To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Something went wrong. Please try again. Please try your request again later. A pretty good insight into the mind of one of our best writers. A superbly researched and above all very entertaining biography.” —Blake Bailey, author of Cheever: A Life “And So It Goes will entrance lovers of Kurt Vonnegut's fiction. 'If i should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say "Kurt is up in Heaven now." We work hard to protect your security and privacy. One of the few Vonnegut biographies available, Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2019. “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, ‘Why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird … Resignation is most clearly visible in the novel’s refrain, “So it goes.” Vonnegut repeats “so it goes” anytime he … He does, however, come over as a flawed but talented, complex, rather melancholic and lonely man. Interesting to hear more about those memories that were passed to me. He was sent to Dresden and put to work in a factory that manufactured vitamins for pregnant women, and there he stayed until the Allies bombed the city in February 1945. My mother went to high school with him and I can remember spending plenty of time at the family hardware store with my grandfather. Fan Favorites I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. It’s Kurt. I was excited to learn more about Vonnegut. Typical Vonnegut , laconic and laid back, strangely enough though, not up to the interest sustained in his novel writing. Those of us who came out of the war in the 1940s made it sort of the official American prose, and it was often a bit on the dull side. 'So it goes" is a quote from one of my favourite books, Slaughter House Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free. Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2017. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.' Brother Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" Celebrates 50th Anniversary "Slaughterhouse-Five,” written by Kurt Vonnegut, Cornell ’44, is one of America’s classic novels. Nothing *more*. It was, he later remarked with characteristic irony, an irony that dares us to be appalled by mere words in the face of truly appalling suffering, 'a terribly elaborate Easter egg hunt'. Vonnegut, in “Dresden Revisited,” goes so far as to say, The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless, finally, that only one person on … Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018. A Man Without a Country, 'New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. In most cases, items shipped from Amazon.com may be returned for a full refund. But on this spring day, the library is empty. Mainly, I think they should be - and biologically have to be - agents of change.' I recommend to all those interested in Vonnegut to read all the published works, not least the collected letters, then perhaps lastly this biography before making your own well informed judgement. I was waiting for some counter-point, objectivity, or something...I feel like I learned more about Mr. Shields than I did Vonnegut. If one of his aims was to provide a voice for those innocents, his method of making himself heard was both courageous and effective; he told us the hardest of truths, but in the gentlest, funniest and most amiable way he knew how. https://www.amazon.com/So-Goes-Kurt-Vonnegut-Life/dp/125001218X I have admired his writing, recommended it to others, and quoted from it for the past 50 years. Vonnegut's influence was not confined to Slaughterhouse-Five, nor to his at times uneven attempts to weave elements of science fiction into mainstream novel-writing, as he also did in works such as Cat's Cradle (1963), his favourite of his own novels, and Breakfast of Champions (1973). For instance, every time something or someone dies, the phrase “So it goes” pops up. Jokes and death - and specifically jokes about death - are perhaps the simplest way of summing up the life and work of Kurt Vonnegut Jr, who died last Wednesday at the age of 84, some weeks after suffering a fall. Just buy it. Kurt was never dull. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. “Vonnegut's life was a fascinating tragicomedy worthy of his best novels, and I can hardly imagine a better teller of that tale than Shields. I have loved Kurt's writing since I first read Cat's Cradle and the Sirens of Titan in the early 60s, when I was a teenager. So It Goes. Both the painter and the professor hope the exhibit inspires students to study Vonnegut’s work. Rattles along. He is not anybody else, or even a version of anybody else, and he is a writer with a cause. Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2020. What a great pity that Vonnegut’s failings as a man should have provoked such a churlish biography. But Shields has something negative to say on almost every page about the author to the point of moral judgment. I have this in hardback and kindle and we have given my sister a signed copy! So, it goes. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. on Cape Cod. Vonnegut also includes hand-drawn illustrations, a technique he repeate… Cracking biography. Kurt Vonnegut, So it goes. Vonnegut further emphasizes this notion of So it goes with the introduction of the Tralfamadorians' fourth-dimensional perception, which is similar to Aquinas' reconciliation of the dichotomy of predestination and free will. But this one is definitely the strangest. Vonnegut escaped death by hiding in an underground meatlocker; when he emerged, he and his fellow prisoners were set to the hideous task of disinterring innumerable corpses from the devastation. Billy Pilgrim often says "So it goes..." throughout the book, usually after somebody dies. And So It Goes is the culmination of five years of research and writing—the first-ever biography of the life of Kurt Vonnegut. Back at the library rotunda at the College of Charleston, Miccio’s collection of paintings telling Vonnegut’s story has moved on. