Love Kurt Vonnegut, Lizard King
posted by on April 12 at 13:53 PM
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Kurt Vonnegut is the Doors of literature.
He’s that artist that you encounter as a teenager that literally changes the way you look at the world, the way you look at art and its ability to change the world. He was an iconoclast and a huckster and a genius, a believer in mankind and a doubter of belief. His philosophy never wavered from its bemused cynicism, and either your respect for his work grew with your familiarity with it or waned as your worldview grew more sophisticated. Like the Doors, he produced some certifiable pop classics, some borderline profound statements, and some total crap. There will be teenagers turning on to Slaughterhouse-Five for as long as there are teenagers; ditto with The Doors. I still hear “L.A. Woman” as the greatest driving song ever. I still read Breakfast of Champions as the greatest work of satire ever.
Roses are red
And ready for plucking
You’re sixteen
And ready for high school.
What is the purpose of life?
To be
the eyes
and ears
and conscience
of the Creator of the Universe,
you fool.
RIP Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
No offense, John, but this is kind of a subpar eulogy for Kurt... he did so much more than the Doors ever could have done.
But I should qualify my disappointment with the admission of blatant hero worship of Kurt - in my mind, everything he ever produced was a goddamn gem.
Longlive KV. Sirens of Titan has favoritely soaked many hours of my mind.
Ugh what a TERRIBLE analogy. How dare you besmirch Kurt Vonnegut's legacy and body of work by comparing him to the fucking DOORS?!?!
I still read Breakfast of Champions as the greatest work of satire ever.
Right on.
If Vonnegut was really the Doors of literature, that would mean that at some point in your 20s you'd have that "What the fuck was I thinking?" moment and sell your old paperbacks at Twice Sold Tales. Clearly, this could not happen.
@6: Well, in my own case, that's exactly what did happen. Reading KV's obit was like reading about the death of a friend I last knew in junior high.
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