Slaughterhouse-Five

• #23 in Best Science Books

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I know this novel fairly well having read it several times (once aloud to my students). It is about all time being always present if only we knew, or could realize it, or had a sense about time in the same way we have senses for light and sound.

It is also about the Allied fire bombings of Dresden which killed more people than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. (And so it goes.) Kurt Vonnegut begins as though writing a memoir and advises us that "All of this happened, more or less..." Of course it did not, and yet, as with all real fiction, it is psychologically true. His protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely hero, somewhat in the manner of unlikely heroes to come like Forest Gump and the hero of Jerzy Kosinski's Being There, transcends time and space as he bumbles along. This is a comedie noire--a "black comedy"--not to be confused with "film noir," a cinematic genre in which the bad guys may win or at least they are made sympathetic. In comedie noire the events are horrific but the style is light-hearted. What the genres have in common is a non-heroic protagonist.

This is also a totally original work written in a most relaxing style that fuses the elements of science fiction with realism. It is easy to read (which is one of the reasons it can be found on the high school curriculum in our public schools). It is sharply satirical, lampooning not only our moral superiority, our egocentricity, but our limited understanding of time and space. And of course it is an anti-war novel in the tradition of All Quiet on the Western Front and Johnny Got His Gun.

Vonnegut's view of time in this novel is like the stratification of an upcropping of rock: time past and time present are there for us to see, but also there is time future. Billy Pilgrim learns from the Tralfamadorians (who kidnapped him in 1967) that we are actually timeless beings who experience what we call the past, present and future again and again. And so Billy goes back to the war and forward to his marriage, and to Tralfamadore again and again. He learns that the Tralfamadorians see the stars not as bright spots of light but as "rarefied, luminous spaghetti" and human beings as "great millepedes with babies' legs at one end and old people's legs at the other." So time is not a river, nor is it a snake with its tail in its mouth. It is omnipresent, yet some things occur before and some after, but always they occur again.

And so it goes.

What I admire most about this most admirable novel is how easily and naturally Vonnegut controls the narrative and how effortlessly seems its construction. It is almost as if Vonnegut sat down one day and let his thoughts wander, and when he was through, here is this novel.

In a sense, Vonnegut invented a new novelistic genre, combining fantasy with realism, touched by fictionalized memoir, penned in a comedic mode as horror is overtaken by a kind of fatalistic yet humorous view of life. Note here the appearance of Kilgore Trout, Vonnegut's alter-ego, the science fiction writer who is said to have invented Tralfamadore.

Bottom line: read this without preconceptions and read it without regard to the usual constraints. Just let it flow and accept it for what it is, a juxtaposition of several genres, a tale of fiction, that--as fiction should--transcends time and space.

Slaughter House Five deserves its reputation of being a piece of great American literature. The book follows a young man, Billy Pilgrim through his life. Billy believes aliens, tralfamadorians to be exact, have abducted him. We assume that it's through these aliens that he learns to time travel, a skill he frequently uses. In the book Pilgrim bounces around time to all the various portions of his life, many times returning to World War II where he was captured, taken prisoner, and held in slaughterhouse five in Dresden, Germany. He seems to be defined by this moment in his life as he frequently returns there. If you know anything about Vonnegut, you know that he too was held in Dresden, Germany when the city was firebombed. This is the major setup for this antiwar novel as Dresden was home to over 100,000 persons while at the same time Dresden didn't have any industry lending itself to the war effort. Obviously you wander, "Then why was this city bombed? What advantage came from killing well over 100,000 thousand civilians?"

One of the major themes of the book is fate. The prayer of serenity appears twice in the book stating that we need to change the things we can and be wise enough to know which things we cannot change. Also the Tralfamadorians speak of fate. They say they know how the universe is going to end, but they do nothing to stop it. Vonnegut seems to say that yes, war is one of those things we cannot avoid, but we need to change the things we can about it, like the atrocious bombing of Dresden.

Overall, the book's message is clear, and Vonnegut delivers his message in a very accessible way. The story of Billy Pilgrim is enjoyable to read, and contains more than dry philosophy that some antiwar novels are filled with.

This novel is essential in many ways. It is undoubtedly one of the best-written, most well respected novels of the 20th century (No. 6 on the list that was a compilation of all the other lists) and is, therefore, essential to your understanding of 20th century fiction. If you have never read Vonnegut, this book should be the first one you read: it is the most famous and one of the best and really captures the essence of Vonnegut. Finally, despite its literary merit, this is a FUN book to read. You will laugh, you will think, but, most of all, you will enjoy reading it and you will finish it FAST.

This should be your introduction to Vonnegut. I've found that true Vonnegut fans don't often choose Slaughterhouse-Five as their favorite, but, instead choose one of Vonnegut's other wonders (Breakfast of Champions, Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan, etc.). I think that most would agree that this is a good jumping off point, just as, in music, people often start with Greatest hits albums and then work from there.

Only Vonnegut could make such a strange premise believable and emotional. The book shifts time and place from paragraph to paragraph without warning. It is about aliens and WWII. It all works so perfectly, however and is so profound to those who read carefully. Billy Pilgrim is one of the great characters in all of literature.

Don't be scared off by aliens and the weird premise. It works better than 99% of so-called "normal" books. Absolutely ESSENTIAL.

thanks {{{milo}}}

Slaughterhouse Five has been my frist experience reading Kurt Vonnegut and fortunently it was a pleasent one. I chose to read Slaughterhouse Five for an assignment in my English III AP class and was not looking foward to it. However, I decided to give the book a chance so I read some of its reviews (another positive experience), after the reviews I read a summary of the book (this was a somewhat less positive experience). The summary told of a soldier who comes back from World War Two and is abducted by space aliens. Upon reading this I had to laugh, as my teacher expressly told us that this book was one of the best ever written. Again to be fair, I bought the book and began reading (I allowed myself ample time - I wasn't planning on enjoying it) andc finished four hours later. I was expecting to take at least a few days, but once I started, I couldn't stop! Vonnegut's writing style and structure is very similar to another fantastic sci-fi writer, Douglas Adams. Slaughterhouse Five reminded me very much of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Both Vonnegut and Adams use similar humor and have habits of repeating phrases (So it goes). An overall great book, I highly reccomend that everybody read it.

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of those rare sorts of books whose total lack of any merit whatsoever is inexplicable in the face of its generally agreed upon status as a world classic.

Had this fatalistic, dewy-eyed tripe not been written during the escalation of 'Nam and the sudden moral ambiguity pervading American letters at the time, it would, honestly, never have made it close.

This is sad. The literati have doubtless showered numerous accolades at its feet, though what, for instance, is there to celebrate in this pure dreck?

Vonnegut's cheap cynicism? The novel itself, when not drowning in a sea of depression and cathartic murkiness, hardly makes a joke worth mentioning that doesn't revile the establishment, turn the hardship of soldiers into a complete and utter disgrace, revile all war, and then have the sheer scholastic arrogance to proclaim once and for all, as though this distorted face were really truth. Yes, as a 'satire', it fails completely.

So we come down to technique. The structure of the novel is mildly interesting, and the minimalism flows well. The writing is fairly clear and potentially charged; if only the subject matter had been improved upon, than perhaps the author could have gotten away with the awards. As such, this is hardly the case.

In short, it's nothing groundbreaking. And moreover it is dangerous. Not to mention very worthless. Had it been a great absurdist parable like Catch 22 (which, though also wrong, has strong artistic license, and will likely stand the ages) than I would have rather different sentiments.

1 star.

Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse Five" is one of those great books that defies easy classification. A blend of science fiction, satire, and war fiction, it is both fun and grim. The book tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist, World War II veteran, and apparent UFO abductee who becomes "unstuck in time." We accompany Billy back and forth from his wartime experiences to his encounters with aliens and to other events in his remarkable life.

"Slaughterhouse" is greatly enlivened by a colorful, richly imagined cast of supporting characters: American-turned-Nazi Howard W. Campbell, movie star Montana Wildhack, and more. But probably the most resonant of these amazing creations is Kilgore Trout, the underappreciated science fiction writer.

The book has an intriguing structure. Vonnegut's prose is a joy to experience: he combines a sort of Hemingwayesque simplicity with a knack for rendering startling, and often ridiculous, details. He is often very ironic and funny. Along the way, he explores ideas about free will and the nature of time. Much of the book is about writing itself.

In this book there is an intriguing reference to Stephen Crane's classic "The Red Badge of Courage"; perhaps this reference is Vonnegut's way of directly connecting with the tradition of American war fiction. But this book transcends that genre. "Slaughterhouse Five" is sad, surreal, whimsical, brutal, and oddly gentle. It's a remarkable book; I highly recommend it. As an interesting companion text, try "The Things They Carried," Tim O'Brien's excellent book about the Vietnam War.

Kurt Vonnegut creates an intricate and creative story of science fiction while still writing an anti-war novel. " Slaughterhouse-Five " focuses on an incredibly silly character named Billy Pilgrim. After a series of tragic events, aliens called Tralfamadorians abduct Pilgrim. These aliens have the ability to travel to any moment in time whenever they wish. They teach Pilgrim how to travel through time and we find him constantly traveling back and forth through his own life at random. We find Pilgrim one moment reliving the firebombing of Dresden and on the very next page teeing off at a country club ten years later. Incidents exactly like this can be found adorned through the book along with Vonnegut's distinct wit and black humor. One of the stronger points in the book deals with free will and predestination. Billy Pilgrim and the aliens believe that everyone's life is set in stone and everything that we do was destined to happen. One Tralfamadorian tells Pilgrim, I've visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe, and I have studied reports on one hundred more. Only on Earth is there any talk of free will." If such a thing were true then obviously the notion of free will is nothing more than human imagination used to fool ourselves. Thought provoking subjects such as this grab the reader's attention and never lets go. Although the writing style is a bit strange and takes time to get used to, Vonnegut manages to weave an intricately detailed world of laughter, war horrors, and moral issues. Slaughterhouse-Five is a truly creative and incredibly entertaining read which comes highly recommended.

I had heard that this author died recently so the name of Slaughterhouse five had surfaced in my consciousness because, while I had attached it to the author, I had never had a chance to read it, and find out what it was about. I thought the title was quite cool, and I knew that it was a science fiction novel--and I'm all for that: science fiction and a good read.

But I have to say, with all due respects to the author, this is the WORST book I have ever read in my life. It is disjointed and hops all over the place. There's no continuity at all. The prose is terrible. The back cover says it is funny without laughing, splendid art, a book without tears. Wrong! I am actually crying: that I paid so much money for this. I gritted my teeth to finish reading this book.

When I logged onto this site, I was amazed that so many people gave this as high a rating as they did. I thought more would feel as vehemently as I did, but alas, not. I guess I am not cerebral enough (or maybe too cerebral) because I--do--not--get--this--novel. I am always admirous of writers and wish to praise them for their efforts when I like the book, but I couldn't here. I gave it what I think it deserved. (And why does he keep saying 'so it goes' all the time. Geez, that phrase is just annoying me now. That phrase would be okay if it was used once or sparsely. But over and over again!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Save your money and buy something else!

Throughout the seemingly incoherent plot structure of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut illustrates not only his subtle outcry against the stupidity of war, but also his cynical views on the meaning of life. Although the novel is based upon the life of Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist correcting the vision of people on Earth, and his experiences leading up to the bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II, the time-setting fluctuates as Billy comes "unstuck" in time to view his past and future. This fluctuation may confuse the reader at first, but soon becomes clear, revealing the purpose behind the masterfully chosen timeline. The apparent random structure of the tale holds within it Vonnegut's ideas on the circular nature of life and existence of fate. He first hints to this in the first chapter as he quotes a song that continues through infinite, just as a circle. As the story progresses, the Tralfamadorian aliens are introduced, providing the basis for the abnormal writing style. The Tralfamadorians write in such a way that all events of the book are read at once so that the scenes "produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep" (88). Although his abduction by aliens is only a part of his imagination, forced into existence by the stresses of war and the influences of his favorite science fiction novelist, it plays a major roll in Billy's "so it goes" attitude toward life and causes him to act in such a way that people are eventually repelled by him. Just as the aliens introduce Billy to infinite, they also reveal the nature of fate. Because these creatures can see through time, they already know the outcome of all events, even the one that destroys the universe. Because they know that nothing can change this, they find that the human concept of free will is hilariously preposterous. Vonnegut also includes his anti-war position throughout the whole mess. In the autobiographical first chapter, he even states that this is an anti-war book. This is further supported by his alternate title, The Children's Crusade, referring to the episode during the great Crusades when thousands of children marched to their deaths. The parallel between Billy's capture in Germany and his capture by the aliens also reveals his attitude. Billy asks the aliens why he was chosen out of all the people on Earth. They only respond "Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything?" (76). When he is captured in Germany, a soldier is asked "Why me?" and he replies "Vy you? Vy anybody?" (91). This connection between the aliens and the war create a sense that war is stupid. His repeated use of "human beings" in his description of the Nazi transport train forces the reader to realize that these are actual people in this terrible environment. Vonnegut's beliefs in life and war can clearly be seen through the workings of Slaughterhouse-Five as he constantly changes the timeline. These beliefs are all very important to the meaning of the book, but none more than his idea that life is meaningless in a structured time.

I have been aware of this book since seeing the movie for the first time over twenty-five years ago. I finally got around to reading it recently. It is appalling that this is considered a classic and that it is studied as an example of American literature.

Slaughterhouse five deals with Billy Pilgrim, a WWII veteran who is "unstuck in time" and jumps back and forth from his experience as prisoner of war in WWII Dresden to mundane suburban concerns as a wealthy optometrist to life as a zoo exhibit on the planet Tralfalmadore.

Being "unstuck in time" could be a metaphor for mental illness but Vonnegut's telling of it makes me feel otherwise. He actually means for the reader to believe in this infantile nonsense.

The novel is written in a childish absurdist style that becomes wearisome very quickly. This short novel of 187 pages has little to say: War is bad, killing is bad. Duh. There is the idiotic repetition of the phrase "and so it goes" every time death is mentioned. Even the death of bacteria or a stale glass of water.

Vonnegut also implies that he did not want to write about this subject but has somehow been forced. The opening chapter details how he had not dwelt on the memories of his wartime experiences for decades and was finally forced to reflect on them in writing this book. This unwillingness shows. I estimate that less than a quarter of the novel actually deals with the events he witnessed in WWII. If Vonnegut had been able to write a normal wartime memoir that would have been a much more interesting book. Instead we have this puerile fantasy that, perversely, is treated as great literature.

I am especially amazed that this book is studied in English courses across America. Message to students: Question the judgment of any teacher who presents this as an example of anything other than worthless ...that should have never been published.

Slaughterhouse 5 tells of the treatment and conditions of American prisoners of war at the end of WWII. It also follows the life of Billy Pilgram, one of these POWs at other times in his life. Billy believes himself able to time travel and believes that he was once abducted by aliens that studied him as well as the other Earthlings they periodically capture. Because of his time traveling abilities as well as the insights that the aliens imparted on his life, he knows how his life will be long before he actually experiences it. Much of his life is shaped by his experiences as a POW and war time is a period that he frequently revisits during time travel.

Not only did I have trouble and frustration with the plot of the story, I simply did not enjoy the writing style. I found the constant use of the phrase "So it goes" to be distracting and annoying. It is never clear whether the reader is to believe that Billy can actually time travel or whether he is completely out of his mind. At times it seems as though his inventive memory is completely influenced by things he has read or seen and that this is simply his reaction to dementia. Other portions of the book leave the reader thinking that it is possible that he has powers that others do not. Either way, it makes for a confusing and disjointed story that is not particularly enjoyable. It is a novel that is ripe for discussion in a high school or college lit class that will excite the professor and utterly confuse and bore the student.

To be utterly honest, I thought Slaughterhouse Five was really disappointing. Prior to my reading experience, I heard from many former readers of the novel that it was excellent. Hence, as my expectations were quite high, the magnitude of my dissatisfaction escalated when I realized the plot was so cluttered and random.

Unlike other novels, throughout the entire course of the story, the main character travels erratically to dissimilar spheres of time. Billy constantly goes back and forth into random parts of the past and his supposed future, leaving the reader confused as to how each portion is to correlate with each other. I found these jumps in time annoying. Yet, whereas the visits to his past are psychologically logical, the trips to his fabricated future are quite meaningless. I especially had great difficulty digesting the part about Billy's abduction by toilet plunger aliens. What is the significance of this particular part of the story?

Furthermore, another aspect of the novel that I found displeasing is its pessimistic tone. Billy experiences the tragedy of war, the loss of his sanity, the loss of his colleagues and wife, the loss of true perception, and eventually, the loss of dignity. How can one individual face so many hardships in the course of one lifetime? Although he reaps the fruit of success in the initial years of his marriage and career, all of these things are completely disregarded with the traumatic episodes that occur afterward. With Billy's tragedy in mind, I strongly believe that this story was way too dismal.

Through my years of education, I have read many war stories as well as narrations of insanity. Generally, with the two interconnected, novels normally comprise of characters and events that are realistic and rational. Yet, in this particular novel, the author seems to overdevelop his characters and events pointlessly with ridiculous concepts. While Vonnegut's introduction of Billy Pilgrim's war experience is credible, the transitions that this character undergoes are absolutely absurd. The later half of the book was just a collection of non-sense.

Overall, my perception of this novel is negative. I found it strange, frustrating, and awkward. Of course, I'm still thankful for the reading experience though. Because of it, I discovered that not all stories are conservative.

"Slaughterhouse Five" is a work of literary fiction that combines historical, psychological, sociological, and science fiction elements. Unlike your everyday novel, Vonnegut does not express a clear plot, conflict, or climax, instead he offers us a multi-dimensional view of fantasy and reality. Slaughterhouse Five grew out of Vonnegut's own personal experiences during W.W.II, particularly the horrors of the Dresden air raids. Everything Vonegut writes related to the bombing of Dresden is meant to be felt as senseless to the reader. The story is mostly seen through the eyes of the main character Billy Pilgrim, a tall, skinny, sort of senseless man. He becomes "unstuck" in time and travels to different places and times during his life. An interesting yet somewhat confusing element in the story is Vonnegut's use of alien beings called Tralfamadorians to install his multi-dimensional concept of time. Billy is kidnapped by the Tralfamadorians and kept on their spacecraft. There he learns the Tralfamadorian concepts of time, predestination, and the absurdities of the human world. Vonnegut, also present in the novel, includes a telegraphic narrative explaining who he is and where he has been. Vonnegut displays many horrific events constituted with death by means of black humor. When a person dies the term "so it goes" immediately follows as if death were just some careless event. His use of black humor is meant to make the readers laugh in situations of absolute tragedy, such as death. If you're interested in warped SCI-FI with a bit of humor mixed with some hard-rock reality that reads smoothly, I would suggest "Slaughterhouse Five" as an excellent novel in its class. Slaughterhouse Five broadened my perspective of time and whether or not predestination exists. Vonnegut, through "Slaughterhouse Five", opens the reader's mind to his own a different, twisted, world of interesting thought, concepts, and experiences.

This is supposed to be a classic, and I finally got to around to reading it. I did not find it to be good satire, good science fiction or good anything. Not even a good read. Not particularly profound. It is graphic and profane at times. It is too cynical and defeatist for my taste. The point I got is: no sense in trying to change anything, things are going to happen the way they're going to happen and nothing is going to change them. The "war is bad" message in chapter one is lost in the confusion of the remaining chapters. I might have liked it better in college when being cynical and blase was cool.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The story is mostly narrated from the point of view of Billy Pilgrim. The storyline goes something like this: Billy is drafted into service during WWII. His father dies while he is in training. He loses his mind less than a month after being put in the warzone (during the Battle of the Bulge), is taken prisoner, and is sent to Dresden as a prisoner of war a month before it is firebombed. He survives the firebombing, is put to work in the corpse mines in its aftermath, and is a prisoner there until the end of the war.

The narrative is disjointed because it jumps to other points in Billy's life before and (mostly) after the war. A six page summary of his life at the beginning of chapter two helps the reader keep it straight. The rest of the story, as near as I could put it together, follows. Billy resumes his college education after his discharge from the army. He is briefly committed to an insane asylum near the end of college (the doctors attribute the breakdown to a couple instances of childhood trauma, not the war), and a fellow patient introduces him to the work of an obscure science fiction writer whose works influence his future delusions. He finishes school, gets married, becomes a successful and wealthy optometrist, and has two children. In 1964 he meets the obscure science fiction writer working in newspaper circulation (bullying paper boys and girl), and invites him to his 18th wedding anniversary. In 1968 he survives a plane crash that kills his father-in-law, and his wife dies of carbon monoxide poisoning when she reaches the hospital. That seems to be when the time traveling, alien abduction delusions begin and are interwoven into his memories; his daughter said he'd never mentioned alien abduction and time travelling before the crash. After he is released from the hospital, he sneaks off to New York City determined to tell his alien abduction story on TV. He picks up an article on a missing porn star whom he works into his delusion. He also picks up a couple books by the science fiction writer, which he works into his delusion. He gets on a radio program for a while but is kicked off during a commercial break when he starts talking about aliens. His daughter goes to New York and takes him home. Then he starts sending news article about aliens to New York. His daughter starts taking over his practice and his life because she assumes, probably correctly, that brain damage from the plane crash is making him delusional.

Kurt Vonnegut is an author whom I became intimately familiar with for a few years. I read, literally, every single work of fiction that he has had published, and generally enjoyed them, as well. However, it seems that Vonnegut is also the type of author that one outgrows: I re-read Slaughterhouse Five in its entirety some two months ago, and have not been more frustrated (and tired) by a book in quite a while. The biggest issue with Vonnegut is, no matter what else is to be said: He is formulaic. After a while, all of his stories bleed together, his cynicism is tiresome, and his misanthropy becomes cliche.

Period.

Slaughterhouse Five is often hailed as Vonnegut's piece de resistane, though I sincerely doubt it was written as such. It deals primarily with a man, Billy Pilgrim, who continually experiences changes and "jumps" in time: He does not experience a linear sense of time. Pilgrim fought in World War II, and is subsequently kidnapped by Trafalmadorians, an alien race who also do not experience linear time.

This book has been championed as an anti-war novel, though to be honest, I never quite saw this. Does Vonnegut speak down on war? Most assuredly. But I think this book extends far, far past simply being an anti-war novel: In fact, I think the theme of "anti-war" is perhaps the one theme which is least prominant in the book.

Truth be told, perhaps to others the literary merits of this novel shine through, but I personally believe there are far more intriguing, thought provoking, and funny books by Vonnegut out there. Mother Night and The Sirens of Titan, to name two. Slaughterhouse Five is worth reading for its supposed literary merit, but it seems to me that it is a sophomoric work of Vonnegut's: Its ideas are there, and they are far, far below the surface.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.,is a self-described "trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations." To this end, "Slaughterhouse-Five or the Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death," is a brilliant and outrageous antiwar book about the catastrophic World War II fire bombing of Dresden, Germany.

