Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
by Kurt Vonnegut
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.55 You Save: $9.45 (63%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.68 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
Book Review: Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five
Summary: 5 Stars
As one of the most acknowledged anti-war novels of the modern day, Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five lives up to the recognition that it receives. The compelling anti-war story, published in 1969, is portrayed through Billy Pilgrim and his assortment of stories he reminisces upon throughout the novel. Vonnegut uses the zany Pilgrim to illustrate aspects such as life and death, time travel, and his supposed journey to the planet of Tralfamador. The story is based around Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran who survived the Dresden bombing. Vonnegut sporadically takes the reader through different parts of Pilgrim's life, leaping between time periods and events. Pilgrim's inability to control his own mind creates an extremely nonlinear plotline split up into small groups of flashbacks in his life. His flashback consist of his recollection of his schooling at University of Chicago, his occupation as an optometrist, his voyage to the far away planet of Tralfamador, his daily life as a father of two and an average man, and his memories of war, most importantly his time as a prisoner of war.
Vonnegut uses these events to make deep statements about the destruction caused by war. During the chaos created by the erratic nature of the book, Pilgrim never fails to return to a common situation that he suffered during World War II. He often finds himself in a meat refrigerator, attempting to stay alive while the city above is suffering the fiery storm brought upon by the famous fire bombings at Dresden. This frequent recollection refers to the never ending destruction caused by war.
Pilgrim also finds himself being kidnapped by aliens native to the planet of Tralfamador. He is influenced greatly by the Tralfamadorians, and takes on their indifferent opinion about death. The aliens believe in the moment rather than the lifetime, creating this indifference, and they also make the reader doubt the truth about free will, and its nonexistence in life. Pilgrim's attitude transformation finds his own free will taken away many times throughout the book. The exotic planet's overall attitude towards life also gives reason for the episodic structure of the book.
Embedded in the deep statements made by Vonnegut about war and life in general, there is a considerable amount of comedic irony, making the book an enjoyable experience to read. Vonnegut's messages throughout the book pertain to human nature and should not be ones which are passed over by anyone.
In my opinion, this novel will be read for many years to come because of Vonnegut's powerful messages about life. Slaughterhouse-Five was the first book that I have read by him, and I plan to read many more in the future. The novel is similar to Joseph Heller's Catch-22, so if you are into well used comedic irony in war stories, Slaughterhouse-Five will surely be one of your favorites (as well as Catch-22).
Book Review: Erik's Review of SlaughterHouse Five
Summary: 5 Stars
At first it is difficult to imagine that a story about a phlegmatic man who experiences a horrific firestorm attack in Dresden, while a POW, and communes with aliens can have any literary significance. Its value is even more questionable by the seemingly haphazard lack of sequencing of the protagonist's, Billy Pilgrim, experiences and encounters. Part way through the story, there is a sense that Billy and the aliens colluded to confuse the reader, and that the author's errant mind wandered to the point of grouping a series of chaotic, non-sequential events for the purpose of filling up the pages. However, the vigilant reader will observe and glean that the author has an intended message delivered by a circuitous route. Therefore, this book merits a five star rating for literary importance.
Through the somewhat quixotic life of Billy Pilgrim, the author addresses the fundamental notion of survival - whether it is physical or mental continued existence. Billy Pilgrim from the beginning is thrown into a world in which he senses and is aware of people's disapprobation of him. He is painted as a weakling, who is ill-fitting, unprepared, naïve and hardly an errant hero. However, Billy Pilgrim has unwittingly learned a profound and valuable ability; he has mastered a coping mechanism that is essential to his survival.
There is a certain degree of irony in the story, because Billy Pilgrim's life is convoluted and bizarre, yet this outrageous crazy-like behavior gives him a sense of sanity. One can't help but to laugh aloud when reading about Billy Pilgrim's encounter with the aliens, his sexual mating at the aliens' zoo with a movie star, and his insightful understanding of the Tralfamadorians' concept and belief in a fourth dimension. However, a sense of pride is developed for Billy Pilgrim as he uses this new understanding of time, believing that events repeatedly occur at a different time and place, in order to accept the difficult, sad and horrific events in his life; he is coping. Occasionally, he struggles with the overwhelming impact of his life experiences and he has a nervous breakdown. However, those breakdowns are used to illustrate the value of the belief in the fourth dimension and his acute sense of survival.
The author's seemingly jumbled delivery of Billy Pilgrim's experiences and significant life events serves to illustrate the insanity that provoks the protagonist to give up. Throughout the story there are snapshots of both the author's and Billy Pilgrim's lives. They are like small swatches of fabric, with different patterns, and no connections. However, when pieced together they create a purposeful quilt that recounts difficult events in both Billy Pilgrim's and the author's lives, their apparent struggles, and their resolve to cope and survive.
Book Review: An amazing novel, exploring many facets of the Vietnam war
Summary: 5 Stars
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who has become unstuck in time after being abducted by Tralfamadorians. We follow the eccentric (and perhaps insane) Pilgrim as he ambulates through different parts of his life, from "red" pre-nascence to "violet" death-by-high-powered-laser-gun. This jumbled tale of a World War 2 veteran deserves all five of the stars it receives.
It is hard to describe the plot of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, his masterpiece of black humor. Pilgrim time-travels between periods of his life, and the period to which he travels to is not determined by his own volition. The narrative is neither chronological nor linear. Instead, it jumps back and forth in time and place, like the mole in the famous Whac-A-Mole arcade game. The novel is structured in small sections, each several paragraphs long that describe various moments of his life.
