Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
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Book Reviews of Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
Book Review: Poo-tee-weet
Summary: 5 Stars
Straightforward Fantasy of Baffling Reality
Billy Pilgrim has been unstuck in time, and I feel that way too. Through my English class, the whole contemporary style threw me completely off. This is not Dickens. This is not Steinbeck either. The closest I've read before is James Joyce, but I had no clue what he was saying. The similarity: half my brain cells died reading either book.
So it goes. However, this book is not going to be like any other war book you've
ever read-besides the usage of drugs as a plot device. This story has one of many interpretations. I am certain I have overanalyzed this book over and over again, but this is what I feel about the book.
The first is the easiest to explain and understand. Kurt Vonnegut is crazy and disillusioned after the onset of a terrible war including the hellish bombing of Dresden during World War II. This could easily explain for the random twists, plot spins, alien abductions, etc. However, this seems too simple an explanation.
Another explanation is an extremely deep one: the characters in the story are intended to be completely sane, and the book is not as much an antiwar novel as much as an analysis on free will. The narrator includes countless allusions to this argument, starting when Vonnegut compares stopping a war to stopping a glacier, to when the Trafamadoreans tell Billy Pilgrim that free will does not exist, to Billy getting thrown into the deep end of a pool. Billy is being taught the "sink or swim" method by his dad, but is rescued "against his free will" when they find out that he actually likes the bottom of the pool.
At this point, I cannot say that I have made a thorough analysis. I have practically nothing good to say. Perhaps the only thing I have left to say is "poo-tee-weet?"
Book Review: Vonnegut was ahead of his time! Genius!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sure most of us here have read a bunch of Vonnegut books, which is a beautiful thing. I can't think of a single one of his books in which I did not enjoy, though some I do favor. But for those who don't know Vonnegut, I would say this would be a great starting point. It's got the Vonnegut personal style....yet it still has a somewhat linear plot/storyline. It's amazing how Vonnegut witnesses and survives the battle of Dresden, Germany, and somehow is able to write about it in his dark/comical/vonnegut way!
Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist who becomes unstuck in time is perfect. The simple way of his personality is beautiful, asking for them to leave him behind enemy lines and such, escaping into his own world...traveling to anytime in his life...which also includes his experience of abduction and the planet Tralmalfador. I don't want to give away to much, so I'll just say the story is told perfectly, transitioning through so many different times and moments that you are never bored, and it's truly hard to stop reading once you get into it.
I'm still amazed, and of course feel somewhat ignorant, for not knowing that there were 2 bombings in WWII that killed more civilians than the great Hiroshima...it's sad this is not taught in schools, especially Dresden....130,000 + deaths. Anyway, it's an awesome book and one of Vonnegut's best...thought most of his are! A must read....twice!
"All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his. Another guy I know really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I've changed all the names."
...."so it goes".....
Book Review: Science Non-Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
Slaughterhouse Five is a staple in American Literature. Widely considered Kurt Vonnegut's greatest work, it tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a WWII soldier who was abducted by Tralfamadorian aliens and subsequently jumps through time. The reader goes along for the ride, jumping through different parts of Pilgrim's life on a nearly page by page basis.
The novel has two prevailing themes. At its core this is an antiwar book. Vonnegut says as much in the first chapter, but his second theme is both more original and more exciting. Vonnegut presents an interesting take on the concept of time. In his story events do not unfold in a linear fashion. According to the aliens of Tralfamador, all moments coexist at once, and our fates are all predetermined.
I realize that the science fiction genre does not appeal to everyone, but try not to get scared off by the aliens and time travel. This is not your typical science fiction novel. Vonnegut accomplishes a remarkable feat. He seamlessly blends historical events with fictitious and real characters all under the umbrella of a science fiction storyline. But the novel manages to avoid the sci-fi label, and it is taken seriously as a famed literary work that will appeal to almost anyone.
The writing is first-class, and Vonnegut is at once comical and dark. The somewhat simple language only serves to enhance his voice. The story is told from both a first and third person prospective with Vonnegut serving primarily as a narrator but often showing up as a character, leaving readers to wonder just how much of this story is actually true. Best of all this is an easy read and very quick. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a unique and rewarding reading experience.
Book Review: Definately one of the most interesting reads
Summary: 5 Stars
Slaughterhouse Five tells the unique tales of Billy Pilgrim as he travels through time. The main part of the story is how Billy became a prisoner of war during World War Two and his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany. But it also includes Billy's other journeys, such as his trip to the planet of Tralfmadore, where he and his porn star mate are monitored by the Tralfmadorians, who live in the fourth dimension.
I really enjoyed reading this book because of the brilliant way Kurt Vonnegut used a character that had the ability to travel through time to show how the war affected him during and after the war. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Billy watched a war film backwards. The way Vonnegut described the movie really gave you a feel for the cruel intention of war and the damage it can create. In my opinion, this is the greatest anti war novel I have ever read.
Kurt Vonnegut is an interesting author because of how original his writing technique is. He uses many different ways to develop characters in this book, rather than just blandly explaining about the character. He also uses similes often to give the reader a really good mental picture. I think that Vonnegut's style of writing is very effective as far as getting his message across in a way that makes you think.
I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone because it has a philosophy that I think everyone could gain from. It's also a very unique read and Vonnegut does a very good job at keeping the reader constantly interested in what's going on. If you want a book that will give you a new perspective on things then I think you've found the right one.
Book Review: Schlachthof-fünf
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five on my shelf for a few years now. It was never a required reading book in high school where I'm from, read 1984 by Orwell instead, and I'm glad I've read it now when I'm older albeit none the wiser. I finally picked it up when I heard of Vonnegut's death, so it goes.
While telling the story of Billy Pilgrim, the predecessor of Forrest Gump, and the fire bombing of Dresden during World War II, the author throws in the fourth dimension of time and delivers the narrative alternating between the past, present and future much like a Quentin Taratino movie does now.
Vonnegut's comic relief use of the phrase "so it goes," appears after each anecdote on death, dying or morality and occurs 106 times in the text. Other phrases that were used frequently to tie the story together were the "smell of mustard gas and roses," "blue and ivory," hands and feet, and "radium dial." Also the Serenity Prayer was mentioned twice in key parts of the text so that even if you have a difficult time with Vonnegut bouncing back from future, to past, to present, you can still see how the story is pulled together with the help of his literary devices.
It's a hard book to categorize, because it deals with so many genres: satire, anti-war, and sci-fi to name a few and like any great piece of literature deals with universal themes like fate, free will, the illogical nature of humans and how life is only enjoyable with the unknown. I loved every minute of reading this novel and was sad to put it down after finishing it, but I will definitely read it again and his other works too.