Like a lot of people who love this book, I first read Slaughterhouse Five when I was a teenager. I was young, unsuspecting, and worse yet, innocent. Many years have now gone by. But unlike Billy Pilgrim, I did not need prompting from a flying saucer to become unstuck in time. I did it with my own free will. By itself, the feat was easy. All I had to do was dig out my old pocket size copy of the novel. It has chew marks in the upper left corner, left by a beloved dog. He's long gone, too. Tralfalmadorean years. Earthling years. So it goes.

Time does have a strange effect on someone rereading Slaughterhouse Five. This isn't nostalgia so much as a renewed conviction of that book's contribution to literary culture. After all, it introduced the Planet Tralfalmadore. What's lovely about the creatures who live there is that nothing much bothers them--not bombs, not hunger, not crowds, and least of all, history--although Billy Pilgrim is plagued by them all. That's because unlike Pilgrim (an Earthling), the Tralfalmadoreans don't believe in free will. They don't even believe in Time. They claim it's all in our minds. To help us understand this, they compare Time to bugs trapped in amber. At any given point, "here we are, ...trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why."

Upon getting sucked into the Tralfalmadoreans' flying saucer, Billy Pilgrim is compelled to relinquish his Earthling traits of free will and time stuckness. This is a mixed blessing mainly because he gets to relive the horrors of a prisoner of war train in Germany, and subsequently, the carpet bombing of Dresden.

From billions of possible Earthlings, Billy Pilgrim was selected for no explicable reason by Tralfalmadoreans who don't need reasons. In fact, they are deeply perplexed at the Earthling compulsion to explain things. For example, I like to figure out why I like this writer or that one--then write about it. I'm getting better, though. I'm learning from the Tralfalmadoreans to say, "I just do." Ironically, I'm still tempted to explain, at the very least, why I love this particular writer, Kurt Vonnegut--the best Tralfalmadorean translator we have. It's his gift for irreverence, second only to his talent for inventing absurd names. Take the porn star, Montana Wildhack. There's no improving on that. Montana, by the way, was abducted by Tralfalmadoreans. In captivity she was kept in a zoo and mated to the most hapless Earthling her captors could find--Billy Pilgrim. So it goes.

Vonnegut joked that he didn't know if people read his books after high school. With that in mind, trying to get re-acquainted with Slaughterhouse Five can bring up a vague feeling of dread. I didn't think I'd be able to enjoy the book as I did when I was nineteen, assuming the inbetween years have left me as jaded as Earthling years do. Back then, Slaughterhouse Five had been endearing (buffoonish, but endearing). But other than the funny parts, what I remembered most were the parts that made me cry.

Goofery aside, there are profound moments in this book. They tend to involve violence. In the German prison camp, a guard takes offense at a remark uttered by one of the American soldiers--and roughs him up. The prisoner is stunned, having intended no harm by what he said. Likely, though, it implied self-pity. Rising from the ground with two teeth missing, the boy asks, "Why me?" Shoving him back into the prisoner ranks, the guard replies, "Vy you? Vy anybody?"

Along with the raging humanity, Vonnegut offers self-mockery to spare. A bit turns up in the fictitious, embittered science fiction writer, Kilgore Trout. By happy coincidence, Trout lives in the same home town as Billy Pilgrim--one of his most avid fans. The problem is that the literary hero is a hack. "His prose was frightful. Only his ideas were good." So it goes.

Slaughterhouse Five is still best read with a dose of innocence. It is innocence, after all, that inspires a nineteen-year-old to sign personal letters, "Yours Truly, From Tralfalmadore." I haven't done that in years (more evidence that I truly am jaded). This is, of course, a time thing. All I know is that quite a lot's gone down in the amber since Dresden, enough accumulated calamity to leave even the Tralfalmadoreans in awe--if they believe in calamity, that is. It just so happens they don't. For Tralfalmadoreans, everything just is.

But there's a warp and I'm back on Earth again. More hours have gone by, which bestows on me the privilege of reporting "I done it" (a phrase I will forever connect with Kurt, see his short story, "Great Day" in Armageddon In Retrospect). I've reread Slaughterhouse Five and still manage to laugh. Better yet, the big sleep of adulthood has not altered Tralfalmadorean love as much as I thought it would have. I appreciate (and need) the wisdom of those creatures as much as ever. It might be faith, denial, or blindness. Some say there's not much difference. I have a deeper suspicion. It's the Tralfalmadorean spell. Time passes, and doesn't. The glob of amber is real.

This is a great book and an interesting insight into Kurt's world. The long awaited Dresden Novel that he claimed to be working on for so many years. I didn't find it funny, but sobering. There are many many great quotes to be taken from it and I'm sure they have been taken many times. It is worth reading for it's history alone, but deeper still there are tidbits of meaning and reality for the reader. The ending is a bit different than I would have expected, but I really enjoyed it, and consumed it in less than a day ( as I did also, with Mother Night). It is sobering and somber, but a great book, either way. It deserves it ranking with the top 100 novels of all time, and should be allowed in High Schools as required reading with or without the cussing.
I am happy to have added it to my collection. But sad that there will not be more books like it.

