Kurt Vonnegut dead at 84.

I'm speechless and you know how rare that is.

I've only read Cat's Cradle, and A Man Without A Country. And perhaps, I'm too young to understand the implications of Kurt Vonnegut's writing too. Maybe he would've lived longer if he hadn't smoked so much. Although, 84 years old is a pretty long life with smoking. Screw the what ifs, I need to read more of his books, and remember what defined him as an author.

I attribute my interest in art to Bluebeard and Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word. The ending of Bluebeard was exceptional.

One of my favorites was Galapagos. Loved that line- Thanks a lot, big brain.

As I've said here...

It's a great loss. Vonnegut had the courage to discard traditional narrative structure. He told his stories his way, on his terms. He had a great, dark sense of humour, and the stories he told were both melancholic and hilarious... and so on.

I particularly loved his alter ego Kilgore Trout - a science fiction author who could only sell his stories as filler for porno magazines.

Articulate is compiling an online tribute. Please feel free to contribute here.

Reading Bluebeard changed how I looked at art. This, I think, was Vonnegut's masterpiece - Bluebeard comes close to touching something eternal, something astounding.

Narcissus and Goldmund did that for me. But Bluebeard touched on something else when I read it.

It suddenly strikes me that I never so much as wrote the man a thank-you card. I have tears in my eyes and I feel like I've lost a dear friend.

I meant to a while back and never got around to it. I also toyed with the idea of sending that story I wrote to him to see what he'd say(I figured he'd say nothing). That seemed juvenile and so I just gave the idea up in total I guess. The baby out with the bathwater.

I cried too. I am crying. Not sobbing, but crying. I don't know why. I couldn't cry when I lost Maxxy (well not much, and I was trying to for the sake of being able to cry), and the little guy was so much closer to me. Why does it hurt so much more to think of Vonnegut as being dead when I never knew the man? But then Maxxy didn't die. I don't think. I mean I'm pretty sure he's still alive right now. Even though he's lost that Bilokonsky pizazz.

I read Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five both when I was too young and so I don't really think all that much of them. But Breakfast of Champions... absolutely... something. Touching, amazing, real. I don't know. I've reread Slaughterhouse Five more recently and it is more touching. More depressing. Haven't gotten around to Cat's Cradle.

And Player Piano... it just shows the fruitlessness of it all. There is so much irony and paradox and brilliance in that book that it is impossible for it not to effect your politics. Everyone's insane and you can't just step out and watch.

My son...I can keenly feel the pain of the young when provolked by a different aspect of thinking as my new montra is "Thinking is an Art form"....and he was a living work of art...

sweet dreams Kurt....we'll dream you later.

Forest

Aw god dammit not again... every time I look at famous person's wikipedia profile they end up dying the next day... I killed Reagan, James Brown, and that guy from Law and Order this way.

:-C

I'm sorry everybody.

We've lost a Giant.

I'm always sad when an artist is lost to the real world. It always feels like it was too soon. We feel as if we know these people because their words and works meant so very much to us, and their passing means no less to us than it had if we'd been close friends.

Your close friend was his work, and though he is gone, his work still stands as monument to Vonnegut himself and to how he has affected your lives.

Rest in peace, sir.

"As an adolescent, he made my life bearable."

Indeed, John Stewart, indeed.

I will never forget the impact Breakfast of Champions, Jailbird, Deadeye Dick, Timequake, Slaughterhouse Five, and his countless other short stories have had on my view of life and the world. His books should be required reading for America.

Thanks for sharing Myk. I've never read Vonnegut although I have a lot of respect for his writing (from the opinions of other people...yourself included). I want to offer my condolences to you because when I saw the headline last night my first thought was... wow...mykola's going to be really torn up about this. Peace.

I read Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse 5 when in my teens, along with Harrison Bergeron which is still one of my favourite short stories. The latter cleverly mocks the result of taking equal treatment to its logical conclusion. It is at the same time funny, sad and frightening.

I was probably a bit too young for Cat's Cradle but was deeply affected by it. It has some themes in common with other books. For example, both Cat's Cradle and Sirens of Titan feature the notion of being lured into a bad situation by highly misleading promises involving attractive women.

The imagery is very strong in all these writings, and he hooks you with idiosyncratic details or behaviours, the "chronosynclastic infundibulum" in Sirens being a case in point. His style seems to be to charm you with his quirky flights of imagination and open you up for the chilling sucker punch that makes a serious point or observation.