One of the most indubitably important motifs in the novel, and one of my personal favorites, is the image of a bird asking the question, "Poo-tee-weet?" Vonnegut relates this unanswerable question to the firebombing of Dresden. It corresponds to the question, `How could we allow such a repugnant massacre to happen? How can we describe it?' As with the bird's question however, there is no intelligent answer, no valid description, no indisputable truth. "And what do birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like `Poo-tee-weet?'".
Another underlying theme of the novel is Pilgrim's lack of free will. When he is abducted by the Tralfamadorians, they expound upon their view of time. Rather than seeing it in a straight line as humans do, they experience all parts and times of the line; they call it the fourth dimension. Because their view of the universe is characterized by ennui, the concept of free will is ethereal to them. This is underscored when Pilgrim's father tosses Billy into the pool in a "sink or swim philosophy"; as a young child, he promptly sunk like a rock, emphasizing the lack of control over his life. Ironically, Billy likes it at the bottom of the pool. Once again, however, he is not free to choose his fate, as he is rescued and taken out of the pool. Fate makes another, more significant choice for him later in life, when he is drafted into the army to fight in the Vietnam War.
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, by far his most provocative work, exemplifies the meaninglessness and indescribability of the Dresden massacre and questions the boundaries of free will. This American classic embodies the feeling of lassitude and apathy that many soldiers felt returning from World War 2. It is thought-provoking and is one of the greatest anti-war novels ever written.
Book Review: The mythology of the Good War
Summary: 5 Stars
What's wonderful about this book is how Vonnegut launches a head-on assault on the mythology of the 20th century's one Good War. History has decreed World War II a Noble Fight Against the Enemies of Civilization, but Vonnegut says it was a freezing firestorm that made a mockery of our very existence. My late grandfather was also a WWII vet. He never read any Vonnegut that I'm aware of, but he spoke of the war in the same way. I think it had something to with actually being there. Both Vonnegut and my grandfather were grunts sent out to do a dirty goddamn job. Neither of them crowed about a minute of it ever after. That doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is that they both carried on with dignity the rest of their lives, when they'd both seen the beating black heart of the worst horrors man can render upon man. I've always doubted my ability to do the same, and remain thankful to this day that I've never had to find out.
Vonnegut's anti-war screed has, if anything, only gained in prescience over time. (See Iraq, War in.) Makes you wish the Decider-in-Chief read books. At least this one.
The strange advice (albeit dished out by aliens who see Time akin to a Rocky Mountain panorama) to ignore what's bad in order to focus on what's good smacks of the reasoning of a man who has reached the end of all reasoning. Who can no longer compose a rationale for man's behavior. The sort of conclusion you might come to, say, if you had survived the firebombing of Dresden.
As literature, per se, Vonnegut's light-hearted dalliance with both the English language and the strictures of plot structure cause you to wonder why you spend any time reading books less fun than this. Then you realize that such an ephemeral style washes over you so quickly very little is left when the book is done, other than the sour taste of a moral lesson unwittingly learned. I suspect that was Vonnegut's very point. As a general rule, I loathe literature that attempts to teach me a lesson. But I'll make an exception for Slaughterhouse-Five.
Oddly, among all the carnage and contempt, the scene that stood out most in my mind comes near the novel's beginning. The narrator is at an old war buddy's house to discuss plans for his war novel. Old war buddy's wife stomps angrily around the house. Turns out she thinks the narrator is going to write a book about John Wayne fighting the war, when in fact World War II, like all wars, was fought by children. The narrator assures her John Wayne will not be making an appearance in his book. Vonnegut dedicated the book to her.
I originally read this in high school. Promptly forgot it. (Ah, youth.) I'm very glad to publicly rectify that oversight right here.
Book Review: Scattered, boring and unemotional
Summary: 2 Stars
Have you ever gone to a movie and within a few minutes you just know it's not going to be "your type" of movie? That's how this book struck me--it's just not my type. From nearly page one, this book simply didn't grab me. In the least. Because it's a short book, though, I did finish it. I kept thinking it must have a great ending or some kind of great over-arching message due to its fame and esteem, but it didn't have either.
It's the only Vonnegut book I've read so I don't know if this is how his style always is, but I did not care for the scattered back-and-forth in time approach--it wasn't that it was hard to follow, because it really wasn't, but I didn't feel like it added anything to the book. Then again I thought the characters and events in the book were boring enough that if it hadn't had the time-jumping-around, maybe I would've not liked the book even more? I guess at least the time-jumping kept me on my toes.
Largely I thought that the book was unemotional. I didn't a lick about any character in the book. Billy was just a sad sap, but I never empathized with him--and I don't feel the author ever tried to get me to empathize with him. The other characters that came and went were pretty transitory and usually didn't stick around long enough to learn much about them. There are glimpses into Billy's wife and family, and some of his soldier-mates, but they are mostly just glimpses. I'm not even sure I know what BILLY'S character was really like--there just wasn't a ton of character development in my opinion. Also the book struck me as one attempt at dry humor after another, and maybe that's just not my style of humor? The "So it goes" and "Poo-too-tweet" repetition just annoyed me.
One unfair aspect to my reading of Slaughterhouse is it came directly after my first read of Catcher in the Rye. I could not put Catcher in the Rye down--I connected with Catcher in every way that I did not connect with Slaughterhouse. I thought Catcher was absolutely hilarious--I was literally laughing out loud on almost every page. I wasn't expecting Slaughterhouse to be as good as Catcher, but I didn't expect Slaughterhouse to be so uninteresting and random. I think Catcher was just more my style if you will. (They're very different books--I'm not directly comparing them, just directly comparing my interest in them.)
Because I'm clearly in the minority in not enjoying Slaughterhouse, I'll assume "it's me and not you (the book)". Nonetheless, I would never recommend this book to anyone--I would just tell them that most of the world seems to love it, but for me it wasn't the right fit.