vonnegutted


.." a record of Kurt Vonnegut reading selections from his novel Cat's Cradle in the Swarthmore College library, including his quaint rasp spinging the 53rd Calypso of Bokonon:

oh a sleeping drunkard up in central park
a lion hunter in the jungle dark
and a chinese dentist and a british queen
all fit together in the same machine
nice nice very nice
nice nice very nice
nice nice very nice
so many different people in the same device.

I wondered if he was talking about the Internet. Bokonon seems to be addressing the global brain, of which the web is the most recent, most tangible manifestation. "

...When I saw surrendering Iraquis, I thought "these are my brothers." He recited a phrase that used to be as textbooked as "live free or die":

when some American soldiers had hit a Spanish passenger cruiser during the Spanish American war, they were cheering its feiery descent in the water. The caption of the vessel said "Don't cheer lads, those people are dying."

At the same time, the Army was one of the great highs of my life. Dark trucks moving in on a flashing front - hearing the sounds of war in the distance - steel helmet clangs against rifle - young, in with his trainee buddies - if only my wedding night had been that exciting.
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Written in 1995 as if it were tomorrow posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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