Too much Vonnegut

I had the day off today, and I wasn't expecting to be doing much with my time. I had a bit of a rough sleep and a particularly strange dream which left me in a slightly nonchalant mood all day. I went to a couple of cafes where my friends work, simply trying to find some means of socialising. None of them were working to I turned to the newspaper where I was quite excited about glancing across and seeing a piece by Christopher Hitchens, who I know very little about but have come to respect with a particularly enthusiastic reader from work.

I also had a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's 'Galapagos' which I have been nursing for quite a while now - slowly making my way through it. But this afternoon, fueled by caffeine and a blank, empty mind I finished it. I really enjoyed it, although its been such a struggle for me to read. Vonnegut has this voice, which now after reading this latest novel, has become a lot clearer in my mind. He is has a strong and somewhat daunting satirical humor about the human race - its quite bleak.

He has many characters and ideas, that resonate and reappear through most of what I have read of his fiction. In short, all of which seem to be about humankind's ignorance, which results in our downfall. Although in Galapagos I think there is at least some optimism shrouded in his dark portrail of humanity. The cost of this however, is almost losing what makes us 'human' in the first place, or distinguishes us from other living creatures. I'm not even sure if I agree with what I have just written?

What I do know right now, is that I've definitely read too much Vonnegut as of late, and I'm going to have to mix it up a little. I do love to read Vonnegut, but his style and his words tend to leave me exhausted and confused after consecutive reads.