So it goes

[mike wilson]

Kurt Vonnegut has shuffled off.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12...amp;oref=slogin

 

I know some here will be saddened.

[Guest ratchethack]

He will indeed be missed. I was one of those with a bookshelf full of his paperbacks in the '70's, many of which were read multiple times, all of which I still have. He was brilliant and insightful, yet tortured and deluded. A very sad man whose intellect and perspectives shone right through a profound inner darkness.

 

His books were interwoven with metaphors on the folly of the human condition.

 

One of my favorite themes from Cat's Cradle was the fabrication of a false religion, Bokonon , which described itself up front to all who would follow it as nothing but lies (foma ). It was an epiphany for me at the time that those without a sincere belief system well rooted in a power far beyond their own are compelled beyond their own comprehension to find a substitute -- and it seems to me as I believe it did to Vonnegut, that for the "lowest common denominator" of mankind, of which the planet seems to be increasingly overrun, nearly anything will do, no matter how absurd (see granfalloon, again from Cat's Cradle).

 

As an avid observer of human behavior, since then, I've observed countless examples of this, including here on this Forum. . . .

 

In honor of the passing of K.V. Jr., on the purpose of Bokononism:

 

I wanted all things

To seem to make some sense,

So we could all be happy, yes,

Instead of tense.

And I made up lies

So that they all fit nice,

And I made this sad world

A par-a-dise.

__________

 

And so it goes. . . .

 

The Vonnegut Web:

 

http://www.vonnegutweb.com/

 

FWIW, knowing Vonnegut as I've come to know him, it seems to me he would've been honored to be mentioned -- and quoted -- at his passing, on a motorcycle Web board under a special forum for "banter and silly remarks".

 

FWIW (Part II) I think he would also have been pleased that this question was asked on this Forum at the occasion of his passing:

 

Is there anyone here who read Vonnegut extensively with any doubts whasoever that this Forum is a Wampeter?

 

[mike wilson]

Aren't they all?

 

Ice-nine.

[Guest ratchethack]

ACK!

 

How soon we forget. . . It's been quite awhile after all. . .

 

On this day, of all days, I'd better get this right!

 

On second thought, it's the V11 Guzzi that's a Wampeter .

 

This Forum is, without much doubt about it, a Karass .

Ice-nine.

Ahhhhh, the memories. . . .

 

And then there's Mona Aamons Monzano. . . .

 

And from none other than The Book of Bokonon itself, a quote for today:

 

On a Boulder near the Post-Ice Nine Mass Suicide

 

To whom it may concern: These people around you are almost all of the survivors on San Lorenzo of the winds that followed the freezing of the sea. These people made a captive of the spurious holy man named Bokonon. They brought him here, placed him at their center, and commanded him to tell them exactly what God Almighty was up to and what they should now do. The mountebank told them that God was surely trying to kill them, possibly because he was through with them, and that they should have the good manners to die. This, as you can see, they did.

 

Bokonon

[VA Sean]

I agree with what has been said.

Happy to see this thread here, too.

Vonnegut was one of my favorite authors when I was a teenager - and I read most of his (then-published) novels at that time. My uncle gave my Breakfast of Champions in 1981 or 1982... after I finished it, I quickly bought and read most of the rest of his books.

This morning, while drinking my coffee and eating breakfast with my wife, I heard the news of Vonnegut's passing, and I was nearly sick.

This afternoon, I spent a lot of time searching for stuff of his online.

I am happy to report I purchased three books of his that he published long after I stopped reading his works.

They are:

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian

A Man Without a Country

Fates Worse Than Death

I am very much looking forward to receiving those and reading them as soon as possible.

 

I am kind of shocked, given that this board is probably read by and contributed to more by Europeans than Americans, that I can find a thread about Vonnegut here, but on Wildguzzi, where the readership and contributors are the opposite, there has not been one mention of his passing.

 

So it goes...

 

RIP-

 

[Guest ratchethack]

I am kind of shocked, given that this board is probably read by and contributed to more by Europeans than Americans, that I can find a thread about Vonnegut here, but on Wildguzzi, where the readership and contributors are the opposite, there has not been one mention of his passing.

Shocked? Well, in order to have an appreciation of a World Class best selling author of our own lifetimes (or somewhat before, as the case may be), first you need to have people who read. Then, you need to have people who either read during the '60's and '70's, OR who read modern classic cult stuff of that era. Doesn't surprise me much.

