Thursday, April 12, 2007

So It Goes

Kurt Vonnegut, an original in every sense of the word, died yesterday.

He was a genius; I am not. So there's little for me to say, except: read his books -- of which there are more than a few -- if you haven't already. If it was me, just starting on the Vonnegut bibliography, I'd start with Player Piano. His Ilium, New York seems more than a little reminiscent of Fort Wayne, Indiana. But that's a whole other post.

Listen: Kurt Vonnegut has come unstuck in time ...

2 comments:

Craig said...

I like the sultan in Player Piano who keeps calling the street workers "slaves." The corporate guys answer, "no, no they're free men." But the sultan knows, they're slaves.

Jim Wetzel said...

I no longer have a copy on my shelf, but if I remember correctly, the sultan's word for "slave" was takaru, or something close to that. His guide kept correcting him: no they're citizens. And the sultan just smiles and agrees -- yes, "citizen" does indeed mean takaru.

So true. So true.

Looking around online today, I see that a very large number of people had posts entitled "So It Goes." Once again, my delusions of originality are dashed.