Today is another glorious day. There is a new Kurt Vonnegut story in the world. Even better for Suvudu readers, it is a never-before-published science fiction story. Or rather, Kurt’s own rare blend of literature and off-kilter science fiction.
What makes the story so interesting to read, like the rest of the tales from soon-to-released collection Look at the Birdie, is that it comes from the early days of Kurt’s writing career. So you’ll recognize the cynical humor and the punchy dialogue. What you may not expect is to read a story by Kurt that doesn’t seem perfect. In many ways, that is what makes this new batch of stories so interesting. It is Kurt finding his voice, still tweaking his style, and while starting to get comfortable in terms of who he wanted to be as a writer, still showing some very human (and understandable flaws). But in the same way you enjoy a band’s first album, when their sound was grittier, tougher, not as polished, “The Petrified Ants” and the other stories from the collection immediately draw you in like all of Kurt’s work.
Back to the point at hand, “The Petrified Ants” is still classic Vonnegut-style science fiction, using a fantastical tale to address a social reality. The story centers around two Soviet researchers who make a startling discovery, one that would re-write history. Ultimately, they learn a dark lesson — that history is crafted, not made.
As with “Hello, Red,” there is one catch to reading “The Petrified Ants” — you’ll have to read it as an e-book (for now).
You will be able to read the stories from Look at the Birdie in printed form. You’ll just have to wait until October 20th when the new collection comes out in hardcover. But for those of you anxious to discover a few of these stories from the early part of Kurt’s career, and can’t wait to read a new science fiction story from him, you can check out “The Petrified Ants” (along with “Hello, Red”) as a single-story e-book now.
Enjoy.