Vonnegut delivers serious messages coated in humor. For instance, early in the narrative he states that there is "nothing intelligent to say about a massacre." And then adds, "I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee." The author then drives his convictions home by clearly explaining, "I have also told them not to work for companies which make massacre machinery, and to express contempt for people who think we need machinery like that."

This is a remarkable book. Vonnegut expresses his antiwar outrage with blistering humor. And by the way...Billy Pilgrim and the Tralfamadorians will leave you in stitches. So it goes.

Bert Ruiz

Slaughterhouse Five is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. With this incredible book, Kurt Vonnegut broke the rules of the traditional novel. He wrote it in such a way that the reader is hurled through time both forward and backward. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, has a strange affliction. He often loses consciousness only to come to in another time in his life. This ability gives the book a very circular timeline as opposed to the more traditional linear format. Slaughterhouse Five is an anti-war book. Vonnegut showed the insignificance of a single life in wartime by adding the phrase "So it goes." after every death in the book. The book does have a positive outlook on death however, which Billy learns through his encounters with the Tralfmadorians, an alien race which for whatever reason is interested in him. Slaughterhouse Five is unfortunately a bit dry in some parts, but the attentive reader can draw out some very positive messages from the story. The characters in the book lack depth, which allows them to be more expendable. This can either be good or bad. Their expendability can once again prove the insignificance of human life, or their lack of depth may just fail to capture the reader's attention. I would recommend Slaughterhouse Five to anyone that is bored with the average novel. I think you will be pleased with this interesting novel.

This is the second Vonnegut book I've read, the first being The Sirens of Titan. Sirens disappointed me overall mainly because it sorely lacked a compelling plot. S5 in my opinion is superior to Sirens in every way. Vonnegut delivers a strong message about the senselessness of war by narrating the story of Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim is a generally clueless American who takes part in the final offensive actions against Germany in World War 2. In a POW camp in Dresden he survives the fire-bombing of the city which stupefies him further. He learns new perspectives on time from aliens who abduct him for no apparent reason. Vonnegut never makes clear whether the science fiction elements of the novel (aliens, time travel) are all in Billy's mind or if they really happened. The title page states that schizophrenia is involved, so Billy may simply be re-living his memories instead of actually traveling back in time. And perhaps he's imagining the aliens. If you saw the recent movie A Beautiful Mind about the brilliant but schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, you'll be able to relate a bit better to poor Billy.

Anyhow, the strange structure of the novel works well for its purpose, which is to convince you that modern warfare has little to do with honor and glory. A great number of soldiers who fight and die for their country are basically kids of high school age or a bit older. That's bad enough. But when thousands of civilians are killed senselessly in order to encourage a country to surrender, the whole thing becomes meaningless. Vonnegut's satiric style fits this theme like hand and glove. Characterization isn't too great but the humorous and witty dialogue makes up for it. The novel moves quickly and is somewhat difficult to put down. Some sex and quite a bit of violence.

Not quite as grand as Joseph Heller's brilliant Catch-22, but shorter and easier to digest. Recommended!

Though this book has so many reviews, I decided to share my opinion. It appears that a fair number of people love this book, as it was at my school when we read it. However, I'd like to tell anyone who thought it was overly strange and disjointed, I agree! So it goes... some enjoy classics like this, some do not. My english teacher told me I took it too seriously. All I have to say to him is, "Po-tee-weet!"

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is a great anti-war masterpiece. Vonnegut takes readers on a journey of life both pre-war and post-war as experienced by Billy Pilgrim. The psychological characteristics that define Billy are a direct result of his war experience and eye witness account of the bombing of Dresden.
Billy's 'ability' to travel through time allows him to view the dramatic events of Dresden several times, it also allows him to view his own birth, death, and everything in between. Some discredit Vonneguts writing as containing little to no focus; however, he wrote in such a jumbled fashion for a reason. Vonnegut is quoted as saying " it is jumbled and jambled, moves all around, it doesn't make sense, nor does war."
After reading Slaughterhouse Five I re-evaluated my personal opinion on war; Vonnegut paints a vivid picture of the traumatic effects of war on the individual in combat that war no longer seems justifiable by any means.
I began reading this book at an ironic time, immediately before the events of September 11. As I continued to read and gain an understanding for the novel, the devastation that the United States is currently dealing with can in no way compare with the devastation as a result of the bombing of Dresden. In both events the side taking action effectively made a point; however, they did not do so without claiming the lives of several innocent civilians. The bombing of Dresden is a part of American history that cannot be erased and puts a damper on American pride.

Listen:
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is really something else. I have to admit this is one of the few books where I saw the movie first (years ago), and about 3 years ago, I decided to read the novel. Left a deep impact on me, although I had a hard time understanding it.
So a couple of months ago I saw the movie again, loved it again (although I normally detest movies done after books), and then decided to read all of Vonnegut's novels and shortstories, and chronologically this time, starting out with the promising Player Piano.
Now I reread Slaughterhouse Five, and so far it is Vonnegut's best book. It is clearly an attempt to describe his impressions in World War Two and especially Dresden, but instead of writing a realistic novel about war, Vonnegut 'invents' a totally non-linear genre of science fiction that is absolutely unique in its scope.
There is no suspense at all, because the novel's main character (not to call him hero) Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time, which means he travels back and forth in time. We meet a young Pilgrim traumatized by his gun-loving father, a Pilgrim lost in World War Two, a Pilgrim married to the obese daughter of a rich John Birch Society nutcase and above all a happy Pilgrim living on Tralfamadore, a planet in a faraway solar system. All this is narrated in no particular order, and maybe the book needs to be read twice to get its scope, but it is worth it.
Vonnegut's style also reaches a level that I haven't seen of him in the past, very bitter-sarcastic-loving-sweet... all at once. Every death is followed by a shrugged "So it goes.", and paragraphes are often introduced with "Listen:". In a heartwarming sad tale, Vonnegut tells us not only of the senselessness of war (where there are no crooks, just victims), but also teaches the reader a valuable moral: focus on the positive moments of your life.
Then there are some characters which avid Vonnegut fans will love to see back: wretched sci-fi writer Kilgore Trout, millionaire Eliot Rosewater and American nazi Howard Campbell jr. Plus two goofs: the border between Luxembourg and Germany is a valley, not a hill, and people with an IQ of 103 are of average intelligence, not morons.
Read this book though.
Poo-tee-weet?

Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" is an enjoyable read. Vonnegut writes with a smooth and witty writing style. The story of Billy Pilgrim's experiences as a POW during World War Two, including his time traveling adventures, are shocking and amusing at the same time. Confronting horror and death with humor is an age-old concept, and Vonnegut finds a good balance between the two.

One thing that I kept asking myself as I read the book was "what is this book about?" I think Vonnegut may have succeeded in writing a book where the reader can make up his or her own mind concerning the book's meaning. Yes, it addresses the horrors of war and makes light of authority, but there were so many subliminal and idiosyncratic references to various things, places, events, people, etc., that I couldn�t help but think that I would just have to use my own creativity and ideas to figure out the book's real message.

What really disturbed me about the book was Vonnegut's constant use of sarcasm and irreverent humor. Many people in modern society equate cynicism with sophistication. I respectfully disagree; I think that Vonnegut's numerous disparaging references to various institutions got old after a while.

All in all, I recommend it . . . but I won't exalt it to the extent that other readers have.

I reread this in one sitting the other night as I have periodically for some 20 years. Slaughterhouse-Five was the first book to really make me think as a young teenager. After all that time and at least six or seven reads I still laugh out loud at jokes I can see coming for pages, and I'm still moved for days or weeks after. Billy Pilgrim's innocence and sadness and Vonnegut's humanity are still astonishingly pure and beautiful.

Don't let the fragmented timeline of Billy's tale put anybody off; it's there to juxtapose disconnected events and thereby create illustrations that are creative and funny and satirical and moving. When available fictional devices cannot make his point, Vonngut puts one or another fantastic tale in the pen of alter ego Kilgore Trout, or brings in the Tralfamadorians for a few life lessons.

Vonnegut is an unparalleled storyteller with a style that is at once easy and deep, like a wonderful aunt or uncle with biting humor and years of wisdom quietly regaling late into the evening. The tale he tells in Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the great stories of all time for it's unbelievable creativity and it's quiet, gentle and powerful sense of humanity. A masterpiece.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II vertan who has become "unstuck in time." Set partly in war-ravaged Europe, post-war America, and the alien planet of Tralfamadore, Vonnegut creates a modern novel unlike any I have ever read. One of the many creative aspects of this novel is the style in which it was written. Vonnegut writes the story in a series of flashbacks and sporadically jumps from one point in Billy's life to another. He also writes in an easy-to-read manner that allows the reader to understand the story. Billy Pilgrim is Vonnegut's anti-hero, described as a "filthy flamingo," and as Cinderella. Billy struggles to deal with himself and the absolute tragedy of the world around him. Billy finds solace on the planet of Tralfamadore. Tralfamadore is obviously a figment of Billy's imagination that he created to escape reality. Tralfamadore is Billy's Garden of Eden; Billy is Adam, and Montana Wildhack, a motion picture star also brought to Tralfamadore, is his Eve. Vonnegut successfully makes his point that "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre" by repeating simple phrases like "poor old Edgar Derby" and "so it goes" to make powerful statements. The black humor of the novel also lightens the subject matter and allows the reader to truly appreciate its sadness. Its thought-provoking themes and clever approach at writing make Vonnegut's "famous book about Dresden" one of the great modern novels that won't die as other attempts have. So it goes.

For a truly surreal reading experience, it doesn't get much better than Kurt Vonnegut's seminal science fiction/drama novel "Slaughterhouse Five". Ostensibly an anti-war novel, "Slaughterhouse Five" transports the readers to many different places and times following the journey of the unimpressive Billy Pilgrim. Billy is a sad, pathetic individual who seems to have spent almost all of his existence just mindlessly wandering from one station in life to the next without much enthusiasm for it or even much interest. He's the kind of person that, if you saw him walking down the street or met him at a party, he would leave absolutely no impression. Billy, like many in his generation, served in World War II. The story (stories) of this novel center on the Dresden fire bombings in the last days of the war and his survival in an underground shelter, the aforementioned 'slaughterhouse five'. He survived the war, went back home, became an optometrist, got married, and had a life with all the trappings of suburbia. None of it really seems to matter to him, though. He would have been content to die in WWII for he did not want to fight. He was joke to those that served with him in a German POW camp. Even in his own life back home, Billy wasn't much. He married relatively unattractive woman because that's what people did. His colleagues didn't have much respect for him, nor did his own children in later years. So, what was Billy Pilgrim's purpose for existing? He seemed to think it was to spread the message of an alien race about becoming 'unstuck in time'.

"Slaughterhouse Five" departs from any semblance of normal story-telling formats. As Billy Pilgrim has become 'unstuck in time', he feels he exists in an environment where, instead of time being one chronological line, it is a series of points that exist concurrently and perpetually. Billy falls asleep a widower and wakes up on his wedding day. He may revisit his war experience or go back to childhood. Billy journeys all over time because, where he's concerned, everything that has happened and will happen is all happening at the same time. Perhaps it is the influence of the aliens that enable him to think this way, or perhaps Billy is really just suffering from severe post-traumatic stress following the Dresden bombing. Either way, Billy is missing something in his life. His journeys through time are his way to try and find meaning in a life where none exists. It is a unique and existential journey for the reader and one definitely worth taking. So it goes.

Through Vonnegut's use of his incredibly developed satirical style, and the use of motifs, Vonnegut masterfully achieves his main goal for Slaughterhouse Five, to show how horrible is the aftermath emotionally, of war. Vonnegut begins by introducing his main character, Billy Pilgrim. Billy is an already emotionally fragile human being that is forced into an assistant chaplain position in the US Army on the European front of World War II during the Battle of the Bulge. The war eventually causes Billy to go crazy, believing that he is actually time traveling and has encountered and been taken captive by an alien race from trillions of miles away. There is plenty good reason for this, Vonnegut says throughout the book, by offering up several motifs that alone classify war as a horrible thing. For instance, Vonnegut often says that the feet of a dead or dying man are "ivory and blue" (92), colors that connote stiff, cold death. Whenever a character of Vonnegut's is near or approaching death, he notes that his feet are ivory and blue, an image that really hits upon the reader as expressing the horrible nature of war. Another awfully graphic motif is that of "mustard gas and roses" (93), an oxymoron, for sure, one horrible smell grouped with the epitome of good scents. Vonnegut uses this imagery to describe many things, his own breath for one, and also the smell of war. The significance of the author's breath smelling like that of war serves as a constant reminder to him what he had to face during the war and never allows Vonnegut to escape his wartime experiences. Vonnegut also uses a load of often grotesque and horrible, if not odd, similes and metaphors to further his purpose. One instance occurred near the end of the book, not the end of the action, because of the constant variances in the setting of the book, and compared the bombed Dresden to the surface of the moon (230). There is no life on the surface of the moon, and so it was in Dresden after 175,000 of it's inhabitants were killed. Vonnegut is a master of language, and one time compared the smell of old books to "flannel pajamas that hadn't been changed in a month, or Irish stew" (128). These and other odd comparisons contribute to the feeling of overwhelming that accompanied the war. Among other ridiculous comparisons was a very striking comparison. Vonnegut is describing the prisoners of war as compared to their captors, their guards, and writes "here is light opera" (191). The guards, nervous because of their ill preparation and experience find at the opening of the cattle cars in which the captors are transported that these soldiers are worse off then them, a reminder of the innocence of the soldiers of the war. Vonnegut's satiric style played the largest part in his anti-war novel toward this cause. The most profound example of his horrible cynical writing style comes from his repetitive use of the phrase "So it goes", and is used every time anything, no matter how insignificant, or incredibly important, dies. Vonnegut varies the usage of this phrase from the death of lice and bacteria during a delousing, to the death of millions of Jews. This usage displays the dehumanizing nature of the war, and the hopelessness as well by understating the fact that so many died so violently. The reader is so offended by the understatement, that the opposite effect takes place. The reader is able to qualify the deaths of these people more profoundly perhaps, then if Vonnegut did so himself, a masterful writing technique, indeed. Vonnegut must be one of the most under-appreciated, least known masters of literature still alive and writing today. His style, his writing ability, and his masterful uses of innuendo clearly separate him from the Steven Kings, and John Grishams of the more popular writing circles into groups with Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Hemingway.

Slaughterhouse Five

In "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.

To judge by your reviews, I'm certainly in the minority. I read this book for a reading group and the best thing I can say is that it was mercifully short. I found the style disjointed and artifical. True, it gave one a desolate feeling about war and its follies, but cerainly other books have done it better, certainly in a more attainable less tedious style.

Kurt Vonnegut's
SlaughterHouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five is about a World War II veteran who is struggling to understand people, time, and what people think of time. This books protagonist is Billy Pilgrim although Kurt Vonnegut wants the readers to know that he himself is part of the story.

Billy Pilgrim has experienced many difficult and abnormal points in his life during and after the war. He sees his life as a never ending timeline where he skips back and forth recounting events that made him feel a certain way. Maybe, Vonnegut wants readers to know the feeling of emptiness and confusion that war veterans face or wants us to see life in a different way, a more happier way. Either that or Vonnegut wrote a really good anti-human/war book. However, Vonnegut does begin the book with establishing that war on earth is inevitable.

The book starts out as Kurt Vonnegut's own account, he is in 1967 and is visiting the slaughterhouse where he was once held captive by German soldiers during World War II. He's with a friend also from WWII. Later, Billy Pilgrim is brought into the story and is said to be "unstuck in time", meaning Pilgrim has the ability to move from time period to time period. For now he is in 1968 and has survived a plane crash... I think Vonnegut adds an 'alien' encounter in the story for us to further understand the timeline we live in and are not bound to. Its always easier to explain how human life is when you look at it from the perspective of 'aliens'. In the part where Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens, the aliens teach him how life is just many accounts of good and bad memories and people should pick out the good parts and enjoy them. While recuperating from his plane crash, Billy's wife dies. Billy becomes more and more obsessed with how he sees life differently and he begins to share it via the media. His adult daughter begins to think that he's going insane. Billy moves back and forth from when he was captured by German soldiers to post-war with his family. In his memories of war he remembers himself feeling like 'The Three Musketeers' with his friends- this being an example of Vonnegut showing Billy only remembering the happier time in life.

"So it goes"... I still have to finish the book even though I don't want to because I can't understand the point nor relate to it.
All books need a point, Vonnegut goes back and forth. 'CHANGE the world' and 'changing the world is POINTLESS'.



This review is in dedication to Mr. C and his fantastical job at teaching.

While cultural pundits try to convince you that some literature is better than other literature, the truth is that all art is relative to individial tastes. Thus, it doesn't make any sense to think that a novel like this one is really any better than say, Michael Crichton or Stephen King. Aesthetic standards can't be grounded.

Thus, don't listen to anyone who tries to distinguish between "serious" works of literature like this one and allegedly "lesser" novels. The distinction is entirely illusory, because no novels are "better" than any others, and the concept of a "great novel" is an intellectual hoax.

I prefer Daniele Steele, and there's no basis for telling me I'm wrong. Vonnegut is no better or worse than Daniele Steele!

Rarely is there more madness than when humans go to war and the most appropriate way to write about war is in a mode of madness.

Consider "Slaughterhouse-Five" a book written by a sane writer in a mode of madness. Meet a protagonist on a pilgrimage through various stages of insanity. Experience that his insanity feels quite sane sometimes. Think about a world where a slaughterhouse becomes a sanctuary. Ask yourself if you would not choose to live in the fourth dimension where time is timeless and death has no dominion if you had seen the senseless slaughter of war. The planet Tralfamadore may be the sane alternative to the planet Earth.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is a fine novel in the tradition of satire and unconventional, innovative writing, best represented by classics like Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy". The book can be hilariously funny, but it is deadly serious about dying. In my opinion, the recurrent comment "so it goes" is just one of the ways in which the anti-hero and the narrator of the book deal with the horror and absurdity of dying.

Vonnegut's style is fluid, and the short paragraphs of the book make for easy reading. It is really very enjoyable from a pure "reading experience" view, despite the non-linear structure and the parts that read like a weird fairy-tale.

Of course, there is no moral in the book. What is the morality in war? Violent death makes no sense. Violent death is as absurd as life gets. And absurdity invites laughter. It's the only way to deal with it short of going insane or joining a cult that has All The Answers.

And Dresden, this doomed city - how neatly Vonnegut's description of its deceptive, dreamlike splendor summarizes his book: "The Americans arrived in Dresden at five in the afternoon. The boxcar doors were opened, and the doorways framed the loveliest city that most of the Americans had ever seen. The skyline was intricate and voluptuous and enchanted and absurd."

I read this book on a recommendation from my history teacher. I was kind of hesitant at first, but the story just grabbed me. I personally think Vonnegut is trying to say three things. 1) Humanity in whole doesn't change, so war is inevitable 2) You have to do the best you can to prevent war 3) Even during war, morals still exist One of the premises of the book, is that history, past and future is fixed. We are like little bugs trapped in amber, we can't escape. But I don't think Vonnegut is really saying we have no free will, I think he is talking about society and what society does and it drags us along, however unwilling, and we just have to do the best we can. For those of you who haven't read it, the story goes as follows. Billy Pilgrim, an ill-prepared chaplains assistant, becomes a POW for the germans and witnesses the bombing of Dresden. Several years later, he is kindapped by aliens from the Planet Tralfamadore, who live in four dimensions. It also tells about his life twenty five years later. the three strories are wovwn together, becasue supposedly, the Tralfamadorians taught Billy how to time travel and he does so. I won;t spoil the rest, for those of you who haven't read the book.

No author's passing has ever affected me as profoundly as that of Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). Slaughterhouse Five is the most beautifully written and meaningful anti-war book I have ever experienced. I write "experienced" because this is a book you experience rather than just read. I have re-experienced the book several times since first picking it up in high school, and its powerful ideas are more compelling and moving every time. Vonnegut's message about the horror and futility of war is so stirring because of the gentle sincerity and quiet simplicity with which he conveys it. Sadly, it seems the world has been in a constant state of violence and conflict in one region or another since Vonnegut wrote his book so many decades ago. We need to re-experience his message now more than ever.

Thank you Mr. Vonnegut, and may you finally rest in peace.

One of those books where after you read it you look at your copy and wonder how something of such power could be put on paper. Through Billy Pilgrim's experience with the aliens of Tralfamadore which take the reader to-and-fro various parts of Billy's life, you'll see that this book isn't so much about war but about how life gets caught up in war. Very offbeat book with loads of great parts, both sad and funny.

Through Billy Pilgrim, an unfit soldier who had a horrible and embarrasing experience in WWII, Vonnegut paints a keen portrait of life. Like all Vonnegut books, this one has a load of great characters, including my favorite Vonnegut character Kilgore Trout (you gotta love his stories). Many of the characters are startlingly close to life. Soom good and some bad. Some make you see how rotten people can be, others make you see how wonderful (I know far too many Paul Lazzaros and far too few Elliot Rosewaters).

When Vonnegut writes from a first-person point of view, the character is narrating, and that's all there is to it. But when Vonnegut writes from a third-person point of view, it's not just narrated, Vonnegut makes sure you know that he himself is narrating, and he's writing this book. This book is third-person, and (as in Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions) Kurt shows up in the pages. It really works well with this one. It cements this book's sense of reality when it could so easily float away (the plot does, after all, hinge around aliens in flying saucers).

Kurt Vonnegut has written another masterpiece. The captivating story of Billy Pilgrim, a fictional character who is modeled after Vonnegut himself, and his experience during the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II. Vonnegut takes a satirical look at the atrocities of war and the ill-effects war has on a persons mind. Vonnegut makes a comedy of a serious matter while sticking to the subject and getting his point across. The vanity of life is examined through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, who pictures memories as events that should not be forgotten. Death in this novel is not seen as a loss because the deceased will always remain in your mind and a memory is just as good as your being in the presence of this person. The novel is centered on the meaningless of life, but not that life shouldn't be enojoyed. In my opinion, this book is a must for anyone who has ever wondered what the meaning of life is, or why a person is saddened by personal loss. So, if you are literate I recommend that you partake in this delightful piece of literature.

I was thumbing through the Modern Library panel's list of the 100 greatest novels of the century the other day. It starts with (of course) Joyce's *Ulysses* and contains mostly classics your high school English teacher had on his book list.

*Slaughterhouse-Five* was #18.

Since the Modern Library is filled mostly with pretentious jerks, this one surprised me. Vonnegut is post-modern, tinged with sci-fi, unpretentious, fairly easy to read, and funny. This isn't a knock at poor old James Joyce--I love him too--or the great literary classics of the world (I read more of them than I do Vonnegut novels), but you don't expect to see a writer as purely *fun* as Vonnegut in the top 20 novels of the 20th century.

Maybe we should. This is the book most closely linked to Vonnegut's name, and it's definitely representative of his best work, if not the best of the best. It's not your typical literary classic and does have some fantastic elements to it, but judging by most of the reader comments below me, that's not a problem. And yes, it is anti-war, written by a veteran, and if you're a die-hard American patriot like our friend/reviewer Rich down there (what are you doing reading an author with a German name like Vonnegut anyway, flyboy?), then you'll not be happy.

