275 pages
English language
Published July 15, 2005 by Dial Press..
Slaughterhouse-Five, also known as The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a science fiction infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1969. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years, with Billy occasionally traveling through time. The text centers on Billy's capture by the German Army and his survival of the Allied firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war, an experience which Vonnegut himself lived through as an American serviceman. The work has been called an example of "unmatched moral clarity" and "one of the most enduring antiwar novels of all time".
Stunning perspective on living with our pasts, on the dismal prospects for agency in the face of enormous forces. The human condition.
Really good, moving in some parts. Really rambling and winding in others. Glad I read it. Not sure it's worth going back to read merely because of how famous it is.
I don't think that Vonnegut writes poorly, nor do I think this work lacks inherent interest. It's more-so that this, alongside Catch-22 and the like, is a genre I just can't get behind. I understand the need for anti-war fiction, indeed even fiction mostly accounted from real life witness. With that being said, it seems that once you've read one 'war is futile and nothing makes sense, but that's what war is all about' book, you've read them all.
Am I so far out of touch with those in the story that I just don't get it? Well, actually no, and I don't think that this would be Vonnegut's aim either. I hope that war has been made so redundant to me that the thought of going through something like this in life continues to be a totally alien concept to me and everyone else. But I'd also hope that books of this manner would still resonate and serve as a reminder of those that did go through such events and a warning for the rest of us not to repeat such dark times. This didn't happen here with me, nor have any other stories I've read in this genre. Works like The Gulag Archipelago on the other hand - that's a tour de force to contend with.
There were some phrases in the book, some descriptions that I really did like. An overweight man sits down on a bed. Rather than stating that the springs creaked or some-such, Vonnegut writes 'the mattress springs had a lot to say about that'. Great! Witty! Funny! But overall I cannot recommend it.
Wonderful read
Absurdist classic - that's certainly the best way to describe this book! Kurt beautifully interweaves humor with brutal realities of war, which is aided by the strange storyline of the book. Through the Tralfamadorian philosophy, he points the flaws in us Earthlings' way of living the life. As one of the characters say in the book -
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."
A slow start but once the rhythm kicks in this book becomes as poignant as it is funny. The pitiable but eventually likeable protagonist Billy Pilgrim's journey through the fourth dimension is pock-marked with some beautiful theories on life and death. So it goes.
Probably the most telling review is that I read the whole book twice in a row. (Stopping short of trying to read it backwards). I was still curious about some things after the second trip, but felt a little more Tralfamadorian. And a little more human too.
Strikingly powerful book about the utter absurdity of war.
''So it goes.''
