So it goes.

[penfield]

Forgive me if I'm a little soul-sick today. Kurt Vonnegut, my idol, fraternity brother and favorite author died yesterday of a crack on the noggin. As he might say, the world had had quite enough of him, and being a gentleman he obliged it.

I've talked about his novels before. I hope everyone who reads this reads Cat's Cradle before I die, so I can at least feel like I made a positive literary impact on people's lives.

In case you don't, though, here is an unrepresentative but pertinent excerpt from that masterpiece:

The Last Rites of the Bokononism
(Each line is said once by the person giving the rites and then repeated by the dying person.)

God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.
I will go to heaven now.
I can hardly wait...
To find out for certain what my wampeter was...
And who was in my karass...
And all the good things our karass did for you.
Amen.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I read Cat's Cradle not long ago.....thanks to you for kindly giving it to me for my birthday! It is one of the best books I've ever read and led me to become a big fan of Vonnegut. I was saddened by the news of losing such a brilliant mind and decided to honor his life by vowing to read the rest of his works. Thank you for introducing me to such wonderful literature! Surely KV would be proud!