For you non-militants out there, it's hard to go wrong with Vonnegut, especially *Slaughterhouse-five.* Even if you can't see why it's on the top 20 list, it's still a fun ride.

(The iron grip of Britian, Rich? Please.)

Perhaps I missed the boat, but "Slaughterhouse-Five" just doesn't come across as hilarious and eye-opening as many see it in my opinion. Sure, there's no denying Vonnegut's satirical viewpoint, but the story is just too disjointed and jumbled to really enjoy it. Vonnegut uses Billy Pilgrim to get his point across that war isn't worth it. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need war. However, there comes a point when shaking hands and talking over tea just doesn't work anymore. It's obvious that Vonnegut disagreed with the actions taken at Dresden (He was there), but he fails to mention the reasoning behind the attack on that particular place. Also, he gives us a brief glimpse at conditions in the German concentration camps but fails to fully paint the picture of just how cruel these places were. In short, what you have here is one man's viewpoint of warfare. If you agree with him, you'll probably think his sarcastic remarks are hilarious. However, if, like me, you see war as an unwanted but sometimes necessary evil, you may tire of Vonnegut's lingo rather quickly.

In closing I must say that this book just wasn't for me. When I was in college I happened to see the film that's based on this book and I actually enjoyed it. Perhaps age and real world experience have rubbed the sand out of my eyes and I now see this book for what it really is? I'm not saying that this book is bad, but I won't recommend everybody go out and read it either.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" was my first introduction to Kurt Vonnegut in the novel form. I had read a few of his short stories and was already impressed with his status as a writer. I would've never expected what I experienced when I read "Slaughterhouse-Five." It's hard to put into words that'll actually do this masterpiece the justice it deserves, but I will try.

Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. This meaning that he relives certain moments of his life in random order like a scrambled movie. He has absolutely no control over it whatsoever and he never knows what part of his life he'll have to reenact. The majority of the moments that we witness take place during his involvement in WW2 as a POW and also when he is taken aboard an alien spaceship with creatures known as "Tralfamadorians." There is no ending for Billy Pilgrim. He witnesses his beginning as well as death... and then the show starts all over again in a continuous loop throwing Pilgrim into random segments of his life.

Reading this novel was a completely new experience to me. I had never read anything like it, and now I know that I will never again read anything like it, as there is no way the book can be successfully duplicated by others. Vonnegut is able to take a serious matter (such as war) and still throw in a balanced sense of humor that will take you by surprise. The book pokes fun at just about anything you can imagine while still showing respect and care to the main subject matter. The story is outrageously subtle and unpredictable. This novel is a very easy read and once you begin it, you won't want to put it down until you have finished it. Vonnegut is one talented writer with a very unique sense of style that I have never witnessed in any other book.

One thing that people will probably dislike about the book is how confusing it can be at times. Since the book jumps around and is not in order, you have to always be thinking and paying attention to every detail. It's very easy to forget what has already happened and what has yet to happen since it is in scrambled order. However, this is what really makes the book that much more special. You'll want to reread it again for this very reason, as you'll most likely miss a few things with the first read. It wasn't very hard for me to keep track of what was going on since I found the book to be so involving.

While this is indeed a classic, because of the strange manner that the book is written in, it will most likely not appeal to everybody. This is a risk-taking work of literature that is bound to not have everybody loving it. Still, I think it's worth anybody's time to pick it up and give it a chance. "Slaughterhouse-Five" is a rare find that will keep you on your toes throughout the entire time. You'll never know what to expect next. A very touching, funny, sad and dark story about a flawed entity known as "human-beings." This has very quickly become a new favorite of mine, without question. -Michael Crane

On February 13-14, in the year of 1945, 65,000 incendiary explosives were dropped upon the peaceful and beautiful German city of Dresden by British and American forces, burning 135,000 men, women, and children to death (15,000 more than the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima). So it goes.
The author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut, was one of the 100 people to survive the bombing, and then only because he was deep under the ground in a slaughterhouse being held as a prisoner of war. For the main character of the story, Kurt Vonnegut invented Billy Pilgrim, the imaginary protagonist of Slaughterhouse-Five, to also witness the somewhat unknown firebombing of Dresden. The damage that the event inflicted upon Billy's mind becomes apparent throughout the course of the book, beginning with the fact that he experiences time by jumping from event to event in his life, similar to a severely shell-shocked individual.
The story is presented in a calm and informative manner, with absurd, disturbing, and often unexpected events mixed with the often mundane and uneventful story of Billy's life. It is through these bizarre events that many of the book's main points are presented; for instance, aliens known as the Tralfamadorians (who view the universe through the fourth-dimension) kidnapped Billy Pilgrim in his warped mind and showed him that the true way to view the universe was to see it all at once, as a huge picture, and then to focus only on the times that were pleasant.
In my opinion, Slaughterhouse-Five is a book that should be read by every human being on the planet. Who knows, maybe people might realize that destroying people's lives and minds over issues they don't have anything to do with won't make the world a better place.

I would describe this as the worst book of Vonnegut's career.

Want a coherent plot? this is not the book for you. Characters whose actions make a degree of sense? Nope. Excellent examples of Vonnegut's biting wit? Not really.

Seeing a trend?

Slaughterhouse 5, while almost univerally hailed as Vonnegut's best work, is utterly bad. I do not know if Vonnegut was attempting to be an absurdist (if so, he didn't succeed) or whether it was merely a cathartic exercise for taking away his pain from the horrific events he witnessed in the Second World War. Whatever the excuse, it was not ever and is not now a good book.

When I first read this book, I stopped reading Vonnegut for well over a year. I could hardly believe that the man who created such well crafted short fiction as "Harrison Bergeron" and such witty novels as Slapstick could do something this incredibly without redeeming value. Its protagonist is an anti-hero of the first rate, yet the reader is expected to sympathize with him. If Billy Pilgrim was intended as another alter-ego of Vonnegut himself, I do not think I would ever want to meet the writer in person, as he would be a let down to his own other works.

Now, hear me out! My husband is the oldest grandson of Vonnegut's war buddy, Bernard V. O'Hare. The book is dedicated to his grandmother Mary O'Hare. If the slaughter house had not been there for my grandfather-in-law to hide in while the Americans destroyed Dresden, then my husband would never have been born. I got started reading Vonnegut because I was looking for references to B.V.O'Hare, but I was fascinated by his insane humor and commentary on "a world rushing headlong into madness."

Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time, and so the novel is also unstuck from the shackles of linear time progression. Throughout the work, Vonnegut explores the modern world, World War II Dresden as a prisoner of the Germans, and the planet Tralfamador where Billy is displayed like a zoo animal. Everything is happening at once, so we get snippets from various points of time and the plot lines are disconnected.

Through this narrative, Vonnegut works his themes like a virtuoso. He shows that war can do nothing but destroy, that nothing flowers from the remains of war except a shell of what could've been if there'd been no massive deaths, no societal collapse, no degradations and dehumanizations. He lives through Billy Pilgrim as a witness to the firebombing of Dresden, through the lives lost to a greater degree than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. He shows that horror so vividly that it's the very horror of that experience that tosses him about time and space like a pinball in a game.

He rips through the concept of free will, when Billy decides he can just change history and prevent war. He shows the futility, illustrating it with this great line, "writing an anti-war book is like writing an anti-glacier book." Billy can't simply ignore war, and his sanity erodes as a consequence. Everyone should just ignore war is the advice of the Tralfamadorians, who have their own history of wars, once even destroying the whole universe. But Billy is human and can't understand the circular nature of time.

Vonnegut doesn't so much write a novel as have a heart-felt conversation with the reader, throwing in some fiction, some religion, some politics, and a laugh or two. After reading this book, you'll have new understandings, and a great new friend.

- CV Rick

I have to admit that it is not the same book this thirty-nine-year-old remembers when he read it last at nineteen. Parts of it are brilliant, but I found myself rolling my eyes at the sidetrips to Tralfamadore and his juvenile asides about sex. A review I recently read gets it right:

"I suppose that once upon a time, this novel must have seemed terribly arch or ironic. Perhaps it is simply a function of living in the Decade of Irony, but now it just seems fairly sophomoric."

Now I'm afraid to read any more Vonnegut for fear of slapping myself silly for being such an impressionable college boy.

Slaughterhouse Five is one of many novels we have from the World War II period, joining such other bestsellers as Jones' The Thin Red Line and Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. Like these, Slaughterhouse Five makes a contrarian, rather stupid implication: that is, World War II was useless, senseless and ignoble. Younger readers and undergrads especially will buy into the subtext. Nevertheless, to Vonnegut's credit, he has created an intriguing and lively absurdist tale with Billy Pilgrim.

Unfortunately, the reality of World War II was quite the opposite of the themes in Slaughterhouse Five. Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust and Nazism are words that come to mind when I think of why World War II was fought. Like Jones and Mailer, Vonnegut has discovered that if one takes any human act and removes all historical context, it will then seem senseless and absurd. Vonnegut himself must have realized that at some point in the writing, and those omissions are what make Slaughterhouse Five spurious. Hence the two stars. It is 'pretty' to think war is useless, but in the real world war is sometimes a necessity. Consult the track record. Take 'poo-tee-weet' with a grain of salt.

With that said, the book mixes up an interesting concoction of science fiction, humor, autobiography, history (however narrowed the scope), and clear writing. Millions of high schoolers read Slaughterhouse Five annually, but that probably owes more to our mainstream counterculture attitudes than any literary merit. It probably will not endure past the next century or so, but in the meantime Slaughterhouse Five is worth the read. For World War II readers, I recommend Erich Maria Remarque's A Time To Love And A Time To Die...a superior novel.

Billy Pilgrim is a man who witnessed the firebombing of Dresden during World War II where he was a POW. Later in life he believes he was abducted by aliens and taken to the planet Tralfamadore. Sometime after this he became unstuck in time, constantly shifting from one time period of his life to another. One minute he is in the POW camp, and the next he is on Tralfamadore and the next at home with his wife. Slaughterhouse Five is filled with absurd images and people and speaks to how we handle traumatizing events in our lives. It is an oddly structured book in that there is no real beginning, middle or end and constantly jumps around in time and place. It is worthwhile to read this book for its absurd humor and deft characterization of Billy Pilgrim, but it does not strike me as the iconic classic it is made out to be.

This was the most anti-human book that I've read since Gulliver's Travels. Vonnegut's cynicism and apathy are understandable considering the atrocities that he witnessed during the war, and I imagine writing the book was a cathartic experience for him, but other than that, there's not much to be gained from this novel.

Vonnegut's shell-shocked brain appears incapable of distinguishing between the Germans who were injecting dye into women's and children's eyes and rendering them into soap and candles and the Allied soldiers that sacrificed their lives trying to stop them.

His main points seem to be:
1. War is stupid.
2. People are stupid.
3. Life is meaningless.
4. There's nothing any of us can do about it.
5. So, try not to think about the bad things in your life and just think happy thoughts.

If this is your life's philosophy, you will also consider this a "brilliant" work.

This without a doubt ranks up there with the WORST books I have ever read. Pointless, poorly written, and incredibly dull.

If you want some great writing, try Ayn Rand.

I've read other works by Vonnegut and while I consider this to be one of his better works, I was fairly disappointed with this supposed "classic". I have no doubt people of Vonnegut's generation at the time thought it would indeed be a classic--shocking, anti-Establishment, "unconventional"--and this is exactly the problem: It really speaks only to his time and generation. The prose simply doesn't stand up to the test of time and is at time unbearable to read. The oh-so hip use of language is terribly dated and things that are supposed to be shocking to his contemporary audience are today trite, the irony coming off rather simple-minded and pedantic.

The greatest moments in literature are when the author forgets about sending messages and delves into what the book itself wants to say. Vonnegut seems to be too concenred with his own ego and scoring points among his peers for being some kind of Moral Conscience of his generation. In another thirty years, this book may be almost totally unreadable.

This book is not quite like anything else I've read. I guess I could call it a fatalist's account of the firebombing of Dresden, but I don't think this does it justice.

I enjoyed it for the style of its writing and its recurring themes (death, sex, fatalism, and time, among others), and not so much for the plot or the characters -- which I agree aren't that interesting, except for Kilgore Trout and the Tralfamadorians. The style of writing is humorously matter-of-fact throughout, though the issues Vonnegut brings up are serious. As for the plot, there's not much to say, but I don't think I should give it away in this review. In short, if you like thoughtfully-written fiction, read this book.

Now, in response to some other reviews I've read on this site: I'm a bit puzzled by those who characterize this as an anti-war book. Yes, Vonnegut does seem to be implying that war is absurd, but he seems to think that almost everything about modern life is absurd. I didn't like this book because it showed me the horrors of war (I already knew that war is horrible); I liked it because it showed the war from a perspective I had never seen before. I enjoyed seeing things from Billy Pilgrim's reflective and supremely fatalistic point of view.

In fact, I got the impression that Vonnegut was parodying Billy's anti-war sentiments, such as when he pleas to the Trafalmadorians, "How can a planet live at peace?" Or, in one of my favorite passages, when Billy watches the war movie backwards and sees factories dismantling bombs, "separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again. The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby... " I think that Vonnegut was smart enough to realize that he could no sooner stop wars than glaciers.

I also doubt that we are supposed to take the "philosophy" of the Tralfamadorians seriously. To those of you who do: do you really think that Vonnegut wrote this book because he believed that we should all "ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones"? C'mon, give him more credit than that!

Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" is one of the finest books I've ever read. I want to extend my deepest thanks to my girl Meredith for placing it in my borrowing hands. It's a fabulous reading experience that when explained verbally makes no sense. I'm sure that my breakdown of the plot structure didn't make anyone want to read it, but my neverending enthusiasm for the brilliance of the writer and all he accomplished in the 200+ pages of text probably did. Vonnegut is a genius of prose, and he handles a story that jumps back and forth through time and space like a kangaroo with a porcupine in its pouch with a delicate touch of dark humor that treads the boundary of the nearly ludicrous, but always stays this side of believable. It's an astonishing piece of anti-war sentiment that examines the life of Billy Pilgrim through the 4-dimensional eyes of time, seeing time and events therein as something that have always happened, is happening, and will always happen. This sets the time-hopping structure of the book.

The book is rooted in Billy Pilgrim's situation as a prisoner of war, held captive first in a run down little camp that is pretty much headed by the distinguished Englishmen who have come to know the Nazi soldiers as comrades in arms, and then he is moved to Dresden, Germany; the site of a massacre that the combined destructive power of which took more lives than the Hiroshima bomb. We find out that Billy Pilgrim also became a optometrist, married a rich woman, and may or may not have been taken to a planet called Tralfamadore to be put on display in a zoo for the interest of the planet's inhabitants, who teach Billy about the true nature of time.

I couldn't explain how or why this book drew me in with such power, but there is no doubt in my mind of its greatness. Vonnegut uses his characters to the anti-war angle splendidly, gives us some new perspectives about time to think about, and he sort of makes us feel guilty for wanting to chuckle at the snide moments of obscure humor he throws at us like eggs, and we're all the dumb football jock's car. It's a wonderful balancing act of psychological profiling, satire, theory, and love. This is a true timeless masterpiece.

There are thousands of war-diaries in the world today. There are big books, small books, boring books, intense books, and diary books, all on the subject of war. When was the last time you read a war book? And liked it? Maybe you've never been interested to pick up a book about war. Personally, I've never finished a war book, usually because they're horribly boring. I could do without endless details about battles and strategy; it takes more than that to keep me interested. Well, in a world of thousands of dull war-books, Slaughterhouse-Five rises above the rest as a breath of fresh air. It is a book that I will read and re-read throughout my life. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote Slaughterhouse-Five to be serious, hysterically funny, and very creative all at the same time, all of which he succeeds at doing. Slaughterhouse-Five tells the tale of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a naïve young scout* who is captured in the Battle of Dresden of WWII. Billy is then employed in a slaughterhouse manufacturing vitamins for pregnant women. While Vonnugut is telling the story about the life Billy Pilgrim, he is actually telling the story of himself*, precisely when he witnessed the firebombing of Dresden, Germany. The aspect of the book that makes it so special is the style in which it was written. Vonnegut writes the book about Billy Pilgrim in a series of flashbacks throughout his life, like in a series of cycles. * In one paragraph, for example, the reader will find Billy Pilgrim sitting in his office pondering his twisted life. However, in the next paragraph, the reader may find Billy being held hostage by German soldiers or kidnapped by aliens. "Overhead he heard the cry of what might have been a melodious owl, but it wasn't a melodious owl. It was flying saucer, from Tralfamadore, navigating in both space and time, therefore seeming Billy Pilgrim to have come from nowhere all at once. Somewhere a big dog barked," (p. 75) After each death in the book, the phrase "so it goes" appears, telling us that life just moves on. "One of them singled out Billy's face for a moment, then focused at infinite again. There was a tiny plume of smoke at infinity. There was a battle there. People were dying there. So it goes." (p.65) Growing up in times of war and poverty (2), Vonnegut has a unique outlook on life and society. In spite of this, the novel deals with many social and ecological problems that were surfacing in the sixties. "And Hitler turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed." (p. 75) Slaughterhouse-Five beautifully blends humor, critique, and thought-inspiring themes in this recount of WWII events. Vonnegut's unique, fresh style can't be resisted and becomes very charismatic as the book progresses. Slaughterhouse-Five is timeless.

I purchased this book to enjoy during a summer vacation. I could not put it down. Vonnegut introduces a whole new perspective of viewing our existence in the world. I am a High School teacher. I plan to implement this controversial book into my classroom. Bravo, Kurt!

I read this book in an afternoon for a book club. Thank goodness I did not have to waste any more time on it! Other reviewers have mentioned the humor and supposedly wonderful insights offered by this book. I found neither. Yes, Mr. Vonnegut, war is bad. Not a revelation.

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.

When writing about an enterprise as destructive and foolish as war, an author with a clear agenda must take an absurd approach to the subject in order to address just how ridiculous the entire enterprise is. Like Mr. Vonnegut, I also believe the beings from afar are looking at our silly little circus and asking themselves, "Why?" The book itself gets 4 stars. The man himself gets more stars then there are available to give.

"Slaughterhouse Five", while not my favorite Vonnegut novel was the first I ever read back in HS. Unlike most other authors I encountered in those painfully formative years, he was saying something I felt I needed to hear.

Now as a teacher myself, Vonnegut is the author I most recommend to my students who come to me looking for something different, something that will speak to them. I can't tell you how many times I've lent out "Cat's Cradle". I can't tell you how many sad teens I saw on Thursday as they all came to me to talk about the death of an author. None of them had ever mourned for a writer before. Many of them may never mourn an author again.

Slaughter House Five was the first Vonnegut book I read back in high school. He had a knack for maintaining a readers attention while leaping to new characters and scenes without warning. It's been a while since I've picked up a Vonnegut book. Like countless others, his passing has brought him back to the forefront of my mind and I will be revisiting his work. Jack Gorfien MS, L.Ac., author of Dancing with Dragonflies

I was an English major in university, but I was never required to read Vonnegut and many other "classic" authors you hear the intellectuals talk about so much. I've decided to remedy that so I know what people are talking about.

I had heard people speak of Vonnegut's great humor. I suppose he is a great humorist in the dark humor genre, sitting alongside Thurber in that respect. However, I felt his humor was bland and a little too blase. It wasn't to my tastes. Perhaps some of Vonnegut's other works are a bit better.

As far as the themes of this book go, I don't see them as ground-breaking as others have. War is bad, yes. The Serenity Prayer is a good philosophy, but by no means unknown. Dresden was a horrible incident in time.

Vonnegut's downplay of war came across less as humor to me as it came across as apathy. So it goes. While I didn't hate the book, I didn't love it either. Just another author to add to my list of reading accomplishments.

I first read this book as a fifth grader more than thirty years ago. The very fact that a ten year old could read it with no difficulty at all certainly highlights the best of Vonnegut -- his completely natural, clean, flowing colloquial style. Without question, this man is a great American writer in the tradition of Mark Twain.

Just as Vonnegut is the modern Mark Twain, so Billy Pilgrim is like Huck Finn, only floating through time instead of floating down the Mississippi. The difficulty with this novel, however, is that unlike Huck Finn the protagonist never grows up, never takes responsibility for his actions, and never really learns anything of lasting value.

Most reviewers seem to think that the message of SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is that "war is wrong." This would parallel Twain's message in Huck Finn that slavery is wrong. Problem is, while Huck takes action and strikes out at slavery directly, by freeing Jim, Billy Pilgrim remains merely a passive spectator throughout his life. Vonnegut tries to excuse this with a lot of sci-gimmickry, about being "unstuck in time" but in the end what really comes across is not the evil of war but one man's personal surrender.

There are other problems, more specific to Vonnegut's writing. The whole outer space adventure is fascinating at first, with Billy being a pampered prize exhibit in an intergalactic zoo, with a beautiful porn star as his mate. Thirty years ago I spent hours and hours fantasizing about this -- it's just what a ten year old would think of as the ideal sexual situation.

But now that I'm middle aged, I wonder about certain things. Vonnegut stresses over and over again that the tiny Tralfamadorian aliens think Billy is a "perfect male specimen." They don't know enough about the male physique to see he's a runty middle aged man. Fair enough. But then, why do they find a stunning porn star for him to mate with? Evidently they know a lot more about women's bodies than men? Why didn't they just pick up a male porn star so they could have a matched set?

Then there's the obvious contempt Vonnegut has for women. In the Tralfamadorian sections, the aliens quiz Billy endlessly about life on earth, war, suffering, justice, free will, and so on. But nobody seems to think Montana Wildhack has anything to contribute to the discussion. And evidently there are no female aliens to ask her about the female perspective. The very fact that Vonnegut does this without thinking shows how narrow minded he really is.

In the war sections, one notices that beneath the hippy-pleasing pacifist rhetoric there is a lot of callousness, and some strange examples of the double standard. It goes without saying, as many critics have noted, that Vonnegut refuses to discuss the bombing of Dresden in the context of Auschwitz. "So it goes" replaces more basic insights like, "what goes around, comes around," "you reap what you sew" and "you raise hell, you get hell."

But there are more subtle manifestations of this. For example, Roland Weary, the vicious American soldier who picks on Billy, is particularized with great skill. His behavior is not just shrugged off with a "so it goes." Vonnegut describes it with passion. But what Vonnegut does not do is acknowledge the fact that there are SS and Gestapo agents all over Germany who make Roland Weary look like an amateur. The only Germans we ever see are noble, long-suffering and thoroughly civilized. Even as he condemns America for fighting an unjust war in Vietnam, Vonnegut implies that the German people are in no way to blame for fighting a far more unjust war against an entire continent of people. On the one hand, he insists that free will is an illusion, and no one is responsible for anything, and on the other he condemns American brutality as if we all are personally responsible for everything our government does.

