Rating: 
Summary: Slaughter House Five
Review: When I start to read a book, I always read the summary on the back first. This book's summary did not help me at all. The book is without a doubt, very different indeed. Nothing could have prepared me for what Slaughter-House-Five had in store for me. On a scale of one to ten, I would have to give the book a five, because of the way it was formatted. The chapters jump around so much between time scenes, that it made it very difficult to follow along. Besides that, the book was written very well. Kurt Vonnegut is a very descriptive writer, but I could have done without the foul language.
In a way, I feel that Kurt is Billy Pilgram, in that Kurt is senile and really thinks he is Billy. He might be suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), but that is too hard to tell from just one of his books. I've made that assumption thorough what I have felt the author was trying to say behind the lines. Kurt talks as himself in the first part chapter, and as if he were Billy in the rest of the book
There were parts of this book that made me laugh out loud when I was reading it. Other parts of this book gave me a real feeling of what it was like to be in the war and the hardships people went through. One thing I am for sure of is that Kurt Vonnegut is a very descriptive writer. There is just something about Slaughter-House-Five that drawls you into it and keeps you going even when you want to quit.
I truly enjoyed some parts of the book. I believe that the only reason that I wouldn't say that Slaughter-House-Five is one of my favorite books is because of the way that Kurt Vonnegut formatted it. I would recommend this book to a friend, if they really enjoyed reading and they could understand what is going on in between the lines.
Rating: 
Summary: Not an Ordinary Book
Review: The book that I read was "Slaughter-House-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a fictional story about a man named Billy Pilgrim. Billy experiences many interesting things throughout his life. They range from being a husband and a father of two children, to being a prisner of war. Throughout the book he meets many people from all over the world. He also believes that he had lived on the planet Tralfamadore.
"Slaughter-House-Five" was a real attention grabber. I had no problems getting into the story. On the other hand, this was not my favorite book to read. Throughout the book you feel lost in Billy's time travles. Different events or people that he meets, would spark his memory and the book's setting would change. For example, Billy would be talking about the war with someone and all of the sudden, he is back on his honey moon with his wife. In another Billy fell asleep and he would be back on the train in the war. These are just a few of the plot's twists. I found this organizational structure difficult to follow.
Secondly, the grusome details and language that was used to describe Billy Pilgrim's life in the book,was not only un-necessary but very explicit. For example, when Billy was on Tralfamadore with Montana Wildgack,Kurt Vonnegut explained what happened between them in great detail. To many details were also given when the book described Billy's wedding night. With less detail and language the story would have been just as effective. It also would appeal to more readers of different ages.
Even though the book was not my favorite, it had some great aspects. The description and personality anyalisis of the characters were amazing. It made the reader feel as thoughthey knew the character. Such as Edgar Derby. He was a high school teacher. when you first meet him, he does not seem very brave but, as you read on , you realize that he is not as cowderly as first suspected.
I think that Kurt Vonnegut had something big going for him with this book. "Slaughter-House-Five" would appeal to an older and mature audience. This is not a book for everyone. I guess it is just on of those thing that you either love or hate. This book opened my eyes to the events in my own life. It also made me realize no matter how bad my life is, it can always get worse.
Rating: 
Summary: A Stunningly Satirical, Funny And Entertaining Book
Review: This is an amazingly entertaining book. Before reading Slaughter House Five, I had never laughed out look while reading a book. No longer. This is brilliant book is extremely clever. It is original in almost every sense. I normally read non-fiction and was not entirely excited about reading this. But this book surprised me in spectacular ways. Vonnegut is outrageous. He is witty and he holds no punches. If you like fiction, you likely will like this book. If you are skeptical and think that fiction is a waste of your time, give this book a try. It will open your mind and make you wish that you were as creative as Kurt Vonnegut. This book reads very quickly and should be enjoyable to everyone who appreciates satire and surprise.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: There are some books which cross the barrier of time and cult. Slaughterhouse five is a book defining a whole genre and is a complete crusade against all our cannibalistic feeling with which nations try to destroy other nations. The book probably has a different meaning for every age group and defining it in totality will be difficult.
It is the story of a person engulfed in time wrap and jetting over his life span to have flashbacks of his vivid memory and in the process getting encircled by the enigma of his own life. The descriptions of war are better and more thought provoking than anything you have ever read. The borderline between the good and the bad is also very thin and shows only situation can turn good into bad and vice versa. You will love this book.
