Slaughterhouse-Five

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It's a hit!

This just broke my heart. It's that perfect mix of hilarious absurdism and horrifying reality that he does so well and that makes me feel a lot les... (show more)

This just broke my heart. It's that perfect mix of hilarious absurdism and horrifying reality that he does so well and that makes me feel a lot less bonkers in the way I see the world. The way that on the surface everything can be so "normal" and is expected to be so in a completely irrational and often brutal world is dealt with so brilliantly. Kurt Vonnegut had the most wonderful and real way of writing about being human that isn't for one minute either sentimental or angsty, always managing to let moments of beauty and humour shine through the awfulness. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook-gebruiker

No, it's a flop!

I had great expectations for my first Vonnegut novel. I have heard so much praise for him as an author who is both critically acclaimed and enjoyed... (show more)

I had great expectations for my first Vonnegut novel. I have heard so much praise for him as an author who is both critically acclaimed and enjoyed by the average reader, but I found this book mostly puzzling. I expected to read about Dresden, and I did for 20 pages or so. I was not expecting optometry, Tralfamadore, or being unstuck in time. I can only suppose that this is all supposed to demonstrate how the war experience addled Billy’s mind, but this makes little sense as he is not the narrator. The name “Billy Pilgrim” screams allegorical Everyman to me, but I do not see how his story is the same as mine, or even that of the typical infantryman. I do like the way Vonnegut tells a story so plainly and I get the theme that Billy and other pawns in the war have no free will, but I must say that I found Catch-22 a much more humorous and meaningful look at the absurdity of the second World War. So it goes. (show less)

 

 

by Chad Hogg

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  I agree with Vonnegut that this one is something of a literary failure. Too many contradictions and discontinuities makes it seem like he is trying to reason a brick wall out of his way. It's the raw and endless frustration of reconciling the inevitability of death with the passion we have for every moment of blood and piss that makes it worth living.

  There is no resolution or moral, only a primal anger about trying to cope with life.

  In other words, it's wonderful.

   

   

  by Facebook-gebruiker on Dec 04, 2008 at 06:22PM

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  A book so profound that I have a hard time articulating my thoughts on it. Vonnegut's scathing satire on the horrors of war--and society's seeming inability to learn from the past--is even more impressive when you consider its immediate relevance today, 40 years after its initial publication. The construct of the novel is just as important as the narrative itself. The tale of Billy Pilgrim, who passively floats between his past, present, and future, may lead you to think there's little you c... (show more)

  A book so profound that I have a hard time articulating my thoughts on it. Vonnegut's scathing satire on the horrors of war--and society's seeming inability to learn from the past--is even more impressive when you consider its immediate relevance today, 40 years after its initial publication. The construct of the novel is just as important as the narrative itself. The tale of Billy Pilgrim, who passively floats between his past, present, and future, may lead you to think there's little you can do to change the course of your life. But by framing Pilgrim's story with his own determined plight to tell this story, Vonnegut actually conveys hope, albeit wrapped around a call to action. It is up to each of us to reject the packaged stories of the past and instead to look back ourselves, learn, and draw our own conclusions. I'll be thinking about this novel for many days to come. (show less)

   

   

  by Paul Yee on Nov 30, 2008 at 10:29PM

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