read anything by a current author who you think might be able to fill Vonnegut’s shoes?