Slaughterhouse-Five

Rating:
Summary: Reviewers seem to forget
Review: . . . that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s "Slaughterhouse Five" was written by a pillar of salt. That's not merely a sacrifice of blood but a sacrifice of blood, flesh, bone, and eyelash. Read it that way and be excruciatingly grateful.

Rating:
Summary: Take a bow Mr. Vonnegut
Review: More than enough synopsis and criticism has been written on this book, so i shall forego them. I will, however, recommend this book to anyone who is in search of a startlingly unique novel. Slaughterhouse Five rings true time and time again, and, perhaps more importantly, Vonnegut's work is accessible to any mediocre reader. It is written with an easy, almost simplistic prose, that allows the reader to truely understand the story. The plot does follow an almost labrynthine pattern, but if one reads even moderately carefully this presents absolutely no problem. Vonnegut is a writer who prides himself on a journalistic approach, i.e. he makes it easy for the reader. Don't let the complaints about the plot turn you off, this is truely a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Worth all five stars
Review: Slaughter House Five deserves its reputation of being a piece of great American literature. The book follows a young man, Billy Pilgrim through his life. Billy believes aliens, tralfamadorians to be exact, have abducted him. We assume that it's through these aliens that he learns to time travel, a skill he frequently uses. In the book Pilgrim bounces around time to all the various portions of his life, many times returning to World War II where he was captured, taken prisoner, and held in slaughterhouse five in Dresden, Germany. He seems to be defined by this moment in his life as he frequently returns there. If you know anything about Vonnegut, you know that he too was held in Dresden, Germany when the city was firebombed. This is the major setup for this antiwar novel as Dresden was home to over 100,000 persons while at the same time Dresden didn't have any industry lending itself to the war effort. Obviously you wander, "Then why was this city bombed? What advantage came from killing well over 100,000 thousand civilians?"

One of the major themes of the book is fate. The prayer of serenity appears twice in the book stating that we need to change the things we can and be wise enough to know which things we cannot change. Also the Tralfamadorians speak of fate. They say they know how the universe is going to end, but they do nothing to stop it. Vonnegut seems to say that yes, war is one of those things we cannot avoid, but we need to change the things we can about it, like the atrocious bombing of Dresden.

Overall, the book's message is clear, and Vonnegut delivers his message in a very accessible way. The story of Billy Pilgrim is enjoyable to read, and contains more than dry philosophy that some antiwar novels are filled with.

Rating:
Summary: A Thoughtful Masterpiece
Review: I took this book into the Sierra backcountry on vacation. I chose it because it was light and wouldn't weigh me down. Imagine my surprise when I finished it two short evenings into a 10 day trip with nothing else to read but a map. Eight days later, I had read the book three times. Each time was as good or better than the last. Never before have I been able to read and reread a book and be completely engrossed every time. If you know the beauty of the Sierra backcountry, then you know it would take something special to tear you away from it. This book is very special. When I got home, I pulled out my old LVD of Slaughterhouse Five and watched it. Po te weet. MHR

Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut's Masterpiece
Review: "Slaughterhouse Five" is a powerful mix of protest, sorrow, and ultimately, hope. We meet Billy Pilgrim, a U.S. soldier who survives the horrific 1945 Allied bombing of Dresden Germany as a prisoner of war (as did Vonnegut), and then returns to American success as a suburban optometrist. Pilgrim secretly rebels against the hollow values of suburbia, time traveling between various stages of his life, and eventually submitting to capture by UFO's. I liked the author's attacks on cruelty, praise for kindness amidst chaos, and his repetition of expressions ("poor old Edgar Derby," "So it goes") to make powerful statements. Some suspect that Vonnegut's pen was guided by post-traumatic stress dating from his wartime experiences. "Slaughterhouse Five" is technically science fiction, but it's a winner in any genre.

Rating:
Summary: A Literary Masterpiece
Review: This book was my first experience with Vonnegut, but it certainly will not be my last. Kurt's writing style amazed me; he has done in this book one of the hardest things to do in literature, which is to take a serious subject (and what is more serious than war?) and manage to make it funny. Mind you, this is not a comedy, but a very entertaining satire. The wit is overflowing, from the clever way in which the first chapter sets up the book, to the introduction of the character Kilgore Trout ("if only he could WRITE!"), to the various amusing ancedotes throughout the book. It all marks a masterpiece. Vonnegut's prose is masterful, and keeps you reading. I finished the book in two settings (nearly one) and could not hardly put it down. On the surface, his prose seems very simple, naive, and even childlike. It is told, for the most part, in an "ordinary Joe" sort of way, almost as if the author was sitting there with you sharing the story over a drink. This may seem unsophisticated, or not relevant to this type of subject matter, but as anyone who has actually tried to write that way knows, it is a far more difficult thing to do than writing in a customary style. When you're blazing through reading this book it may seem like merely a funny book (very black humor) with a few morals thrown in for good measure. However, when you step away from the book and look at the big picture, this is very clearly not the case. This books has some very deep meanings and themes, and is satrical to boot. War might be inevitable... but maybe death isn't as bad as we think... things happen for a reason and maybe we can't change them... whatever happens, happens for a reason, and whatever must be, must be. And so on.

