Kurt Vonnegut died today. He wrote one of the most important books in American Literature called Slaughterhouse Five, which was a semi-autobiographical novel about his experiences as a prisoner of war and his subsequent survival of the bombing of Dresden.Over the evenings of Febuary 13th through the 15th 1945 it is estimated that between 25,000 to 100, 000 people died from several thousands of tons of bombs being dropped on them.
A little later that same month, on the other side of the world, the United States firebombed Tokyo and killed at least 70,000 people.
So it goes.
The book is also about time travel, alien abduction and sex with B-movie starlettes (so it has a little something for everyone). It is at once a elegant and horrifying book. He used a device, that I will always remember. When someone died in the novel, or when one of the aliens said something, they said-So it goes.
I have read the book about five times since I was 14 years old. What I found humorous when I was 14 I found terribly sad when I was 35. The book seemed to change as I got older. It taught me a lot about perception.
I will read it again this month in honor of Mr. Vonnegut.
He was a hero of mine. I am at once sad at his passing and at once happy that he lived during my lifetime. I hope his passing was peaceful, but I am afraid that is wasn't. He died from complications from a fall.
He was on the Daily Show a couple of months ago. He was still as sharp as a tack
So it goes, Kurt. So it goes.