A real genius. You were lucky to have had the chance to meet him.

I was talking to a guy once - he was going for a degree in creative writing, I believe - who met Vonnegut on the subway. He was obviously blown away and talked to him.

He asked "Can I ask you a question?" wanting to find some writing tips or somesuch. Vonnegut replied "No, but I'll ask you some." Vonnegut spent the remainder of the subway ride asking the guy about his upbringing, school history and opinions on various things all because, as he stated later, he was terribly interested in people, who they are and where they come from. Intriguing experience. Even though the guy I was talking to got no advice and no tips, I count him to be an extremely lucky guy.

The death of something as rare as an American intellectual. When Hunter S. Thompson died a friend of mine was struck by a fragment of his dissolving spirit and began to act out a character best described as pirate on acid with a cowboy hat. This time I seem to be the one who is struck.

From someone still unstuck in time to someone with whom time finally caught up: RIP.

Perhaps it would be good to have a series of articles about each of his books to discuss them as a tribute to him?

Each of us could write about our favorite of his books, or just one that we're really familiar with. No one seems to have mentioned Slapstick.

a true american hero of literature and thought. "cats cradle," "slaughterhouse 5," "breakfast of champions," "hocus pocus," "jailhouse," these books changed my life, and influenced my writing and, more importantly, my philosophy of life. thats what he gave me that most of my other favorite authors didnt always do — he gave me life lessons, and i never met the guy, either, so thats saying something.

"So it goes." I will miss him. Father Kurt wrote some amazing books. I must say, "be carefull who you pretend to be- because in the end, you are who you pretend to be."(Mother Night) Had a profound impact on me.

Listen: I own and have read a great multitude of his books, my favorite being Breakfast of Champions. His books change lives, they may be cynical and depressing for the most part, but in each, there is the slightest glimmer of hope. I started reading Mother Night last night. Somehow it has been on my bookshelf for months and I haven't read it.

Oh well, things come and things go, but the Bible of my life, Slaughter House Five, has taught me that Kurt will never be gone.

Hi ho.

What a nice article you've written, Mykola. It's from the heart, and comforting to hear.

He was a fellow Hoosier, and a wonderful author. I'm just glad that he wrote so many novels for us to enjoy.

I purchased a copy of Cat's Cradle today at the local bookstore this morning... When I asked the attendant where I could find Kurt Vonnegut's books she responded, "Oh, I guess you are the first of the rush." I asked her what she meant and then she told me he died.

Maybe it's just me but I find the idea of a rush to buy dead authors books a little sick... It kind of reminds me of ripping a peg-leg off of a dead pirate friend after you see him stabbed... well kind of, maybe the pirate analogy is a little weak... But still, I miss the old guy.

Hi Mykola, I've linked back to this post from these tributes on Articulate.

Thank you.
Never met him either, so why can't I stop crying? I think I need help.
I was unable to go to work since he's been gone and when I sleep I
have dreams about entering doors that hold signs like "God is coming
and she's pissed", or I walk around dressed in extra large T - shirts (which
I never got to buy from his official site) saying "Lonesome no more", or
"Life is no way to treat an animal."
On his official website there is only an empty birdcage with the door open.
Like so many people, I feel like there will never be closure because there will
never be another Vonnegut.
"No damn cat and no damn cradle."

Thank you. I needed that.
Never met the man either, so why can't I stop crying ? I think I
need help. I was unable to go to work since he's been gone and I
feel and look like Dali's watches. When I sleep I have dreams about
doors that have signs like: "God is coming and she is pissed", or
I'm wearing XL T-shirts (which I never got to buy from his site) that
say "life is no way to treat an animal."
On his official site there nothing but an empty birdcage with the door
open. No damn bird, "no damn cat, no damn cradle."
I know there are a lot of people out there walking around with there
hearts broken. In a million pieces. I don't think this is going to
go away any time soon for me. I'll stop crying and being pathetic, but
I know that there will never, ever be another Vonnegut.
In the meantime, he i sprobably looking down on us and shaking his head
in disbelief. Well, he'd better believe it. He is sacred. "And all music is."

I offered, or at least I meant to offer, to write some pieces on Vonnegut but
am a bit crunched for time so I thought i'd offer to review and reflect on what
I could find of his that was on audio or dvd.

So.. The library has player piano on audio. If someone hasn't done that one
I'll volunteer.
Also, I can do so for Slaughterhouse house five - the movie.