I don't care who you are, you absolutely need to read this book. It's justly considered a classic. The thing about it is that it isn't really a "humor book" like some of Vonnegut's other, justly famous works (Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater). Parts of it are funny - I especially like the segments with the bitter Kilgore Trout, a sci-fi author reputed to be one of the worst ever - but humor isn't the focus of this book. Rather, it focuses on creativity and a solid message. Most if not all of Kurt's work is topical to some extent, but here his message comes to the fore.
Vonnegut's view of time here is fascinating. Rather than present it as a straight line, as most other authors do, he explores its more abstract natures. To him, time is not a line, but a complex network of points that anybody at any time can travel arbitrarily amongst. This is prime creativity. Some of the most memorable segments of the book involve hapless hero Billy Pilgrim becoming "unstuck in time." The first time he describes it, he takes a beautiful, "poetic-prose" approach. He floats freely through ideas, ideas that intentionally don't connect but are still beautifully written. Billy actually experiences both his birth and his death over the course of the book.
But here is the REAL reason why you need to read Slaughterhouse-Five. It's very much an anti-war book, and the central message it communicates is that there are no heroes in war. The war Vonnegut focuses on is World War II, specifically the Allies' firebombing of Dredsen, Germany, an event that killed more people than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's clear that Vonnegut holds Nazi Germany in the utmost of contempt. But he also makes the claim that the Allies were not flawless, wonderful supermen. It's obvious that he believes in their ideals, but he also argues that they could be just as bad as their enemies. After all, countless German civilians were killed during the Dredsen firebomings, and I'm going to guess most of them had nothing to do with the Axis powers. In today's world, in today's wars, things aren't so black-and-white, and I think our President desperately needs a reminder of that. This conviction of his that America is the heroic cowboy, shooting down them no-good varmints with a gun in every holster, then mounting his horse and riding off into the sunset, is simply delusional. Don't get me wrong, I have as much if not more hatred for the terrorists our soon-to-be-ex-President (hopefully to be replaced by Barack Obama, but that's irrelevant) is so staunchly opposed to. They certainly are psychopaths, and the world would be a better place without them. But I can at least see where they're coming from. After all, hasn't America stolen their culture with its obsession with a globalist economy? There are no clear-cut heroes or villains in this war. Both sides have understandable motives, and while I admittedly side with the U.S. on this matter (though the Iraq War is at least as unnecessary as the Vietnam War, and has arguably done more damage to our country's reputation), the terrorists do have a point, I suppose. And that's why you need to read this book. Because war isn't as simple and clear-cut as certain presidents would like to believe it is. This is a fine example of preaching to the choir, since I'm a pacifist (except in extreme cases, like World War II), but I simply love this book on many, many levels. Vonnegut's masterpiece. If you wanted proof that he was an author of real literary merit and not just some weirdo - though if that's the case, you can't be my friend - this is a sure bet.

Vonnegut's novel is about life, thought process, and death set against the author's life experiences in Dresden during WWII and his fictional character, Billy, who we see through memories and partial linear plot line. In my opinion, the story, however; very important, is not the point of this novel. Vonnegut used the novel as a vehicle to show us the purpose of being human which is life, thought process, and death. In my opinion, this is why the novel is not written in the traditional way: beginning, middle, climax, end. Vonnegut shows us through the vehicle of a novel, how the brain operates and how society operates which are connected unconsciously and consciously. Vonnegut's novel should be read by everyone.

I have sat here for some time now pondering on what exactly to write, but with so many other reviews, which are excellent, I am left a bit uncreative. Let's just say this is a great book. SL5 was recommended to me in a lit class I took last semester, and I picked it up a few weeks ago and devoured it the next day. It was one of those books that was so original, meaningful, and funny (in a dark humorous way), that I could not put it down. I even left a spaghetti stain on a page because I was reading while eating.

Anyway, all these reviews say so much about the book, that all I have to say is I agree with all the other good reviews. This is a great book, and it is hard not to like it. Check it out, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

This is Kurt Vonnegut's Masterpiece. It achieves everything that good science fiction aspires to achieve. The world of Billy Pilgrim is not to be missed. This definitely has to be one of the greatest science fiction books ever written if not it is in the top 10.

John

June 9, 2008

Criticism on Slaughterhouse 5

Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut, describes the unpredictability of life, as well as the inability to control it. The main character of the book, Billy Pilgrim, goes on many different adventures, some at home, and some on other planets several quadrillions of miles away from earth. Many lessons are taught in the book, some which certain people may disagree with. Among these are ideas that cannot be controlled, and the future cannot be altered by your decisions. Another suggestion is that death is not a large thing to worry about, as one can remember the good parts of someone's life, not just how they are now. However, these lessons have the potential to be disregarded by people who believe otherwise, if they are not already.

An interesting aspect of the book is that it is written in a format similar to the described Tralfamadorian format in the book. Several small passages make up the majority of the book, which alludes to the way the inhabitants of planet Tralfamadore format their books. Their books are meant to contain many short, happy memories that can all be viewed at once to form a single image of contentment. However, not all of the scenes in this book may be viewed as joyful. Plenty morose sections counter the good in this book.

The repetition of "so it goes" (1) in this book is unique and confusing. Usually it follows a mention of death, therefore following the main theme of life being uncontrollable, but is absent at certain instances, such as the death of Russians. This may be because the author doesn't like this group of people for some reason, or it may just be one of the many cases of disrespect in this book.

This novel has many inappropriate aspects as well. Wikipedia commented that "Because of its realistic and frequent depiction of swearing by American soldiers, its irreverent language (including the sentence `The gun made a ripping sound like the opening of the zipper on the fly of God Almighty,') and some sexually explicit content, Slaughterhouse-Five is among the most frequently banned works in American literature, and in some cases is still removed from school libraries and curricula." (2) This is true, as many swear words were often repeated, and coupled with pornographic content at the end of chapter nine, this book may not be recommended to some audiences. Not to mention the fact that the repetition of this content distracts from the meaning found in this novel. However, any alterations to create a censored book would drastically alter the plot, so unfortunately it is hard to avoid this content if one wishes to read the novel.

In conclusion, Slaughterhouse 5 is a unique book with many hidden details that this criticism just touched the surface of, though it may not be recommended to some audiences. Vonnegut has created another novel that matches his style exactly.

(1) Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
(2) Wikipedia Search "Slaughterhouse 5"

Straightforward Fantasy of Baffling Reality

Billy Pilgrim has been unstuck in time, and I feel that way too. Through my English class, the whole contemporary style threw me completely off. This is not Dickens. This is not Steinbeck either. The closest I've read before is James Joyce, but I had no clue what he was saying. The similarity: half my brain cells died reading either book.
So it goes. However, this book is not going to be like any other war book you've
ever read-besides the usage of drugs as a plot device. This story has one of many interpretations. I am certain I have overanalyzed this book over and over again, but this is what I feel about the book.
The first is the easiest to explain and understand. Kurt Vonnegut is crazy and disillusioned after the onset of a terrible war including the hellish bombing of Dresden during World War II. This could easily explain for the random twists, plot spins, alien abductions, etc. However, this seems too simple an explanation.
Another explanation is an extremely deep one: the characters in the story are intended to be completely sane, and the book is not as much an antiwar novel as much as an analysis on free will. The narrator includes countless allusions to this argument, starting when Vonnegut compares stopping a war to stopping a glacier, to when the Trafamadoreans tell Billy Pilgrim that free will does not exist, to Billy getting thrown into the deep end of a pool. Billy is being taught the "sink or swim" method by his dad, but is rescued "against his free will" when they find out that he actually likes the bottom of the pool.
At this point, I cannot say that I have made a thorough analysis. I have practically nothing good to say. Perhaps the only thing I have left to say is "poo-tee-weet?"

