Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999-01-12
ISBN: 0385333846
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
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Book Reviews of Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

Book Review: A comedic classic with a message
Summary: 4 Stars

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade is a witty, comedic, yet sad satire of war. The story follows Billy Pilgrim during World War II, as he becomes "unstuck in time". His life jumps around; he is able to see his death but not be dead and relive moments of his past and experience moments of his future long before they take place. Some of those moments include his experience in World War II, the bombing of Dresden, and living on the distant planet Tralfamadore - yes, that is correct. Vonnegut blends science fiction into his anti-war satire. The result is a highly entertaining read, with moments of comedic bliss quickly followed by sad futility on an insight into humanity (and Tralfmadorianity).

Summary of Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

Launched in November, Dell's Kurt Vonnegut reissue program continues with one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.
Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor.

Vonnegut Jr., Kurt Books

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