Slaughterhouse-Five; or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death

Stimulating

I'm going into my junior year of high school in the fall, I read this book during the 1st days of my summer vacation because:
a) My English teacher told my class how amazing and absurb Vonnegut was and her plot synopsis captured my interest
b) The same English teacher spent all semester telling my class how are brains were turning to mush from reading Twilight/Harry Potter and that we should read more classics. So I decided to start reading CollegeBoard's 100 books for incoming college freshmen.

I was told from the get-go that this was a very very very eccentric novel and thats the kind of book I enjoy. I was very frustrated with myself up until about the last fifty pages because I did not understand the significance of the novel. However, the last fifty pages clicked all of the seemingly disconnected pieces together.

Mrs. Weil, my beloved English teacher, told us that if you cannot see the point of a piece of literature, you didn't read it carefully enough. This especially goes towards this novel, you have to read extremely closely if you want to understand or get something out of it.

In the end, the book was very insightful and I suggest that everyone read it.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Anti-war message? Great Read!!

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 read, I highly recommend.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Unexpected

I had heard a lot about this book, and finally had it assigned for a literature class. I was expecting to dislike it, but in fact, it was fascinating and very, very well written. If you want something that is meta-fictional, perplexing and has a sprinkle of psychological thrill and science fiction, you should definitely read it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

fishy

oddly this book displayed a certain interest in bringing to mind odd images. it perpetuates a need to be read as if it cannot contain its massage, although after it has been read one would not say that it brought to mind any new ideas but simply forced opp on us again the stupidity of humans. like many of Vonnegut books it feels as if he really dose not care about much. Although it is fun to watch the main character be screwed it can eventually form a since unrealistic and becomes harder and harder to relate to. overall all pretty good book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great

This book is excellent.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Remarkable Book

This is the standard by which all other experimental writing must be judged. Of all of Vonnegut's work, only Mother Night is near to it's quality.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Favorite Book

Just a quick note to the person who wrote this book should've been more about America's sacrifices because this book was about WWII - you're wrong.
That's not at all the purpose of SH5, on the contrary, it's a satire of America. Just because a book is about WWII doesn't mean it has to glorify the US or be about America's contributions the war effort. This book was a way for Vonnegut to come to terms with his own involvement in the war and show how horrible war is in a very strange, but wonderful way.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

SlaughterHouse-Five

I thought overall the book was fairly good. I had troubles during some scenes. For example, Vonnegut has an unique style which includes random flashbacks and flash forwards. Another reason why I believe I enjoyed this story is because of the history involved. It gives quite the accurate description of the Battle of the Bulge. Overall, I believe Vonnegut wrote a very good book. Out of ten, I'd give it a 9. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys uniqueness.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Slaughter House Five

"SPOILER ALERT"
The author Kurt Vonnegut intends to inform the reader on the destructive qualities that war contains. In the prologue of the novel he describes through his confrontation with his old war buddy O'Hare's wife. She tells him "You two were just babies back then". She tries getting her point around that war is only for the ignorant and that they were too young for it to begin with. The Author making himself a character in this situation in his life tells the lady that he intends to only create a book that stresses anti-war qualities. During the actual story he includes the idea of being unstuck in time to stress his point dramatically that war exists everywhere. He includes extra-terrestrial creatures that are influenced by a broader futuristic technology in a society where war doesn't exist anymore. The author tries symbolizing this species as a hope for our world to be able to encounter war no more in a society where man prospers peacefully. Vonnegut even includes personification that brings out his belief on war such as "Po-tweet-tweet". Considering this isn't actually a word or phrase the author tells the reader that there's nothing intelligent to say about war. The casualties and situations where a man stole a vase and was shot and killed exemplify the wonder as to why the world goes to war.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mythic journey, Must read to find out!