I can almost imagine the author sitting at his typewriter, his wallpaper outline in yellow crayon tacked on the wall, typing a line at a time--all the while wondering if this book would ever be finished.

Because that is how it reads. It's random, with moments of brilliance. The first and last chapters were actually intro and epilogue, while Chapters 2 and beyond were the real "story". Characters may or may not play a part. A frozen hobo is a stark image, but what does it mean? Words and colors are interwoven - beginning with breath that reeks like mustard gas and roses, only to find it again in an underground tomb in Dresden. Like I said, brilliant--but random.

I read it twice, and liked it better the second time.

Set during World War II, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is a humorous antiwar book. Billy Pilgrim is a war veteran who becomes "unstuck in time." He seems to be obsessed with the aliens, called the Tralfamadorians, that supposedly abducted him and could see in the fourth dimension. Right off the bat, Slaughterhouse-Five has caught our attention. As we read through the novel, the way we experience it is the same as Billy sees time, disconnected and random. The book keeps jumping from time period to time period, thoroughly confusing the reader. In some places, Vonnegut makes himself a character in his own novel. It is confusing to the point that the reader has no idea if Billy or Vonnegut is talking.
The novel makes us slightly disillusioned in the fact that we don't know the difference between real and fake. We are convinced (as is his family) that Billy is crazy and what he tells us about the Tralfamadorians is obviously untrue. But how are we to know if everything else he tells us of the war is true? The satire and irony in this book add comic relief to what would usually be a depressing scene, to our enjoyment.
The genius of Slaughterhouse-Five is that Vonnegut seems so apathetic about war in places that we wonder why this is even considered an antiwar book. But the reality is that his use of understatement and reverse psychology arouses feelings in us. When he says war cannot be stopped, we think (more passionately than if he was agreeing with us) that yes, it can. When he says there is no such thing as free will, we say yes, there is. All in all, Slaughterhouse-Five is an enjoyable way to use one's time.

Despite its international acclaim and enormous cult fan base, Slaughterhouse-Five is a novel that by conventional standards should not have been. "This book was written by a pillar of salt," author Kurt Vonnegut remarks in the prologue as he attempts to relive the Dresden firebombing; and from that moment on the reader goes on a time warped journey through the past, future, and fourth dimension always returning to the horrific massacre during World War II that he can never explain because there can be nothing to say.
After serving in the war as one of the worst soldiers ever, he marries a rich fiancé he doesn't love and works a job he doesn't deserve. Although he has enough wealth to give him security, he has no control over his life because he has become "unstuck in time," fast forwarding and rewinding to different moments in his life, never knowing which one he will visit next.
At some point he is kidnapped by plunger-shaped aliens from the planet Tralfamadore and adopts their fatalistic views that time is not linear but a moments that you can visit any time. In this way, the structure of the novel reflects this Tralfamadorian ideal, jumping out of order instead of going chronologically. Billy claims to draw comfort from this but the reader is ultimately struck by the impotence of this character.
Although Vonnegut died last year at age 84 (so it goes), his masterpiece is still considered one of the most remarkable anti-war books to be published; bizarre and humorous yet subtly heartrending, this novel boldly strips down the glorified war epic, ultimately concluding that there are no words for such a senseless experience with the destruction of war.
Poo-tee-weet?

Okay--so the juxtaposition of war, time travel, and alien abduction was certainly inventive, and the Vonnegut's deadpan frankness in dealing with the book's subject matter would have been fairly revolutionary for the time. The book is also brilliantly structured--jumping from fragment to fragment of Billy Pilgrim's life with masterful control and timing--all without a boring or confusing moment. I can see why the book is considered a classic, and it's probably deserving of that label. I still didn't like it.

A label of which the book isn't deserving is "anti-war." I was surprised to see several reviews rhapsodize about Vonnegut's "screaming rage" against the absurdity and tragedy of war, so much so that I began to wonder if I had indeed read "Slaughterhouse-Five" and not some other acclaimed novel involving the Dresden firebombing and Tralfamadorians. If anything, the book is about accepting war and tragedy as part of life and trying to deal with it. The book is depressingly (and, after a while, rather annoyingly) blasé about death, no matter how horrible or unjust. Death by assassination? So it goes. Death by gangrene? So it goes. Death by torture? So it goes. Thousands killed in the firebombing of Dresden? So it goes. I realize that Vonnegut experienced the firebombing firsthand and that the subject is probably one of great personal importance to him--which only makes me wonder why the event isn't given any more emotional weight. The novel almost feels like an attempt by Vonnegut to ameliorate the tragedy, rather than to make any meaningful statement about it. Or maybe the amelioration is his statement. At any rate, I also missed the apparently abundant black humor. There is an almost overwhelming amount of tragedy within the novel's slim frame, with the only ray of "hope" being that, in the big picture, the life of the individual doesn't really matter anyway. If you find that notion funny, you'll probably pick up on the humor. And like the book.

As a side note, I found "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami, while wildly different in many aspects, to be oddly similar to "Slaughterhouse-Five" in both subject matter and in its juxtaposition of war brutality and fantasy. While Kurt Vonnegut undoubtedly displays a finer control of lanuage, I found Haruki Murakami's approach funnier, more affecting, more emotionally satisfying--and, if possible, even weirder.

Somehow I was never required to read this in high school or college. I read it shortly after graduating from college and I loved it. It is an engaging and interesting read, and at times can be bizarre and unusual but it is worth every second that is put into reading it. It is a great combination of historical fiction and science fiction. Who knew aliens and WWII could go so well together? The way the story unfolds and the unusual order in which it is told only add to the enjoyment of reading it.

I will definitely read this book again. I also will be purchasing more books by Vonnegut.

Following "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut swore off novels. In the introduction to his 1970 play, "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," Vonnegut quotes himself: "I'm left-handed now, and I'm through with Novels. I'm writing a play. It's plays from now on." Thankfully he didn't keep this promise. "Breakfast of Champions" appeared a mere three years later. An eye blink in time. Maybe Vonnegut thought he couldn't outdo his 1969 masterpiece? His Everest was conquered, so to say. Understandable, because "Slaughterhouse Five" remains his most quoted, chatted about, and revered book. And though it fits square-peg square-hole right into his body of work, he never wrote anything else quite like it. Next year it turns 40. It has had a difficult life. Some potty-mouthed irreverent language made it anathema to didactic schoolmarms and the straight-laced. But controversy usually bites back, and the book entered the national spotlight. Censorship has always fueled sales. Even back then. Business 101.

