Kurt Vonnegut has come unstuck in time

I thought of titling this post "Kurt Vonnegut's in Heaven now."  That's because Vonnegut, delivering the eulogy at a friend's funeral, opened with what he thought was a great joke.  "Isaac is heaven now."

The friend was Isaac Asimov.  The joke was that Asimov was a humanist who did not believe in an afterlife.  So was Vonnegut.  He believed Asimov would have liked the joke.

I'm going to be spending the next couple of days trying to write something fitting about the man whose books fell into the wrong hands one day---mine.  I was 14 years old.  When I finished Slaughterhouse Five, my life was ruined.  I wanted to be a writer.  Meantime here's the New York Times obit plus a list of his books and couple of my blog posts from last spring when I was having a grand time catching up on a few of his books I hadn't read, Kurt Vonnegut and the Hoosier aristocracy and A whole passel of swoopers.

Kurt Vonnegut's in heaven now.

So it goes.

Comments

[Kevin Wolf]

It's in the nature of things that we lose these folks at some point, but did it have to be now? During these particularly tough years we need his sort more than ever.

[Jennifer]

When I heard that he had died, I just felt sick... and I thought all sorts of terrible things about why someone like him??? What sad, sad news. He was supposed to live forever.

[Ken Houghton]

And will.

[JD]

I remember reading "Mother Night" and thinking, "Somebody else knows! I'm not in this all by myself!" Good-bye, Kurt, and good luck.

[Suffering Bruin]

A defining writer for me and I know I'm not alone. There will never be another piece of writing by Kurt Vonnegut. That thought alone brings tears to my eyes.

[Kieron Connolly]

and so it goes; place of peace, pastures new, his words once showed me that many things were possible in this world of words: big words, little words, everything in-between; and sure even if they weren't, no big deal, little harm in dreaming. Later Alligator.

[Victoria]

Beautiful, LM.

[mac macgillicuddy]

"The friend was Isaac Asimov. The joke was that Asimov was a humanist who did not believe in an afterlife. So was Vonnegut. He believed Asimov would have liked the joke."

But the joke is illogical. Not to mention that it doesn't make any sense. If we buy the premise, there is no audience.

[harry near indy]

to lance, and the posters here:

when vonnegut said in slaughterhouse 5 that billy pilgrim had become unstuck in time, he was describing the mental condition of altzheimer's patients.

he wrote that in 1969. altzheimer's, iirc, was first described and diagnosed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

not only can art can imitate life, it can predict life. one example is the inventions jules verne described in his books.

[Jim Tourtelott]

I'm going to miss Kurt Vonnegut a lot more than I'm going to miss Don Imus.

[denisdekat]

His books really influenced me a lot as a young man, I am so happy this guy was alive once and decided to write books. Waht a gift to the world!

[Rosy]

One of the nicest memories I have from my teaching days, is the day Kurt Vonnegut visited my school and sat with the students and teachers and just told stories. We were mesmerized. He was wonderful.

[Bonnie Vonnegut]

He was just so kind. Not at all upset by my borrowing of his name. What a loss, no more words!

[KROS]

Vonnegut's description of Billy Pilgrim's dimencia has
allowed me to accept the aging process with grace rather than fear --- as the cognative world viewed Billy's mental state as 'sadly gone', Billy was in a much better place than his wheel chair -- its all relative --- thank you Kurt -- I'll tip one up for you today.

[Mackie]

The Vonnegut quote that has stuck with me was about Billy Pilgrim, if I recall correctly:

"Dread told him when to stop, lack of dread told him when to move on."