Rating: 
Summary: Really confusing...I was lost the whole time
Review: This book was so confusing. All the events were out of order, and the time skipped around a lot, and I was so lost. I didn't understand what was happening, and I still don't know what exactly the "slaughterhouse five" is. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone...it was a waste of time to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Clearly most famous
Review: This is clearly Vonnegut's most famous work and that's probably the reason it was the first that I've read (I've read 11 now). In my point of view this is the perfect book to get started on: it introduces Vonnegut's writing style and it peaks one's interest for more. However, this is by no means his best. Probably the most interesting part of the book is not the humor, which is usually the most interesting, but instead the factual basis of the novel: the bombing of Dresden. What also interested me in this book was Vonnegut's way of telling stories outside of time. Although he does this in many of his novels, I think this is the book where it is more sophisticated and is vitally important to the plot as a whole. I definantly recommend this book to anyone interested in getting to know Vonnegut's work.
Rating: 
Summary: A must-read. Good example of this great writer's work.
Review: While this is certainly Kurt Vonnegut's most famous novel, it is neither his best nor his worst. Unlike his other books, it is historical fiction, set (partially) in the fire-bombing of Dresden during WWII. But he manages to give us a disinctively Vonnegut-esque take on Billy Pilgrim's experience, which in many ways parallels his own. I think that many people who aren't acquainted with KV and read this book expect one of two things: either a guts-and-glory macho portrayal of war or a trite hippy war-protest pseudostatement. What you get, of course, is neither one, but rather an entirely unique, unmistakably Vonnegut account of war as just another possible human experience, neither more or less eventful than being an optometrist in Illium, New York or being mated with a famous actress in a human zoo on the planet Tralfamadore. So it goes. A must-read, of course.
Rating:
Summary: What can one say about Vonnegut?
Review: For some reason Vonnegut has always escaped my "Favorite Authors" lists. I love him, and each of his books... There are few authors who are so prolific and yet so talented. Still, I always overlook him. I have decided to stop now. I am coming out for the first time: Kurt Vonnegut is one of my top five favorite authors. The thing is, Vonnegut is weird. His stories, his novels, his essays... They are all weird. Still, they are hysterically, brilliantly weird, and that is something I can stand by. I dont want to give away specific details of this weird book, because that ruins something, but believe me, it is great. Suffice it to say there are alien abductions, porn stars and much more. Oh, what an awful, awful sentance preceded this one. I apologize. Read the book. Trust me. Its a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: So it goes.
Review: Listen:
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is really something else. I have to admit this is one of the few books where I saw the movie first (years ago), and about 3 years ago, I decided to read the novel. Left a deep impact on me, although I had a hard time understanding it.
So a couple of months ago I saw the movie again, loved it again (although I normally detest movies done after books), and then decided to read all of Vonnegut's novels and shortstories, and chronologically this time, starting out with the promising Player Piano.
Now I reread Slaughterhouse Five, and so far it is Vonnegut's best book. It is clearly an attempt to describe his impressions in World War Two and especially Dresden, but instead of writing a realistic novel about war, Vonnegut 'invents' a totally non-linear genre of science fiction that is absolutely unique in its scope.
There is no suspense at all, because the novel's main character (not to call him hero) Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time, which means he travels back and forth in time. We meet a young Pilgrim traumatized by his gun-loving father, a Pilgrim lost in World War Two, a Pilgrim married to the obese daughter of a rich John Birch Society nutcase and above all a happy Pilgrim living on Tralfamadore, a planet in a faraway solar system. All this is narrated in no particular order, and maybe the book needs to be read twice to get its scope, but it is worth it.
Vonnegut's style also reaches a level that I haven't seen of him in the past, very bitter-sarcastic-loving-sweet... all at once. Every death is followed by a shrugged "So it goes.", and paragraphes are often introduced with "Listen:". In a heartwarming sad tale, Vonnegut tells us not only of the senselessness of war (where there are no crooks, just victims), but also teaches the reader a valuable moral: focus on the positive moments of your life.
Then there are some characters which avid Vonnegut fans will love to see back: wretched sci-fi writer Kilgore Trout, millionaire Eliot Rosewater and American nazi Howard Campbell jr. Plus two goofs: the border between Luxembourg and Germany is a valley, not a hill, and people with an IQ of 103 are of average intelligence, not morons.
Read this book though.
Poo-tee-weet?
Rating:
Summary: Very Relevant..
Review: This is one of the best anti-war books I've read. The "unstuck in time" dilemma(read the book to see what that is) the hero is forced to endure is fascinating and adds to an already engrossing story about the tragic bombing of Dresden during World War 2. A great introduction to Vonnegut's works and,unfortunately, very timely as well..
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: This is the first book I've read by Mr. Vonnegut and if all his books are like this one I think I'm in for a special treat. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's very easy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Unique
Review: My only complaint about this book is that it wasn't longer. I so enjoyed every page of this. The language and humor were wonderful, and I credit Vonnegut to no end for imparting both horror and bemusement simultaneously. This is one of the great war stories of the century and should not be overlooked.
Rating:
Summary: About Life and War
Review: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference." People throughout life struggle to understand who they really are, and where they belong in this world. By reading Slaughterhouse-5 one will come closer to accepting the "reality" about life. The story tells the journey of Billy Pilgrim. From the infamous fire bombings of Dresden during his army days in WWII and through his life in the planet Tralfamadore, the reader will learn how Billy Pilgrim views today's world. His "so it goes" attitude, his beliefs of manipulating time, and his other quirky characteristics will compel you to admire him. Mainly considered one of world's great anti-war books, it is not written in the usual war book style. Kurt Voneggut evades all the grueling details about war; instead completely focus on Billy's reflection of war and his world. The story is told to the reader by random flashbacks, which makes the book appear as puzzle pieces. All these pieces fall into place to give us a complete picture only in the end, a technique similar to one that is used in "Cat's Cradle" another Voneggut classic. Voneggut uses his usual black humor, sarcastic tone and unique imagination to deliver a story that warms our hearts but yet makes us aware of the ugly truth of our own existence that we do not want to know. This is as good as it gets folks! So it goes.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Imaginative, Touching
Review: This was a really cool book. It's a humorous account of a soldier's passive trip through war and consequently, the rest of his life. Vonnegut pretends to give us an deconstructed time and plot structure, while he is actually giving us a pretty conventional one. Nevetheless, I found it pretty clever. I know that Vonnegut is supposedly a moral writer, but I don't think that this book needs to be read as such. I think it's what you make of it. Slaughterhouse Five is always fun, never truly sad - this is what makes it clever. I think Vonnegut took a risk by creating a story in which commonly sad and depressing things are dismissed as trivial, but of course the author clearly doesn't believe they are. His statements are about war, not pronouncements on the vagueries of the "the human condition."
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