"Slaughterhouse Five" tells the story of a secular messiah optometrist, Billy Pilgrim. Like Vonnegut, who appears as the "I" and "me" throughout the book, Pilgrim was in a bomb shelter when Allied forces firebombed the cultural haven of Dresden to absolute smithereens. Historical descriptions are ghastly. Though the German government later revised the initial estimates of 135,000 dead to around 35,000, it remains a brutal massacre nonetheless. Pilgrim comes to Dresden via the Battle of the Bulge where he and his companions are captured and shipped in miserable rail cars to a prison camp. There, proud and hearty British officers feed and entertain them until the Nazis transfer Pilgrim's unit to Dresden as laborers. Once there, they sleep in "Schlachthof-fünf," or "Slaughterhouse Five," where meat was once processed. Soon after, the city gets drenched in flames as the prisoners sit helplessly in subterranean bomb shelters. Horror awaits them when they emerge. Dresden now looks like the surface of the moon.

Though Dresden's destruction undoubtedly provided the inspiration for Vonnegut's magnum opus, the story focuses more on the life of Pilgrim and his revelations on temporality. But being a "witness" to Dresden carries far-reaching implications. And there is nothing linear about this narrative or its implications. It begins, famously, with the line "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." Like Christ, on who he's loosely modeled (hints abound throughout the text, though this is by no means a religious book), Pilgrim has "good news" for humanity. Good news about time and the impact of death. We've been wrong all along, it turns out. After surviving Dresden, becoming a rich and successful optometrist, Pilgrim gets abducted by aliens in 1967. They take him 446,120,000,000,000,000 miles from earth. There he becomes the center of attention, the supposed "perfect specimen" of humanity. Even his urinating causes cheering. In short, he's in an alien zoo. These aliens, known as Tralfamadorians, give Pilgrim a new view of time. Time isn't linear, they tell him. It's total. Every moment has always existed and always will exist. So we live forever. On top of that, in the zoo Pilgrim gets to mate with a human hottie: Montana Wildhack (as opposed to Valencia, the unattractive woman he marries for money and stability). All of his dreams come true. He no longer fears death (presented as violet light and a hum). He's free, and he wants to tell the world. Of course humanity, including his own daughter, consider him nuts. Pilgrim has internalized this philosophy of time, and he jumps from one episode of his life to another, seemingly at random. Only Kilgore Trout seems to understand.

Pilgrim's view of time provides the novel's main tension and theme: the old hoary question of free will and determinism. The Tralfamadorians are deep determinisists. In fact, Earth represents the only planet they know of where talk of "free will" occurs. They provide the mouthpiece for one of Vonnegut's most poignant lines: "Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why." Such passages have led to debates concerning the novel's view of free will. Was Vonnegut denying free will? Does he think we have any control over our destiny? The novel doesn't take sides. Instead, it presents a middle path in the form of a brilliant Vonnegut cartoon. A locket hangs between two potato shaped breasts - Montana Wildhack's breasts. It reads: "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." So are we free or determined? Both. The most important thing humans can do is know the limits of our powers. Some things we can change, other things we cannot. With this masterstroke, Vonnegut also helps redeem the often disparaged medium of cartoons.

Finally, no discussion of "Slaughterhouse Five" can ignore the book's most ubiquitous phrase: "So it goes." Vonnegut inserts this laconic quip whenever a death occurs. Some have interpreted this move as making light of or as dismissing the impact of mortality. But this repetitive leitmotif can also produce the opposite effect: it can magnify death's impact by simple repetition. After finishing the book, "So it goes" will likely linger in the head for days. Though "so it goes" represents and calls attention to death, it nonetheless reads as humor, but as "naughty humor" evoking hesitant or guilty laughter. Many critics have described Vonnegut's work as a perfect combination of funny and sad. This aptly describes the effect of "So it goes." Likely "Slaughterhouse Five," a deceptively easy read, will stand as Vonnegut's major work as long as people continue to read twentieth century literature. Sadly, Vonnegut passed away in 2007. One is tempted to say "so it goes," but unaccompanied by laughter. All one can say is thanks for this book, Kurt, and everything else.

Following "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut swore off novels. In the introduction to his 1970 play, "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," Vonnegut quotes himself from a discussion with his brother: "I'm left-handed now, and I'm through with Novels. I'm writing a play. It's plays from now on." Of course he didn't keep this promise. "Breakfast of Champions" appeared in a mere eye blink of three years later. Maybe Vonnegut thought he couldn't outdo his 1969 masterpiece? His Everest was conquered, so to say. Understandable, because "Slaughterhouse Five" remains his most quoted, chatted about, and revered book. And though it fits square-peg square-hole right into his body of work, he never wrote anything quite like it before or after. Next year it will turn 40. Many happy returns! It has had a difficult life, like its main character, Billy Pilgrim. Some potty-mouthed irreverent language made it anathema to schoolmarms and the straight-laced. As always, controversy breeds interest - we humans love to roll in it - and the book received more, not less, attention. Censorship fuels sales.

"Slaughterhouse Five" tells the story of a secular messiah optometrist, Billy Pilgrim. Like Vonnegut, who appears as the "I" and "me" in this book, Pilgrim was in a bomb shelter when Allied forces firebombed the cultural haven of Dresden, Germany to absolute smithereens. Historical descriptions are ghastly. Though the German government later revised the initial estimates of 135,000 dead to around 35,000, it remains a massacre nonetheless. Pilgrim comes to Dresden via the Battle of the Bulge where he and his companions are captured and shipped in miserable rail cars to a prison camp. There, proud and hearty British officers feed and entertain them until the Nazis transfer Pilgrim's unit to Dresden as laborers. Once there, they sleep in "Schlachthof-fünf," or "Slaughterhouse Five," where meat was once processed. Soon after, the city gets drenched in flames as the prisoners sit helplessly in subterranean bomb shelters. Horror awaits them when they emerge.

