【英语听和读】库尔特·冯内古特

 Amber 1: Hello, I’m Amber Barnfather and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

In Entertainment today, we learn about one of the outstanding writers of
modern American literature, Kurt Vonnegut, who died on the 11th of April,
aged 2 84.
We hear extracts from an interview with Dr Sarah Churchwell who teaches
American literature at the University of East Anglia. She talks about why
Vonnegut’s work is so admired, and why you might like to read it.
Kurt Vonnegut was initially 3 considered to be a Science Fiction writer but the
world of literature really began to sit up and take notice in 1969 when he
published Slaughterhouse Five. This novel combines time travel fantasy with
Vonnegut’s own experiences in the German city of Dresden during the Second
World War – he was a captured American solider when Dresden was destroyed.
Like many of Vonnegut’s novels, Slaughterhouse Five, contains a repeated
phrase: ‘so it goes’ – it’s an expression of resignation, of accepting something
you don’t like but cannot change, and it helps convey a quiet but very powerful
belief in the utter pointlessness of war.
Slaughterhouse Five is Vonnegut’s best-known book, although he wrote 14
novels and many essays and short stories. Here’s Dr Sarah Churchwell
describing Vonnegut’s impact and ‘legacy 4’ (his lasting 5 importance) in
American literature. 
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As you listen, try to catch the plural 6 noun Sarah uses for something that you
say or write which shows your admiration 7 for someone. She says these are
‘springing up all over the place right now’ for Vonnegut - they are appearing
quickly and in large numbers, like flowers in spring.
Dr Sarah Churchwell
‘I think there’s no question that he influenced a great many of the people who are writing
today – they’ve testified to that fact in, you know, numerous tributes that are springing up all
over the place right now, very rapidly. I saw, earlier today, that his Wikipedia entry had over
250 edits since he died so people are really jumping in to talk about him – there’s no question
how much he influenced people.
I think that his legacy was probably that he brought a certain kind of American satire 8 back
into fashion and that he reminded America that an important part of democracy was to
criticise 9 your government.’
Amber: Did you catch it? Sarah says that many (‘numerous’) ‘tributes’ are being
written for Vonnegut. For example, people are writing about him in Wikipedia,
a free online encyclopaedia 10 which is written by users.
Listen again and try to catch the expression Sarah uses twice to emphasise 11 her
view that Vonnegut was an influential 12 writer.
Dr Sarah Churchwell
‘I think there’s no question that he influenced a great many of the people who are writing
today – they’ve testified to that fact in, you know, numerous tributes that are springing up all
over the place right now, very rapidly. I saw, earlier today, that his Wikipedia entry had over
250 edits since he died so people are really jumping in to talk about him – there’s no question
how much he influenced people.
I think that his legacy was probably that he brought a certain kind of American satire back
into fashion and that he reminded America that an important part of democracy was to
criticise your government.’
Amber: Sarah says ‘there’s no question …’ that Vonnegut was an influential writer.
She also explains that his ‘legacy’ was that he made a certain kind of ‘satire’,
of criticising things in a humorous way, popular again – he brought it ‘back 
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into fashion’. She says he also ‘reminded America that an important part of
democracy was to criticise your government.’
Now Sarah talks about why Vonnegut is such a clever writer, an inventive
and ingenious writer. She says he’s more than just a Science Fiction writer –
he’s ‘certainly not limited to Science Fiction’.
As you listen, notice the expression ‘a throwaway thought’ which Sarah
uses to explain that amazing thoughts came easily to Vonnegut.
Dr Sarah Churchwell
‘Everybody acknowledges his incredible inventiveness. In one of his novels, there’s this
fabulous 13 idea that the Chinese are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking and eventually
everybody starts inhaling 14 them and everybody gets allergies 15, and I mean, it’s such an amazing
idea right there, and that’s a throwaway thought for Vonnegut, so I think that his ingenuity 16
leant itself to Science Fiction but it was certainly not limited to Science Fiction.’
Amber: Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.
 
an expression of resignation
legacy
springing up all over the place
numerous tributes
Wikipedia
there’s no question …
satire
to bring something back into fashion
a throwaway thought