#58-- Armageddon in Retrospect, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: this was my ninth Vonnegut and what I found to be his most powerful and heartbreaking work. I knew he had been in the war, I knew he was at Dresden, but I didnt FEEL what that meant until now. Hell, I still dont; you cant just read a book and empathize your way into such trauma. I feel like I understand him so much better and deeply respect how he was able to turn a lifetime of despair and disgust into humor and art. As he was describing his duties of uncovering and hauling out countless mutilated men, women and children by the hundreds in the weeks after the bombing-- as a 17-year-old-- he met people like this: Our little prison was burned to the ground. We were to be evacuated to an outlying camp occupied by the South African prisoners. Our guards were a melancholy lot, aged Volkssturmers and disabled veterans. Most of them were Dresden residents and had friends and families somewhere in the holocaust. A corporal, who had lost an eye after two years on the Russian front, ascertained before we marched that his wife, his two children, and both of his parents had been killed. He had one cigarette. He shared it with me. Such power. Such resolute despondency. What else is there to do?
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 13:12:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015