The fact is, as rich and rewarding as SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is as a reading experience, it's not a book you can reread after thirty years and still respect as a classic. Vonnegut has the style and grace of Mark Twain, but not the clear moral vision.

This book is strange, very strange. Death permeates this book and, each time it is brought up the author pops his head above the waters and tells us, "So it goes." There are an awful lot of times we see the phrase, "So it goes." in this book.

Is this an anti-war book, then? If there is a central episode in the book, and that's not exactly clear, it's the firebombing of Dresden on the 13th February, 1945 - an undefended civilian town. Although it's impossible to know how many people were killed, Kurt Vonnegut uses the high estimates in the book. Whatever the number it's clear that this was one of the most disturbing episodes in World War II and one that obviously effected Kurt immensely.

The telling of this tale, then, could be considered anti-war. Indeed in chapter one, which is really an extended author's note, Kurt talks about this. He is cautioned against writing an anti-war book - it's like writing an anti-glacier book, he is told, because there is no way to prevent it. And I think that Kurt realizes this. And he tells us they'll always be death anyway. So it goes.

"The Children's Crusade", the sub-title of the book, reveals the truth about the second world war - that it is fought by young, inexperienced unprepared men fighting for a country they don't really believe in. A character appears in the book, an American who has turned traitor and is working for the Nazis, who details how the American poor are so downtrodden that they have no sense of loyalty or proprietary - compared, we have to assume, with the salt-of-the-earth European poor. On this level, this book stands with "Catch-22" and "The Naked and the Dead" in giving a brutal, damning account of the ridiculousness of those who actually fought WW II. "All the real soldiers are dead." So it goes.

But this novel isn't a war story at all. It permeates it but the substance is quite different (by the way, the sample pages are from chapter one which, as I have said, is more of an author's note, so they don't really capture the heart of the book).
The majority of the book is much stranger and is told in the third person (with wonderful interjections by the author as he is heard in the background on a troup train or in the prison camp!). We follow the life adventures of Billy Pilgrim (A Pilgrim's Progress of course), a sad delusioned man who believes he can journey back and forth in time.

And that's the way the story is presented - snapshots of time. Click. We're seeing him thrown into the deep end of the pool by his father to see if he'll sink or swim. Click. He's in a prisoner of war camp watching Cinderella performed by British Officers. Click. He's been transported by the Tramalfadorians - an extra-planetary race who see in four dimensions and provide Billy with all of his extraordinary insights. Click. He's in a mental hospital shortly after the war.

The mental health of Billy Pilgrim is something we have to contend with throughout the book. Strangely all of his insights provided by the Tramalfadorians have already been written by a fourth rate Sci-Fi author he is introduced to in a mental hospital. At one point he is put on display by the Tramalfadorians in a zoo and has to live on public display - eventually with an adult filmstar who has also been captured. Strangely the science fiction author has already written about such a zoo.

So, is Billy Pilgrim just living these books in his deranged mind? Is everything happening as he is recovering from massive head injuries sustained in a plane crash? Is the author a fictional invention of his too, someone visible to him only? This is part of the brilliance of this book. Kurt Vonnegut skillfully weaves what appear to be (and I'm sure are) real-life experiences of his time in Germany during the war with a brilliant but fractured mind.

The Tramalfadorians don't read books like we do. They have a set of experiences that are all read in parallel. The great authors are not those who can tell wonderful tales, not those who can define great characters but those who can make the overall feel of all of these simultaneous experiences be emotionally fulfilling. Of course what Kurt is doing with this book is precisely the same thing - we get this small snapshots that seem to come at us from all directions and leave us with an experience that is definitely more than the sum of it's parts.

My review really cannot do justice to this book. It is an astonishing work and well worth reading.

Kurt Vonnegut is not a writer. He is someone who was able, through his contacts with governmental money provided to academics in the 30s, to foist is sloppy, humourous(lacking actual literary ability) cheaply and dishonorably written work upon us. As a student I was forced to read this monster. His books are not writing, they are pure tom foolary. This book, lauded to be the capstone, the beggining for an exploration of his touted literary genious, is actually probably only useful as toilet paper.

So it goes... Kurt Vonnegut uses this disgustingly cheap segway to work himself out of every situation. His book wastes pages and pages of precious ink talking about aliens and splicing in images of WWII.

Its pure trash. Up their with Michal Moores "stupid White men".

Vonnegut once again introduces an audience to a zany world full of colorful characters and situations. In Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut gives a detailed description of Billy Pilgrim and the events he encounters throughout his life, as well the philosophical influence that he gains from writer Kilgore Trout (a character that Vonnegut uses in other books, Breakfast of Champions). Overall, I thought this was an excellent book. I love the way that Vonnegut writes; beginning with a story, then preceeding with a different one, and connect the two later on in the novel. I highly recommend this book.

Slaughterhouse Five is one of the, if not the, best book I have read in my short 16 years of life. Vonnegut tells the story of a man, unstruck in time, who travels spasmodically back and forth through time, reliving past experiences. It is enjoyable by fans of all genre: the bombing of dresden for you historical buffs, an alien abduction for you sci fi nuts, and hilarious dialogue and actions for the comedy fans.
As well as telling an incredably good story, it also informs the reader of an event in history that few know about, despite it's impact on the war, and the amount of casulties it caused. So not only are you reading a fine example of writing, you're also learning history too, now you just can't beat that with a stick. All in all, Slaughterhouse Five is a modern masterpiece, and rightfully deserves it's spot on the "Modern Library's 100 Best Books of the Century" (#18) as well as more. I whole heartedly recommend next time you are shopping for books at your local bookstore, you check this one out, it won't disappoint.

Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" is a curiosity. It concerns a man named Billy Pilgrim who becomes "unstuck in time," meaning he involuntarily travels back and forth between various episodes in his lifetime, something like temporal schizophrenia. The conventional notion of time is disregarded in this book, so our familiar structure of past, present, and future is in discord with the chronology of the events.

As a young man, Billy serves in World War II as a chaplain's assistant. He ends up behind enemy lines with a morbid creep named Roland Weary who educates him about the sickest torture methods known to man. They're captured by German soldiers and taken to a prison camp where Billy is stalked by another creep named Paul Lazzaro. Soon Billy and the other prisoners are shipped into Dresden to be laborers, and for living quarters they are put into an old slaughterhouse marked with the number five. A visiting American-turned-Nazi dignitary attempts to proselytize them just before they are forced to cower in an underground meat locker while Allied aircraft bomb and decimate the city.

After the war, Billy becomes an optometrist, marries, raises a family, and lives every semblance of a normal life except, of course, for the time travel. His imagination is fueled by the science fiction novels of a writer named Kilgore Trout, who is no stranger to the concept of time travel.

Later, Billy is kidnapped by aliens from a planet called Tralfamadore and exhibited in a zoo on their planet, in an Earthling-accommodating habitat furnished by merchandise the aliens stole from a Sears warehouse in Iowa City. The Tralfamadorians have also kidnapped an Earthling woman, a movie star named Montana Wildhack, to provide Billy with a mate.

Keep in mind that these events are not related in chronological order, but rather are intertwined with each other as Billy zaps back and forth between milieus.

It's difficult to decipher all of this, but Vonnegut makes it clear in the first chapter that this is an anti-war novel, comparing the Children's Crusade of the Middle Ages to sending teenagers off to fight modern wars. He satirizes the pro-war mentality that rationalizes brutality in the name of dubious ideals, the slaughtering of some to save others. The consequences of war are acceptable only if, like the Tralfamadorians, you have no past, present, or future to account for.

i, too, was one of the deceived few who picked up this book thinking that this would be a wrenching novel, one of those novels that makes you sit there and take a good look inside yourself. Instead, there was this incredibly simple, pointless, and RAMBLING novel that went all over the place. There was no coherence throughout the book, there were no "deep" scenes that made me put down the book for a few minutes and say "WOW", and Vonnegut has this annoying habit of making quantum leaps within his subject matter. I guess that's due to the time travel premise in the story, but that doesn't make it any less irritating. The other problem i seriously have with this book, and maybe this is why i hated Catch-22 as well, is the "anti-war" theme. I find it strange that a person can completely denounce "war", when "war" (yes, as another reader said, War IS bad), freed the early American colonies from Britain's iron grip. The Great Depression wouldn't have ended if a certain man named Hitler had decided that he was satified with his little plot of land in Eastern Europe. I'm not condoning war, but, in war, as in anything, you've got to take the good with the bad. In addition, most wars have been of the unavoidable type. Remember the period before World War II when America was practicing her isolationist policy? Well, uh, we ended up going into that one somehow. Oh,hell, look at me now, I guess I'm rambling.......Anyways, if you would like to read about war, i suggest you bypass this book and peruse a nonfiction account of whatever war you're interested in. I just finished reading "A Bright Shining Lie" by Neil Sheehan and I'd highly recommend it. (It's on the Vietnam War.)

I'd have to say this is one of the best "sci-fi" books I've read but honestly I don't think it's really a sci-fi book at all. It's almost a poem, yet written in easy to understand prose. It's fantastic but only illustrates the realities and absurdities of day to day living.

This book is quite a unique experience, and even if you hate sci-fi you might pick it up since it's a different experience than the genre implies. Even satire doesn't seem to sum it up as there is a human warmth here that is absent from many other books labeled "satire."

Kurt Vonnegut's death made me think about Slaughterhouse-Five, and I read it again for the first time since the early '70s, not long after it was published. I discovered that it's now a much better book, or maybe I'm now a much better reader...

This book is often called an "absurdest classic," and it is both of those things. It relates the life of Billy Pilgrim, who's become "unstuck" in time, by describing what is happening-- and what has and will happen-- to him simultaneously. The focal point for all of this is the shattering experience of Billy's life, his presence as a prisoner of war in Dresden when it was destroyed by the allies in World War II.

Of course, Vonnegut himself actually experienced the events he creates for Billy, surviving only because the Germans housed their prisoners in concrete slaughterhouses, and it had a similarly shattering effect on him. He says the book is his attempt to deal with the experience.

The book could have been impossibly confusing or just annoying, but it's not. That's because of Vonnegut's style. His central thesis-- that the survivors of the horrors of war are sick because they realize that they are "...the listless playthings of enormous forces"-- is developed with both humor and humanity. The book is a condemnation of savagery committed as a service to authority; it's also warm and deeply funny. That might seem like an unlikely or even impossible combination, but Vonnegut pulls it off. That's why the book is regarded as a classic.

This book is easy, quick reading, but it's most certainly not an easy or quick task to forget it. It's often compared to Joseph Heller's Catch- 22, probably because they are both appreciations-- celebrations, really-- of the absurdity that can be found in the tragedies of life, particularly the tragedy of war.

Vonnegut, in his introduction to this novel, explains that he thought he would be able to write about the atrocious firebombing of Dresden by allied aeroplanes on February 13 1945 (killing more people in a single night than Hiroshima) soon after he had returned from action as a young man having survived the event by being incarcerated in an underground slaughterhouse. Things didn't work out, and it was only much later 'living in easy circumstances in Cape Cod' that Vonnegut came across the ingenious presentation for the theme - show up the absurdity of war by invoking science fiction, time travel, and a phlegmatic attitude to death and the cycle of everything that goes on in this mad, loosely wired world - 'so it goes'. An anti war satire to rank alongside Catch 22, Slaughterhouse 5 is written in a plain, frank style that may not have the stylistic subtelties of great literary fiction, but brings home the truths about war, started by men, fought by babies, in a powerful and blackly comic way.

This book explores a nonlinear view of space/time. The main character Billy Pilgrim has become "unstuck" in time and can move from one moment in his life to another totally different moment from his past or future at will. This ability was given to him be the apppaently benign aliens know as the Tralfamadoreans who can see in the 4th dimension. The way time is presented here is much like the holistic asian view of time where everything in the past/present/future mutually arises. Nothing is created or destroyed rather everything coexists in a 4 dimensional laticework. The idea of death is meaningless when one has this perspective and the aliens refer to death perfunctorily stating simply "so it goes" when hearing someone has died. George Harrison once said,"You can learn from the past but you can't ever relive it. And you can hope for the future but you can't count on it being there." So it is perhaps best to live in the present in the immediacy of the moment with no regrets for the past and no anxieties for the future. Unfortunately for Billy Pilgrim his post-traumatic stress disorder prevents him from travelling to the more pleasent times in his life and instead causes him to jump uncontrollably through time. The book is also about the fire bombing of Dresden by the RAF and in the closing days of WW II. Vonegut balances his outrage and cynicism with a strong appreciate for the beauty and fragility of life. Buddhism teaches that nothing is created, nothing is destroyed. Nothing is born and nothing dies. So the people of Dresden, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki perhaps did not die but moved on to so other aspect of being or someother time. And so it goes.

this is one of my favorite books of all time. my paltry words can do nothing for it. if you haven't already read it, i assume you're probably pretty new to the reading game. i simply encourage you to get a copy. to take that copy. and read it.

This is a very funny novel that- in retrospect- breaks your heart; it's the blackest black humor you will ever read.

It must have taken great courage for Vonnegut- as talented as he is- to take the Allied bombing of Dresden Germany during WWII and make it the main stage for this theater of the absurd tale, particularly since he witnessed firsthand what happened to Dresden. Fail, and you risk being pummeled by the critics for trivializing a horrific, nearly unimaginable event. (For those who don't know, Dresden wasn't "just" bombed; it was turned into a raging firestorm, with hurricane-force winds dragging thousands of victims into the flames to be cremated, and depleting the oxygen in the underground shelters, leaving thousands more asphyxiated.) But Vonnegut didn't fail; he succeeded brilliantly in conveying the absurdity of war by not embellishing events, the tone of the book remarkably matter-of-fact as his main character- Billy Pilgrim- jumps through time and space, gaining a unique perspective on the follies of mankind.

The name of his main character is especially telling of Vonnegut's intentions. Perhaps the most famous Billy in literature is Melville's Billy Budd, an innocent soul whose fate is an unjust death that suggests life is predetermined. And Pilgrim brings to mind John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, an allegorical tale of the escape from the City of Destruction (Dresden) to the Celestial City of enlightenment (the home world of the superior Tralfamadorians, who explain human existence to Billy.)

Perhaps by writing Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut gained some measure of catharsis, found a way to deal with his memories of Dresden and its aftermath. Like many veterans whose refuse to discuss their war experiences, a more direct, "realistic" approach to the firebombing might have been too painful. By taking an indirect approach, however, he was able to open a door that otherwise would have remained locked. That's fortunate for us, since Slaughterhouse Five rises above the historical account of that terrible event to address the larger issue of what it means to be human in a world where what humans do doesn't always make sense.

This is an insightful, important book, and one of Vonnegut's best.

-Mark Wakely, author of An Audience for Einstein

What the hell is this book?!?! What the hell does it mean?!?! Okay, I think I know. No, I don't! Maybe I'll just read the back cover again. NO..........I can't give in! What does it mean to me? Highly unconventional. Three sub-plots rolled into one? Time travel? Non-formulaic structure? I can't think straight. I've never read a book twice before, but I have to read this one again. Oh God, I'm freakin' out! (Deep breath)........Okay, so anyway. If you like conventional stories, where you're just being dictated to throughout the entire book, this novel is not for you. Actually, it is for you! It will melt your brain and throw you into such a paradigm shift you'll get whiplash. Everyone should read this book. It should be required reading in high-school, hell, pre-school! It will make you think, so BEWARE!

"Slaughter House five" by Kurt Vonnegut a story about a Writer attempting to write a story about his experience as a prisoner of war at Slaughter house # 5 and the bombing of Dresden during World War 2. By page 29 or so He finishes his book and from this point you read his book. It is about Billy Pilgrim who was also in a POW in Dresden but Billy believes that he was abducted by aliens who experience life in the fourth dimension, translation, they experience time like a photo album, hence they feel all points of time are always in existence, time doesn't really pass, they can live at any point in their existence at any time. Billy learns to view time in this way and is constantly waking up at different points of his life. Of course he may just be going crazy. Many of his "Time traveling" and "alien abduction "ideas are quite similar to stories from a Sci-Fi novelist who he befriends after returning from Dresden.

The Good: The book is well written, making it easy to read. Not a lot to expand upon, it was easy to read, wasn't boring even when a lot wasn't going on in the story.

The Bad: Vonnegut (or his characters in this story) is a little left of center for me and this view came across in the book. Not that it ruined it but it was noticeable to me (which is to be expected as it is considered to be an anti war book). Lines like "I have also told them (his sons) not to work for companies which make massacre machinery, (Military equipment) and to express contempt for people who think we need machinery like that." I noticed that the horror of Dresden was constantly mentioned. How they couldn't understand why the Amreicans had bombed it, but very little mentioned of how bad the German's and their concentration camps were. The story was a little sporadic as it bounces around from time to time but it didn't confuse as it explains what's going on.

Overall not a bad read with the exception of its political standing (may be down your alley though). Was enjoyable and worth reading though I wasn't inspired to run out and read more of Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut is the novel's author and one of the main characters in the novel. In the first and last chapters, Vonnegut speaks about himself, the story he is writing, and what led him to write it.

The novel is a very satirical story about the bombing of Dresden by the British. It is clear that many of the war occurrences of Billy Pilgrim, the main character, are autobiographical in life. His appearance in the book complicates the plot and the point of view. Vonnegut himself was a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden, and he occasionally inserts himself in the narrative. Kurt Vonnegut executes an odd, but creative way of authorial existence that reappears throughout the novel. Such examples of when Vonnegut appears and exists are when the novel mentions him or his idea particularly in the refrain "So it goes" that follows each reference of death. Vonnegut's commentary as a character and an author allows a more factual understanding of a story that seems supernaturally imaginary and adds structure to the idea that such fictional elements may be the reality of a disturbed mind.

Another large area of this book is based on the satire on society. One account of satire is how the Tralfamadorians, made up aliens in the mind of Billy Pilgrim, control how he thinks of death. Since the Tralfamadorians think of death as just a "state of being", Billy consists of that idea, too. It is almost as if death is made as a joke.

My overall opinion of this book is fair. This book can be very confusing to read. It jumps from subject to subject. Although the novel may seem out of order, it is very creative in showing the satirical realties in society. I suggest this book for readers interested in satirical novels who can be accepting to displaced ideas, yet creative thoughts social order.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 is seen as his best work and a modern classic although, having completed it, I'm left wondering why. Blending science fiction with his memoirs Vonnegut has created a meta-fictional novel where time travel is a primary plot device; one that allows him the freedom to dismiss chronology in the telling of his tale.

Billy Pilgrim is a war veteran, having been a prisoner of war in a converted abattoir in Dresden. Years after the war he is involved in a plane crash which causes him to become "unstuck in time"; a strange condition that allows him to travel to any point in his life, or even to the planet Tralfamadore where the aliens that live there view life as a single representation of every moment. Through his frequent travels in time, Billy Pilgrim gets to relive many points of his life such as Dresden, his marriage, and even his death; all of these combine to show Billy's attempt at making sense of the world, his fatalist conclusions permeating the novel.

The story of Billy Pilgrim doesn't start until the second chapter, the first, instead, being the author's apology for the novel's mess (although he states you can't make sense of a massacre) and how, in his mind, the book came to be. The prose is minimalist and repetitive. Phrases appear regularly or statements reappear reworded. The use of "so it goes" whenever something dies, be it a person or bubbles in champagne, is understandable, however, in its need to demonstrate death as something routine and cheap, it does become grating.

There are many characters in Slaughterhouse 5 although I don't feel that any of them were given much depth. People appear for a paragraph and then Billy Pilgrim is off on his travels before you have a chance to get to know them. Even Billy failed to hold my attention, possibly because we fail to really get to know him. The author spends time telling us about him rather than showing him doing anything which, I feel, cheapens the experience. His condition, that of being "unstuck in time", leaves a nice ambiguity about the novel although it's highly probable that his travelling is a delusional passage between memories brought on by the trauma of witnessing the bombing of Dresden.

Maybe the book is a product of its time or maybe there's something I'm missing but Slaughterhouse 5 is not a novel I'd recommend. Having no experience of Vonnegut's other work I can't say whether this book, being part memoir, is a typical example of his canon. While the novel is understandably a mess, I can't help but feel that the prose and characterisation are lacking and what, on paper, sounds like a great idea has been put through a literary slaughterhouse. So it goes.

Vonnegut's SH5 deserves its place in the pantheon of great 20th century literature. It is one of the most moral books ever written. Easily at the top of his canon and likely, the only one of his works that will stand the test of time (although much of his work is great and relevant).

Most people are familiar with the central character, Billy Pilgrim, and how he time travels back and forth, with the help of aliens, between his experiences in WWII (largely, the author's) and his comfortable suburban life in the 1960's. But, don't let this sci-fi device fool you into thinking the story is light hearted: its not. Vonnegut is a very eclectic writer who often uses various tricks and slights-of-hand to make a point, or sometimes, to structure an entire work. In this book, you can view Billy's time travel and his interactions with the aliens as metaphors for trauma. The parallels between some of those experiences and that of soldiers suffering 'shell shock' are very close.

He also finds space to make some other points and philosophical musings. One that I found worthwhile was the aliens' ability to view life in its totality without being hindered by linear time. So, for example, if they view a dead man, they think that he's only in a bad way at that point in time, but in other points of time (which all co-exist simultaneously in their quantum perception), he's still doing fine. Some critics have used these musings to say that the novel lacks a moral vision. Or that Vonnegut is not taking grave things, like dying, seriously. I disagree. I think these other perspectives show the author struggling with ways to make sense of a chaotic world. Much of which, he experienced first hand (as did Heller and JD Salinger, curiously).

With the current hostilities which abound in the world, this book couldn't be more timely. It remains the best cautionary tale about war (with all due respect to "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Catch 22" and "Red Badge of Courage") and a great reminder of the horror and futility of unnecessary war acts.

As a resident of the world's top military power, I'd say this book should be mandatory reading everywhere!

The horrors of war have unhinged many a man, Vonegut's Billy Pilgrim being one of the more famous of them. It takes no great insight to grasp that war is awful almost beyond human understanding and that participating in it, or merely witnessing it, can crack someone's sanity. Billy Pilgrim can't stop reliving his trauma. His time-tripping is an unconcious attempt to escape that trauma. Goofy looking aliens tell him to think of the positve things in his life. It never works. He goes tripping back to Dresden at random times in his life, and trips back to his life at random times while he's in Dresden. I don't understand why this novel ever rose to the status of a classic. There are much better anti-war books ( Johnny Got His Gun ); there are much better science fiction books ( too numerous to mention ); there are much better anti-war science fiction books ( The Forever War, The Stars My Destination ). The only pluses I can give this book are Vonnegut's style ( crisp, succinct and in plain English ) and its relative brevity. Get it from the library ( don't waste your cash ) and read it just so you can argue intelligently when someone tells you how great a book it is.

I love Kurt Vonnegut but like "Jailbird", "Slaughterhouse 5" is full of details and great phrases, but little pay-off.