Though Dresden's destruction undoubtedly provided the inspiration for Vonnegut's magnum opus, the story really focuses on the life of Pilgrim and his revelation on temporality. But being a "witness" to Dresden carries far-reaching implications. And there is nothing linear about this narrative or its implications. It begins, famously, with the line "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time." Like Christ, on who he's loosely modeled (hints abound throughout the text, though this is by no means a religious book), Pilgrim has "good news" for humanity. Good news about time and the impact of death. We've been wrong all along. After surviving Dresden, becoming a rich and successful optometrist, Pilgrim gets abducted by aliens in 1967. They take him 446,120,000,000,000,000 miles from earth. There he becomes the center of attention, the supposed "perfect specimen" of humanity. Even his urinating pleases the crowd. In short, he's in an alien zoo. These aliens, known as Tralfamadorians, give Pilgrim a new view of time. Time isn't linear, they tell him. It's total. Every moment has always existed and always will exist. So we live forever. On top of that, in the zoo Pilgrim gets to mate with a human hottie: Montana Wildhack (as opposed to Valencia, the unattractive woman he marries for money and stability). All of his dreams come true. He no longer fears death (presented as violent light and a hum). He's free, and he wants to tell the world. Of course humanity, including his own daughter, consider him nuts. Pilgrim has internalized this philosophy of time, and he jumps from one episode of his life to another, seemingly at random. Only Kilgore Trout seems to understand.

Pilgrim's view of time forms the novel's main tension and theme: the old hoary question of free will and determinism. The Tralfamadorians are deep determinisists. In fact, Earth represents the only planet they know of where talk of "free will" occurs. They provide the mouthpiece for one of Vonnegut's most poignant lines: "Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why." This theme has led to debates concerning the novel's view of free will. Was Vonnegut denying free will? Do we have any control over our destiny? Exclusive polar opposites do not resolve this issue. Instead, the novel presents a middle path in the form of a brilliant Vonnegut cartoon. A locket hangs between two potato shaped breasts - Montana Wildhack's breasts. It reads: "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." So are we free or determined? Both. The most important thing humans can do is know the limits of our powers. Some things we can change, other things we cannot. Cartoons always get a bad rap. Vonnegut redeems them.

Finally, no discussion of "Slaughterhouse Five" can ignore the book's most ubiquitous phrase: "So it goes." Vonnegut inserts this laconic quip after every death. Some interpret this as making light of or dismissing the impact of mortality. This leitmotif can also produce the opposite effect by drawing attention to death. "So it goes" lingers in the head for days after closing the back cover. It even became Vonnegut's personal anthem in speeches and other works. "So it goes" represents death, and there's usually nothing comical about that, particularly in this context. Nonetheless, it reads as funny, but as a "naughty funny" in that it evokes hesitant or guilty laughter. Many critics describe Vonnegut's novels as both funny and sad, and this aptly describes "So it goes."Anyone reading only one Vonnegut book should read "Slaughterhouse Five." Though reading it will only produce a desire to read more. Likely this short and deceptively easy read will stand as his major work as long as people read twentieth century novels. Sadly, Kurt Vonnegut passed away in 2007. One is tempted to say "so it goes," but without any laughter whatsoever. Thanks for "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt, and everything else.

Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Have wanted to read it for years. Ordering and shipping very efficient. Thank You

One of the first 'science fiction' books I ever read. Really whet my appetite for the genre. Vonnegut does not sacrifice character development for quirks of plot. Surprisingly easy to follow, despite all the jumping about in time.

It is not my usual stuff but it had some interesting ideas. I have to admit though that I checked out the Spark Notes just to make sure I was keeping up with everything. The "getting unstuck" and traveling back and forth through time was a bit nerve racking but in the end, I understood why he did it. At least I think I do. Either Vonnegut is a literary genius or a complete fool. Judging from his popularity though I am going to say that it is the former. If not, we are all the latter.

The man known as Kurt Vonnegut is an absolute genius with the pen. I will admit that the first chapter of this story is very drab and unappealing to read but it is still an amazing novel in the middle. The detail that Vonnegut puts into all of his characters is amazing; no matter how unimportant they are to the story he still adds enough description so that you can picture the characters in your head. The way that the book jumps from one place in time to another is amazingly done. This book has its sad parts and its glad parts but all the parts when put together make an awesome book.

Nothing I can say would ever add to the legacy this book already has. So let's just accent it: The best.

And I am humbled every time I read him. My back is bowed from too much bowing in reverence.

Slaughterhouse-Five (or The Children's Crusade) is an anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. about the bombing of Dresden, Germany at the end of World War II. While Kurt Vonnegut was a POW at Germany he related the experience of being in Dresden through the character of Billy Pilgrim. Billy is deeply disturbed by what he experiences at Dresden and through the rest of his life he travels to different moments in time. He believes that he was abducted by aliens, Tralfamadorians, who can see and travel through all moments in time. This discussion of time is one of the most fascinating parts of the book.

This creates a disjointed effect as Billy tells the story of being captured and sent to Dresden, interspersed with experiences from the rest of his life. Kurt Vonnegut makes interesting use of prose with many repeating phrases, the most common of which is "so it goes" which comes after death (to include animals and even a glass of water). It seems to create the effect numbing effect of seeing as much death as the author saw in World War II, while at the same time highlighting each instance.

This is a creative and engaging anti-war novel that is also very well written. A very quick read but one that provokes some thought.

This book is overrated. Although it is interesting and I couldn't put it down, I found that its standing as a perennial anti-war book is undeserved. Sledge, in With the Old Breed, had a more profound impact on my understanding of the destruction, horror, and sense of helplessness and despair in war.

Well written but the plot really does jump around quite a bit because he is time traveling, quite often from the past to the future back and forth. I read it because someone had told me the lead character was an optometrist, which is what i do. The book on its own which tries to portray the horror that was the bombing of Dresden actually witnessed by the author seems strangely included in this science fiction time story including an alien planet called Tralfalmadore. It just seems weird to me that the important truth of the horrific firebombing of people and the incredible loss of life should be juxtaposed to twilight zone science fiction of man in a zoo on the Tralfalmadore planet. Odd mix but for some reason i do revisit the images from the book. Quite honestly, if it weren't considered a classic I'd probably be more apt to give it 3 stars.

This is an easy-to-read satire that alludes to the weighty concepts of war, death and fate but never seems to bring home the point. The novel seems to revel in the fact that it even though it is simple it is really about the Big Ideas ("Look at me! Look at me!"). Just mentioning those ideas over and over again without examining them is not enough.

This was my first Kurt Vonnegut book. It took perhaps 50 pages for me to get into his unique style of writing. I did not particularly enjoyed it at first. I was especially annoyed by the constant use of the phrase, "so it goes". But once I decided to go with the unusual style and writing I began to enjoy it a lot. The story follows the life of a WWII veteran. and jumps through time (past, present and future) constantly. Time lines are not separated by chapters and within one page, time jumps around several times. To make it more interesting the protagonist believes (or maybe he really was, but I believe it is not important whether he really was) that he was abducted by people from another planet and that he can travel through time. The reader can interpret this part as science fiction or merely that the protagonist is mentally ill. Vonnegut describes his life on the other planet, where he is in a zoo. Despite what sounds like a complex plot, the story is surprisingly easy to follow and delightful.

