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Apr. 12th, 2007 08:51 amI heard this from the Club Jade RSS, which just goes to show where I get my news. :) Kurt Vonnegut died,at age 84.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html?ex=1334116800&en=3ec8fcf272b11f7a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
I commented there, but I'd like to add a little here... Not everyone found his books readable, and I didn't like all the ones I've read, but one thing that always stood out for me was his "Community of Hoosiers." (Hoosiers are people from Indiana, in case ya didn't know. Kurt Vonnegut Jr was originally from Indianapolis.)
I think of Cat's Cradle, in particular, 'cause that one has stood out in my mind in the time since I've read it. It was the frightening thought of Ice-Nine that kept it in my mind. :) AND the people the protagonist ran into on the plane in the first place, who tried to befriend him because they found out he was a Hoosier. Everywhere you go, they said, all over the world, you will find Hoosiers doing great things.
Kurt Vonnegut was actually making fun of these people, and the phenomenon of Hoosierness, I think as some sort of backlash against his home. But really, I think part of him thought it was special. It really is sorta strange. I live 1800 miles away from Indiana now, but ever since I've lived here, people honk at my IU sticker in the car window, yelling "are you a Hoosier" out the window. When it comes up in casual conversation, say meeting another Hoosier at the grocery store, then the person I'm talking to and I have something automatically in common, and we start asking each other stupid and inscrutable (to others) questions, like, how long has it been since you've played Euchre?
Anyway, just rambling thoughts. And though he didn't live his last days in his hometown, I think Hoosiers will remember Kurt Vonnegut for things different from what other people might. I think that's pretty cool, anyway.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html?ex=1334116800&en=3ec8fcf272b11f7a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
I commented there, but I'd like to add a little here... Not everyone found his books readable, and I didn't like all the ones I've read, but one thing that always stood out for me was his "Community of Hoosiers." (Hoosiers are people from Indiana, in case ya didn't know.
I think of Cat's Cradle, in particular, 'cause that one has stood out in my mind in the time since I've read it. It was the frightening thought of Ice-Nine that kept it in my mind. :) AND the people the protagonist ran into on the plane in the first place, who tried to befriend him because they found out he was a Hoosier. Everywhere you go, they said, all over the world, you will find Hoosiers doing great things.
Kurt Vonnegut was actually making fun of these people, and the phenomenon of Hoosierness, I think as some sort of backlash against his home. But really, I think part of him thought it was special. It really is sorta strange. I live 1800 miles away from Indiana now, but ever since I've lived here, people honk at my IU sticker in the car window, yelling "are you a Hoosier" out the window. When it comes up in casual conversation, say meeting another Hoosier at the grocery store, then the person I'm talking to and I have something automatically in common, and we start asking each other stupid and inscrutable (to others) questions, like, how long has it been since you've played Euchre?
Anyway, just rambling thoughts. And though he didn't live his last days in his hometown, I think Hoosiers will remember Kurt Vonnegut for things different from what other people might. I think that's pretty cool, anyway.
