Kurt Vonnegut, 1922 — 2007

One of the most, I think, "prophetic" American writers to several "messed up" generations has died at age 84. In spite of his deep sadness and outrageous cynicism, he was a voice that had an impact on those that questioned the ways of an anaesthetized "status quo".

His writing, although appearing at times to be naive, minimalist and tortured, was full of razor sharp satire and pathos. In spite of his obviously humanist thrust, many of his novels and short stories contributed to my own rejection of mindless lemming-like dead religion and "popular thought" in my search for the real thing.

I've enjoyed many of his novels through the years, the first having been "Slapstick" at age 18. Admittedly now, some of the more lurid scenes in some of his stories, although meant for "shock" value, no longer hold any appeal to me - if anything, only revulsion.

Unfortunately his literary exposure of the real darkness and dimwittedness of humanity, as opposed to popular "airy-fairy" thought was never punctuated with any real answers or possible direction, just a deep sadness and cynicism. Perhaps this was the reason for his own struggle with alcoholism and suicidal tendencies.

Amongst his many short stories and essays, two stick out in my mind as having had great impact on me:

"Biafra: A People Betrayed", from Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (1974). This was a tearstained first hand account of the final airlift of a people and nation that had been wiped out by a calculated blockade that had turned most into walking skeletons and then summarily slaughtered. It was utter genocide, as the world looked on mostly in apathy if not direct involvement.

"Harrison Bergeron", from Welcome to the Monkey House (1968). This short story is Vonnegut's way of debunking the idea of "egalitarianism" by portraying a society where the gifted, intelligent, strong and beautiful are "handicapped" through legislation and enforced law so as to ensure "social equality". This was later turned into a film (1995) starring Sean Astin.

I have a personal connection with Kurt Vonnegut because of his own experiences as an American POW in WW2 Germany. Sheltered in a concrete meat packing plant with his fellow American POWs he was one of the few survivors to have witnessed the fire bombing of Dresden by the allied forces. Over 150,000 unarmed civilians were burned alive by phosphor and jellied gasoline bombs dropped from planes as revenge and as a "demoralizing" tactic by the Americans. My father, then working as a research technician, unwittingly witnessed the same horror from an observation tower on a neighbouring hill. Vonnegut later turned his experinces into a bizarre semi-sci fi novel called "Slaughterhouse 5 (Schlachthaus Fünf)", which was also produced as a major film by the same name.
Some Vonnegut quotes:

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."

"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"

"1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them."

"Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean we deserve to conquer the Universe."

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before... He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

"I am eternally grateful.. for my knack of finding in great books, some of them very funny books, reason enough to feel honored to be alive, no matter what else might be going on."

"Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt"

Now that he can “see” for himself, I truly wonder what his thoughts are now …
Mr. Vonnegut ... may your soul find rest and the True Freedom you've always searched for ...

Chris Hermann

see also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

http://www.vonnegutweb.com

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/04/12/obit.vonnegut.ap/index.html