The author admits that he intended to write an anti-war book. Through comedy and the story's unique characters, he delivers an entertaining book that will leave you with a lot to think about. The craziness of the story parallels the craziness of war. I highly recommend it and even if you don't end up liking the book, it will be a short time investment. It took me about a day to get through it.

Personally, I do not care for Kurt Vonnegut's politics and lack of faith. The underlying story of Dresden is quite interesting. However, it has been in vapid dispute the number of dead that Vonnegut claims as irrefutable fact. Vonnegut paints his star "protagonist" as an uncaring nihilist. Furthermore, sporadically dispersed throughout the novel are anti-Christian rants and allusions. I believe everyone can agree war is horrible. However, the author could have wrote about it without the liberal, anti-Christian, nihilist prose. Slaughterhouse five is basically the personal view's of Vonnegut with a mildly amusing story about Dresden during World War II.

A friend of mine refused to read this book because she thought it was a glorification of slaughterhouses. I don't know where she got this impression, but once I assured her (and promised to give her $250 if she was right) she read the book and declared that her life was changed. She disappeared and I haven't seen her in ten years, so I can't be any more specific about precisely what about the book changed her life.
Anyhow, this book is not about slaughterhouses, per se. I think that any prospective reader should know that. Of course, a slaughterhouse (specifically, number 5) does figure into the narrative, but no cows actually get slaughtered. Come to think of it, this book deals with themes a bit more disturbing than cows getting slaughtered: war, death, man's inhumanity, etc. I have also translated this book into French, mostly for my own enjoyment. It's titled Abbatoire Cinq.
I recommmend this book, and I hope that you, whoever is reading this review, will buy or borrow it, and spend an afternoon or two reading it. It's really quite good.

This book is just plain weird. The main character is "unstuck" in time and lives events out-of-order. There's an alien abduction, and he's taken to live in one of their zoos. And there is no traditional conclusion, so we never get a nice wrapped-up story line.

However, Slaughterhouse-Five is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, such as when we get to hear an interpretation of the Bible by an alien researcher. And for being a great work of literature, there's plenty of profanity, crude humor, sexual innuendo, and violence (death and detailed discussions of torture).

Overall, an entertaining read worth checking out.

This is a beautifully printed and bound edition of Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, with a nice second introduction written on the 25th anniversary of the original publication.

I often give young teenagers this book as a coming-of-age or b'nai mitzvah present, and this edition presents it as a worthy keepsake.

Regarding the text of the book; I'm sure better reviews have been written than I could ever write. I'll just point out that Vonnegut was likely the most articulate of the 200 or so people who witnessed the firebombing of Dresden as closely as he did. I think he became a writer partly out of a sense of obligation to bear witness to the event. It took him what, 25 years, to get the book out of his mind and onto paper?

It must have been quite a relief.

This book is wonderful. The story is very complex and yet so simple to read. It makes you see how things in your life can really affect who you are and who you become. I recommend this book to anyone who is open minded and not afraid of hearing the truth.

As a young man fighting in World War II, Kurt Vonnegut was captured by the Germans and taken as a prisoner to Dresden, where he witnessed the bombing of the city by the Allied Air Forces. He only survived because he and his fellow-prisoners were being held deep in the cellars of an abattoir known in German as "Schlachthof Fuenf", or "Slaughterhouse Five". Hence the title of the novel, which tells the story of a young American soldier named Billy Pilgrim, who is captured by the Germans and taken as a prisoner to Dresden, where he witnesses the bombing of the city, only surviving because he and his fellow-prisoners are being held deep in the cellars of an abattoir.

Although the book is partly autobiographical, it is by no means a realistic depiction of the horrors of war. It is highly experimental in style, with a strong element of science-fiction. Billy is described as being "unstuck in time", which means that he is an inadvertent time-traveller, who can suddenly find himself whisked from one point in his life to another without warning. (Billy's surname is probably meant to have a symbolic meaning- he is on an uncertain, random pilgrimage through life).

Vonnegut's writing is similarly unstuck in time. There is no smooth linear narrative progressing logically from one event to the next; the narration rather hops, seemingly randomly, from one part of Billy's life to another. We learn (but not necessarily in that order) about his marriage after the war to a girl named Valencia, about how he becomes a successful optometrist in upstate New York, about how he survives a plane crash and about his wife's death shortly afterwards, and about his own murder in the 1970s. (The book itself was actually published in 1969). Most bizarrely, we learn how he is kidnapped by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore, who take him back to their world to keep him in a zoo and mate him with a porn star named Montana Wildhack.

Experimental novels often have the reputation of being wilfully obscure and difficult to read. "Slaughterhouse Five" is neither. Vonnegut's prose is wonderfully lucid, and although his narrative may lack strict chronological logic, the sequence of events has a logic of its own. For example the bombing, which is in chronological terms one of the earlier events in the novel, is placed near the end, because it is the most powerful event in emotional terms and therefore makes a suitable climax.

Because of the central role played in it by the bombing of Dresden, "Slaughterhouse Five" has often been described as an anti-war novel. Yet in the opening chapter Vonnegut relates a (possibly invented) conversation with a friend who asks him why he doesn't write an anti-glacier book instead of an anti-war book, implying that wars are as easy to stop as glaciers and that anti-war books are therefore futile. This attitude fits in with the Tralfamadorian philosophy of life, something frequently referred to in the book. Unlike humans, who can see only one point in time at once, the Tralfamadorians can see the whole of their lives, past present and future. This means that they know about future events before they actually occur and therefore believe that there is no point in trying to alter or avoid them. After his return to Earth, Billy becomes hugely popular and successful by preaching this philosophy to his fellow Earthlings.

