or the children's crusade : a duty-dance withdeath. A Dell book
285 pages
English language
Published July 1, 2010 by RosettaBooks.
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time, Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world's great antiwar 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 fear most.
An incredible and innovative book full of wisdom, humor, purpose, and the kind of writing that makes you feel like the author is sitting by your side telling you the story. I was sad for it to come to an end. So it goes.
What a powerful read about how pointless war is, how disconnected/dissociative people can be to each other, the power of the elite, etc. Depressing yet funny... And so human. So it goes.
Da avvicinare alla Trilogia della Città di K. Incomprensibile per gli umani.
This is a beautifully written book about the pointlessness of war. It’s brilliance is that Vonnegut manages to make his point in a gentle way without getting angry or blaming anyone. It is very, very sad but also funny, whimsical and occasionally psychedelically weird (the aliens look like sink plungers with hands).
The lead character drifts aimlessly through the story as the people around him die in pointless ways. So it goes. His lack of agency which would normally annoy me, but in this case it’s fundamental to the point of the novel. The aliens have taught him that the past, present and future all exist forever and can’t be changed. Pilgrim’s consciousness veers wildly through time as he visits each important moment in his life. He knows where and when he will die and is as stoical about that as he is about the things that happened in the …
This is a beautifully written book about the pointlessness of war. It’s brilliance is that Vonnegut manages to make his point in a gentle way without getting angry or blaming anyone. It is very, very sad but also funny, whimsical and occasionally psychedelically weird (the aliens look like sink plungers with hands).
The lead character drifts aimlessly through the story as the people around him die in pointless ways. So it goes. His lack of agency which would normally annoy me, but in this case it’s fundamental to the point of the novel. The aliens have taught him that the past, present and future all exist forever and can’t be changed. Pilgrim’s consciousness veers wildly through time as he visits each important moment in his life. He knows where and when he will die and is as stoical about that as he is about the things that happened in the past.
Vonnegut’s tone and light touch make the weird, dream like story wonderfully readable. It’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever read and definitely one I’ll come back to in the future.
This is a beautifully written book about the pointlessness of war. It’s brilliance is that Vonnegut manages to make his point in a gentle way without getting angry or blaming anyone. It is very, very sad but also funny, whimsical and occasionally psychedelically weird (the aliens look like sink plungers with hands).
The lead character drifts aimlessly through the story as the people around him die in pointless ways. So it goes. His lack of agency which would normally annoy me, but in this case it’s fundamental to the point of the novel. The aliens have taught him that the past, present and future all exist forever and can’t be changed. Pilgrim’s consciousness veers wildly through time as he visits each important moment in his life. He knows where and when he will die and is as stoical about that as he is about the things that happened in the …
Best book I've ever read.
Attraverso l'alter-ego di Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut, elabora un racconto autobiografico sull'esperienza terribile della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. Da leggere assolutamente.
It was a story.
Strikingly powerful book about the utter absurdity of war.
It seems reliable sources say the book was copyright 1969! My copy has 1966, and 1968 ?! with imprints "70 69 68 67", and a publishing date of 1991. Why does this matter? because in 1969, i not only met my wife, on Friday the 13th, but was in the middle of a two-year tour with the NSA in Turkey.
After Vonnegut's death, I went back and read Slaughterhouse 5, which I hadn't read since high school. Vonnegut is not a great stylist. His female characters are not really characters at all.
Nevertheless, he knows what he believes, but questions his beliefs mercilessly. He is straightforward and gets to the point. His heroes are often inept but teach us what it means to be human. Vonnegut was my hero in high schoool, and he still is.
''So it goes.''
