Lucky Mud: Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007
| April 12th, 2007In honor of the passing of Kurt Vonnegut, I present the The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith:
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.
That’s from my favorite Vonnegut novel, Cat’s Cradle. I invite “Alas” readers to let us know their favorite Vonnegut novel (or essay, or short story) in the comments… or anything else y’all would like to say.
Echdine quotes from Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater:
Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
There are more blog posts on Vonnegut’s passing then I could possibly link to, but here’s a few: Bad Astronomy, Pandagon, Muttering In A Corner, Chris Abraham has but together a brief biography, Because I Say So, Critical Mass, Lisa Rein, Crossroads Dispatches, Return of the Reluctant, and Boing Boing.
April 12th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
So it goes.
This comment was written by Samantha.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
In God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater Kurt Vonnegut said one of the wisest, most wonderful things I’ve ever heard:
“God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
It’s so simple and so true, and it’s not about giving kindness to people who are kind to you, and it’s not about giving kindness to those who earn it, it’s just about being kind.
I wish I was more like Mr. Rosewater, and I wish I was more like Mr. Vonnegut.
Damn, I’m going to miss him.
—Myca
This comment was written by Myca.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
How funny, Myca — I was just this second editing my post to include that exact quote.
This comment was written by Ampersand.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Great minds.
;->
This comment was written by Myca.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
“Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse.”
This comment was written by mousehounde.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
“In a punctual way of speaking, goodbye.”
Winston Niles Rumfoord
Thanks you Kurt for your humor, kindness and simple wisdom. You shall be missed.
“poo tee weet?”
This comment was written by SMM.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
There is a special place in my mind for Deadeye Dick.
This comment was written by Jake Squid.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Cat’s Cradle is not just my favorite Vonnegut novel but my favorite book period.
This comment was written by Valkyrie.Report this comment to the moderators
April 12th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
[...] So, uh, yeah, in case you hadn’t heard Kurt Vonnegut died. Which is a sad, sad thing and I’ve ever only read one of his works so far. (Cat’s Cradle for the curious.)Ampersand posted a nice tribute at Alas, a blog that’s awesomesauce.And now I am going to bed. I am a sad, tired panda.Current Mood: sad panda [...]
This comment was written by Friends.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Ampersand posted a nice tribute
This comment was written by little cloud.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 4:33 am
I was a victim of a series of acciidents. As are we all.
This comment was written by rodders.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 4:41 am
“I’m suing a cigarette company because on the package they promised to kill me, and yet here I am.”
This comment was written by rodders.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 6:00 am
I haven’t books (or memory) at the ready, but I must say that without Vonnegut I might never have learned to enjoy reading. It was, particularly, that part of Breakfast of Champions where he actually drew an asshole on the page. At about 11, it was the most exciting moment in reading ever. (I’d say after a lifetime of reading x, y, z, but I can’t remember a single book I read before that. I just remember hating them all.)
Beyond that first memory, Slaughterhouse Five and Galapagos are my favourites.
This comment was written by Sage.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 6:54 am
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. (via Alas, a Blog)
This comment was written by Chris Abraham - Because the Medium is the Message.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 7:21 am
thought you might like this short video tribute to Vonnegut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9QvC9vE9uI
more info @ http://www.thehermitwithdavisfleetwood.com
This comment was written by dennis trainor.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 10:49 am
A brilliant man…Happy Birthday Wanda June was by far the best parody of Hemingwayesque hypermasculinity I’ve ever read
This comment was written by Molly.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I’ll see ya when I get there.
This comment was written by DocZayus.Report this comment to the moderators
April 13th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
[...] A post on “Alas, a blog” (good name) about Kurt Vonnegut and his recent death quotes at some length from his novel “Cat’s Cradle.” I’d say it’s worth re-quoting: 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. [...]
This comment was written by Vonnegut and son - The Boston Globe.Report this comment to the moderators
April 14th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Literary Lucky Mud, remembering Vonnegut, Alas a Blog Papers on Neural Nets and Virtual Reality in Archaeology - English and en Español, Matt on GIS and Archaeology On heritage and reconstruction, Cornelius Holtorf on ArchaeoLog
This comment was written by Archaeology, Archeology or Archæology - The Science of Archaeology.Report this comment to the moderators
April 15th, 2007 at 9:19 am
[...] "Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”" - Echdine quotes from Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (via Alas a Blog) [...]
This comment was written by Crossroads Dispatches: Awareness.Report this comment to the moderators