Kurt Vonnegut, R.I.P.

"All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies." Thus began Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Book of Bokonon, within his novel Cat's Cradle.

The novelist, who, in 1997, told the New Yorker "People are sentimental about me now. I'm not waving my hands in the air looking for attention," passed away last night. So it goes.

His greatest impact on me probably comes from Cat's Cradle, and Bokononism. Many times I find myself whispering "Busy, busy, busy" "whenever I think about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is." We live in an age of granfalloons and foolishness, a world that will now miss one of its great chroniclers.

Tags

More like this

When Kurt Vonnegut passed away, I pointed out that the Bokononist mantra "Busy, busy, busy" is one that I find useful in my own life, especially this week. So it goes. The Kansas Guild of Bloggers, normally put online on Monday, is thus appearing on Friday, and incorporates only submissions to…
Because everyone else is commenting on it, I must as well. After all, I'd jump off of a bridge if everyone else were doing it. I don't read science fiction. Sure, I've read a couple of the classics (ie, Ender's Game). And I was really into Stephen King for a couple of years, starting in fifth grade…
Kurt is up in heaven now. My first book report was on the Cat's Cradle. A novelty read for a student in rural high school. "Why don't you just read To Kill a Mockingbird?" my teacher asked. I was hooked and proceeded to spend what little money I had on any used copy of a Vonnegut…
Ice 9 by toastforbrekkie. The idea of Ice-9, although fictional, has always fascinated me. Its properties are so powerful, so influential, that one "seed crystal" can direct its entire surroundings, freezing oceans. A recent discovery of one component of the cell wall of bacterium reminded me of…

Kurt Vonnegut is in heaven now.

I was lucky enough to see Vonnegut speak at KU back in '86, I think (I skipped my evening Design class to go), and I will always remember being in the eighth row as he described the seven basic stories.

No, not heaven.

But I bed there's a helluva welcom-home party on Tralfamidor.

(Almost as sad: I heard Kilgore Trout died this week, too.)

By MonkeyHawk (not verified) on 12 Apr 2007 #permalink