Rating: 
Summary: Strangely funny, amazing writing
Review: A lot has already been written here about the merits of SH5 as an anti-war book, so I will focus on the two things that impressed me the most about this book. The first is that although it is clearly a serious and devastating topic (the bombing of Dresden), it is so infused with delicate humor that you can't help but smile. Vonnegut brings his characters to life using this humor so that Billy Pilgrim, Roland Weary and the rest of the cast become tangible real human beings. In war, humor is sometimes the only link to humanity - in this case, it is the lifeblood of the population of SH 5. The second thing that never fails to impress me is Vonnegut's way with the English language, his ability to wrap words around a piece of paper in such a way that no one else has thought about before. So simple, yet so beautifully done and so obviously a masterpiece. My favorite piece is when he describes a woman as "a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies". What a Vonnegut way of saying "knockout". The ideas expressed with make you think (especially for me, the one about America hating its poor people - being a rich nation filled with impoverished people who hate themselves and who are hated by the rest) and the intricate, amazing prose will stick with you.
Rating: 
Summary: Called one of his best for a reason!
Review: My first Vonnegut novel--it amazed me that he could address such weighty issues in such a light-hearted way. Firebombing at Dresden is no picnic, and he doesn't make it out to be one, mind you, but Billy Pilgrim's adventures with war and aliens and life just reach out and smack reality in the face for a... well... reality check, I suppose. You'll think differently while reading this, and if you're lucky, aftwerward as well. Reading this one novel got me hooked on Vonnegut.
Rating:
Summary: The secrets of war
Review: What a remarkable look at such a terrible thing. The story of Dresden, Germany isn't often heard of. I hadn't heard of it until I read this book. Then again, neither is the true face of war. What it does to people--to children, not men. This book is great because it doesn't glorify it like so many modern movies and books do. It shows the lasting implications it can have. It doesn't pretend the people involved were "men and not babies," nor are the characters Frank Sinatra or John Wayne. It tells it like it is, and it's a hard slap in the face.
Rating:
Summary: Dresden, Hiroshima, Hanoi??
Review: "I think of how useless the Dresden part of my memory has been, and yet how tempting Dresden has been to write about...." "And even if wars didn't keep coming like Glaciers....." Vonnegut creates an anti-war novel unlike any I have read as he writes about Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran. This book did become a movie, but not because it had action-scenes for John Wayne or Frank Sinatra (or Ben Affleck). So there is sex with the porno star of the era, in his dreams, observed by aliens of Tralfamadore. There are German soldiers herding American POW's into concentration camps or making Billy dress humiliatingly as Cinderella, yet this book really has no villains but lots of victims. Oh, there is death, every death story summarized by "so it goes". Billy Pilgrim's story is narrated in no particular order, which is both bemusing and irritating, so a second or a third reading of the book may be warranted. Do read it. You may hate it in the end as a useless book about a useless firebombing (albeit with over 130,000 citizens -- obliterated), or as balderdash science-fiction with an anti-war theme. Or you may recognize it as first-rate writing. But read it.
Rating:
Summary: A few more thoughts after reading some reviews.
Review: I decided to add this after reading a few other reviews. First, Vonnegut explicitly states that Billy did not begin time traveling because of the Tralfamadorians but that they were merely able to explain things to him. Billy still may or may not be nuts, wrecked by his experiences, but that's different. He first time travels when near death in the frozen wilderness behind enemy lines in WWII and he first begins talking about it after nearly dying in a plane crash many years later. Second, I didn't just spoil anything because in the first few pages (after the autobiographical intro) Vonnegut lays out a straightforward biography of Billy's life in two or so pages, which can help with the rest of the story if you read it thuroughly, though I found it easy to follow anyway. As an example of how time travel is used: in one moment he's near death in a frozen German forest; in the next, he's a boy hearing music at the bottom of a swimming pool and about to pass out (and drown); and then he's a mature man visiting his mother, who is dying. All in about five paragraphs. He doesn't travel that rapidly very often but it's a good example. (There are equally good examples of funny or ironic juxtapositions like these but this happens within paragraphs of time travel being introduced to the reader so I didn't think it would spoil things much.)