From the beginning we become acquainted with Billy Pilgrim, an impish lucky man who fakes it through life. Pilgrim is a pathetic but intriquing character. We meet others along the way. The British POWs that warn of "Jerry" are hilarious and great sketches of the English.

Vonnegut's description of the bleak landscape of war and of normal life is great. But the narrative goes in circles the entire book. There was no progression or path to it. I understood why Pilgrim had the trauma and the absurdity of the events. Still there's no movement and every chapter seems the same. Again, if you've read "Jailbird" you'll recognize this flaw of his works.

I would instead recommend "Cat's Cradle", "Breakfest Of Champions" or "Mother Night".

This book is deep, as expected. Some of the reviewers claim it to be a bad book, but they don't explain why they believe this book to be bad, they only mention that it was confusing. Like anyother good quality book, theater, music, or painting, this one is complicated. If it was obvious and simple, than it would not be brilliant, but common. It is ok for people not to enjoy this book, as long as they have understood it entirely and are able to explain their criticism. For those who hate it for the simple fact that it is confusing, I recommend these people to re-read it and be focused. This is no Judy Blume book. This is more like a book by Kafka, where you have to sit back and take the story to another level and not just look at it superficially.
What I most found amazing about Vonnegart is that he is able to write an anti-war book like no other man has. For instance, if you get JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN which I particularly enjoyed, the book has a a morbid, enraged, and sad tone and mood. Vonnegart does the contrary. Instead of describing a sad, violent, and unfair event with the obvious emotions that he felt, he chooses to describe the bombing of Dresden with sarcasm and humour. Interestingly enough, his humour has a much bigger effect on the reader. When he talks about being unstuck in time, he is basically saying that the events that occurred during the war still lives in his mind. The Tralfolmadorians are really one of the best things Vonnegart has added to his book. The symbolism is great. I will not say my interpretation of them because that might interfere and ruin it for others. That is all I have to say, this is an amazing book and everyone should read it. If you have not understood it, read it again. It is worthwhile.
What is there to say about a massacre but "Pooteeweet?"...Vonnegart is simply brilliant.

As one of the set books on my university course I found Slaughterhouse Five to be the most enjoyable of the lot (so far)...

At heart, Slaughterhouse Five is sf but rated highly on anybody's list because it's not just sf. It's genreless if you like. The point of narrative is constantly changing, the main character, Billy Pilgrim, timetravels to the extent of knowing the time of his own death. Of course, Slaughterhouse Five's theme is war, more precisely the impact of war on the minds of its survivors (Kurt Vonnegut in the driving seat). And the mix of realism with humorous sf makes Slaughterhouse Five one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a while. But it.

I did not enjoy this book. "Slaughterhouse 5" by Mr Kurt Vonnegut is an important piece of literature of the mid-twentieth century. It is the story of Mr Vonnegut remembering his experiences which centred around 13-14 February 1945 during the levelling of refugee-swollen Dresden. Through his protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, he might be expressing the idea that atrocities of this type are not inevitable events. Billy Pilgrim slips in and out of consciousness, spending an equal time with his memories of his war years and fantasies of alien abduction. Mr Vonnegut is probably making a case against such moral somnambulism. This is an unconventional novel for many reasons. First, it is a war novel which is not glamourous. Further, my literature teachers tell me, ;D it is outside the novel tradition, which focusses on creating realistic characters with psychological depth. These are the things which I appreciate about this fine novel. On the other hand, these ideas don't make for an interesting read. Cardboard cut-out characters which are no more than posters for political ideas becomes less fascinating as the book lumbres along. As a political statement, I find it a bit hollow. It makes a point that the fire-bombing of Dresden was wrong. (duh?) At the same time, it neglects the more complicated task of offering viable alternatives to war? It reminds me of ranting by a veteran who gets drunk and makes phone calls late at night. If you made it this far before hitting the "no" button, thank you. ;D If you are interested in one of the most important books of the mid-twentieth century, this book will be interesting to you.

In Kurt Vonnegut's excellent novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut skillfully applies rhetorical strategies such as his unique use of science fiction, reiterated phrases, and a timely use of flashback to convey his repressed but resentful view of war in general and especially his personal experience with the Dresden firebombing. In a separate approach Vonnegut uses the all-seeing Aliens from Tralfamadore to express his view that the best way to live life is by focusing on the positive memories.

Vonnegut begins his novel with a personal memoir explaining the beginnings of his "great" war novel. In a conversation with Mary O'Hare, to whom the book is dedicated, Vonnegut assures her that his war book will not glorify war and that, in fact, he will name the book "The Children's Crusade" to show that war is not fought by grown men but by a younger generation, the children. The focus for the novel is set.

In this memoir Vonnegut chooses to introduce the phrase "so it goes" and the ice motif that will be used throughout the novel. The ice motif begins when Harrison Starr says, "Why don't you write an anti-glacier book instead?" (3) He meant that stopping war is as easy as stopping a glacier. Similar to the meaning of the glacier the words "blue and ivory" are used throughout to describe dead soldiers and the protagonist of the story, Billy Pilgrim "There was so much to see--dragon's teeth, killing machines, corpses with bare feet that were blue and ivory. So it goes."(65) "He looked down at his bare feet. They were ivory and blue." (72) This motif about ice is used throughout the book to represent death and the frailty of man. "So it goes" is the phrase that is used more that anything else in the novel. The actual meaning of the word is introduced as a Tralfamadorian philosophy. Death is inevitable and nothing can be done to prevent it. The best way to cope with it is not to focus on it. Instead of focusing on death focus on life and the enjoyable memories that that come with it. The Tralfamadorian philosophy is also Vonnegut's philosophy and is the philosophy that I believe allowed him to get through the Dresden tragedy.

Science fiction and flashback played great parts in this novel and also served the same purpose. They allow Vonnegut to keep a safe mental distance from the painful Dresden experience. As the first chapter states, Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. Billy's life is basically chopped up and rearranged to fit with his time travel experiences. This distortion of time serves two purposes. First, it shows the reader how war is. War is confusing and disorienting. It can change a man just as it changed Billy Pilgrim. Second, it allows Vonnegut to explain the confusion of war without directly explaining war. The war experience is still very painful to him. Vonnegut uses a flashback instead of Billy's usual time travel to explain the Dresden bombing. "He did not travel in time to the experience. He remembered it shimmeringly..." (177) Like Vonnegut, Billy cannot revisit that experience though he has no problem visiting his own death. Also, the use of the Tralfamadorians could be interpreted as a way to distance him from the reality of war. Through the use of the slightly humorous aliens Vonnegut is able to express his philosophies about death.

This slightly confusing book is full of rich and deep messages for the thoughtful, but is also simple and short enough for the average reader. The disconnected passages keep the reader's attention while at the same time making the reader think and reflect on what has already been said.

L: So, what did you think of the book? Did it go pretty smoothly for you? M: Yes, I actually finished it pretty quickly. L: I was able to read through it fast at first, but there were so many random parts that a lot of times I had to read sections twice before I understood everything. M: I thought it was kind of choppy, and a lot of the time when I finished reading a chapter, I was confused. I think one of the best words to describe the book is "random." L: Sometimes I wondered if maybe Vonnegut was trying to be random on purpose, because war can be really confusing and complicated like that. Like when someone is a soldier and they are not really sure where they are and they get disoriented and they don't know why they keep fighting because they don't understand everything about why the war is going on, just like when we were reading and we didn't understand all the parts of the book and how they connected and why we continued reading. M: I never thought of it that way, Laura! Interesting analogy. An example of the randomosity from chapter six: "And Billy worked his hands in his muff as he marched. His fingertips, working there in the hot darkness of the muff, wanted to know what the two lumps in the lining of the little impresario's were. The fingertips got inside the lining. They palpated the lumps, the pea-shaped thing and the horseshoe-shaped thing. The parade had to halt by a busy corner. The traffic light was red. M: I totally remember that quote from the book because I kept laughing at the work "muff." And I kept thinking to myself, "What does this have to do with the story?" What do you think about the quote, Laura? L: There were definetely many instances when paragraphs seemed to just come out of the blue. Sometimes there were important issues that I thought about because of different things that happened in the book, but a lot of the time I was just bewildered. M: I thought the book had some interesting ideas about war, since it is an anti-war book. Like, war is unstoppable. I liked how Vonnegut compared it to a glacier-there's no use trying to get rid of it, because it will always be there, no matter what. L: So it goes M: Ha ha, that's a good one. L: Vonnegut writes "So it goes" whenever death is mentioned in the book, which is very often. Usually it comes up after a human dies, but a few times it came up about other things, like plants, or book reviews. Do you think everything in the world is sort of alive? M: Sure, I think things are alive, but I'm not sure if they have feelings like humans do. They might to a certain extent, but I don't think a plant feels the same way I do! L: Let's start talking about the aliens M: This is a topic I really like. Those little green creatures crack me up. L: They sure did do a lot of crazy stuff! One of my favorites parts is when the Tralfamadorians explain how it takes something like 7 genders to make a baby. M: Or what about the part when Billy and Montana were getting it on, and the aliens watched like it was some kind of entertainment, and they (the aliens) treated them (billy and Montana) like they were some kind of animals being observed in a zoo, and it's weird to think how we watch animals in a zoo, and the aliens watched humans in their own "zoo-like" environment. It brought to mind a line from a popular song-You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel L: Yeah! I bet if we watched ourselves (humans) from a distance, we would see a lot of pretty weird stuff occurrring. Sometimes we act strange, and do things that don't really make sense...just like Vonnegut doesn't always seem to make sense! M: Would you recommend this book to a friend, Laura? L: Hmm...I think it's a really important book, and it's a classic and stuff. It made me think a lot and I'm glad I've read it. I guess I would tell people they should read it when they are ready, and if they get a little confused, that's okay. M: So it goes L: Our review is dead now.

This was the WORST book I have ever read in my life! I would'nt even give it 1 stars, I would give it -11! If you are thinking about reading this book I suggest you not. This book was very confusing, and it had no plot. I think that there are to many good books in this world to be wasting your time reading this horrible book!

Every Vonnegut book I've read has been an adventure into the mind of one of America's best writers and into the essence of the American experience. Some of the books are true classics. Slaughterhouse Five is one of them.

This book has no plot. Neither does life. It has no character development. Human character is shaped by events, not by revelation. If you like Stories (with a capital "S"), you may not like this book. If you're looking for an easy read, you definitely won't like this book. But if you've ever marveled at how life can seem so "unravelled" at the edges, then READ THIS BOOK!

Vonnegut intentionally makes the plot and characterization of his novels difficult to analyze on the surface, because he's got a lot more important things to do with portraying the perplexing unfolding of human experience that is the substance of his work (and our lives).

Slaughterhouse Five exemplifies Vonnegut's mastery of the Art of resolving the tension between our need to create order out of what we experience and the inevitable unpredictability of human nature and life events.

How does he resolve this tension? And why should we care? Step out into your backyard on a warm Summer's night, take a long look up into the heavens, and think about what the Tralfamadorians are getting out of this experience.

This book is a fantastic read. It is about a man who fights in world war II, thru one of the most dangerous bombings of the war. The fire bombing of Dresden. The book describes the life of Billy Pilgrim a youth who grows up in a small town and becomes a Optometrist. The book goes thou his entire life going into detail on his time as a P.O.W. in WWII. Before the story Kurt speaks very well on his anti war thoughts. My favorite character in this book is Billy pilgrim,although Billy is very girl like and fragile he toughs it out and survives some of the hardest periods of WWII. My favorite part of this story is when Billy speaks about he was unstuck in time, it gives him the ability to spontaneously travel to other times in his life. He never remembers where he has just been. But he knows he has the ability to travel thru time. I would recomend this book to any one who enjoys historical fiction or science fiction books. If you have never read a book by this author before, i suggest you do to adjust to his writing style. Overall i thought this was a fantastic book and it deserves more recognition.

I really liked this book. It makes you wonder how wonderful or pointless life would be. It took a while to get the flow of the book but, when you do, it is very hard to put the book down. It is a very quick read but it is very deep. It is about Billy Pilgrim and how he gets "unstuck in time." I don't think I would like to witness my death like Billy did, so it goes.

Why the fuss with this book? It was boring, tedious, and made no point. Vonnegut's works are depressing and life-hating, which stems from his suicidal tendencies.

Awful language and no point. And if I see the phrase "so it goes" one more time, I'm going to scream!
Why in the world this is considered a classic is beyond me.

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.

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.

Just buy this book. If you don't buy it, as least read it. Then you'll probably want to buy it anyway. I had high expectations with this book, and they were met.
If you're thinking about getting this, just take the advice of most of the people rating this novel, and get it.

Slaughterhouse-Five is perhaps one of the most recognizable anti-war novels. I had blushingly never read this one before. It's one of Megan's favorite books, and she's tried to get me to read it for years. And now I have, and I'm so glad that I have.

Slaughterhouse-Five is Kurt Vonnegut's satirical tale of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran who is "unstuck in time." What this means is that Pilgrim often disconnects from the present and picks up again at some other time in his life and usually at a different location. Pilgrim was in Dresden during the bombings, he was in Nazi concentration camps, he was at home with his wife, visiting with his recently married daughter, visiting with his son who was a green beret, being abducted by aliens and taken to the planet, Tralfamador, where he is put on display at a zoo.

I found this book to be quite powerful. It's a touching story at times, very light-hearted and almost humorous at times, and at other times just disturbing. It's a story that will always remain relevant in these days of war. It shows how powerful of a thing war is and the traumatic toll that it can have on the life of a soldier.

Vonnegut's writing style is amazing. I found myself asking "what makes a book a classic?" This book is the perfect example of a classic. It's a writing style that's totally in a league of it's own. The book flows so easily, yet there's so many complex connections made in it. Little tiny lines that stand out at first come back in a major way later in the book tying into the main plot. Vonnegut was a master of the American novel.

Though Kurt Vonnegut's most popular work has been called both Science Fiction and an an alternate view of how we should view time, I'm not so sure.

I don't think Pilgrim was ever actually unstuck in time, but he did have flashbacks to his life in Dresden and often lapsed into fantasies about aliens keeping him captive with a playmate. As Pilgrim is unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality, he believes that the aliens who have him under their control are able to propell him back into the past as well as forward into the future.

But it's hard to pin down the ideas of the genius who authored the work, and each reader will take what he or she will from the dark humor and social insights of the author. So it goes.

This work stands out as both a pioneering work of modernist steam-of-consciousness techniques and a work of post-modernist chaos. It is ironic that it was a candidte for censorship in many school systems, in that Vonnegut was one of the twenty first centuries strongest champions of free speech.

I also found the continuation of Hemmingway's portrayal of the "Great American Boyman" in the descriptions of the American POWs to be an important criticism of our culture...one that we should be aware of in the age of metrosexualization. I often suspect that Vonnegut's relation of how the American POWs dealt with their imprisonment in Dresden and his observance that success is "damn hard" in America, despite our being taught that it's the "Land of Opportunity," were the real reasons why political factions wanted it banned.

Like many of his old time fans, I was saddened to hear of his death today and a resurgence of the love for his work has once again awakened in me. I'm dusting his books off now, as I'm sure many others are as well all around the world.

Vonnegut is able to write about deadly serious topics in a light, enjoyable style without losing substance. It's pure genius!

Yup. This is one bizarre book. And I loved it!
It's very hard to describe the surreal feeling one has when reading Slaughterhouse 5. You see, Billy Pilgrim is dead. (So it goes.) And he is alive. He exists at all times in his life at the same moment. He can relive them over and over. If he wants to see the bombing of Dresden again, or be a P.O.W. again he can do it. It he wants to re-live his plane crash, his birth, or his visits with the strange writer in the alley he can do that. He can even go back into space to the time he was abducted by aliens and forced to live in a zoo aquarium with a famous actress. And if Billy gets Bored, he can go and be dead and listen to the light hum, and see the violet lights. So it goes.

Yes, there is really no other book like it, yet deep, and even in some places not so deep, there is a rich subtext to Billy's life. It is a sad, yet beautiful tale, and at the end of the book the first thing I did was flip back to page 1, because, just like Billy, I had some moments I wanted to re-live again. And you will to.

Relic113

While living in the Haifa University dorms I developed the habit of checking a dozen books out of the library at a time and one of them was "Slaughterhouse five." Before reading "slaughterhouse five" I'd have laughed myself stupid if someone suggested I read ANY book cover to cover in one day but, yes...Vonnegut is that good.
I always read the blurbs before reading the introduction. The blurbs for "Slughterhouse five" were so well executed that I figured the book must be "that good."
Vonnegut starts with an introduction that reads like a post card to a friend and before you know it, the narrative kicks in and Vonnegut introduces timeless and structureless events that make sense in their timeless and structureless state but, when juxtaposed, give the story its substance, its kick, its juice. There are no loose ends and no soggy and simple-minded moral to the story other than the one you manage to extrapolate. no unnecessary passages, characters, dialogue or even unnecesary words. An airtight novel if there ever was one.

A treat for anyone with a penchant for the more twisted traits exclusive to the human species. The images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that most people are familiar with can't even compare to the images of the fire bombed Dresden Vonnegut conjures up in my mind. Raw and dead serious matter treated with a levity that draws chuckles in situations that would otherwise draw tears of blood. For all who had their praise for Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. immortalized in blurb form we salute you.

I had to read this book when I was a senior in high school, in Mr. Marcinec's AP English class in Johnstown High School, New York, geographically in the area where the book was written and situated. At the time I was trying to choose between going to West Point and the Air Force Academy, and reading Mr. Vonnegut changed my plans and my life. If it weren't for this book, I might well be directing operations against Iraqi civilians right now. Thank you, Kurt Vonnegut, thank you, thank you from here to Tralfamadore.

Subsequently I learned that wrapped up in science fiction's basic impulse was a response to the kind of atrocious killing first experienced during military conflicts of the twentieth century. The technologically dominated nature of those conflicts was very different, and what its victims experienced could not be accurately described by reaching back onto any touchstones of history because new realities had leapfrogged old language. Thus their horror could only be communicated at removes through epic myth, satire, or even by moving as Vonnegut did entirely outside the box of molecular matter itself. War veterans like Tolkien, Heller, and Vonnegut were pioneers in a new literary device, one which came to overshadow traditional literature by the latter half of the twentieth century in both cultural impact and book sales.

Vonnegut projects himself into the device and character of Billy Pilgrim, who serves as a gawkish hapless soldier and simultaneously lives a blessedly bourgeoius post-war existence in upstate New York; he writes outside time in order to make sense of the impersonal, mechanized brutality he experienced as a prisoner of war while digging thousands of dead, rotting civilians out of basements in Dresden, Germany for weeks after its fire-bombing.

In performing such grisly work, unendurable for any of us on a personal level, I believe Mr. Vonnegut had to leave his mind and senses in order to function, and that the protective mental refuge he went to formed the kernel of this indispensable book. While digging and removing himself from the present, he must have determined to write an anti-war story unlike any other to stand the tests of all time. Kurt Vonnegut succeeded, and 2,000 years from now when people study war (assuming we make it so long), Slaughterhouse Five will remain. It is the post-modern equivalent of the phrase, "Go tell the Spartans."

Slaughterhouse Five is a great book, though Vonnegut's habit of skipping around in time, though really effective, makes it difficult to see where the story is going. The book is semi-autobiographical, originating in Vonnegut's own experience as an Allied POW who survived the bombing of Dresden by sheer luck--he was imprisoned in a slaughterhouse storage room that protected him and saved his life.

The skipping around in time gives one the feeling that Vonnegut is having a hard time dealing with his experience, he is having a hard time focusing and therefore drifts off to other memories. It's only in the latter section of the book when the main character, Billy Pilgrim, goes through the bombing of Dresden himself does the book come together. Taken as a whole, the scattered memories tell the life story of Billy Pilgrim, which is really cool, though it would have been nice to have known this from the get go. The second time around every detail made sense, every detail had its place. There's also a fair amount of very dark humor in the book.

Also, although the book doesn't seem so shocking today, when it was written, the horrors of the bombing of Dresden were not widely known in the US. He compares the bombing to a nuclear attack, which is quite rightly justified by the casualty and destruction statistics. Offhand comments are also sometimes a little racy. This apparently caused the book to be banned from many school libraries when it first came out, though by today's standards it's hard to see what the prudes were fussing about.

Two other points: 1) Vonnegut never mentions that the bombing of Dresden was the Allies payback for the senseless bombing and destruction of a 300 year old Dutch city called Rotterdam. Vonnegut should be shot for not mentioning Rotterdam. 2) Ethan Hawk does a great job reading. I wish more top actors recorded books.

Fellow reviewer, Reinhold Strnat, you gave only one star to one of the greatest authors this country has ever produced. I am now 42, but this book, along with "Breakfast of Champions," got me hooked on Vonnegut when I was 15.

You say "If this is such a great anti-war book, why doesn't it make that point?" You actually answered that question yourself when you say, "It doesn't seem to have a point." Get it? Probably not. Pick it up again in a few years, perhaps when you're in college when abstraction may come more naturally. Then release any concrete expectations you may have as to how a point is to be made. Let the humor, the absurdity, and the humanity take you right to the point that really is there. When that comes, you too, will become yet another Vonnegut fan seeking out more of his work. Best wishes on your future mind-expansion.

If you are a first time reader of this book like I was you are in for a treat. Kurt Vonnegut will take you on a journey from the disillusionment of war veterans to the mental toll that it takes on one's mind and finally to the indifference to death and dying. So it goes, is the phrase that is the metaphor for the book. Everytime that someone close to him dies he says "So it goes." This effectively captures his indifference to war and death as a result of his time at war. There are some stunning narratives about war that are not worth missing.

Some people stay away from books that receive a lot of critical praise. I'm not sure why, but if I had to guess I'd say they fear that it may be difficult to read or dry.

You can't say either of those things about Vonnegut. This book is the perfect introduction if you're not familiar with the author. Not only is it humorous, but it's also concise and easy to read. It's a book about war, but it never gets preachy.

The plot deals with one character--Billy Pilgrim--who served in WWII. When he comes home, he become an eye doctor and later claims to have been abducted by aliens. The plot sounds a little crazy and hard to follow, but it all makes sense once you get into the book.

Vonnegut and Hemingway share a trait that most readers should enjoy: they are both precise and to the point. There are very few wasted words and you don't get bogged down with long descriptions or flowery prose. That's not to say that the story isn't well-written. It's just written in a manner that most people will appreciate.

Required reading for all humanity ... Vonnegut is the best as this story takes shape and reveals the best and worst of humanity. If you like Vonnegut, check out 'Garbage Head'

I couldn't put it down until I finished. It absorbed me after the first page because of what it was telling me.

My father was also in the Battle of the Bulge. After all the horrible things he witnessed and experienced, his most significant concern expressed was what it took to keep his feet warm - the last thing he wants to do is dwell on a more significant event of burying several dozen men who were mowed down by the Germans. (I learned at a young age to never screw with our thermostat at home!)

How does this relate to the book? The book jelled a thought I have had for some time. To handle the difficult, we focus on what we can deal with, and for the rest we create abstractions from other elements of our past that can cloud it, explain it, justifify it, forget it etc. In the case of SH5, Billy Pilgrim used science fiction to put horrible things into a perspective that was acceptable - it just happens, it's suppose to, it always will!