The book talks about the destruction of Dresden by Allied bombing but never fails to point out the Nazi atrocity which lead to the destruction. The main character Bill Pilgrim travels between various ages and in a concurrent view you will see that the war and the modern day sophisticated life hardly have any difference.
We still have children's crusade every where - young kids blow themselves up and fight for matyrdom nothing has really changed from second world war.
Rating:
Summary: The Children's Crusade
Review: Wonderful book. In a nutshell, this books is a novel in a novel. The book starts following the "author" who is wrote a story about Dredsen -- a famous bombing during WWII. The main character in his book is man who is able to move about in time as he will. That probably sounds a little confusing, but that's the best way I can describe it. This book doesn't glamorize war. In fact, it's a very anti-war book. It doesn't make the people in the war look like heroes with an unhealthy lust for defending their countries. Most of the characters were just human. Some were too old, too young, too cowardly for war. They questioned the need for war, but still they had no way to stop it. Many were too young for the war hence the sub-title "The Children's Crusade". But the book isn't just about war. Some might see it as a SciFi book (the time traveling). We see the character, Billy Pilgrim, in various stages of his life, his birth, his marriage, his wife's death, etc. This book is also slightly cheeky in nature. Some might see it as a satire. There are many things going on in this book making it one of those book that you have to read more than once to catch different subplots. Vonnegut has a style that tends to ramble, and I can see why that would annoy some people. The story also could be a little confusing, and one might question the point, but it made perfect sense to me. I enjoy this book muchly.
Rating:
Summary: A war book, a Sci-Fi or just a journey?
Review: This book is strange, very strange. Death permeates this book and, each time it is brought up the author pops his head above the waters and tells us, "So it goes." There are an awful lot of times we see the phrase, "So it goes." in this book. Is this an anti-war book, then? If there is a central episode in the book, and that's not exactly clear, it's the firebombing of Dresden on the 13th February, 1945 - an undefended civilian town. Although it's impossible to know how many people were killed, Kurt Vonnegut uses the high estimates in the book. Whatever the number it's clear that this was one of the most disturbing episodes in World War II and one that obviously effected Kurt immensely. The telling of this tale, then, could be considered anti-war. Indeed in chapter one, which is really an extended author's note, Kurt talks about this. He is cautioned against writing an anti-war book - it's like writing an anti-glacier book, he is told, because there is no way to prevent it. And I think that Kurt realizes this. And he tells us they'll always be death anyway. So it goes. "The Children's Crusade", the sub-title of the book, reveals the truth about the second world war - that it is fought by young, inexperienced unprepared men fighting for a country they don't really believe in. A character appears in the book, an American who has turned traitor and is working for the Nazis, who details how the American poor are so downtrodden that they have no sense of loyalty or proprietary - compared, we have to assume, with the salt-of-the-earth European poor. On this level, this book stands with "Catch-22" and "The Naked and the Dead" in giving a brutal, damning account of the ridiculousness of those who actually fought WW II. "All the real soldiers are dead." So it goes. But this novel isn't a war story at all. It permeates it but the substance is quite different (by the way, the sample pages are from chapter one which, as I have said, is more of an author's note, so they don't really capture the heart of the book).
