I can't say that Mr. Vonnegut's passing will effect me in any huge way, but his work certainly did.
When I was 18, out on my own, not realizing that I didn't need to struggle to find my identity (but struggle I did), I got my first real taste of Kurt Vonnegut. I had certainly heard of him, vague whispers of books condemned to banned lists and this masterpiece called Slaughterhouse Five which was even mentioned in Footloose, but even though I went to high school in a fairly forward thinking part of the world, no one seemed brave enough to teach it just yet.
Dave came down from the university while I was working in a gas station and going to Saddleback Community College. He sat by the pool reading Cat's Cradle by our man Kurt. I asked if it was any good and he gave me a brief rundown on the plot. I filed it away under "Things A College Person Reads" for future perusal when I needed to be reminded of what I was supposed to be doing.
Not long after, I was searching out reading material at the bookstore and remembered about Mr. Vonnegut. They didn't have Cat's Cradle, so I picked up a copy of Breakfast of Champions.
Breakfast of Champions blew my mind. Literally, it was as if Kurt Vonnegut crawled into my head and gave my brain a blow job. It hadn't dawned on me until that moment that you could fuck with literary structure in any damn way you felt like, suddenly there were no rules. I look back at that first reading of Breakfast of Champions as the first timid steps through a gate and onto a wildly overgrown path I would do cartwheels down
I began to delete the "Things A College Person Reads" and "Things A College Person Listens To" files.
Every time I went to visit other works by Mr. Vonnegut, it always felt like I was being invited along by a friend. A friend with a wicked sense of humor, a friend who was a little sad at being able to see all the wrong there was, a friend who understood the frailty of people but also got the triumph, a friend with that sparkle in his eye that just gave you kick to the heart.
Thank you Kurt, for doing what you did.
2 comments:
There was a college girl reading Breakfast of Champions on the train yesterday. I noticed the book and thought it should be on my reading list. The movie was a little weird, so the book must be fantastic. I thought to ask the girl how she was enjoying the book but I didn’t. It would have blown my mind if she had said; it’s like Kurt Vonnegut is giving my brain a blow job.
One minute someone is reading your book on the train and then you’re dead.
It’s weird when those kinds of things happen? Jen and I saw “To Kill A Mockingbird” the same night Gregory Peck died. It’s a good movie and he’s a good actor, but nobody’s getting any brain suck action.
Anyway on your recommendation I’ll be reading Breakfast of Champions.
The night before she died, I made some disparaging comment about Anna Nicole, and was honestly a little shell shocked the next day when I heard the news.
I also highly recommend Cat's Cradle and Hocus Pocus (they may in fact be better than BoC, but it was my first...)
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