At times it seems as if Vonnegut himself is preaching a similar philosophy. This attitude is emphasised by his frequent use of the phrase "so it goes", used here to mean something like "that's the way things are" or "that's life", every time someone dies or something unfortunate occurs. It did, however, seem to me entirely possible that Vonnegut may not have intended his apparent advocacy of passive fatalism to have been taken at face value. This may simply have been an ironic way of putting an anti-war message across. This is not an anti-war book in the sense that it makes an intellectual case for pacifism, nor does it address the strong counter-argument that the Nazi regime was so aggressive and brutal that the war against it was morally justified. Vonnegut rather attempts through the use of irony to reveal the absurdity of war, just as Joseph Heller does in that other great American satirical anti-war novel, "Catch-22". Billy and his fellow-prisoners only survive the bombing because they are protected by a slaughterhouse, a building normally associated with killing. After the destruction, one of those prisoners is executed by the Nazis for the risibly minor crime of stealing a teapot from the ruins. The last words in the book are given to a bird: "Poo-tee-weet". Perhaps that is the only meaningful comment possible.

Outstanding reading by E Hawke. Billy Pilgrim, presents a timeless player, like Don Quixote. He's absurd with his surroundings. Just like you are. Buy Cat's Cradle as well.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE is an excellent anti-war story. Kurt Vonnegut uses excellent symbolism. Billy Pilgrim, the principal character, is affected in his ongoing life on earth, or pilgrimage, by the horror of the bombing of Dresden, Germany. The memories are hounding and pursuing him throughout the rest of his life. Vonnegut should be commended for doing an excellent job in showing how one traumatic experience can naver be erased from a person's mind. It countinues to literally persecute someone. Vonnegut is one author who should have received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Vonnegut truly is a gifted man. Every word in this book is carefully placed and fitted perfectly. Some of the lines in this book will forever be remembered. Billy Pilgrim is someone I came to know and love. Billy Pilgrim has become unhinged in time. Peet-o-weet. So it goes. Hello. Goodbye. Hello. Goodbye.

Billy Pilgrims adventures.. from WW2 to the the alien planet of the Tras.. is carefully placed in different sequences to make you unable to put this book down. I finished this book in one day. I couldn't believe how well it flowed.

The message is clear as well. Nothing can be said of war. War is something that doesn't make sense. Peet-o-weet.

Fantastic movie with some tragic, sad, happy, funny moments! Michael Sacks is a fantastic actor! Awesome movie! The movie is based on the book, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. I interpret it as being time-travel but without a time-machine. Smacks of 2001: Space Oddesy I had seen, but much, much better! Based on an American soldier's life in Germany during the 2nd World War. Highly recommend this movie for all science fiction aficianados! [Don't want to give away the ending. :)

I was left disappointed by Slaughterhouse-five. I see the creativity no doubt, and I also see the ease at which it reads. What I don't see is a top 20 of all time science fiction books. This book as it is is borderline science fiction at all. What Kurt calls time travel is only Billy Pilgrim remembering the past. Obviously his abduction by aliens was a result of his skull being fractured.

I am just amazed that over 400 reviews of this book give it a 5 star rating. It just isn't that good plain and simple. Kurt has the ability to tell a story but this one just doesn't work. Too much reminiscent jumping and not enough science fiction. The satire falls empty and has no teeth. I would have given this book a 2 star rating if not for the unique writing style utilized by Kurt.

Definitely a passerby and not worth the reading. Save your eyes for something else.

Great book. Vonnegut has a style unlike most other authors, but if I was to try and type-cast him he would be a Mark Twain/George Orwell/Philip K. Dick hybrid--though that would still not completely encompass his style.

I really have some questions for Mr. Vonnegut, but I just learned that he passed away last year, in our Earthling's terms anyway. But I figured I should post a review with questions anyway as I am sure he will swing back from time to time (should I even mention "time"?) to check out these reviews. And so it goes.

OK, OK, I get your main point, "war is bad". I can also get over the ambiguity whether Billy Pilgrim was demented or really could travel in time -- I guess it could really go either way and that is part of the magic of the book. Fine. But let's see, if the main point is that "war is bad", yet another point is that "things happened because they were bound to happen, and they would always happen", then what are we supposed to conclude? Should we try to avoid wars, or should we just let them happen? I also get this from the book: we should just look at the happy moments in life (or throughout the history of the universe) and ignore the bad moments. So are we supposed to just let wars happen but look the other way?

So, Mr. Vonnegut, please swing back from the purple light and answer my questions. Of course, I understand you may already have answered my questions, as you always would, but I just can't see that moment yet. Please kindly post a comment if you happen to swing back, as I am a poor Earthing who can't see the future.

Meanwhile, all I have to say is: "Poo-tee-weet!".

And so it goes.

Slaughterhouse Five tells the unique tales of Billy Pilgrim as he travels through time. The main part of the story is how Billy became a prisoner of war during World War Two and his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany. But it also includes Billy's other journeys, such as his trip to the planet of Tralfmadore, where he and his porn star mate are monitored by the Tralfmadorians, who live in the fourth dimension.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of the brilliant way Kurt Vonnegut used a character that had the ability to travel through time to show how the war affected him during and after the war. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Billy watched a war film backwards. The way Vonnegut described the movie really gave you a feel for the cruel intention of war and the damage it can create. In my opinion, this is the greatest anti war novel I have ever read.

Kurt Vonnegut is an interesting author because of how original his writing technique is. He uses many different ways to develop characters in this book, rather than just blandly explaining about the character. He also uses similes often to give the reader a really good mental picture. I think that Vonnegut's style of writing is very effective as far as getting his message across in a way that makes you think.

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone because it has a philosophy that I think everyone could gain from. It's also a very unique read and Vonnegut does a very good job at keeping the reader constantly interested in what's going on. If you want a book that will give you a new perspective on things then I think you've found the right one.

Lemme guess. You read it, you loved it, you say good things about it, and it's been so long since you actually read it that you can't remember it. Guess what? It's still a classic. Thoughtful, humorous, clear-eyed, moving, powerful, unique, brilliantly conceived and executed. He was a master of character, plot, pacing, and language. It's amazing to think that he wrote this about 40 years ago. I bought mine, but you can probably go to the library. You will thank me.

As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to read it again. And everything else by Kurt Vonnegut. For me, the mark of a good story has been one in which the reader completely forgets that he is reading text on a page, written by a person at a typewriter - i.e., total immersion in the story. At many times, this book was the polar opposite of immersion, and yet it works brilliantly. Every step of the way you feel the author's presence - particularly in his choice of words. Vonnegut uses certain descriptors repeatedly and at unexpected times, catching the reader off guard; I was both hating and loving it at the same time. I was left envious of his wit and disturbed by his purposeful callousness. The reader doesn't want it to be true that events are not preventable, that it is better simply to sit back and watch the world destroy itself.