The majority of the book is much stranger and is told in the third person (with wonderful interjections by the author as he is heard in the background on a troup train or in the prison camp!). We follow the life adventures of Billy Pilgrim (A Pilgrim's Progress of course), a sad delusioned man who believes he can journey back and forth in time. And that's the way the story is presented - snapshots of time. Click. We're seeing him thrown into the deep end of the pool by his father to see if he'll sink or swim. Click. He's in a prisoner of war camp watching Cinderella performed by British Officers. Click. He's been transported by the Tramalfadorians - an extra-planetary race who see in four dimensions and provide Billy with all of his extraordinary insights. Click. He's in a mental hospital shortly after the war. The mental health of Billy Pilgrim is something we have to contend with throughout the book. Strangely all of his insights provided by the Tramalfadorians have already been written by a fourth rate Sci-Fi author he is introduced to in a mental hospital. At one point he is put on display by the Tramalfadorians in a zoo and has to live on public display - eventually with an adult filmstar who has also been captured. Strangely the science fiction author has already written about such a zoo. So, is Billy Pilgrim just living these books in his deranged mind? Is everything happening as he is recovering from massive head injuries sustained in a plane crash? Is the author a fictional invention of his too, someone visible to him only? This is part of the brilliance of this book. Kurt Vonnegut skillfully weaves what appear to be (and I'm sure are) real-life experiences of his time in Germany during the war with a brilliant but fractured mind. The Tramalfadorians don't read books like we do. They have a set of experiences that are all read in parallel. The great authors are not those who can tell wonderful tales, not those who can define great characters but those who can make the overall feel of all of these simultaneous experiences be emotionally fulfilling. Of course what Kurt is doing with this book is precisely the same thing - we get this small snapshots that seem to come at us from all directions and leave us with an experience that is definitely more than the sum of it's parts. My review really cannot do justice to this book. It is an astonishing work and well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange Book... Normal Vonnegut
Review: Beginning a review for this book isn't an easy task. Most likely how it wasn't easy for Vonnegut to catalog his time in Dresden, as is evidence by this book. Yet, he still tells an intruiging story that subtly explains his view of that time. After a short prologue about the book (thought titled Chapter 1), we continue the story of Billy Pilgrim. Yes, continue. The events of Billy's life are not displayed in chronological order, but rather, in the order Billy experiences them in his mind, as he first falls through time and understands the events of his life from during his time in WWII, knowing his career, his relations, and even his death before he ever leaves Dresden. And even in these times, he falls through time while in these falls through time, as evidenced by his mate in the Tramalfadorian zoo. It's a fragmented story, trying to portray a man's fragmented life, while the undertones regard fate, massacre, and meaningless effort. And some of the story may not be real, or perhaps all of it is imagined while Billy daydreams in Nazi Germany, arousing problems with those around him. Things such as his abduction by the Tramalfadorians and being put in a zoo seem ridiculous, as well as his relation to Kilgore Trout and his reactions toward people. In short: Billy's mind is also fragmented. He can't think straight, he daydreams, and seems too stupid or awestruck by everything to understand what goes on around him. It's amazing a man this disoriented became a doctor; and maybe downright impossible if he really is imagining all his travels and experiences in different points in life. "Slaughterhouse Five" is a very strange novel, but it will have a profound effect on its reader, as one realizes near the end the impact of the words engraved on his mate's necklace towards the rest of the story. It's about fate, whether Billy imagined it or not, and while it's an odd tale, it's Vonnegut, and there's a valuable message, whether you agree with it or not. -Escushion
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Bittersweet, Vonnegut
Review: If ever I become dictator of the world, I will make this required reading for all my subjects. What can I say? Tears and laughter are not adequate for this work. It brought to the world Billy Pilgrim, the misfit loser with more than a few parallels to Jesus Christ. It brought to the world Vonnegut's deeply personal view of the bombing of Dresden. It confirmed that Vonnegut's wacky imagination could be applied to a serious subject to bring both hilarity and sorrow. It brought me, a person completely ignorant to the horrors of war, a person who can't stop eating his Three Musketeers candy bars, as close as I'll ever get to understanding war's consequences. With irony to spare and heart rending beauty, KV has made a true masterpiece. Recommended to fans of Sci fi, fantasy, and the human experience.
Rating:
Summary: if you ever thought war was a good idea...
Review: this will change your mind. Vonnegut explores human nature from inside and out, centered on human nature's darkest time, war, without being bound by the laws of time flow. Stylistically original. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut Is Easy to Outgrow
Review: The more Kurt Vonnegut I read, the more I begin to think his skills as a writer are somewhat limited and his writing itself sophomoric. However, "Slaughterhouse-Five" is certainly the best of what I've read of him, and unlike some of his other books ("Breakfast of Champions," for instance) holds up well to multiple readings. "Slaughterhouse-Five" is typical Vonnegut in many ways, but it works better than the majority of his novels due to an emotional element that is usually lacking. I felt for Billy Pigrim as a person and really cared whether or not he was able to pick up the pieces of his life and recover from the hell-on-earth atmosphere of World War II. One scene stands out clearly in my mind---Billy at the window of a factory that manufactures (maple syrup I think? Anyway, something sweet) and crying as he licks a spoon---crying because of the utter simplicity and unqualified pleasure something like maple syrup can give him. It's as if the intensity of the horror he experiences during the fire-storming of Dresden increases the intensity of all other experiences as well, so that for this one moment, his whole world has come down to the taste of maple syrup on a spoon. Wow, what a great scene. This novel inevitably gets compared to "Catch-22" because of its subject matter and quirky tone, but really the two books aren't very similar. I like "Catch-22" better, but would still recommend "Slaughterhouse-Five."
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