I believe Slaughterhouse five is a novel geared towards a older audience, with a better comprehension level that that of someone who has not yet entered high school. I think high school is the youngest a reader should be because the constant jumping text is hard to follow at times. Actually, the way it's written sometimes reminded me of flipping through the channels on the television, and watching each channel for one or two minutes at a time. I believe the title is poorly chosen based on the fact that the slaughterhouse plays a minor role in the story. If it were up to me I would probably name the book along the lines of The adventures of Huckleberry fin, but incorporate Billy Pilgrim. I believe this because the entire book is told about Billy's life, and not so much about a slaughterhouse. The book describes many of Billy's actions and adventures, so the title in fact does not accurately describe the novel. Id say its pretty clear on Vonnegut's distinct abnormal writing style by now in the novel. Nearly every post thus far somewhat dealt with his unique style.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An Intriguing Trip Through Time

Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" is a witty, intriguing novel that should be read by all interested in historical fiction. The novel, written in third person, follows the story of Billy Pilgrim, a distressed WWII veteran and POW, who after the war, is committed to War Veteran's mental hospital and administered shock treatments. During this time, Billy finds that he is able to travel back through the events of his past, such as the fire bombings of Dresden,and his post war experiences, such as his marriage and birth of his daughter, and relive these moments. The novel is arranged in small vignettes according to each experience, and truly makes for an interesting pacing. Vonnegut has quite the sarcastic, yet endearing writing style, that puts you right in the action. His narratives are extremely memorable, as Billy Pilgrim is most likely one of the most unique antiheroes in American literature, only to matched by Holden Caulfield in Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." If you are a reader interested in war stories, or extraterrestrial experiences, this novel will most definitely keep you intrigued, and glued to the pages until the very last sentence.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing book with a powerful message

I think a lot of people end up disappointed with this book because they buy it expecting something totally different that what they find. The plot can be a bit confusing at times and I think that turns some people off, but this book is amazing if you take the time to really read it and read between the lines as well. This book is so much more about the message it sends than it is about telling a story. Kurt Vonnegut is telling us all through this book that war is absolutely absurd, in fact, it's as absurd as the story in this book. He wants to show us that the world is a crazy place and that in every situation there is good and bad. While the firebombing of Dresden was a horrible thing, it's also what shaped Kurt's life, so there is positive amongst such a terrible event. To understand this book, you must not take the story seriously, but take the message that Kurt is communicating to us to heart. The message that life is absurd, crazy, nonsensical and filled with horrible things, but despite that, we must carry on and be good to others, or else, what's the point of being here?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Slaughterhouse Called War

Over the summer, I read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The book itself is an anti-war book, and is supposed to illustrate the fact that humans are not designed for extreme combat. The story revolves around a character named Billy. Billy is one of the many veterans who returned from war with some sort of mental disorder. Although the book is fiction it gave an accurate portrayal of soldiers from war. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't think that war is a terrible thing, and that war doesn't take a toll on the human mind. War itself is wrong, and can have a huge long lasting impact on the minds of veterans as illustrated in the book with Billy.
The first problem with Billy is that he keeps experiencing flashbacks to the war. Throughout the book, Billy keeps finding himself in Dresden, one of the worst locations he had ever fought at. The image of it had been permanently stuck into his mind. Now, this example is one problem with our real life veterans. They have flashbacks to the war they had previously fought in. For example, let's say there's a veteran named Alex who fought in the Korean War. During this time he was told to kill any Korean he saw. It sounds terrible, and it is. 30 or 40 years later, these directions given to Alex might give him hatred towards Koreans. This is a very real scenario and sometimes taken to the extremes. Every so often you hear of an old veteran on the news who experienced psychological problems and invaded a cultural neighborhood killing as many as they could. Being in a war so long is what has caused this to happen to every day soldiers. If it hasn't already happened, many years down the road, today's Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans could develop a dislike towards Muslims. There's nothing we can do to cure veterans of this, and there's little we can do to help them beyond medication and allowing them to talk.
The second problem with Billy is that every so often he lives in a completely warped reality. He has claims of being abducted to another planet known as Tralfamador. He has very detailed descriptions of the place and even has accounts of seeing another human. I like how the context of the book talks about this. In the story, the author describes this as if it actually happened to Billy. The reader has to be smart enough to know that this couldn't possibly happen. And going to another planet is another example of why Billy had gone completely crazy. The shock that he had experienced after or during wartime was the cause of his warped idea of reality. The scenes of war did not affect the idea of Tralfamador (other than that it existed in his mind), but I rather think that the exclusion from society had forced him to make himself a second home.
Although the psychological problems are covered in the book, something not covered but equally important is the mistreatment of veterans when they return. Based on what I read in Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy was lucky. In the real world, many of the veterans that come back are left with nothing. They don't have a home unless they stay with someone, and are left with little money now that they are left without a job particularly when suffering from an ailment. Finding a new job would be very hard for them. Would you want to hire a big tough looking veteran that has mental issues? I think not.
So any war fought in will have its repercussions on the soldiers. Whether it's a fictional character like Billy, or a real person that you may know, th

