Saying goodbye to Kurt Vonnegut

[Ialtog]

More than any other writer Kurt Vonnegut has a very special place in my heart. At that difficult period in your life when you are not quite an adult and not quite a kid anymore I was turned on to him by a friend. Throughout the next twenty-plus years I returned to his work over and over, always finding something new. His writing played a crucial role in shaping my own personal philosophy and approach to life. I was able to hear him speak two times over the years - both extremely powerful experiences for me. Many years ago I bought a copy of "Slapstick" and put it on my shelf. This was the one work I was not going to read until he died. So tonight I guess I'll pour a pint and curl up with this last one. I'll try and concentrate on all the positives, but I can't help but feel today that the lights dimmed a bit.

[Kilted KT]

yeah....another of the strange but brilliant ones...I'll have a dram for him.

[thescot]

God bless you Kurt . . .and Mr. Rosewater.

[auld argonian]

"The most important thing that I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just the way that we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion that we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever."

-Kurt Vonnegut

[Mountainman]

He will be missed.

[Mumbles]

Im gonna go get some of his books out. RIP Mr. Vonnegut

[Yaish]

Brilliant author, brilliant man. I dont think anyone else could write quite like him.

[Zardoz]

It's a very sad thing to me. Vonnegut was one of the first writers who really made an impression on me as a young person. I guess I'll put aside my current reading for a while and re-read my favourite, 'Sirens of Titan'

[LK-13]

Slaughterhouse Five is was and will be one of my all time fav's.

[mang1974]

My wife gave me "A Man Without a Country" for my birthday this past February. It had been awhile since I had read any Vonnegut (been a favorite of mine since junior high), and it reminded me of how much he had shaped my opinions and outlook on life. Quite a shame that he had to leave us . . .