 

D'you ever notice the amazing number of people who're ABLE to read, yet haven't read a book or periodical OF ANY KIND in years, or possibly a decade or maybe two or even three? This is an increasingly popular state of being called MODERN FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY. Politicians LOVE voting populations CHOCKERBLOCK FULL of 'em, and we ain't disappointing 'em much lately by living down to their lowest expectations, not to mention their fondest hopes and dreams. . . . I expect it ain't much different in Europe or anywhere else. . .

[dlaing]

Just for giggles I did a search at wildguzzi forum for anna nicole and it came up with 15 threads.

A search there for Vonnegut resulted in 3 threads, on of which was VA Sean

 

To Kurt Vonnegut

[not_scooter_Scura!]

Shocked? Well, in order to have an appreciation of a World Class best selling author of our own lifetimes (or somewhat before, as the case may be), first you need to have people who read. Then, you need to have people who either read during the '60's and '70's, OR who read modern classic cult stuff of that era. Doesn't surprise me much.

 

 

Yeah it's pretty bad that until today that the ony thing I knew connectd to the man was Kevin Bloody Bacon in Footloose saying "Slaghterhouse-5, it's a classic".

 

I can tell you more about other writers though...maybe...

 

n_s_S!

[dlaing]

ps and at this forum it was 4 threads each.

It would have been 4 for Kurt and 3 for Anna, if I had not brought her up.

[VA Sean]

Just for giggles I did a search at wildguzzi forum for anna nicole and it came up with 15 threads.

A search there for Vonnegut resulted in 3 threads, on of which was VA Sean

 

To Kurt Vonnegut

 

Very interesting!

 

Just searched it myself... not that I didn't believe you, just that I couldn't recall having written of him on that site before!

 

[Martin Barrett]

Shocked? Well, in order to have an appreciation of a World Class best selling author of our own lifetimes (or somewhat before, as the case may be), first you need to have people who read. Then, you need to have people who either read during the '60's and '70's, OR who read modern classic cult stuff of that era. Doesn't surprise me much.

 

D'you ever notice the amazing number of people who're ABLE to read, yet haven't read a book or periodical OF ANY KIND in years, or possibly a decade or maybe two or even three? This is an increasingly popular state of being called MODERN FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY. Politicians LOVE voting populations CHOCKERBLOCK FULL of 'em, and we ain't disappointing 'em much lately by living down to their lowest expectations, not to mention their fondest hopes and dreams. . . . I expect it ain't much different in Europe or anywhere else. . . <_>

 

I'm so sad this is me but 80's & 90's. I've hardly read at all over the last few years. I always used to have a book on the go and a cup of coffee, but no more. Occasionally I'll hit on something on line having been inspired by something.

e.g. Yesterday playing Rush clips on u-tube and having played Xanadu - went off and found Coleridge's Kubla Khan this leads on to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner a quick comparison to the Flying Dutchman and ended up with Beowulf

 

I never read Vonnegut, but struggled through JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye at school and have sworn to go back and give it another go, perhaps I'll pick up a copy tomorrow, and continuing the Rush inspiration a copy of Neil Peart's Ghost Rider I know it's not the same but at least it's a book.

[Admin Jaap]

Martin, you should go and see them this fall. They are touring in Europe. I already have tickets...

[Martin Barrett]

Martin, you should go and see them this fall. They are touring in Europe. I already have tickets...

 

I'm quite tempted, Saw the "Exit Stage Left" tour (1981?) and have the Rush in Rio DvD

[Frenchbob]

. . . I expect it ain't much different in Europe or anywhere else. . .

 

Depressingly true, in the main, although there are exceptions. When I asked my son, who is a scientist and therefore can be expected to read only research material and pornography, whether he knew that Vonnegut had died, I discovered from the ensuing conversation that he had read more of his work than I had......

 

So it goes!

[jrt]

When I asked my son, who is a scientist and therefore can be expected to read only research material and pornography,

 

 

LOL!

 

 

Doesn't Vonnegut look more and more like Samuel Clemens as he (Kurt) gets older? Both were great American satirists, and what could be a higher compliment than being called a Satyr?

 

D'you ever notice the amazing number of people who're ABLE to read, yet haven't read a book or periodical OF ANY KIND in years, or possibly a decade or maybe two or even three?

 

I can't even fathom this. I can't remember the last time I WASN'T reading a book. Maybe not a great book, but I have to read before bedtime. Periodicals? Not so much except science journals and pornography (jest kiddin')