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2019. It is a well-crafted autobiography - Charles Shields got his subject's permission and cooperation, but was thwarted by his untimely death and the intransigence of his family. It’s tempting to think that the biographers judgement is that of an ex-fan who through research has decided that he has backed the wrong horse. And So It Goes changes that, painting the portrait of a man who made friends easily but always felt lonely, sold millions of books but never felt appreciated, and described himself as a humanist but fought with humanity at large. I've never seen anything quite like it. Vonnegut’s imprisonment and brush with death in his early life led him to a long career of writing scathing, satirical novels and stories about the lengths that humans will go to destroy one another, as well as ourselves. However, Mr. Shields must be truthful in this book, and he is. Beautifully written. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Literary realism was the general style. But certainly not with a whimper. A dark and satirical time travel novel based around the adventures of Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist from upstate New York who becomes unstuck in time and the horrific Dresden fire bombings in the second world war. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. Essential Background for Kurt Vonnegut fans, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2013. Vonnegut uses this phrase every time a death occurs. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. I did not want or expect a hagiography but when praise is often grudging and when a number of his writings are crudely dismissed it’s hard to feel that this is a disappointing last word on KV. The phrase “so it goes” appears after every mention of death and mortality in Slaughterhouse-Five. But didn't he himself say that he was a work of fiction? Try again. Netti Vonnegut's parents were German. The author continually uses the phrase "so it goes" after every mention of death and mortality in Slaughterhouse-Five. It seems on browsing through some of the reviews of "And So It Goes" that many readers picked up this biography hoping to find the persona that Kurt Vonnegut crafted, as opposed to an honest story about the person. The line “so it goes” originates from the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, written in 1969. Nothing less. Like others, I bought this book because I wanted to know more about Kurt himself. The ironies and contradictions in this tomb were rife... underscoring in upmarket fashion the importance of writing passionately from the heart. Vonnegut resonating hard in 2020 Started Breakfast of Champions tonight and this passage couldn't ring more true with my experience here in the US today: "And here, according to Trout, was the reason human beings could not reject ideas because they were bad: 'Ideas on Earth were badges of friendship or enmity. So it goes: A postmodernist reading of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five Fatma Khalil Mostafa el Diwany Misr University for Science and Technology, Cairo- Egypt. This is not a hit piece, as some reviewers assert, but rather a biography of the man, not the image he cultivated to sell his books. Now he leaves them. True to Vonnegut’s ethos of kindness, common decency, and free-expression, as well as his passion for social justice, environmentalism, and peace, So It Goes is a literary journal with a conscience. Vonnegut writes a lot about the bizarre nature of humanity and existence, the way something truly awful or beautiful might pass in the blink of an eye and be missed by those involved or spectating. In Chapter 1, Vonnegut establishes the other aspects of the tone that stay consistent throughout the novel: resignation, detachment, and gentle mocking. Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2012. The second type of time, according to Loeb, is historical time which is described as a linear continuum. I have not read a lot of biographies; they could probably be counted on two hands. And Kurt Vonnegut doesn't come over as the kind hearted socialist that was often his persona. Please try again. A place for Kurt Vonnegut Jr. fans to enjoy his stories in visual form and learn more about the author himself. So it goes. Unable to add item to List. It seems unlikely that Vonnegut wished to cause anyone hurt, nor that he lacked nerve, and he went into the arts with a bang. ', Michael Crichton: 'He writes about the most excruciatingly painful things. Documentario sottotitolato.Regia: Nigel Finch [BBC Arena, 1983]. Mr. Shields has painted a thoughtfuk portrait. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2020. --Kurt Vonnegut, "Slaughterhouse-Five" There was a darkness at the center of Kurt Vonnegut's life, or at least his art, that would have made Vincent van … ', Jay McInerney: 'He is a satirist with a heart, a moralist with a whoopee cushion. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels), The Vonnegut Encyclopedia: Revised and updated edition, Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945, Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage. And So It Goes - one of my favourite quotations from Kurt's books (along with Poo-tee-weet) does not disappoint me. Yes, babies, Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle is being made into a limited-run series on FX by none other than Fargo creator Noah Hawley. About Kurt Vonnegut. Over twenty-five percent of each issue’s contents come from veteran artists and authors. "The extremely wide and overwhelmingly positive review coverage for And So It Goes has been nothing less than extraordinary and confirm it as the definitive biography of Kurt Vonnegut. 