It saddens me that Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday, but as I think of his contributions, I smile, because he is simply one of my heroes. He has had more impact on me as a writer than perhaps anyone else. I am grateful for what he passed on, what he shared, and can say with no hesitation that I would not have evolved as a writer as much as I have without had I not read his books.
In fact, Kurt Vonnegut had a very real impact on Finders Keepers. Many of Kurt Vonnegut’s books had a sci-fi bent toIt saddens me that Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday, but as I think of his contributions, I smile, because he is simply one of my heroes. He has had more impact on me as a writer than perhaps anyone else. I am grateful for what he passed on, what he shared, and can say with no hesitation that I would not have evolved as a writer as much as I have without had I not read his books.
In fact, Kurt Vonnegut had a very real impact on Finders Keepers. Many of Kurt Vonnegut’s books had a sci-fi bent to them, but they were not hardcore sci-fi. Same with Finders Keepers. And while Vonnegut’s books had a dark, comedic bent–darker than my own writing–his work had an underlying compassion for his fellow man; I hope mine does as well.
In particular, I modeled the pacing of Finders Keepers directly after Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. The topics aren’t the same, but in Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut wrote many, many, many chapters–all of them just a page or two–and I connected with the style right off. So when it was time to start writing Finders Keepers, I chose the same convention: Many short chapters. I did this intentionally. There were several reasons I chose this style of storytelling, but Vonnegut was a big influence. I doubt I would have written Finders Keepers as such without having read Cat’s Cradle.
By now I’ve read most of his books–not all–but with the exception of Shakespeare, I’ve read more of Vonnegut’s work than I’ve read of any other writer. His work has influenced me in very specific ways. There aren’t many writers whose work–book after book–stayed with me. His did.
The Sirens of Titan is one of my all-time favorite books. Easily in my top five. Cat’s Cradle. Slaughterhouse Five. Mother Night. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.
Kurt Vonnegut is no longer with us, but his words remain. I treasure them.
