The Satirical/ Sci Fi novelist Kurt Vonnegut died late Wednesday. The man many critics consider to be one of the key figures in the shaping of modern American literature had suffered irreversible brain injuries after a fall in his Manhattan home several weeks ago.
Vonnegut, the author of 14 novels was ever the social critic; a role he seemed to revel in. Most well known for his cult-classic novel “Slaughterhouse-Five”; in which he uses semi-autobiographical events to set-up the story and drive the main character Billy Pilgrim through the novel; including the infamous WWII bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut was one of only seven American prisoners of war to survive the bombing as he was in an underground meatpacking cellar known as Slaughterhouse Five.
Vonnegut’s experiences in WWII had a profound effect on, not only his writing, but his life view. He was a self described freethinking humanist and religious sceptic, frequently lecturing people to think for themselves and seemed to take great delight in delivering caustic commentary about the institutions that were, in his opinion, dehumanising to people.
As an active member of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and PEN – the international writers’ aid group – Vonnegut fought against censorship. Many of his own books were banned and sometimes even burned for what was considered to be, by a few, obscenity. He was the honorary president of The American Humanist Association, which promotes rational thought, individual freedom and scientific scepticism.
He is survived by his wife, photographer Jill Krementz and his seven adult children. He was 84.
