# So it goes... RIP Mr. Vonnegut. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753 "2007-04-12T03:45:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/41 "2007-04-12T06:50:51Z")
This one hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/42 "2007-04-12T06:54:40Z")
Maybe his obituary will read like an outline to a real obituary, much like _Breakfast of Champions_ read like an outline to a real novel. Not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/43 "2007-04-12T07:02:16Z")
Way to thread crap. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/44 "2007-04-12T07:08:12Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] Not impressed. [/QUOTE] Thanks for sharing. Security eunuchs- escort him off the property, please. And be a dear- bring me a _Fresca_ on your return. ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/45 "2007-04-12T07:21:39Z")
Ironically… NOT IMPRESSED" could be a great describer of KV’s attitude… He saw a lot (Dresdin before and after the fire bombing) and found the only logical explination of the human situation (ie: “NOT IMPRESSED”) His ability to describe the human condition from the outside in, and the inside out… could only be described as “not impressed”… totally dry, totally exterior… He showed us as just a planetary anthill… Our great structures, intellectual, artistic or physical, are just grains of sand stuick together by our own sense of relevance… He saw that by being “not impressed” now… if we could , as a species, only do something as impressive as his vision(s)… sadly FML ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/46 "2007-04-12T07:26:41Z")
Even though I only just read him for the first time, I love Vonnegut’s style, his worldview, and everything else about him as much as anyone. But to be fair, people (myself included) have crapped all over Johnny Hart’s life and death in _that_ thread, and that hasn’t started a shitstorm only because fewer Dopers like his full body of work. Just because Vonnegut is more popular here doesn’t mean the same spirit of free speech can’t/shouldn’t apply. I’d like to think Mr. Vonnegut would have grinned, or at least smirked, at a Doper summing up his view of him as “Not impressed” (see **FML** ’s post). ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/47 "2007-04-12T07:54:23Z")
At the bottom of my screen: **Peace Flags – Earth Flags** Seems appropriate. Hail and farewell. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/48 "2007-04-12T08:01:15Z")
Well, I’m certainly not impressed with Johnny Hart’s work, and beyond the generic civil “sorry to his family for the loss” I’m not moved by his death. But… that’s why I didn’t go to the “Johnny Hart is dead” thread. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/49 "2007-04-12T08:07:22Z")
I’ll never forget the impact his books had on me in the 60s when I first read Player Piano, The Sirens of Titan and Cat’s Cradle. I do remember feeling some youthful resentment that he’d “deserted” science fiction for the mainstream with his subsequent books, but I eventually realized that Vonnegut was always above genre. God Bless You, Mr Vonnegut! ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/50 "2007-04-12T09:15:49Z")
Rest in Peace, Mr. Vonnegut. It’s a sad loss. But you know: Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/51 "2007-04-12T11:28:35Z")
[QUOTE=Stinkum] … the short story “Harrison Bergeron” blew out the walls of my thinking about literature … [/QUOTE] [Harrison Bergeron](http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/52 "2007-04-12T11:40:58Z")
He inspired me to read and question my beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/53 "2007-04-12T11:45:00Z")
Damn. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/54 "2007-04-12T11:54:10Z")
MODERATOR WARNING: **Johnny Hildo** : if you want to start a thread commenting negatively on Vonnegut as a writer, or post negatively to such a thread, that’s fine. However, this thread is about a death, and negative comments about the deceased are out of place. “Thread shitting” is the term we use. Please note, I’m not saying no negative comments, I’m just saying that people should be sympathetic to the tone of a thread. A funeral (or a funeral thread) is NOT the place to disparage the decedent. “Every man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in all mankind. … Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” – John Donne ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/55 "2007-04-12T12:15:45Z")
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward” Kurt Vonnegut Damn. ☹ First Robert Anton Wilson and now Kurt. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/56 "2007-04-12T12:17:30Z")
Upon hearing the news, I put on a black sweater and pants. Kurt was an artistic genius. He also smoked Pall Malls for 69 years! ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/57 "2007-04-12T12:25:03Z")
I wrote my senior thesis paper on Kurt Vonnegut, and I since I first read his pamphlet “How To Write With Style” that he did some years back for some paper outfit, I have always admired him, and aspired to write like him. But that is not what I am here to say. What I wanted to say is that Vonnegut was the commencement speaker at my alma mater, Syracuse University, in 1994, and I was on some activity-related committee, and I got to attend the graduation dinner-dance, where _I got to dance the hokey-pokey with him._ That is how I will always remember Kurt Vonnegut: dancing the hokey-pokey with a bunch of snot-nosed kids and putting us all to shame. So it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/58 "2007-04-12T12:26:58Z")
Kurt was an artistic genius. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/59 "2007-04-12T12:27:23Z")
[QUOTE=rockle] Vonnegut was the commencement speaker at my alma mater, Syracuse University, in 1994 [/QUOTE] So you can confirm that he did **not** say that about sunscreen, right? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753/60 "2007-04-12T12:37:18Z")
[Here](http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-ca-vonnegut24oct24,0,347127.story?coll=cl-stage-features) is an interesting interview with Kurt discussing the plays he wrote. He won the 1971 Drama Desk Award for playwriting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-it-goes-rip-mr-vonnegut/399753.md?page=4)