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Tale told In a Slaughterhouse

Part One: The Bombings
It is Sunday, August 5, 1945. Hiroshima is a very important, heavily populated military base. One of the few cities in Japan untouched by bombs.
It is Tuesday, August 7, 1945. Hiroshima is no longer the large city it once was. Seventy thousand people are dead, but one cannot locate the bodies. Irradiated water and beings with radiation sickness are all that can be found in this nuclear winter. It is a barren wasteland, a world in fallout.
It is January 2010. The horrifying videos of the bombs exploding over Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become iconic. Video games have been created using the concept of nuclear fallout as their foundation, such as Fallout 3. Nuclear bombs have become a staple to Hollywood movies, such as The Sum of All Fears and Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. A "war" broke out because of the threat of nuclear war. Now, over fifty years after the bombings, everyone knows about these bombings. The media will never let us forget that humans could destroy earth with an object smaller than an airplane.
It is February 1945. From 13 February 1945 to 15 February 1945, thirteen hundred bombers drop over 7.8 million pounds of bombs and incendiary devices on Dresden, Germany. The estimated death toll is between twenty-four thousand and two hundred-fifty thousand deaths. Hundreds of corpse mines will be established to clean up the bodies. They will be established to haul the thousands of bodies into piles on the streets and burn them.

Part Two: The Survivor
It is 16 February 1945. A man named Kurt Vonnegut Jr. survived the attack on Dresden. He survived by hiding in a slaughterhouse. He witnessed the bombing as a prisoner of war. He is a PoW no longer. He will later write a book about his experience during the Second World War. It will become one of the most well known books of the twentieth century. Many will know about the bombing of Dresden.

Part Three: The Book
The book is called Slaughterhouse Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. It follows the life of the fictional character Billy Pilgrim, who is "unstuck in time".
The writing style is unlike any book before it, and its ideas are innovative. Its perspective is mostly third person omniscient, but changes occasionally. It is told as if the narrator could see in four dimensions. The scenes occur simultaneously, and told are told in a seemingly random order. The writing style has influenced the books "The Stand" and "Watchmen".
Billy encounters the author a few times throughout the book. He first meets Vonnegut in the latrines in the PoW camp. Another time the author calls Billy by accident after he misdials a telephone number. The last is when he stumbles upon

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great Read!

This book is and all around good book. It's strange and twists but ends with a moral.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

One of the best books...

I read this book on the advice of a friend. I couldn't put it down once I started it. It normally takes me 2-3 weeks to finish a book, but I finished Slaughterhouse-Five within 3 days. It sticks with you even when you're finished with it. It's a fantastic book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Read it once, then REALLY read it again...its worth it

Vonnegut composes with a genius equal to Dostoyevsky, in a common voice (just as Dante composed the Comedy in Italian, not Latin) that makes it readable for all. His satire will make you laugh, and then make you kick yourself for doing so. Vonnegut effectively and accurately paints a picture of the human 'soul' and its struggle with facing life's cruelties. Without question, one of the greatest novels I have read so far. It urges the reader to analyze theirself, and ask the question: should i be one that turns away, or choose to become a pillar of salt? Undoubtedly a must read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of the first true novels I read outside of school requiremen

One of the first true novels I read outside of school requirements and probably the book that turned me into an avid reader. Witty, acerbic, irreverent, and an all around fun read. He truly sets the standard for contemporary fiction writers.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is a very unpredictable and

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is a very unpredictable and disorganized book, not by what takes place but by what has happened and what will happen in the book, which leads me to believe that Kurt Vonnegut demonstrates the actuality of the Second World Wars repercussions and slightly the domination of confusion. Kurt Vonnegut uses History in this fictional book so precisely that all the events that occur seem plausible. Along with the twist of aliens, this book has a sort of profound worldly wisdom that even I have adopted into my life. I recomend the historicle science "fiction" to any and all who are attracted to unique books, for Slaughterhouse Five is by far an unquestionably unique book.

Wonderful story, sometimes very serious and introspective, other

Wonderful story, sometimes very serious and introspective, other times irreverant and light-hearted. I thoroughly enjoyed. This was my first Vonnegut novel, will be checking out his other work.