Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the acclaimed American author of more than a dozen novels, short stories, essays and plays, died last night in New York city at the age of 84. His most famous work, Slaughterhouse Five, is one of the most powerful anti-war novels ever written. Vonnegut was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge and imprisoned in Dresden. He survived the U.S. fire bombing of Dresden that destroyed the whole city by hiding in an underground slaughterhouse, thus the title.
Vonnegut's last work was a collection of essays called A Man Without a Country. In it, he suggested the way that music helped him through tragic times. Other works include Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and Mother Night. Here is an excerpt from Slaughterhouse Five:
“When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is 'So it goes.'”
Rest in peace, Kurt. We will miss you. So it goes.
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