alert status red, but the sun comes up instead
Matthew Good has released two songs from his forthcoming album, White Light Rock & Roll Review. The songs, Alert Status Red and Put Out Your Lights, are available on his website. For those who don’t know, Matthew Good Band happens to be Canada’s highest-selling indie rock band. Some time maybe 2 years ago they broke up and Matthew Good went solo. He also became more political, swinging to the hard left against American foreign policy. You can find his daily rants on his blog.
Yesterday he linked to this new article by Kurt Vonnegut. In it Vonnegut rails against President Bush and Republicans, denouncing the current administration’s foreign and domestic policies. Now, Vonnegut is probably the only author about whom I have any extensive knowledge. During a project in HS I managed to read nearly every biographical and autobiographical piece written by or about the man.
I really, really want to love his new writing. So I clicked on the link in Matt Good’s blog with glee, expecting to be amazed…
I hate to say it. Ok I’m going to say it:
Vonnegut has been repeating himself for the last two decades. Maybe three.
I’ve seen his wit before. When I read his sarcastic jokes, they remind me of the sad-funny criticism that I’ve… already heard. He speaks about his son’s mental illness. His adopted children. His failure to abuse drugs beyond cigarettes. The heartlessness of small government. The wonders of liberalism.
The same things he always writes about.
Maybe the Vonnegut style of the past has morphed into the writing style of choice for the present. Maybe Vonnegut seems repetitive because so many people have absorbed his own originality. I love Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. I just can’t help but wonder if he ran out of new things to say.