Except for the concept of aging on earth, SH5 makes you look at life and realize there truly is no beginning, no middle, no end - just a series of often unrelated events brought to us or created by us. You can not choose the events always, but sooner or later you will choose what to believe and how you want to believe - interestingly enough, that's not always a choice in the purest sense either.

I started reading Vonnegut on the advice of a friend. I started with Slaughterhouse Five because I had heard the title before. I must say that I really enjoyed it. The style is realy quite refreshing and the plot itself is brilliant. The reason that I only gave it four stars was because of the unnecessary use of graphic sexual description. I understand that some writers may feel that they need to use these sort of descriptions in their writing, but I, for one, believe that a book can be just as good without these references. My reading experience has never been elevated by the inclusion of such content. Still, though, a very good book overall.

One of the great aspects of Slaughterhouse Five is its ability to challenge the reader's idea of reality and various social norms, namely war. Billy Pilgrim, the main character of the novel, is born in Illium, New York. At a young age, Billy enlists to fight for America in World War II and claims witness to one of the biggest blunders of World War II, the bombing of Dresden, Germany. After Billy gets out of Germany and the war alive, he claims to have been abducted by an alien race called the Tralfamidorians, a species far more advanced than the human race. As he shares his outrageous experiences and the ideology of the Tralfamadorian race with the reader and other characters of the novel, his credibility and sanity soon become skeptical, landing him in a mental institution. While the character of Billy Pilgrim is simply an intermediary through which Kurt Vonnegut displays his ideas, the reader can not help but wonder if Billy and his beliefs are valid, or a figment of the imagination. Even if you do not enjoy anti-war or science fiction novels, this book will bring the reader far more than what is expected opening up a world of new ideas and endless possibilities.

This was the first book I read by Kurt Vonnegut, and in my opinion, the best book to read as an introduction to his work. The next book I read after SF-5 was Cat's Cradle, and I doubt I could have understood it if it wasn't for SF-5. Vonnegut's writing is not for everyone - he often uses strange, outlandish elements of science fiction and the like that take some getting used to.

Slaughterhouse-five follows the story of Billy Pilgrim, a private in the US army during World War II. Vonnegut tells us right away that Billy is 'unstuck in time', and throughout the book we make seemingly random trips to parts of Billy's life. Later in the book, Billy is allegedly captured by aliens and taken to their planet, Tralfamadore. In he very center of the plot is the destruction of Dresden, a completely civilian city in Germany that was demolished by an Allied firebombing. A reference to Dresden crops up almost every other page, revealing Vonnegut's obsession with this event he witnessed. There are many seemingly contradictory elements in SF-5, such as Tralfamdorian philosphy vs the theme of the book.

However, anyone who says that SF-5 is just a silly, mashed-together jumble of weird, absurd, unconnected events is reading it too shallowly. In English class, I wrote an in-depth literay analysis of this book. I picked a very narrow topic and still wrote 16 pages without having to fluff it out at all. I could have written thirty pages, but the limit was 10 (I eventually pared it down to 12).

A lot of people don't like SF-5 because they say its theme "War is Bad" gets too repetitive. A careful reader, though, can see that Vonnegut approaches the topic from many different angles, even from the seemingly random science fiction elements. SF-5 is a magnificently deep, poignant, yet still funny book. It is one of my favorites and I reccomend it to everyone without hesitation!

Anyone who is having trouble understanding this book should try and read some criticism or analysis of it. Go to the library, go to the computer card catalog, type in "Slaughterhouse-five, Vonnegut" and see what you get.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is brilliant because Kurt Vonnegut is NOBODY'S apologist. You may disagree with his politics (and I definitely do), but his story of Billy Pilgrim, a hapless World War II veteran who lives in several parallel timelines, is a masterwork.

Vonnegut was actually there. He was a POW in Dresden when it was bombed into the stone age. He witnessed its effects first-hand. He even wrote himself into "Slaughterhouse-Five" as a background character.

Personally, I think story-behind-the-story is that Pilgrim is the author, or a part of him that splintered off. Billy Pilgrim's was a fragile mind that came unhinged because he saw too much. His leaps of fancy, which are written as though real, are the product of a mind stressed beyond its breaking point.

Kurt Vonnegut, unlike Pilgrim, did not suffer a break with reality. Instead he chose to part with it on his own terms - as a novelist. I would imagine that there are only so many civilian corpses - woman and children chief among them - you can stack on bonfires before you start to question your own sanity - and the sanity of the people responsible.

What he offers in "Slaughterhouse-Five" (and in every novel of his I've read) is not a condemnation of a particular group (i.e., Americans) but of the human race as a whole. Necessity does not make atrocities any less horrific. Killing is killing. Though it may be justified in some sense (in the case of self-defense, or the defense of others), it is no less an act of destruction. Morally speaking, war punishes the victor, too.

Vonnegut's argument, as I read it, is that we need to stop thinking of any war as justified or necessary. War is neither. It is simply a fact of human nature that aggressors will attack others, and that we must sometimes act to stop them. That we shouldn't have to in the first place is, I think, the whole point of the book. It's insanity to incinerate people by the thousands. That the axis forces did it first makes it no less so. That it may have been necessary in some way only shifts the blame. No one who commits such acts - even for the greater good - has a clean conscience, except people who are clinically insane.

In short, there is a distinction to be made between the morality of going to war, and the morality of war itself. I think Kurt Vonnegut sees this. If you don't, then it's all the more reason to read this book.

The story centers around Billy Pilgrim, who becomes dislodged in time and travels back and forth between past, present and future. Somewhere between the fire bombings of Dresden in World War II, his capture and imprisonment in a zoo on the planet Tralfamadore by aliens, and his surprising success back on earth in the later years of his life, Vonnegut paints an absurdly, disquietingly hilarious portrait of life, death and much in between.

While subtlety is the key to Vonnegut's writing for the story, his explosive understatements do more to blow you away than any more technical language could achieve, so don't be fooled. I often found myself caught off guard and laughing on the bus as I read, or smirking wryly in mid conversation when remembering certain parts of the text. For a quick read with simple language, you'll be amazed at just how much is said in so little.

It's a slight mismatch that Slaughterhouse 5 has often been compared to Joseph Heller's Catch 22, as I feel that the two texts have little in common except their absolutely absurd intelligence and the fragmented scene sequences. For lack of a better choice the two can be compared, though I find it to be misleading at best. Both share the resulting impression of a life shattered in the futility of war and convey their messages with an absurd (there's that word again) humour, but I feel that Slaughterhouse 5 widens its scope to include the societal perceptions of "life" in its jeers whereas Catch 22 simply addresses the paradox of war (and with a much, much finer microscope at that).

There's a great deal more that could be said about Slaugherhouse 5, and even more still that I'd like to say, but I feel that (like most good novels) it's a book that must be read instead of simply told about, and I don't want to give anything more away to someone that hasn't read it yet. This is your cue now to go out and grab a copy, so go. Check out www dot yourwords dot ca for more.

If ever I become dictator of the world, I will make this required reading for all my subjects. What can I say? Tears and laughter are not adequate for this work.

It brought to the world Billy Pilgrim, the misfit loser with more than a few parallels to Jesus Christ. It brought to the world Vonnegut's deeply personal view of the bombing of Dresden. It confirmed that Vonnegut's wacky imagination could be applied to a serious subject to bring both hilarity and sorrow. It brought me, a person completely ignorant to the horrors of war, a person who can't stop eating his Three Musketeers candy bars, as close as I'll ever get to understanding war's consequences. With irony to spare and heart rending beauty, KV has made a true masterpiece.

Recommended to fans of Sci fi, fantasy, and the human experience.

this will change your mind. Vonnegut explores human nature from inside and out, centered on human nature's darkest time, war, without being bound by the laws of time flow. Stylistically original. I couldn't put it down.

I'm no literary critic by any means but to me this is a great book. In some way that I cannot describe in words Mr. Vonnegut tells his story and conveys his message by not taking a direct approach. On one side it is a story of WWII POWs, and on the other it is a science-fiction story of one man's unusually bland life. It is a must read book.

In the late 1960's society was at complete unrest. War was occurring in Vietnam, leaders were being shot, and families were drifting apart. This was the time that Kurt Vonnegut wrote the novel Slaughterhouse-Five. In the beginning of the novel he places himself as the main point of view. He sets up the story with his own struggles of isolation. He calls long lost friends drinks and smokes. It is here where he visits an old friend and war veteran, whose wife worries that he will glorify the war by writing about it. By mentioning this I feel that Vonnegut is justifying the novel's randomness, moving it away from a war novel to the multi-set version that it became. The fact that Vonnegut himself is struggling, sets us up to the struggles that Billy Pilgrim will face while setting us up to the character himself being seen as the eyes and ears of the author.

Billy Pilgrim is a very interesting character. In the novel he experiences the war, personal abuse, disability, mental illness and a lack of self-worth. As ironic as that sounds, he is the center of the novel, the piece that holds it together. Billy represents not just the negatives of war, but of the overall problems of the human condition. The fact that Billy is a victim and what he represents creates a cynical view of how the author views the world at the time.

Some may view Pilgrim strictly as a weak character. The fact that he is taken advantage of time and time again is difficult to deal with. I often wondered why he was so pathetic and what the point of that was. In researching the author for this paper, Vonnegut himself was weak in many ways. This is why the character of Billy Pilgrim works in this novel. Kurt Vonnegut needed to be able to make a statement from the core of society, which was weak at the time. The fact that Pilgrim goes into the future and becomes a celebrity equates his own writing success and what it really means to him versus how he feels about himself. At one point in the novel he even mentions that writing is like advertising, you need to tell the truth or you get into trouble.

It is no accident that by the end of the novel, Billy Pilgrim seldom seems to know who, where and why he is. The author notes this in the last chapter set in 1967. It is the year before the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King occur. These problems in our society and Pilgrim's cluelessness are used to make a point. The point that he is trying to make is that Pilgrim is presented as sick and listless but there are good reasons that this is occurring.

Still, why is this important to have him as a weakling? I also feel that he is depicting mental illness as something caused by society itself and it is these mentally ill that create a major part of how the world is run. Pilgrim at many times in the book is abused so badly you understand why he has become the weak person that he is during many moments of the book. You understand why he is the weakling or the victim. Tie that in with the previous points you realize that is us, all of society that is victimized. It also runs into who is running the world. In 1976, Pilgrim becomes a hero of society, yet you wonder how that can occur. You know him as very un-heroic, yet Vonnegut places him in that role as if to say, it is the nuts that are running the asylum. The point being that some of the same can be said about the leaders of the world during the time this book was written.

If the book is to be viewed basically, I could say that Vonnegut is telling us that war is bad. In fact, the raid of Dresden is a large point regarding the unrest of society. He could have stayed with this point throughout the entire novel. It would have been the easy way to make a basic point. The fact that he moves away from this to Billy in the present and later in the future, what the author is trying to say is that society needs to be fixed not just now, but later, before wars and cruelty cease to exist.

As mentioned early, the book is often criticized for being too random in its structure. It was viewed as a fault. I believe that randomness was used to make a point and is a strength rather than a weakness. Vonnegut does this by the pace and quick changes in setting and plot. The violence and cruelty is another way that he is reaching out to what is going on in the world. Vonnegut frames this by placing himself in the beginning and end of the novel, thus introducing where he is at in 1969, as well as bringing the novel to a logical conclusion.

In conclusion, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. uses many layers and levels of understanding of society to make his point. What was happening while his book was being written adds to the structure and meaning of the novel itself. The novel is not jumpy or all over the road, but rather a well thought out piece using a main character to define the place society was at that time.

Slaughterhouse Five is excellent! No other book has dealt with a subject like war in such a humorous manner. Kurt Vonnecut writes about a World War II prisoner of war, Billy Pilgrim, who time travels throughout his life. Billy is trying to find the meaning of life through the fractured pieces of his life. Though these time travels can be a bit confusing at times, they are an excellent basis for the book. The reader is able to travel with Billy from the time he goes to war, to the time he becomes a feeble, moderately old man. Vonnecut's writing style is so superb that the reader feels like they are time traveling as well.
I find the Tralfamadorians to be quite funny. Billy's trip on a flying saucer allows the reader to escape from reality and have a good laugh. I think the Tralfamadorians have an amazing outlook on life and time. They believe no one ever really dies but continues to live in the different parts of their life. I often find myself hoping this idea is true.
After the trip to Tralfamadore, Billy believes he knows the true meaning of time. I find I often get frustrated with Billy for believing in such an idea and making himself out to be a fool. However, I do think Billy creates his own world to escape the memories of the detrimental bombing of Dresden, Germany. This artificial thought gives Billy an insight that helps him deal with his need to know what life was about.
This book must be read! It was truly one of the best books I have read. It is extremely well written with the right mixture of humor and seriousness. I believe there is a hidden meaning in this book that only the reader can experience. I would recommend this book to anyone!

"Slughterhouse-Five" was a little strange for my taste, however the message suits for real life in any time period. Even if you don't read it as anti-war propaganda (I didn't immediately connect with this theme), it applies just as much to peaceful times as times of conflict.

Vonnegut's portrayal of death as a normal occurance is more striking to me than the anti-war theme, because he NEVER let's you forget about it. "So it goes" litters every page, and makes you see the death in ordinary situations that you probably wouldn't have thought about. Every time I saw "So it goes," I felt something drop in my stomach. Just what you want when you read...something that makes you feel.

He also shows a creative way to synthesize the difference between time and space, a way to find some meaning in life, and a few subtle (sometimes not-so-subtle) jabs at what he believes is wrong with the American way of life. His method of doing it all was strange and sometimes confusing (why only 4 stars), but picking through the confusion you can come up with anew idea that Vonnegut hid in the rubble!

Forgetting all of that, it was a funny book in its irrelevancy and randomness, and sad in the same exact manner. Maybe that's why it strikes a chord.

This was the first Vonnegut I've read and so far it's my favorite. I am amazed how Vonnegut can contrive wildly imaginative stories and tie them together in a meaningful way. Slaughterhouse-Five is a story about a story of a Billy Pilgrim who becomes unstuck in time and relives different moments of his life. At the surface it seems he is just suffering from delusions from his war experiences. But the narrator makes us believe he has discovered a 'truth' from the Tralfamadorians about the nature of time, that it is not linear like beads on a string but comprised of almost independent moments, and one could jump among them and perhaps see them backwards. Instead of making Billy crazy these ideas make him sympathetic, because they provide a different and beautiful way of looking at human issues of loss and regret.

Vonnegut somehow combines an interesting story, drama, and subtle humor that you may not spot the first time around in a very readable novel.

The best word to describe this book is Excellent, capital E intentional. This book comes in a time of Vonnegut's writing career where he was both a great teacher and a great artist. This is a culmination of those teachings, put together in a uniquely artistic manner.

The story is an anti-war exploration of the meaning of life. Rather, as the back covers proclaims, it is an odyssey through time. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, hops back and forth among his memories (in time) in an effort to put together the fractured reality which exists there. Along the way, Vonnegut creates resonances which make for superb reading. I don't think I overstate the case when I call it brilliant.

Pilgrim, in this odyssey, finds that time does not proceed linearly, as we perceive it. Time merely is. If an event exists, it always exists since there is no past, present, nor future. Pilgrim learns this when he is abducted by aliens and taken to the planet Tralfamadore. Another tidbit he learns is that war is unavoidable. However, war doesn't exist in every moment in time, so the Tralfamadorians choose to visit those moments when there is no war.

On one hand, this is an absurd statement for an anti-war book. If Pilgrim finds that war is inevitable, how are we to believe we can avoid situations like Dresden? I don't think this is Vonnegut's message, exactly. Tralfamadorians choose to spend their conscious time in moments when war isn't. Since we live linearly, we should likewise choose to exist in moments when there is no war. If we could, most of us would choose to spend our time in moments of peace. So perhaps war is inevitable, but we don't need to live through it right now.

It's hard for me to imagine anyone who wouldn't like this book. I suppose if you were too young to understand, it may be unthrilling. Aside from that, you can assume that war hawks will dismiss it as gibberish, since Vonnegut does not portray war as glorious. As strange as it sounds, Vonnegut would probably call it gibberish too.

An excellent book, even if it is gibberish.

Ah, a Classic, in all literary senses of the term. Highly sophisticated thinking turned very entertaing novel. From start to finish this book had me entranced. The heavy philosophical and physical conundrums are uniquely paralleled by the comical and satirical. Innovative in its writing, Vonnegut brings to you a hearty helping of shear genius. Highly recommended.

How does one go about writing a review for Slaughterhouse Five? The genre can't even be defined (horror? comedy? war drama? sciene-fiction?), let alone the essence. What can be told about Slaughterhouse Five is that it makes the reader reconsider. It can easily change how one looks at war, peace, family life, aging, humanity and even the science fiction genre in one sitting. As thought provoking and entertaining as this is, perhaps the most endearing aspect of the book is the protagonist. Billy Pilgrim is easy to love because he is simply an exagerated form of the common man; observant, thoughtful, and destined to be bewildered by the world from the moment he entered it. The reader doesn't know what to make of Billy or his sitation, but he or she loves him nonetheless. In a way, it seems that this is how Vonnegut wants people to view his story - with a combination of sadness, confusion, and laughter.

"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." People throughout life struggle to understand who they really are, and where they belong in this world. By reading Slaughterhouse-5 one will come closer to accepting the "reality" about life. The story tells the journey of Billy Pilgrim. From the infamous fire bombings of Dresden during his army days in WWII and through his life in the planet Tralfamadore, the reader will learn how Billy Pilgrim views today's world. His "so it goes" attitude, his beliefs of manipulating time, and his other quirky characteristics will compel you to admire him. Mainly considered one of world's great anti-war books, it is not written in the usual war book style. Kurt Voneggut evades all the grueling details about war; instead completely focus on Billy's reflection of war and his world. The story is told to the reader by random flashbacks, which makes the book appear as puzzle pieces. All these pieces fall into place to give us a complete picture only in the end, a technique similar to one that is used in "Cat's Cradle" another Voneggut classic. Voneggut uses his usual black humor, sarcastic tone and unique imagination to deliver a story that warms our hearts but yet makes us aware of the ugly truth of our own existence that we do not want to know. This is as good as it gets folks! So it goes.

In his superb novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut infuses into his writing a cornucopia of rhetorical strategies, including running motifs, the repetition of phrases, and vivid diction, to expose the mental and physical destruction caused by war and ultimately to convey antiwar sentiments.

Throughout his writing, Vonnegut employs a plethora of motifs to present his antiwar position. The colors blue and ivory both play a significant role in painting the picture that depicts the destruction of war. Upon his departure to Dresden, the awkward hero of the novel Billy Pilgrim glances upon the body of a previous acquaintance dead on the cold, solid ground. The man's "bare feet were blue and ivory" (148). At another moment in the novel, Billy looks upon his own feet, only to find that they too "were blue and ivory" (72). Vonnegut's clever choice of cold, impersonal colors invokes images of death, and, by using these descriptions in relation to the men involved in war, illustrates the suffering endured by fighters in the war. Their flesh turns from a healthy, robust, and energetic shade to a stone - cold, remote gray. Vonnegut also includes the motif of a lone dog howling. In the midst of conflict, Vonnegut often inserts this unique motif. On the doorstep of death, Billy Pilgrim can barely continue moving through the woods behind enemy lines. While Pilgrim's companions constantly ridicule his weakness and threaten to desert him, they hear "somewhere the big dog barked" with a voice like a "big bronze gong" (48). The connotation of emptiness conveyed in a lone dog's callings serve to accentuate the loneliness and mental isolation suffered by participants in war. War severs the kinship bonds of men, abandoning and isolating them like the solitary barking dogs.

By utilizing the repetition of distinct phrases, Kurt Vonnegut augments his overall theme of war's destruction and its effects on man. Repeated often throughout the novel, the term "The Children's Crusade" comes to symbolize and parallel World War Two, the war employed as one of the main settings in Slaughterhouse-Five. In chapter one, Vonnegut discusses his own war and post-war experiences in first person. Responding to the bitter remarks of a friend about his novel, Vonnegut replies that he will "call it 'The Children's Crusade'" (15). By using this term in first person, and later in third person through other characters, Vonnegut creates a comparison between two extremely bloody historic events. In both incidents, the youth of the world stepped up to a challenge that appeared valiant and heroic only to discover that their causes would result in bloody carnage and tragedy. The reality hit the young men like a lighting bolt, changing them physically through wounds and mentally through the bloody sights that bred a pessimistic attitude and a disbelief in humanity. The most prominent repeated phrase is the short, simple sentence "so it goes". Vonnegut follows every mention of death in his novel (there are approximately eighty) with these words. In the war, "a lot of people were being wounded or killed. So it goes" (106). This phrase highlights death as a major topic in the novel and accentuates decease as a result of the terrible and ravaging destruction of war. The sentence is presented in a curt and understated tone that adds a dash of irony and ridicules the massive devastation caused by war.

Vivid diction floods the pages of Vonnegut's novel and further compounds the horrendous and ghastly images of war. Vonnegut metaphorically compares the war to a glacier. "There would always be wars" and "they were as easy to stop as glaciers" (3). With this choice of diction, Vonnegut presents war as an inevitable tragedy that will always persist in the world, always on a path of rampage, always leaving immense destruction in its wake. After the bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim and his fellow prisoners of war gaze upon the massive, almost unimaginable, ruin. Vonnegut compares the once beautiful city with the surface of the moon; however, unlike the smooth curves of the moon, Dresden is littered with "treacherous, jagged things - hot to the touch, often unstable" (180). Rather than attempting to romanticize war, Vonnegut uses his blunt descriptions to focus on the hideous reality of war. Utilizing this specific diction, Vonnegut paints a blackened picture of war that emphasizes death and destruction.

Clearly through his skillful employment of rhetorical devices, such as motifs, repetition, and diction, Kurt Vonnegut vividly depicts the devastation caused by war and suffered by man. Vonnegut unmistakably utilizes his novel Slaughterhouse-Five as an antiwar piece of literature that investigates and explores the extend of damage, both mental and physical, endured by the innocent fighters involved in war.

This book was my first experience with Vonnegut, but it certainly will not be my last. Kurt's writing style amazed me; he has done in this book one of the hardest things to do in literature, which is to take a serious subject (and what is more serious than war?) and manage to make it funny. Mind you, this is not a comedy, but a very entertaining satire. The wit is overflowing, from the clever way in which the first chapter sets up the book, to the introduction of the character Kilgore Trout ("if only he could WRITE!"), to the various amusing ancedotes throughout the book. It all marks a masterpiece. Vonnegut's prose is masterful, and keeps you reading. I finished the book in two settings (nearly one) and could not hardly put it down. On the surface, his prose seems very simple, naive, and even childlike. It is told, for the most part, in an "ordinary Joe" sort of way, almost as if the author was sitting there with you sharing the story over a drink. This may seem unsophisticated, or not relevant to this type of subject matter, but as anyone who has actually tried to write that way knows, it is a far more difficult thing to do than writing in a customary style. When you're blazing through reading this book it may seem like merely a funny book (very black humor) with a few morals thrown in for good measure. However, when you step away from the book and look at the big picture, this is very clearly not the case. This books has some very deep meanings and themes, and is satrical to boot. War might be inevitable... but maybe death isn't as bad as we think... things happen for a reason and maybe we can't change them... whatever happens, happens for a reason, and whatever must be, must be. And so on.

