One of my literary heroes (and a fellow Hoosier) passed away yesterday.
We agreed on nothing politically. He was a socialist. I’m a libertarian. He’s said some really wigged-out things in praise of terrorists and in denegration of good people. But he had a right to say them here in America. This country where you USED to be able to say what you thought and stimulate dialogue–not hide from punishment.
On the day Kurt Vonnegut died, people in America were screaming for Don Imus to lose his job and I received a C&D letter for a blog entry. Seems like Vonnegut’s death is sort of symbolic of the death of radical free speech in the U.S.
As I said, Vonnegut and I are polar opposites on most things. But we both agree wholeheartedly on ONE thing:
“If you really want to disappoint your parents, and don’t have the nerve to be gay, go into the arts.”
I am sad to see him go. I recently got the urge to reread Galapagos, and now I’m on a kick to reread more of his stuff. Weird thing was, the urge to read some Vonnegut came out of the blue – and now he is dead.
Let us hope it isn’t entirely symbolic of the death of free speech in America.
That quote is a classic.
i keep a copy of cat’s cradle in my car. i never actually take it out and read it, i just feel better knowing it’s in my backseat.
goodbye, blue monday…
I, too, am saddened. Though I think that he said what he had to say with his fiction fairly quickly, and spent many years repeating himself, the stuff he did have to say at first, and the way he said it, will probably live on for a long time. Well, he had a good life, and not a short one. He’ll be missed, but at least he did something worth missing.
And I’m glad you feel able to keep on with regular posting with all that’s going on.
I know EXACTLY what you mean. I think that sometimes Vonnegut said things to just say them…he wrote reactive literature and loved observing the absurd way in which people reacted to life. He was the ultimate satirist, he lived it…you can almost taste it in his work.
He’ll be missed.
I’m sorry for what you’ve been going through with your blog, when will people sit up and take notice to what is happening to Free Speech in this country???
[...] Katherine Coble: We agreed on nothing politically. He was a socialist. I’m a libertarian. He’s said some really wigged-out things in praise of terrorists and in denegration of good people. But he had a right to say them here in America. This country where you USED to be able to say what you thought and stimulate dialogue–not hide from punishment. [...]
Thanks for the Vonnegut quote.
Oddly, I was at the used bookstore looking for “Sirens of Titan” just day before yesterday because Spider Robinson mentions it in the Afterword of “DeathKiller,” which is “MindKiller” and “Time Pressure,” together.
Anyway, I loved his books.
Long live Vonnegut
Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron” from “Welcome to the Monkey House” is his best work.
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html
i also disagreed with Vonnegut politically except for one of his short-short stories, which you may be unaware of: “Harrison Bergeron.” It would have made Ayn Rand proud. check it out, it only takes five minutes to read:
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html
Thanks boyse535431eb8c986b2aa99519ca3160378