Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Slaughterhouse-Five
Book Review: A Strange but Satisfying Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel reminded me of a bizarre abstract painting. Vonnegut is perhaps the Picasso of literature. Billy Pilgrim's bizarre story is told in pieces, jumbled and out of order, but the novel is still put together ingeniously. Vonnegut brilliantly adds in his touch of science fiction, toying with such matters as time travel and alien abduction, but these are only the backdrop for Billy's real story of sacrifice, tragedy, and the pains of violence and combat. Billy is a tortured hero, pathetic but still likeable. His story is a sad one and you feel as if you must like him or else. The review on the book says it well; it is a book "at which you are not permitted to laugh." One of my favorites of all time.Book Review: A Stunningly Satirical, Funny And Entertaining Book
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: A Thoughtful Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
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. MHRBook Review: A Wonderful Absurdity
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is as fascinating as it is strange. It takes an important and normal concept like W.W.II, and through narration, repetition, and dark humor, turns it into a strong political statement before you realize what it is really saying. Vonnegut writes this so that it is easy to read and it moves quickly. When he talks about violence or death, he points it out so blatantly and casually that it is disguised, and the reader quickly passes over it.
It is very serious and well thought out, despite its casual narration and humor. Kurt Vonnegut uses strange ideas like aliens to help paint a clear picture of the main character Billy Pilgrim's life, and provide a way to break up the war story and the horror of the Dresden bombing with other information.
The alien concept of time is also very interesting and provides something to think about for quite some time after reading the novel.
Book Review: A absurdist view of the fire-bombings of Dresden
Summary: 5 Stars
Slaughterhouse FiveIn "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut is trying to present how life is precious and how any form of war, no matter for what reason, is inhuman. Even though this book is antiwar, it was not its purpose to stop soldiers from fighting but end violence against innocent civilians. In his introduction, he says:"The drama of any raid on a civilian population, a gesture in diplomacy to a man like Henry Kissinger, is about the inhumanity of many of man's inventions to man." In this antiwar book I think that the most interesting idea is how Vonnegut brings aliens to this story to give it a taste of science fiction. The Trafalmadorians taught this character, a representative of the human race, how to travel through time and how to live and see one more dimension than he could see now. In one of his talks to Trafalmadorians, the alien says:"We Trafalmadorians read all at once, not one after another. There isn't any particular relationship between all the messages, except that when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep." He taught Billy to look deeper into each moment and see the profound meaning of life. And the profound meaning of life would be to live it and to enjoy it, rather than dying in some little stupid worthless war. Billy time travels in his mind but relives each moment in his imagination as if it is always happening. Each new sentence of the book Billy could be in a complete different place and when remembering he would relize that everything he did then was of no importnace to him now or then. He reminds us that life is to live and all of its ideas are not to be set aside because we have only one shot at life so why waste it. If you're interested in finding out how Vonnegut portrays soldiers in an anti-war book and how he puts civilians in the fight interweaving all of their experiences through the genre of science fiction, this is a book to read.