"He shook his fists at them and told that that he wanted to get away from Earth; anybody with any sense wanted to get away from Earth. There was going to be a big atomic war on Earth in about two years, and he didn't want to be here when it happened. He and thousands others like him, if they had any sense, would go to Mars. See if they wouldn't! ... Wait for me! he cried. Don't leave me here on this terrible world, I've got to get away; there's going to be an atom war! Don't leave me on Earth!"
Bradbury and Vonnegut were both writing in the 50's but Bradbury came first by 5 years or so. Plus, KV hated semicolons.
I just read a speech by Vonnegut (2007) in ARMAGEDDON IN RETROSPECT in which he says:
ReplyDelete"I asked Mark [his son] a while back what life was all about, since I didn't have a clue. He said, 'Dad, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.' Whatever it is. 'Whatever it is.' Not Bad. That one could be a keeper. And how should we behave during this Apocalypse? We should be unusually kind to one another, certainly. But we should also stop being so serious. Jokes help a lot. And get a dog, if you don't already have one."
For me is is a keeper -- Marie