Rating:
Summary: Funny but sad look at war (and life)
Review: I first read this book as a student and found it brilliant. I then went on a Vonnegut binge and though I enjoyed his other books (with the exception of Galapagos) none came close to this one. The cover blurb praised the book as "funny, compassionate and wise" and I can only concur. The story deals with weighty topics like war and death, and though funny it avoids flippancy. And in Billy Pilgrim Vonnegut has created one of the most pathetically likeable, characters in all of fiction. If you still wonder if you must read the book, just read the first one or two lines of the story proper (not the introduction). If that fails to interest you, don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Sad & Humane; and Brilliant
Review: I reread this in one sitting the other night as I have periodically for some 20 years. Slaughterhouse-Five was the first book to really make me think as a young teenager. After all that time and at least six or seven reads I still laugh out loud at jokes I can see coming for pages, and I'm still moved for days or weeks after. Billy Pilgrim's innocence and sadness and Vonnegut's humanity are still astonishingly pure and beautiful. Don't let the fragmented timeline of Billy's tale put anybody off; it's there to juxtapose disconnected events and thereby create illustrations that are creative and funny and satirical and moving. When available fictional devices cannot make his point, Vonngut puts one or another fantastic tale in the pen of alter ego Kilgore Trout, or brings in the Tralfamadorians for a few life lessons. Vonnegut is an unparalleled storyteller with a style that is at once easy and deep, like a wonderful aunt or uncle with biting humor and years of wisdom quietly regaling late into the evening. The tale he tells in Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the great stories of all time for it's unbelievable creativity and it's quiet, gentle and powerful sense of humanity. A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Only his ideas were good
Review: I did not enjoy this book. "Slaughterhouse 5" by Mr Kurt Vonnegut is an important piece of literature of the mid-twentieth century. It is the story of Mr Vonnegut remembering his experiences which centred around 13-14 February 1945 during the levelling of refugee-swollen Dresden. Through his protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, he might be expressing the idea that atrocities of this type are not inevitable events. Billy Pilgrim slips in and out of consciousness, spending an equal time with his memories of his war years and fantasies of alien abduction. Mr Vonnegut is probably making a case against such moral somnambulism. This is an unconventional novel for many reasons. First, it is a war novel which is not glamourous. Further, my literature teachers tell me, ;D it is outside the novel tradition, which focusses on creating realistic characters with psychological depth. These are the things which I appreciate about this fine novel. On the other hand, these ideas don't make for an interesting read. Cardboard cut-out characters which are no more than posters for political ideas becomes less fascinating as the book lumbres along. As a political statement, I find it a bit hollow. It makes a point that the fire-bombing of Dresden was wrong. (duh?) At the same time, it neglects the more complicated task of offering viable alternatives to war? It reminds me of ranting by a veteran who gets drunk and makes phone calls late at night. If you made it this far before hitting the "no" button, thank you. ;D If you are interested in one of the most important books of the mid-twentieth century, this book will be interesting to you.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Novel
Review: With Billy Pilgrim as the hero (or should we say..zero) and Vonnegut's non-traditional out-of-order timeline approach, I would have to say that it was one of the most facinating books I've ever read. It's a great story about a man who is in WWII, a man who is married and has children, a man who foresees his own death, and, well, a man who possibly got abducted by aliens. The amazing thing about this is that none of the book is in order. One moment you're in Nazi Germany and the next moment you're on an alien planet. Many ideas were brought up in my class why this is and I believe it is written to reflect Billy as he looks back onto his life. However, others among me feel Billy may acually be "unstuck" in time. In any case, you'll have to try out this book to get your own opinion. Definitely worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: The book works on some levels, but utimately it drags. Personally, I found the parts without the war significantly better than the battle parts. The unconventional style is nice, but ultimately, the book drags.
|