So it goes.

Rating:
Summary: Sudden surprises makes this book great
Review: Book Description Billy Pilgrim's life was normal until he started finding himself in strange places. He had a wife and two kids and life was good. Billy had started writing a book about Dresden, Germany, where he had once been held captured by Nazis soldiers in World War II. At times Billy finds himself back in Germany fighting the war. But these flashbacks are more realistic and it almost seems as if he is re-living them all over again. Follow Billy on his wild adventure through time, as he goes back to his childhood, war days, and even his alien abduction.

Review Slaughter House -Five tells a tale of a man trying to regain a grip on reality and ultimately his life. The books transitions are choppy and hard to follow because the author jumps from one stage to another. But the choppiness represents a broader vision on modern life. People are quick to jump from one life to another. At work a person may be a totally different identity than what they really are. The sudden surprises that the book has, is also similar to the sudden surprises we face every day. The reader has to adjust their mind frames from one situation to another. The humor in the book lightens up the mood and allows the reader to appreciate the sadness. After all is said done, the Billy Pilgrim finds himself beginning his life after war. Almost as if he was given a second chance to do better. A second chance that we would all wish to have.

Rating:
Summary: A great, though-provoking war novel
Review: There are thousands of war-diaries in the world today. There are big books, small books, boring books, intense books, and diary books, all on the subject of war. When was the last time you read a war book? And liked it? Maybe you've never been interested to pick up a book about war. Personally, I've never finished a war book, usually because they're horribly boring. I could do without endless details about battles and strategy; it takes more than that to keep me interested. Well, in a world of thousands of dull war-books, Slaughterhouse-Five rises above the rest as a breath of fresh air. It is a book that I will read and re-read throughout my life. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote Slaughterhouse-Five to be serious, hysterically funny, and very creative all at the same time, all of which he succeeds at doing. Slaughterhouse-Five tells the tale of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a naïve young scout* who is captured in the Battle of Dresden of WWII. Billy is then employed in a slaughterhouse manufacturing vitamins for pregnant women. While Vonnugut is telling the story about the life Billy Pilgrim, he is actually telling the story of himself*, precisely when he witnessed the firebombing of Dresden, Germany. The aspect of the book that makes it so special is the style in which it was written. Vonnegut writes the book about Billy Pilgrim in a series of flashbacks throughout his life, like in a series of cycles. * In one paragraph, for example, the reader will find Billy Pilgrim sitting in his office pondering his twisted life. However, in the next paragraph, the reader may find Billy being held hostage by German soldiers or kidnapped by aliens. "Overhead he heard the cry of what might have been a melodious owl, but it wasn't a melodious owl. It was flying saucer, from Tralfamadore, navigating in both space and time, therefore seeming Billy Pilgrim to have come from nowhere all at once. Somewhere a big dog barked," (p. 75) After each death in the book, the phrase "so it goes" appears, telling us that life just moves on. "One of them singled out Billy's face for a moment, then focused at infinite again. There was a tiny plume of smoke at infinity. There was a battle there. People were dying there. So it goes." (p.65) Growing up in times of war and poverty (2), Vonnegut has a unique outlook on life and society. In spite of this, the novel deals with many social and ecological problems that were surfacing in the sixties. "And Hitler turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed." (p. 75) Slaughterhouse-Five beautifully blends humor, critique, and thought-inspiring themes in this recount of WWII events. Vonnegut's unique, fresh style can't be resisted and becomes very charismatic as the book progresses. Slaughterhouse-Five is timeless.

Sources · *--- (www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonegut/s-five.html) A Kurt Vonnegut website mainly about Slaughterhouse-Five · 2--- (www.sparknotes.com/lit/slaughter) The sparknotes context section

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book
Review: Of all the books I have ever had the pleasure of reading, few can match the caliber of Slaughterhouse Five. It is witty, frightening, and unconvential. I had no idea what to expect when I first read the book, but one thing two things that I got out of reading the book were to expect the unexpected, and that everything is related to something else somehow. If you looking for a good read, pick up a copy of Slaughterhouse Five!

Rating:
Summary: War, Death, Life, Love, Irony, Aliens From Tralfamadore
Review: 'Slaughterhouse-Five' is Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece of war and it's consequences to the average joe. Vonnegut's protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, has come unstuck in time. One moment he's in World War Two, the next he's a middle aged optomitrist, the next he's a small boy, the next he's on the far away world of Tralfamadore, the next he's delivering a speech that will end in his death. Through this bumping back and forth through time Billy learns that life is a collection of moments and that linear thinking is unique to the human race. Funny, sad and thought provoking, 'Slaughterhouse-Five' is an intelligent look at one man's journey through life after living through the horrors of war. Brilliant!