'What is it about blow jobs and golf?' This book was incredibly odd as the author had nothing but incredibly negative things/perceptions regarding Vonnegut on every single page. It makes me a little sad, but close reading of Vonnegut's nonfiction pieces alerted me long ago to his bitterness and mean spirit. The novel is simple in syntax and sentence structure, part of Vonnegut's signature style. However, he does present him truthfully, and it seems that many fans can't handle that. Vonnegut resonates with … Today marks the release of And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life, the first official biography of the great American writer and counterculture icon.Vonnegut … Unwilling to take no for an answer, propelled by a passion for his subject, and already deep into his research, Shields wrote again and this time, to his delight, the answer came back: "O.K." Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Like much of his oeuvre, Slaughterhouse-Five is broken into small pieces, and in this case, brief experiences in one point in time. In 1944, just a few months after his mother had committed suicide, he was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge, where he was serving with the 106th Infantry Division of the US army. I just conveniently ignore it. ', Those three famous words from Slaughterhouse-Five hold the key to understanding the humanism that underpinned the late novelist's work, Kurt Vonnegut, writer, is seen during the summer of 2006 in Barnstable, Mass. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction. ', Gore Vidal: 'He was imaginative; our generation of writers didn't go in for imagination very much. is Trout's bemused comment on the American national character. It is a systematic and comprehensive chronicle of Vonnegut and well-written. He could not have been less precious about his writing, even creating a fictional alter ego, science-fiction hack Kilgore Trout, whose prodigious output was doomed by his incompetent choice of a pornographer as a publisher. His novels have attacked our deepest fears of automation and the bomb, our deepest political guilts, our fiercest hatreds and loves. The haunting final song on Swimming heavily features the phrase “So It Goes,” a line from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. But he was a sap who had seen and survived dreadful events. I agree with Stalin and Hitler and Mussolini that the writer should serve his society. "But as I also point out in the book," Shields adds, … Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016. Likewise, irony, sentimentality, black humor, and didacticismare prevalent throughout the work. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. I too will admit that I don't like finding out how much Kurt Vonnegut was not the man in real life that he used as his persona for the author of his novels. He has researched his subject well, and produced an ejnoyable and authoritative biography. Sure, Fargo ‘s a masterpiece, so I’m sure Hawley knows what he’s doing, but… well, you know what they say: “the book was better.” So it goes. It was also to provide him with the basis for his most celebrated novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, which appeared almost 25 years later and contained the phrase that became most closely associated with him and that could most fittingly serve as his epitaph: 'So it goes.' Kurt Vonnegut is a renowned author who took an unflinching look at the world, tempered with a satirical eye and sardonic sense of humor. Charles Shields recounts the life of author and satirist, Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). That's my favourite joke.'. He was, to use his own word, a 'sap'. The words recur throughout the book each time a death is recorded and what they imply lies at the centre of any understanding of Vonnegut's work: fatalism, stoicism and the acceptance that no use will come of shrinking away when the worst has happened. ', John Irving: 'He is our strongest writer, the most stubbornly imaginative. Playboy magazine, Graham Greene: 'One of the best living American writers. Breakfast of Champions, 'My motives are political. Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2019. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Read this loved it KV is a fav of mine since reading Cat's Cradle! He could be extremely funny, but there was a vein of iron always underneath it, which made him quite remarkable. Questioned repeatedly over the decades about whether he thought Dresden should have been bombed, Vonnegut's most significant response was that it had been bombed; the question for him was how one behaved after that. He said: 'I think novels that leave out technology misrepresent life as badly as the Victorians misrepresented life by leaving out sex.' This nut’s a bit nervous. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2017. As a former public relations man, Vonnegut crafted his image carefully―the avuncular, curly-haired humorist―though he admitted, "I myself am a work of fiction. Of course, the book saddens me: while I was falling in love with Kurt's wrtings, he was despising himself and busily alienating those who tried to love him. Slaughterhouse-Five, whose alternative title is 'The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death', rejects a conventional narrative, presenting its episodes in deliberately jumbled and fragmentary fashion and introducing the perspective of the inhabitants of the planet Tralfamadore, for whom time is not linear; our ability to properly apprehend events such as Dresden, Vonnegut suggests, is hampered rather than enhanced by our insistence on placing them in a historical framework.

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