So it goes.

This book contains some very interesting thoughts and social commentaries on war, but the timeline, though interesting, skips around too much for my liking. I would reccomend this book to those interested in a thought provoking read, but not to those who have trouble understanding complex plots and metaphorical themes.

Not only is this gem of a novel a good introduction to Vonnegut, it is, as well, a great way to get back into the habit of reading again. This book is an effortless read. The sentences fall of the page as meat from the spare rib (when they're cooked just right). Vonnegut's genious lies in his apparent simplicity, yet without realizing it, he invigorates your intellect. It is fair to dub Slaughterhouse Five an "anti-war" novel, but unfair to pigeonhole-it as such. Progressive in its structure and style, it is a refreshing journey with no beginning and no end; fragmented and focused at the same time. Vonnegut is a master humorist with tremendous style, not depending on boring explanations or lofty prose but simply throwing beautiful, original, yet simple phrases and sentences at us and relying on his acute sarcasm. Fans of writers from Bradbury to Heller to John Irving will love Slaughterhouse Five.

O.K., I read it, but I literally have no idea what this book is about. And I'm not reading it again to find out either. Apparently, people like almost anything in life, which is really a sad commentary on the human condition.

I read this book in a little over a week. It was an easy read, with my greatest difficulty being trying to follow as it jumped from time period to time period. I was a little thrown back when I first heard about the Tralfamadore part before I read it, but it is an important segment of the novel. I thouroughly enjoyed this book.

Over the years I've been fascinated to see how people interpret and misinterpret this famous work, which I first read while studying abroad in 1989.

Some people think it is a absurd comedy, others a quirky science fiction novel, others simply don't know what to make of it. But for those of us "lucky" enough to be keyed into Vonnegut's cynicism, the book is a powerful anti-war statement; nothing more, nothing less.

In his amusing, rambling, self-reflexive introduction, Vonnegut seems to concede that the only way to write a great anti-war novel is not to write a great anti-war novel. After all, as he says, "...there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre."

Thus I'm inclined to say; this is one of the best anti-war books never written. I'm glad I never read it three or four times cover to cover.

A friend of mine, asked me to read the book "Cat's Cradle," also by Kurt Vonnegut, I didn't enjoy it all that much. Then I was assigned to read a science fiction book for school, so I chose "Slaughterhouse-Five," this book was hilarious and yet very sad. I enjoyed reading about Billy Pilgrim's adventures with the "Three Musketeer's." Roland Weary and Paul Lazarro are the best characters in the book! It made me think about war, and all the nonsense of it, but it also made me realize what happens to the troops. I really enjoyed the book, it made me laugh and it made me think.

This is a great book both if you are looking for entertaining reading or if you enjoy reflecting on the more serious implications of the book. It is very funny and is slightly silly, but then the fire bombing fits perfectly, being in itself extremely silly. It is a great anti-war novel and shows us that if looked upon from the outside, our world is a strange place. Read it.

A tangled mess of disjointed scenes and uninspiring ramblings. This is not a work of art. It is poorly constructed and shows no signs of good writing ability. What a disappointment.

I don't like how Vonnegut down-plays death. What's the phrase? "and so it goes"? I also don't like how the author puts down morals and values. I don't care if Pilgrim has been through war, that doesn't give him an excuse to loose all human pride.

I didn't enjoy this book at all. I didn't like the constant skipping around of text.

I'll admit, I'm not much of a reader (until fairly recently). Lately I've been on a sci-fi kick and somebody at my work recommended this book, Slaughterhouse Five. Originally it sounded more like I was jumping into the middle of a series of cheesy horror books but after minimal research I learned a bit more about the plot.

This book follows a man named Billy Pilgrim. Billy is a unique character, a man of few words. He reminds me a bit of Forrest Gump. Billy has a special ability, he can travel through time, through different parts of his life - though he is unable to do it intentionally. It just happens. Occasionally he travels to Tralfamadore, a planet many light years away. Here he is in a zoo, behind bars. Though the Tralfamadorians like to observe Billy, they also give him sound advice.

Billy was behind German lines during the Battle of the Buldge when he was taken prisoner and placed in a slaughterhouse (hence the name of the book). Billy witnesses one of the most horrific events in recorded history, the attack on Dresden. Though we learn of this attack we also learn about Billys life as a whole, such as his wife that loves him much more than he seems to love her.

Okay, I have to admit something else - when I first started reading this book I didn't know much about Vonnegut. I didn't know of his history. About 30 pages in I started noticing something... even though the writing style is simple (and brilliant I might add) I was able to pick up that this book really meant something to the author. I know he talks about his experience in the first chapter, I still wasn't sure originally if that was fiction or not. I started doing some more research on Vonnegut and I learned that it was in fact a fact. Vonnegut really did witness many horrors in his life including the attack on Dresden. Suddenly this book really started to make sense.

Sure, this book can be classified as sci-fi but there are a lot of truths in there. Vonnegut is a master at the metaphor and you learn that he uses sci-fi as a vehicle for something much greater. This book is simple, yet incredibly brilliant and much deeper then it first seems. It's amazing how much imagery Vonnegut can pack into a single sentence of simple words. I've read books that communicate a lot less with many more words.

A work of perfection. Kurt Vonnegut said all there was needed to say in this harsh indictment of war of and humanity's failure to prevent it.

The main character, Billy Pilgrim, was written in a masterful way. A man who could find pleasure in the simplest of things, is thrust into a situation that would break almost anyone, let alone a simple man like Pilgrim.

Like all great works of literature, they are open to speculation by the reader, and I found enough in this book's 215 pages that I could sit here speculating on it for ages. This, to me, is the true mark of a great book. One that will be read forever and will never die.

My take on the whole alien abduction and time travel was Billy Pilgrim's mind dealing with the chaos of his life. The way a psychiatrist will explain that a person's mind can splinter in situations of dire stress and create other personalities, so in this manner did Pilgrim's mind allow him to believe that he was able to time travel and be kidnapped by aliens. Or, you can believe that it actually happened. God only knows what Vonnegut's intentions were.

The war depictions are sad and funny, heartfelt and well-told. You can take away all of the underlying meanings in this book and appreciate it as just a great piece of fiction, a great story.

If you are a person who looks around at the state of humanity and says, "Why don't people understand how to treat each other? They just don't get it." Then you should start reading Vonnegut right now, and Slaughterhouse-Five is a magnificent place to start.

A timeless classic.

Made In Hero: The War for Soap

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. Like a lot of people who love this book, I first read it when I was an unsuspecting teenager. I loved the prospect of a planet Tralfalmadore. The creatures who live there aren't bothered by things--not bombs, not hunger, not crowds, and least of all, history--although Billy Pilgrim is plagued by them all.

That's because unlike Pilgrim (a fumbling soldier and 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. So it goes.

Beside the absurd and hilarious parts, there 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."

SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is still best read with a dose of innocence, at least enough to appreciate a name like Montana Wildhack (the porn star). But it's good to know I can re-read Slaughterhouse Five and still manage to laugh. It's the Tralfalmadorean spell. Time passes, and doesn't. The glob of amber is real.

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.

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.

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.

So fluid is Vonnegut's style that you feel yourself on a voyage whose importance and profound nature you can't stop to contemplate until it's all over and you're left breathless. "So it goes".

This is - by far - my favourite Vonnegut story and that speaks to how beautiful this story is. A poignant masterpiece. Read it. Enjoy it on all levels.

Vonnegut has written an anti-war book, but he has done it with some
style. It is perhaps hard to find humor when you are being blown to
hell and back, but through characters in this novel he manages to do
so. Darkly amusing, I suppose is what you would call it at times. One
way to view the Allied bombing of Dresden, anyway.

To be honest, I have no idea why I picked that quote to be the title of this review. It just kind of grabbed me. Yet if you are even moderately familiar with SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, you probably know that any title would work just about as well as any other. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, after all, does cover a lot of ground.

The book follows Billy Pilgrim, a survivor of the bombing of Dresden, through his life as he ruminates about life, death, time travel and the knowledge he received from the alien race of Tralfamadorians. Billy has accepted the Tralfamadorian concept that all things exist at some point forever. Even death is not what it seems, as the dead person is still alive at some time and that time is perpetually occurring. Accordingly, there is no psychological stance to take on events other than acceptance. Things will happen as they always have happened and there is nothing to be done about it.

Of course, everyone else thinks Billy is a lunatic. The story unfolds in an extremely nonlinear manner, with Billy hopping from one time to another, sometimes in midparagraph. Indeed, he has become "unstuck in time," so that he lives the main episodes of his life in a random and illogical order. Vonnegut deserves the credit he received for pulling this off without making it confusing to the reader.

Although light in tone, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE does address some deeper issues. Fate, free will, cruelty and the absurdity of human nature are all here. Comic relief is present throughout the book, with a dry fatalism providing an undercurrent to the events of Billy's life. Vonnegut is not everyone's cup of tea, but there is no denying the talent it takes to pack major issues into such a strange literary structure and still make it readable for the audience.

Vonnegut's wild satire reminds me of nothing so much as Catcher in the Rye, in tone at least. Bitter and dark with flashes of biting hilarity, his novel is an Alice-in-Wonderland, Matrix-type of manifesto in which a hapless young man, Billy Pilgrim, crisscrosses the world in his wanderings from a planet inhabited by beings called Tralfamadorians to his staid(on on the surface at least) optometry practice in New York to a hellish prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. Through him Vonnegut explores the nature and lack of human connection to this world, the tragicomic loneliness of human existence, and most of all the absurdities of war, bringing a fantastical touch and his own experience to the terrible tragedies he depicts. The book is slightly difficult to read due to its rapid shifting between settings and times, but Vonnegut's prose is smooth and rapidly moving. Not a book I would recommend to everyone - its black humour can be a little hard to take, especially in large doses - but if Salinger's tone rubs you right, read this book. "So it goes".

Wow. This was my first exposure to Kurt Vonnegut, and definitely won't be my last.

Slaughterhouse-Five takes you on a mind-blowing journey through the disjointed life of Billy Pilgrim. The focus of his life is thus: He had a laughable military service in World War II, consisting mostly of being a POW while in shock. After the war, he lived in an insane asylum for awhile, where he became a fan of author Kilgore Trout, who is a central character throughout Billy's life. He married Valencia, the daughter of a rich optometrist, making him into a rich optometrist himself. He was the sole survivor of a plane crash full of optometrists. He was kidnapped on his daughter's wedding night by aliens from Tralfamadore, kept on display in a zoo there. During his time in the zoo, he was mated with a Hollywood starlet named Montana Wildhack, who never returned to earth, instead being kept there to raise the baby in the zoo. Billy ends his life by being assassinated by someone he was a POW with in Dresden, Germany, who made good on his promise. Billy gave speeches on time travel and alien abduction, and told the crowd about his death beforehand.

What is so unusual about Billy Pilgrim, is that he "has come unstuck in time," meaning that his awareness randomly jumps forwards and backwards to different points in his life, so that he not only experiences his whole life in bits and pieces and completely out of order, but he additionally has full access to the memories of everything that has happened in-between. Thus, he basically can remember every detail of his entire life before and as it is happening.

The ingenious part of the story is that it is told in the same disjointed manner that Billy experiences it in, so that even though his memory tells us ahead of time what is going to happen, we still begin very much in the dark, and over time, as we experience more and more of the different parts of Billy's life, it begins to congeal into a coherent whole that makes sense to us in the same way that it does for Billy.

I am consistently amazed as I read through the book and how much detail there is, and at how consistently and frequently Vonnegut's writing makes references back to those details. It truly brings everything together in your mind, and something that is humorous the first time becomes increasingly so each time a reference is made down the road that reminds you of it again. Truly, Vonnegut is a master of stylistic writing, and in a style that no one else could hope to emulate.

This is one of the most memorable books I have ever read. A+, highly recommended!

This book shows up on high school reading lists because of its deceptively simple language and (supposed) humor, but only on rereading many years later did I realize how multi-layered and complex the story is. Billy Pilgrim is a hapless American soldier in WWII, who becomes "unstuck" in time and experiences life as one never-ending seamless moment. He moves back and forth freely in time, from his childhood to WWII to marriage to death, but since all moments exist in all other moments, there's no cause for sorrow over a death or an injury, even one's own. Thus Vonnegut can juxtapose the tragedy of war with the inane suburban life Billy subsequently leads, or Billy's life on Trafalmadore. Trafalmadore?--the fourth dimension, where Billy discovers another way to look at life. Vonnegut suggests that perhaps war happens precisely because we live in the moment--we fail to remember the past and ignore the future.

On another level, Vonnegut paints a raw and brutal picture of war--the dead and the unlikely survivors, the killing of 100,000 in a night of firebombing, Americans brutalizing other Americans, the execution of a soldier for stealing a teapot as Billy returns home with a diamond found in an old overcoat. Kilgore Trout, Billy's favorite author, a crazy science fiction writer, is the only one who tells the truth, that man creates his own downfall.

I've barely scratched the surface of this painful, absurd, hopeful novel. I read it in high school, but I didn't have a clue. Try it again for yourself.

Slaughterhouse Five was a very good book. It was full of different settings ranging from war zones to other planets that keep you guessing and intrigued. This book was one of the most original books I have ever read. Some of the ideas and concepts the author expresses about war, life, and time put you deep into thought. The author has an incredible ability to bring out the personality in his characters and express their feelings. This book is out of the ordinary. It is funny and sarcastic, yet it gets across a very good point. The message behind Vonnegut's writing is very clear; war cannot be stopped but it is terrible.

All in all, Slaughterhouse Five is a very powerful book. It is commonly classified as an anti-war book, and it is. Yet behind the anti war message, there is also a much bigger lesson to be learned from Slaughterhouse Five.

Kurt Vonnegut, who recently passed away, has been at the forefront of American literature for decades. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, a remarkable antiwar book, cemented his reputation as one of the most unique voices of the twentieth century. The story of Billy Pilgrim - a man unstuck in time - the novel provides a fascinating take on the life of a man whose life bridged the firebombing of Dresden to his abduction by Tralfamadorians - aliens from a distant planet.

A scant 275 pages, the book grabs you from the first page and takes you on a surreal journey through a life both conventional and bizarre. Of course, which is more bizarre - the insanity of war or abduction by aliens - is the whole point of the matter.

Vonnegut is truly an American original. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE is an American classic. At once perplexing, illuminating, confusing, and thought-provoking - it is altogether absorbing. I highly recommend it!

My favorite Vonnegut novel is "Cat's Cradle", but "Slaughterhouse Five" is a close second. He is unquestionably of one of the greatest creative literary geniuses of all time and is the "canary in the coal mine" for our generation.

"Slaughterhouse Five" is written so expertly that it gives me the feeling that Vonnegut is in the room talking to me. There are moments in the book when it seems as if Vonnegut is paused, waiting for me to comment.

"Slaughterhouse Five" is a novel of raw and refined cynicism, optimism, philosophy, and hypothetical realism. The book is filled with phrases that free fall through my mind long after the book is closed. It is a book worthy of reading and rereading; it is as if Vonnegut planned the novel to expose new gifts to the reader as s/he changes.

I recommend the reading of any and all of Vonnegut's books, including commentaries and speeches.

One of the greatest books I have ever read, and I have read a lot.
A must read for every human being able to think for her/himself.

Listen:

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a number of extremely good novels. Two of those novels are truly great. Slaughterhouse Five is one. (Cat's Cradle is the other)

To the best of my knowledge, Slaughterhouse Five is the only anti-war novel ever to feature alien abductions and time travel.

Vonnegut's sardonic wit has never been sharper. He approaches his topic, the horror and absurdity of war, with a subtle hand, laced with dark humour and insightful observations that often sneak up on you in ways you never expect.

If you haven't read anything by Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five is an ideal place to start. This is an insightful, profound, and important book; easily one of the best ten novels ever written.

I first read slaughterhouse five 35some years ago when I was in college and during the Vietnam war. It was one of many antiwar books that I read. Reading it again now brought greater appreciation as to the ingenuity and quality of the book. By juxtaposing one of the more horrific acts of the war to the innocence of its main character, billy pilgrim, Vonnegut paints a picture of war that none can justify.

By making billy a time traveler and visitor of tralfamadore, a planet where all time is present, he makes the firebombing forever there, a constant symbol of the nature of man and of war.

For some reason I never read any other Vonnegut books. I don't know why. This second serving has wet my appetite to make up for lost time.

So it goes

I recently read Slaughter-House Five for my High School English class and I must admit I was thoroughly impressed. I had heard of Kurt Vonnegut several times before, but I had never given his books any thought.

The book itself is very disjointed the first time you read it, thanks to the non-linear style in which Vonnegut presents the book. Billy Pilgrim(the protagonist) is "un-stuck in time." In layman's terms, this simply means that he views his life not as one continuous experience, but as single experiences that are always changing. For example, one moment, Billy is in the depths of the Battle of the Bulge, the next, he is sitting in his office twenty years later.

Using this method, Vonnegut masterfully pieces events in Billy's life together. His war-time experiences in World War Two, his optometry practice in Illium, his kidnapping by aliens on his daughter's wedding night, they all fit together like intricate pieces in a puzzle. He uses the book as a vessel to make several points. Anti-war, pro-destiny, and even a narrative upon the problems of Christianity, provided by Vonnegut's alter-ego(present in several other of his books as well) Kilgore Trout.

One thing that I must complain about is the ending, since it isn't very definitive. But considering the detached nature of the protangonist, and of the story in general, it is fitting. This book is not meant to provide closure, it is meant to make you think about life, so don't expect any quick answers within it.

While this is Kurt Vonnegut's most famous book, it is not his only good book. I would suggest that if you find this book interesting after reading it, that you look for several of his other novels, such as Cat's Cradle, and Player Piano. I personally have not read them, but I would assume that Vonnegut maintains his weirdly superb style in those as well.

I thought Slaughterhouse-Five was remarkably creative, especially if you take into account when it was written. Basically, it's a dark but sometimes funny story told through the eyes of a misfit who's floating through war (and the rest of his life) without really caring if he lives or dies, hardly understanding anything that's going on around him and making very few value judgments as to what it all means or whether it's good or bad. The thing is, I kept wondering what Vonnegut was saying by creating a protagonist like this. In other words, why was the main character so accepting of everything he saw and experienced? Why did he keep repeating the phrase "So it goes"? I found these questions especially interesting considering that the main character's fictional experiences clearly parallel some of Vonnegut's own experiences.

For instance, it's well known that Vonnegut was himself present at the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, that he was one of the few survivors of the attack which killed more people than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, that he survived only because he was locked up in an underground slaughterhouse as a POW. And in the autobiographical first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut writes that "there would always be wars," and, even if there were no more wars, "there would still be plain old death." Can we therefore assume that Vonnegut believes the attitude we should take toward death and war is the same detached resignation displayed by the main character in Slaughterhouse-Five? I thought about that for a little while and did a bit of research, and in the end I don't think that's what Vonnegut was trying to say.

As noted by critic William Rodney Allen, "despite its mask of Tralfamadorian indifference, Slaughterhouse-Five conveys at times an almost childlike sense of shock that the world is such a violent place." Looking at it from that perspective, Slaughterhouse-Five's main character is probably the opposite of indifferent: he's someone who cares so deeply about the indignity of the senseless death all around him that he's no longer able to care. It seems that he's suffering from something like post-traumatic-stress disorder, so much so that he's forced to create an elaborate metaphysical scheme to explain what he's seen. Or, as Vonnegut put it: "There's nothing intelligent to say about a massacre." Thus, although the main character survived, he is nevertheless haunted by "a great big secret somewhere inside," a secret that Allen described as "the awareness of the horrors of war and the certainty of death," an awareness that could not be covered up by the materialism of postwar America.

On a side note, I also found Allen's interpration of Paul Lorezzo very interesting. [SPOILER ALERT] Allen argues that when the main character is hunted and killed by Lorezzo, a paranoid sadist the protagonist had met decades earlier during the war, the experience can be seen as "an emblem of the fact that a soldier can never really escape his war experiences, that they will always `track him down' even years later," even if on the surface it seems that the war left him unscathed. Ultimately, I think I agree with Allen: "Slaughterhouse-Five is built on the paradox that it appears to offer acceptance and even indifference as responses to the horrors of the twentieth century, when in fact it is a moving lament over those horrors, a piercing wail of grief over the millions of dead in World War II."

"Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time"(23). After his involvement in World War II, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. became an established author, with one of his most famous novels being Slaughterhouse Five. Slaughterhouse Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man from Ilium, New York, his participation in World War II and his travels through time. Because of his background in the war and his personal views on war, Vonnegut's creation of an anti-war novel is quite effective, while entertaining at the same time.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born in 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1943 Vonnegut enlisted in the army and in 1944 he was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge. Like his main character Billy Pilgrim who was locked in a meat locker under a slaughterhouse during the Dresden bombing, Kurt Vonnegut too emerged from a meat locker under a slaughterhouse to find Dresden a pile of ashes and 130,000 dead. This inspired Vonnegut to write Slaughterhouse Five, bringing not only an interesting plot-line to his novel, but personal experience as well. The publication date of Slaughterhouse Five is also notable. The novel was first published in 1969, during the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. Slaughterhouse Five, an anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., a critic of the conflict in Vietnam, made a strong statement about Vietnam. He shows many similarities of the Vietnam conflict in the novel.
Slaughterhouse Five begins with Kurt Vonnegut narrating, telling the story of how he always wanted to write about his experience in Dresden. He then shares what he came up with about his experience in Dresden, but it is "short and jangled...because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre"(19). Billy Pilgrim then becomes the narrator, narrating his war memories and his travels through time. Throughout the novel he shares his experiences in the war, in his childhood, in the present and, the most interesting, his travels through time to Tralfamadore. On Tralfamadore he learns to focus at the happy moments in his life because the Tralfamadorians believe that when someone dies, that person, "is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that same person is just fine in plenty of other moments"(27). Knowing this, throughout the novel he does not fear his death, he just focuses on more important moments in his life.
When Vonnegut set out to write Slaughterhouse Five, his goal was to "write about the destruction of Dresden"(2), and his thoughts of war in general. After reading the novel, I believe Kurt Vonnegut Jr. did a wonderful job not only of accomplishing what he set out to do, but also writing an interesting novel for all to read. One addition to the novel that confused me was the entire Tralfamadorian component. It seemed as though this science fiction component clouded the focus of the novel, Vonnegut's views of war. Although this segment may have clouded the focus of the book, Vonnegut was able to work it into the novel in such a way that it added meaning to the novel, while still playing a minor role to the war issue. Science fiction is a part of Kurt Vonnegut's writing style and I believe his novels would be incomplete without at least some science fiction. Overall, Vonnegut accomplished his goals, while also making it a novel interesting to read.
Slaughterhouse Five represents the best of Kurt Vonnegut's writing. Written as both a science fiction novel about Billy Pilgrim's travels to Tralfamadore, and a social comment on war and destruction, Vonnegut accomplished his goals thoroughly and completely. I would recommend this novel to science fiction fans, Kurt Vonnegut fans, or fans of reading in general.

