Thursday, April 12, 2007

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater ...

"Death is like a really long nap, the difference being you don't have to worry about finding your shoes when you wake up."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.




Not very good at remembering quotations, and can't find this one now, so forgive me if I'm off by a few words (and I'll be really embarrassed if I'm mis-attributing it). Thanks to Steve Bucheit for the heads up on this sad occasion.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Remember when you tried to get me to read Breakfast of Champions when we were in High School, and I hated it? My mistake. Turns out I wasn't ready for the profound and tender appreciation of the flawed humanity all around us.

Slaughter-House Five is an annual read for me, typically either Memorial or Veteran's Day when pompous politicians "forward he cried, from the rear" glory in the lost lives of young sacrificed in military misadventures or around the February anniversary of the fire-bombing of Dresden. Cat's Cradle overshadowed everything I read my first two years of college.

The world has lost an eloquent voice, but his words will live on. And to paraphrase the writer's own words, "and will you please turn out the lights so he may rest in peace."

April 13, 2007 at 1:51 PM  
Blogger Steve Buchheit said...

I listened to Slaughter-House 5 yesterday in honor of his passing. So it goes. In the guilt stack is Slapstick and Sirens of Titan. I have Monkey House and another (which is escaping my memory) on the shelves. Also, I read his "Man Without a Country" form the library just this fall.

April 13, 2007 at 2:06 PM  
Blogger Todd Wheeler said...

Ah yes, High School. Senior year I was briefly associated with the school paper. Helped to have my friend as the editor, who pushed me to write something.

I wrote a grand total of two articles (I don't seem to have increased my productivity since then). One was an attempt to write like Vonnegut, showing the absurdity of war. Let's just say, it was no Slaughter-House Five.

April 13, 2007 at 10:42 PM  
Blogger Todd Wheeler said...

Steve: How was "Man Without A Country"?

April 13, 2007 at 10:42 PM  

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