Well, Whitman, you could continue Vonnegut's life by telling us about what he said that changed your way of thinking.
You tell me yours...and I'll tell you mine.
Sure, milum...lessee....
'Round 'bout the time I came to Vonnegut's writings at the age of 19, 20 or so I had descended into a staunch nihilism...nothing mattered...total meaninglessness. When I read
Slaughterhouse 5 his dark, quirky touch of humor had a way of loosening that up for me...his brand of cynicism actually had a way of infusing a positive gleam into my cynicism. Lots of his images made me pause for a good chuckle, if not more. And I remember that one of his famous quotes from "Slaughterhouse," in context, "Why are we born only to suffer and die?", made me laugh out. And his wonderful absurdities, like suicide by drinking Drano in
Breakfast of Champions still brings a bizarre smile to my face...even as I'm writing this. In short, treating the pessimism with humor helped to open the door to get past such a frightening vision of "reality" for me, if that makes any sense?
And I still think
The Sirens of Titan is one of his most underrated books, and belongs up there with his classics.
