Kurt Vonnegut died today

[Sethomas]

Vonnegut was the ONLY modern writer to stir any motion in me. I think there's the possibility of making the point that his style might not appeal to everyone. But, to read his essays, short stories and different styles of writing within to novels speaks to the fact that he could write better than anyone else in any style of his liking. If Breakfast of Champions seems puerile, read Mother Night. If most of his writings bear a tone of pessimism, read God Bless You, Mr Rosewater.

It's easy to thrash on Vonnegut because his voice is so conversational. While you cannot deny his fabulous vocabulary, you can say that its delivery lacks artistic structure. This would miss the point entirely. He wrote (fantastically, in my opinion) to express his thoughts on the world. He told us what we all know but desperately need to hear. He had no religion, yet he called suicide terrorists "brave". He deplores the war, but empathizes with the soldiers above all--because he saw them as being treated like "toys", in contrast to his own service in World War II.

To read Vonnegut for his humor is to invoke the cliché that served as one of his alternate titles: Pearls before Swine. It served to tell us that although Pandora's box has been opened, it also housed hope.

In one of his essays, I believe included in the compilation Wampeters, Granfaloons, and Foma, (Maybe in Timequake?) mentioned that when he replaced Isaac Asimov as the figurehead of The Secular Humanists Society, he told the audience "Isaac's in Heaven now." I believe he said he wished that the joke would be repeated for himself.

I once wrote a letter to Vonnegut, not expecting to get a response (and I didn't). I didn't write because I wanted to be heard, but to have some tangible contact with what was among the greatest minds of our era. I will forever regret that I, unlike many whom I've met, never got the chance to at least shake his hand in profound thanks for his words. Mostly, I will miss that never again will he write a new story, that never again will he tell us what we all know but need to hear.

God bless you, Mr Vonnegut.