Be prepared for a book that jumps around a lot but in the end is a fun and an easy read. I found myself rethinking my thoughts on war and time/space, along with laughing at things that come out of nowhere. I often felt sorry for Billy Pilgrim because of his bland personality. He really wasn't one to have opinions on any subject. He just let things happen no matter how unusual they were. Billy's blandness was countered by the interesting characters he meets up with. I love the names that Vonnegut picks for his characters. They are like an extension of their personalities so that Vonnegut can introduce a character and we already know a lot about them. Another author that I have to add to my list to read in the future.

Anyone who is looking for a fun read should give this book a try. While it may not be everyones cup of tea it is definately well written and thoughtful.

One of my favorite's. The writing style is great, makes you want to read it.

This classic story follows Billy Pilgrim through Dresden, his marriage, his life on an alien planet, and death. Yet it mostly follows him to Dresden in World War II where he was a child at war (he was technically an adult, yet a young one). His ability to time travel was given to him by the aliens where he frequently returns to the life and events at Dresden Germany. A town that was later firebombed killing many Germans who were not soldiers, or an industrious city.

A book that tries to get you to focus on the beauty of life, while trying to teach about the atrocities that sometimes happens and no one knows about.

First and foremost let's get something straight, this novel may have been a first in the sense that it displayed the chaotic, simple style that Vonnegut fans would embrace and love; and it may have somewhat discussed the despicable act that occurred with regards to Dresden, but it's not a great novel. Furthermore, it is very disjointed and the narrative is almost redundant and too esoteric for people to feel any sympathy for its protagonist. This novel just cannot and should not be even remotely compared or discussed with other great masterpieces of the 20th century. Let's be candid, if you were to discuss this book with any of Mann's, Hemingway's, Marquez's or Camus' seminal works you get laughed at and ridiculed. It just does not hold its own, don't kid yourself.

Now to the merits of the novel, as stated above it is a twinkle of what Vonnegut's greatness was to achieve in other novels which are much better and more coherent; and I dare say more enjoyable such as "Breakfast of Champions," when it comes to satirizing American society. Dresden was a butchering, and so it goes. Many other places were also bombed and destroyed, that's war. Unfortunately, this is a very simplistic and superficial account of what occurred. However, the real seed of the husk is the way in which Billy Pilgrim was at all times the puppet of a system - whether a war puppet, an subservient and apathetic (not that's not an oxymoron) husband, a zoo animal (to the aliens), or a deranged father - and could not do anything but succumb to such forces. In that regard the novel is very profound and there are places where the novel reaches a level of coherence and aesthetics that was very admirable. That's about it.

Just a few notes on why it falls apart and could never hold it's own with other masterpieces of the 20th century. Too simplistic a view on Dresden - if you want to discuss that material seriously than do so otherwise you are not doing justice to what occurred. The fact that the novel is so disjointed almost leads one to toss the novel out of the window because you just cannot sympathize with the protagonist. There are too many elements floating in a vacuous narrative that almost does not in essence reach a solid conclusion. Of course many readers will say "that's the point," but let's face it, even if that was the manner in which it was to be understood it doesn't hold up - other writers have written in that frenetic style much better such as Mario Vargas Llosa in "Conversation in the Cathedral." This novel just barely clicked and even though this is a very superficial review of it, that's the main reason for my dislike of the novel. Take it or leave it, that's the way I read it. A twinkle in what was to become a solid and outstanding American (as opposed to universal) literary career minus a Pulitzer or a National Book Award.

I still enjoy reading Vonnegut and love his work, but I know where he stands in the pantheon of great literature.

I saw that they had a whole bunch of books by Vonnegut, and I heard his name before, so I figured he must be a good writer. Boy was I wrong!!! His entire book goes all over the place like he was totally high while he was writing, and so his writing just gets all crazy and you can't make sense of it, and his characters are all boring.

If you want to know what the story is like, read below, but it may have spoilers (who cares though, because you shouldn't read it ever!). So it goes like this:

Billy Pilgrim has a big wang and is unstuck in time and gets captured by aliens and went to world war ii where he helped carry around a bible (oh, ironic, maybe? He thinks he is so clever, but he isn't). A tree died. So it goes. A bug died. So it goes. People thinking I am not a bad writer died. So it goes.

Stay away from this book unless you want to talk to all your supposedly smart friends about how funny he is when he isn't funny, while Vonnegut is thumbing his nose at you-know-who with every check and still they have a million of his books on the shelves instead of good books. If he wants to be funny he should just do fart jokes because I bet even he could manage those, and they'll be funny to people a million years from now.

There are two words to describe this book: weird and wonderful. You could substitute "quirky" for weird if you want, because that's what "Slaughterhouse Five" is: a very quirky, oddball adventure through time and space. And it contains a valuable message if you decide to believe in the Tralfamadore view of things. I rather like their perspective that because someone was alive at some point then they are ALWAYS living, at least somewhere. (Though I suppose it's only comforting when you apply that to good people, because that definition also means that Hitler and other evildoers are always living somewhere too.)

The novel begins with the author struggling to find a way to tell the story of his experience in World War II as a prisoner of war and witness to the firebombing of Dresden, which took more lives (at least immediately) than the atomic bomb. He visits a friend and finally turns in a jumbled-up mess to the publisher.

This jumbled-up mess is the story of Billy Pilgrim who is (or thinks he is) unstuck in time. Because of this, his life is in shuffle mode, so to speak, where he randomly shifts from one point in time to another. At one point he might be standing in a field in Germany during the war, at another he's talking to the Lions club in upstate New York, and at another he's a baby in his mother's arms. Told chronologically, Billy enters the war near the end, gets captured, witnesses the bombing of Dresden, gets repatriated after the war, marries a large, rich woman named Valencia, has a couple kids, runs a successful optometry business, and gets taken to the Tralfamadore homeworld to be put in a zoo with a porn star. Billy even sees how he is going to die.

If the book were related chronologically and if Vonnegut didn't have such a way with language--his sentences lack poetic prose, but have the same quirky, seemingly random rhythm as the plot--then this book wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. The way it's jumbled up forces the reader to keep putting the pieces together, although Vonnegut has a tendency to over-foreshadow some things like the teapot incident. And the style makes reading a breeze because it's very relatable for the average vocabulary--no big words to confuse people.

The only real flaw is the overuse of the expression "so it goes" to mark anytime a person, place, or thing dies. Wikipedia's article on the book says there are 106 references. It seemed like