So it goes.
I remember reading Slaughterhouse-Five in high school, and feeling my mind startled awake by strange concepts like becoming unstuck in time, Tralfalmadorians, the all too real Dresden firebombing and strangest of all, human nature. I think that was when the notion struck me, a notion that was articulated by another author: "It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way."
Perfectly good excuse to go re-read Slaughterhouse-Five for the third time.
I was amused to read that his literary alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, was written by Vonnegut as having died at the age of 84:
Trout "died" at midnight on October 15, 2004 in Cohoes, New York, following his consultation with a psychic, who informed him that George W. Bush would win the U. S. Presidential election by a vote of 5-to-4 in the Supreme Court. The epitaph on his tombstone reads, "Life is no way to treat an animal."
A parting lesson from Mr. Vonnegut, as quoted by Warren Ellis:
"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — 'God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.'"Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Good-bye Kurt, whenever you are.
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