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Summary: My Deserted Island Book
Review: If I were ever stranded on a deserted island I'd like to have a copy of "Slaughterhouse Five" with me. I've read it nearly every year for the last twenty years or so, and find something new each time. Having a copy while stranded may help me get "unstuck in time" like Billy Pilgrim. It may offer an escape from the island for awhile. Everyone should have a copy of this book -- I have seven.
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Summary: Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.
Review: I read slaughterhouse five in november of last year. I decided to try it out again a couple of weeks ago after reading several of his other books, because I felt I didn't fully understand Kurt Vonnegut or his writing style. Well, it was SO MUCH BETTER the second time around. I loved it the first time. The fractured and screwed up writing. Jumping back and forth 20, 30, 2, 12 years. But I just felt that I really got what he was trying to say the 2nd time. I understood what he meant with this brilliant book that actually said something about us. This and JAILBIRD are the best books by Kurt Vonnegut, so just try it out. Everything is beautiful, and nothing hurt.
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Summary: A Children's Dance With Death -or- The Crusade's Duty
Review: A few weeks ago, while pouring over a list of books to read for AP English III, my teacher recommended Slaughterhouse-Five for me (it was the only book my teacher thought I might enjoy). This project has introduced me to an excellent book and a great author. The book itself is filled with the symbolism and deeper meanings English teachers love, while mixing in plenty of dark humor, philosophy, and a twisted plot that I thoroughly enjoyed. While some of the philosophies presented in this book I do not necessarily agree with (predeterminism, no control over our own destiny), I must still rate this book as one of the best I have ever read. The Tralfamadorian (those are the aliens that abduct the main character, Billy Pilgrim) view of time truly opened my eyes (in more ways than one) to one theory as to the nature of time. If you have not read this book because it is 'sci-fi,' pick it up anyway. It should pleasantly surprise you.
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Summary: One of the Greatest novels ever
Review: Kurt Vonnegut! What eles needs to be said. The man is one of the greatest writers of our time. Slaughterhouse-five is my favorit novel by him. I have read most of his other works and I still have to say that this is still the best. If your a Vonnegut fan and you haven't read this, GET ON IT! You'll love it.
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Summary: Superficially simple, but plenty of depth
Review: This is a good one for those who don't enjoy long confusing passages or borish dialogue. Although one could take this novel as a humorous sci-fi novel, Vonnegut has incredible depth to this story. The sequences where Billy jumps back and forth in his life, the characteristics of the Traflamadorians, the descriptions of the Kilgore Trout novels, all make satrical points about life and how it is viewed and lived. If you wish to be entertained and edified, read this book.
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Summary: You Don't Understand
Review: This book is my favorite book of all time. It is in my opinion, one of the best written books of all time. Those who give this book a bad review are either to narrow-minded or to unintelligent to see the true meaning of this book. It is very, very, very good. It is also based on the authors experiences in World War II so its got factual parts to it. Also, the "So it goes" statement is a something the Tralfamadoreans say after someone dies. This is because they consider death to be another stage of life. As a result it is used after every reference to death, not after tragic events.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the Beef?
Review: I have read many works of fiction and nonfiction in my days, and have avoided most writers who dabble in so called "science fiction" for reasons that became glaringly obvious to me after finishing this book. After reading several reviews I was willing to take a stab at this book, and was ready to "stab" the book at its conclusion. I found this story to be profoundly dull and lacked the necessary ingredients to entertain a well read and intelligent mind. Why so many people think so highly of this book is a mystery I shall never hope to solve, probably not even on Tralfamadore. I found very little humor in it, and the wit was dry and unimaginative to say the least. I would strongly recommend anyone who thought they have read a profound piece of work in this book to turn their attentions to the brilliant prose of Thomas Hardy and then draw their conclusions. I am sure I will be able to forget this book in about 3 days, if not I will try to suffocate the memories with books worthy of an intellectual mind.
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Summary: Bloody good book.
Review: One of those books where after you read it you look at your copy and wonder how something of such power could be put on paper. Through Billy Pilgrim's experience with the aliens of Tralfamadore which take the reader to-and-fro various parts of Billy's life, you'll see that this book isn't so much about war but about how life gets caught up in war. Very offbeat book with loads of great parts, both sad and funny. Through Billy Pilgrim, an unfit soldier who had a horrible and embarrasing experience in WWII, Vonnegut paints a keen portrait of life. Like all Vonnegut books, this one has a load of great characters, including my favorite Vonnegut character Kilgore Trout (you gotta love his stories). Many of the characters are startlingly close to life. Soom good and some bad. Some make you see how rotten people can be, others make you see how wonderful (I know far too many Paul Lazzaros and far too few Elliot Rosewaters). When Vonnegut writes from a first-person point of view, the character is narrating, and that's all there is to it. But when Vonnegut writes from a third-person point of view, it's not just narrated, Vonnegut makes sure you know that he himself is narrating, and he's writing this book. This book is third-person, and (as in Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions) Kurt shows up in the pages. It really works well with this one. It cements this book's sense of reality when it could so easily float away (the plot does, after all, hinge around aliens in flying saucers).
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Summary: Slaughterhouse-Five
Review: Although Vonnegut's finest work, "Slaughterhouse-Five," touches on many subjects, one in particular is the dehumanization of war. "So it goes" is written after every tragic event in the novel, as if saying that terrible things occur often in wartimes and one must grow oblivious to them or the person will crumble. Billy admits that he never cried throughout the whole war, even through all of the deaths he had witnessed and the destitution he had survived. Vonnegut adds to his description of war's evils by suggesting that soldiers grow to be robots with no consciences as to what effect their desctructions really have. Vonnegut has beautifully constructed a novel which is laugh-out-loud funny, yet tragic, and extremely thought-provoking. A great book!
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Summary: The Characterization of Human Experience
Review: Every Vonnegut book I've read has been an adventure into the mind of one of America's best writers and into the essence of the American experience. Some of the books are true classics. Slaughterhouse Five is one of them. This book has no plot. Neither does life. It has no character development. Human character is shaped by events, not by revelation. If you like Stories (with a capital "S"), you may not like this book. If you're looking for an easy read, you definitely won't like this book. But if you've ever marveled at how life can seem so "unravelled" at the edges, then READ THIS BOOK! Vonnegut intentionally makes the plot and characterization of his novels difficult to analyze on the surface, because he's got a lot more important things to do with portraying the perplexing unfolding of human experience that is the substance of his work (and our lives). Slaughterhouse Five exemplifies Vonnegut's mastery of the Art of resolving the tension between our need to create order out of what we experience and the inevitable unpredictability of human nature and life events. How does he resolve this tension? And why should we care? Step out into your backyard on a warm Summer's night, take a long look up into the heavens, and think about what the Tralfamadorians are getting out of this experience.
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