Reviews are linear, SF is not, and so writing a review here is much like trying express van Gogh's color scheme in a mathematical formula. But I'll share what I experienced.

Slaughterhouse-Five is much more a poem than it is a novel--simply because it respects itself in such a way.

Vonnegut has created a kind literary constellation--much like Kant did with logic, and Hunter Thompson did with journalism (which, thanks to him and Tom Robbins, became an art). SF is illustrative of the degree of imagination necessary to craft a writing that is individual, and not victimized by changing social principles and varied political or cultural atmospheres. "Billy Pilgrim" is a cooing phoenix disguised as a dove-like, poo-tee-weeting emissary of truth, value, and the human condition. A warm autumn beachhead with an existentialist undertow, this novel will corrode faith in half-actualized values fashioned subconsciously to soothe the minds of the social beast-thief.

Now, time to get academic. When I stated above that SF was more a work of fiction than a novel, I meant that the author was able to view this circumstance as a singularity--a creation that was paradoxical but nonetheless itself, a beginning, middle, and end all simultaneously: it is it. As the Tralfamadorians say, "We see where the stars are, where they have been, and where they are going all at once." By not allowing this story to have a linear, BS structure of 'rising action', 'falling action', Vonnegut owns it, pets it, feeds it as a living thing under the control of the human mind and imagination. Sure, the story could have been at least published in a linear fashion, had Vonnegut written it in such a way, but then it would not be Vonnegut's story. It would be just like most other stories or events: very quick processes of ideas bouncing off of frame devices, one-dimensional characters with specified purposes, a general belief of objectivity as the savior, the enabler. Then, this story would not exist, in every philosophical sense of both the concepts of 'story' and 'existing'--a story isn't a story if it's grounded in fact, just as a house or shelter isn't a house or shelter if it's floating on water.

In repetition of my introductory statement, I say that this collection of words compiled together to express perception--true perception, mind you, of a true thinker--is.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is the only novel written by Kurt Vonnegut which I have enjoyed immensely, reading it several times over the course of a couple of decades. Vonnegut's journey from being a mediocre science fiction writer to one of the leading lights of American literature is surely among the most fascinating I have read of (I suppose this means that if you choose to deny your origins as a writer of dreadful science fiction - which Vonnegut has stated repeatedly in public - then you'll receive an automatic passing grade from your peers in "serious" mainstream literature; for denying both his origins and for writing some of the most abysmal plots in the annals of science fiction, Kurt Vonnegut is number one on my list of most overrated and artistically inept authors of modern fiction.). But, inspite of my lengthy digression, I will have to confess that at least in "Slaughterhouse-Five", Vonnegut has crafted a fine novel which works more as a fictionalized memoir than as an amazing tale of a man, Billy Pilgrim, who becomes "unstuck in time".

Most of my favorite scenes in the novel are set in the span of time just before the fire bombing of Dresden, Germany and its immediate aftermath. It is some of the most viscerally moving pieces of fiction written by a former POW held by Nazi Germany. Less sucessfully, I think, Vonnegut describes Pilgrim's sojourn on the planet Tralfamadore. His descriptions of the planet and its inhabitants lack the vivid imagination or lyrical poetry of a Samuel Delany, Ursula K. Le Guin, or Norman Spinrad, among others. And yet, there is still much in Vonnegut's usage of English prose and in his creation of his protagonist Billy Pilgrim, which warrants high praise from this reviewer.

There really isn't much to say that has not been said about this book before on Amazon. It is simply one of the greatest works by an American author, and that is all there is to it. Enjoy.

This book is excellent, and I reccomend it heartily as a novel. However, the figure of 135,000 to 250,000 killed in the bombing of Dresden is a gross exageration of the true numbers, which were at most 50,000, but probably something like 30,000. The range 135,00 0 to 250,000 comes from proven Nazi-sympathizer David Irving. For an account of how he fabricated his information read Lying About Hitler, by Richard Evans. During the bombing, Vonnegut was housed in an underground facility outside of the city so didn't see the bombing and was involved in the recovery of bodies, so all of his information on the death toll is second hand, which has since he wrote the book been proven false.

Nevertheless, quite worth a read.

"The cattle are lowing/ The Baby awakes/ But the little Lord Jesus/ No crying He makes." This is how the Jewish Kurt Vonnegut starts his satire Slaughter House Five by asking if Jesus cried when lives were obliterated with fire? Thus, he hides an intricate attack against war within the story using simple language that allows readers to flow through the novel. Throughout the plot, Vonnegut explores the horrible effects of war, brings new light to the plight of soldiers, and readjusts the focus of the reader's world view.

Slaughter House Five focuses on the horrific effects of war by describing the destruction wreaked upon Dresden in its infamous firebombing by the Allies, its destruction symbolizing the loss of a peaceful and important cultural center in Germany during World War II. With this being the focus of the satire, Vonnegut is able to weave in numerous additional ideas concerning loss and suffering with Dresden as the symbol embodying it all. But, with the focus of the reader on the mental wanderings of protagonist Billy Pilgrim, another horror is brought to light. The shock put upon a person who has to undergo such a terrible ordeal.

The problems thrust on Billy Pilgrim by the trauma of the Dresden firebombing are quickly evident as the reader follows his schizophrenic mental journey through war, an alien zoo, and his life as an optometrist after the war. During the scenes of war, Billy detachedly views his horrifying experiences with frighteningly calm amusement; the scenes in the alien zoo portrays the protagonist's ideal life; and the scenes of his abnormal behavior in life after the war all lead the reader to see the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome created by the war; thus, creating more reasons to have peace.

Billy Pilgrim's wanderings through memory caused by the trauma of war bring a fresh new perspective of war and its consequences into focus like a new pair of lenses from an optometrist. In many respects Vonnegut's use of humor to make a statement against war is very much like that of Larry Gelbart creator of M*A*S*H. With elegant and simple language keeping readers focused on the issue, Slaughter House Five certainly makes a persuasive argument against war.

So it goes. Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time, hopping from one of his life's moments to another at random. He is an old man, then he is a young man. He welcomes his son home from Vietnam right before he goes off to fight his own battle in World War II. Billy Pilgrim is dead but then he is alive again.

Billy Pilgrim has seen and done it all. He has fought in a war, he has had a family, he has befriended the reclusive Kilgore Trout. Billy Pilgrim has been to New York. He's been all over Europe. He's even been to the planet Tralfamadore where he and a beautiful Hollywood starlet were exhibits in the Tralfamadorian zoo.

Through it all Billy Pilgrim remains the same humble, mild, and good natured man he has always been. Billy Pilgrim is many things. Sometimes strong, sometimes week. Sometimes clever, sometimes as dull witted as a box of rocks. Only one thing remains constant with Billy Pilgrim. He is always likeable.

In the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The life of a soldier, Billy Pilgrim, in World War 2 is portrayed through misery, suffering, and self realization. Throughout the story, however, Billy, travels in time after discovering the secrets of time travel from an alien world called Tralfamadore. In one paragraph of the story, he could be a P.O.W. in World War 2. In another, he could be back home in Illium, Illinois. However in chronological order, after fighting in the war, Billy finds himself back at optometry school where he marries a woman named Valencia. Later on Billy describes his ubduction by aliens in which he is displayed in a zoo like environment. When Billy returns to Earth he becomes the only survivor in a plane crash. Ironically, his wife dies soon after. Throughout the telling of Billy's Story, told by a character named Yon Yonsen introduced at the beginning of the novel, Billy's life shows how easy it is to remember and how hard it is to forget. And that even though our pasts might be difficult, we still have to recognize them and embrace them in order to learn more about ourselves during the present. Overall I enjoyed this book a great deal because of the authors realistic descriptions and interesting look into the meaning of time.

This is a novel that I would like to suggest to anyone. Simply saying, it is enjoyable, yet thought provoking. Along with the attractiveness of a science fiction novel, it addresses various points, not only the gruesome aspects of the war but also issues involving crimes and punishments.

Despite the fact that the fire-bombing of Dresden was as worse as the atomic-bomb attack in Hiroshima, not many people gave attention to it, maybe because it didn't involve advanced and historical weapons, or didn't affect the overall war effort greatly. However, the number of people who died still matters. They are the same lives as the people who died by the atomic bomb. And this book's attempt to turn people's attention to the Dresden massacre has succeeded, performing its antiwar purpose.
The novel also shows war criminals that have been punished, including Campbell who have committed suicide before getting a trial on treason, and poor old Edgar Derby who was sentenced to death because of a teapot that he took from the remaining. In addition, Billy later gets killed by an assassin because of a crime that he didn't even commit during the war. These examples show that punishments given during wars can't be fair, again emphasizing the injustice of war.

It was a unique attempt to combine a nonfiction war story with a sci-fi, and I believe that it was quite successful. I guarantee that the readers' trips to Dresden and Tralfamadore with Billy would be both worthwhile and entertaining.

Slaughter House Five is a great book, PERIOD. As a soldier currently serving in Iraq, I always jump at an opportunity to read any book that is labeled as "anti-war". After hearing some friends talk about the book, I decided to read it for my own. Words cannot express the adventure, comedy, and horror I felt as I read the book.

The book follows the life of Billy Pilgrim, in the many phases of his life. After Billy is abducted by aliens, he learns how to "time-hop" and the reader is treated to Billy Pilgrim in different points of his life. The reader is taken along Billy's journeys as he is stuck in time (as the aliens, Tramaldforians explained humans are) while he visits different parts of his life. The reader follows Billy as a young P.O.W. in World War II, an optometrist in his "middle years", and the voice of the Tramaldforians in his later years. Throughout each phases of his life the reader is given glimpses of what is, has, and always will be of Billy Pilgrim.

The center focus of the book is the bombing of Dresden, which by some accounts rivals the destruction of Hiroshima, and the TOTALLY destructive nature of war.

Billy Pilgrim is a chaplin's assistant in World War II that is taken as a prisoner. The book follows his accounts of his capture, then jumps to other parts of his life. Most notably, later on in his life he is abducted by aliens and taken to another planet, Tramalfodor, where he learns that there is a fourth-dimension where Earthlings can travel in time.

Quite frankly it is difficult to give a clear outline of this book as it is not your "standard" work of ficition. The book is written in a matter of factly type way. Concurrent with the standard of the fourth dimension, as taught to Billy by the aliens, all time is existing at the same time. Therefore, Billy can visit any part of his life and never really dies in the natural sense. he always will live, stuck (or unstuck rather) in time.

I believe that this book is a great example of what a war book should be. Instead of painting the people in war as heroes and men without fear, this book puts a realistic face on what REALLY goes on. Unforetunately, most war novels and movies potray war with strong men, who prevail at all costs, not this book. Vonnegut, places a human face and war that shows that war is hell, and most times (as with the Iraqi Crisis) it is fought by children. These children are like any other human beings, yet our society has gone through great lengths to make the horrible atrocities of war seems ok, or even heroic. War is has definately been over-hyped throughout the ages, and this book did a good job of bringing war down to what is really is, hell.

The story contains very few characters, and even less description into these individuals. The author admits that this was done on purpose, because there are no individuals in war. Opposite to what movies would have you believe (I guess realistic stuff is boring) soldiers for the most part are not individuals, they are one. They wear the same clothes, eat the same food, and generally have the same struggles. Throughout the books Vonnegut's style and prose make this very clear, which makes the story even more compelling.

After reading the book, I have become very interested and curious about the bombing of Dresden. From my initial research, the bombing was definately a great kind against human kind, by some accounts over 100,000 civilians were killed in the massacre order by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force. Still most people do not even have the slightest ideal of the carnage that took place on Feb. 13th, 1945. Vonnegut's book, however, paints a clear picture that is funny, sad, and serious all at the same time.

I would sugguest reading the book, then reading it again to really get a true understanding of the ideal that Vonnegut is trying to express. While the simple narrative of the story is misleading, the book has really raised some strong convictions about the way that I have viewed war. While I am not a pacificist or idealist, I believe that Vonnegut gave a good account of the wages of war. Just read and see!

This is a fantastic book, one of the best I have ever read (it is also by a considerable distance Vonnegut's best).

As usual for Vonnegut the book is basically an exposition of his psyche. This time combining large themes WWII, the bombing of Dresden, inevitability, time travel and a non-linear existence to produce a truly compelling book.

Some will dislike Vonnegut's idiosyncratic prose and his tendency towards flippancy. Personally, I find his prose engaging and entertaining - he is capable to conjuring up quite vivid imagery, and being funny and moving (often at the same time).

This book contains a couple of my favourite moments - the wonderful image of the planes flying backwards over Dresden and restoring it (how I wish Martin Amis had never read it - maybe he wouldn't have written Time's Arrow) and the idea that he would keep returning to his favourite moment - sitting on the back of a hay wagon in Dresden.

Read it!

In this novel by Kurt Vonnegut, the main character's name is Billy Pilgram. He is a war veteran who survived the firebombing of Dresden. The novel is very choppy, and switches from different parts of Billy's life. I found it very difficult to follow, and not very enjoyable.
In the novel, they often speak of a planet called Tralfamadore, where he was displayed in a zoo with a former movie star by the name of Montana Wildhack. I thought that the very concept of a man who was kidnapped by aliens was truly unbelievable and a tad ludicrous. I did not find the idea of aliens kidnapping a human and putting them in a zoo very plausible. While some of the tralfamadorians concept of death and living in a moment would be comforting for a war veteran, I found it relatively odd. I do not believe that an alien can kidnap someone and house them in a zoo for years at a time, while it is only a microsecond on earth. I also do not believe that a person has seven parents; I feel that two are a sufficient amount, and all that one person really has. Though Kurt Vonnegut was extremely creative with this story, and I usually enjoy creativity, this story was a tad bit to far-fetched for me.
I also did not enjoy hearing about Billy's relationship with his wife, and daughter. I felt that there was an extreme lack of love between them, and that is not the type of family I want to read about. I would have much preferred them to hold a more important role in Billy's life.
The only part of this story I enjoyed reading was the part about Dresden. I found it rather interesting and compelling. It was an extremely sad story to read and it was the only part of the novel that evoked any sort of emotion from me. I also enjoyed hearing about the author's view of Dresden, and his experience there. Throughout the story, I felt myself wishing that the author would stop talking about Billy, and share more of his own story.
While this novel had potential to be enjoyable, and some may have even liked it, I did not. I found it deplorable to read and I would not suggest it to anyone, ever.

Slaughterhouse 5, or Slaughterhouse five, or The Children's Crusade, also called A Duty-Dance with Death, is described by the author Kurt Vonnegut's alter-ego, Billy Pilgrim as a `fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod [and smoking too much], who, as an American Infantry Scout Hors De Combat, As a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, "The Florence of the Elbe," a long time ago, and survived to tell the tell. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace.' So it goes.

The book is an anti-war book, but tells us that it is about as useful being an anti-war book, as being an anti-typhoon book, meaning that some things will never change. Vonnegut tells us this by giving us the story of Billy Pilgrim, whose most important role in life was to witness the secret American British bombing of Dresden, where 135,000 died, and who spent most of his time as an American Prisoner of War, a survivor who can tell the youth of today what war is all about, by using his shellshock trauma induced time travel capabilities, given to him by the Tralfamadore aliens, to revisit the war, so that he can write a book about it, goes to see old war buddies, becoming unstuck in time, his life as a series of scenes in a non-linear fashion which ends up making linear sense, even though it did not at the time. So it goes.

Slaughterhouse 5 is a very interesting and somewhat touching series of events that finally all come home to roost in the final pages, the loss of man is the gain of man, whether we like it or not, is not the point, Darwin told us that this is what we are designed to do, Billy Pilgrim becomes an optometrist in the process, marries a woman who suddenly has a series problem, while Bill ends up in a zoo on an alien planet to produce children with Montana Wildhack, a famous movie actress, while trying to write his Dresdon story, filled with death, a plane accident where he was the only survivor following his POW term, fact from fiction, he thinks the rescue party are nazis, it sets off the time travel again. So it goes.

Vonnegut is not all down and war depressing however. His humour captured brilliantly by such antics as considering the money tree that grew hundred dollar bills, gems and bank bonds, feeding off the people who met the quicksand by its base, or a young Jesus who once built a cross with his father so the Romans could use it to do something to a protestor that they didn't like. When the wit is there it scores in aces. You have never read the likes of such clowning around before, although compared to Joseph Heller's Catch 22, this one is more personal, less satirical, more direct and exposes that horrible World War II bombing of Dresden. In 1941 Charles Portal, A British Air Staff officer, put forward the idea that entire cities and towns should be bombed. Air Marshall Arthur Harris agreed in February 1942. It was napalmed in 1945. Vonnegut made it very public in this 1969 novel. It was revealed by the historian David Irving in 1963 in his publication, "The Destruction of Dresdon". So it goes.

Billy spends the final days of his life out across New York looking to tell a radio show his story, ends up finding a world war II sci-fi book author's book as window dressing, attempts to buy the book as a memory keepsake because he met the author and knew the war buddy who introduced him to the books, and is nearly arrested, and or committed, old age coupled with the dying man's last bastion of whatever his mind can make of it all, gives us much to ponder in death, by remembering our lives, Pilgrim travels in his memory and says that death is living ones memories over and over again... so best be good... and enjoy life. So it goes.

I could add to the volumes of literary criticism that fills the reviews of this book, but what's the point of that? Rather, I will recommend that you hear the book as a book on tape - the book's a stream of consciuosness, disjointed approach works very well on tape. The reader shifts from one scene to another as easily as Billy Pilgrim does. The version I heard was not the one available here. Mine was narrated by Jose Ferrer and he did a wonderful job. Too bad Ferrer has passed on. So it goes.

"Slaughterhouse-Five or The children's crusade" is the first book written by Vonnegut that I have read, and the experience has been quite good. After reading it, I realized that I had felt all kind of things at different times (or pages) of this book. I feel surprised by the lack of logic in some parts, enchanted by the wisdom of some phrases, and somewhat puzzled by some of the antics of the characters. But I didn't feel bored, not even once, and that is good news in my book...

The story is told from the point of view of the writer, at least at the beginning. Shortly afterwards, the main narrator changes: now it is Billy Pilgrim, who like the writer is a former soldier in World War II. The writer and Billy survived the bombardment of Dresden, the city were both were held as prisioners of war (yes, Vonnegut was a POW in the 2nd WW). They stayed in a place called "Slaughterhouse 5", due to the mere fact that that placed used to be...a slaughterhouse.

Billy has some peculiarities that no one else seems to share: he can become "unstuck" in time, going seamlessly from the present to the past or the future, and from there to the present again. He is also quite familiar with aliens, having spent a season with them in their planet (as a specimen in the Tralfamadorian zoo), and isn't shy to tell so. Of course, that brings him a few problems with his family, who wants him to upheld his image of respectable optometrist, but that cannot be helped.

This work has an anti-war tone that pervades the whole book. That is evident in the musings of the characters on the absurdity of war, and on how illogical many actions were (a good example would be the bombardment of Dresden, a city that lacked war industries). Billy, one of the protagonists of the book, accepts things as they come, and after every death he simply says "So it goes". He probably is the best illustration of the fact that "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Also, and even though Vonnegut writes that "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre", I think that thanks to this book he gives at least a good statement on the massacre of war.

All in all, "Slaughterhouse-Five" is a book beyond strange, so if you prefer linear stories, you are highly likely to dislike this one. If there is something that stands out in it, is its lack of chronological continuity. Despite that, I recommend it even to them, because who knows, they may like it. After all, this book has been considered a classic for many years now, so it certainly has some value. On the other hand, if you are one of those who prefer the unexpected in a book, you just must read it, because I'm certain you will love "Slaughterhouse-Five".

Belen Alcat

This is not an easy book to read, but it is a great book. What makes it tough to read is that Billy Pilgrim, the main character, "comes unstuck in time." In other words, he is constantly moving from the present, to the past, to the future. . . You start reading a chapter and you're not sure if your in World War II or in the future, etc.

The story is about a guy who is a soldier in World War II and is taken prisoner. He's sent to Dresden and survives the horrible bombing of that city. After he comes back home, his life is normal, until he becomes unstuck in time. He's constantly going back to his war experiences or into the future on another planet.

Vonegut has an amazing imagination, a wonderful sense of humor and a gift for telling stories that keep us interested. I've read most of his books and enjoyed everything I've read by him, but this is still one of his best books ever.

If you enjoy this, try his outstanding collection of short stories, "Welcome to the Monkey House."

Slaughter House Five is one of the most unique novels I've ever read. I am only 17 and my knowledge of books grows every year- and I think my mind expanded a little bit after reading the dark humor of Vonnegut. His way of writing is so captivating I really couldn't put the book down. The novel is extremely metatexual, in that, Vonnegut actually wrote himself into the novel, but he conveys his ideas through a really, almost robotic character Billy Pilgrim.
Billy Pilgrim (play on the name pilgrim=pioneer maybe?) is a really an emotionless character, the reader never becomes aware of his likes and dislikes only that he becomes unstuck in time. This concept of time and how relevant it is in every aspect of life is the driving force of the novel. Many would say this book is an anti-war novel, and it is to an extent.
I think Billy's mind split while in the war- this shows how war can destroy one's sense of reality. The book also opens with an introduction about Vonnegut's own journey into writing the novel and how he decided to make it known that children fought wars not men. I really enjoyed one quote about how stopping war is like stopping glaciers- it isn't gonna happen. This book is an anti-war novel but it is so much more.
Slaughter House Five really takes the notion of time and plays with it. What if time is just a man-made schedual to exist in our daily lives. What if time is just moments- like every person is just one long string of moments. I think one the books strongest messages is for one to focus on the good moments of life and not the bad...like war for instance. Either way this novel is great read and an easy read- which I am all for considering my reading load at a private college prep school is not what I consider light work. Just enjoy the thoughts the novel evokes and I promise a fun read!

At times, people may focus too strongly on this book being Anti-War. As I see it and taken with regard to other Vonnegut books - as well as anti-war, this book uses the far-fetched aliens and becoming "unstuck" in time for perspective, allegory and a position to critize society. The themes behind the book are deeper than just anti-war, but extend to the themes that dominate mankind. Do we shape our futures and our lives or are they shaped for us? Can we prevent the atrocities we place on one another (like Dresden) or is it inevitable? As when a Tralfamadorian (alien) tells Billy that, "I've visited thirty one inhabited planets in the Universe... and only on Earth is there any talk of free will."

This book explorers more than just the pain of a war surviror and the tragedy of those that didn't survive. It is comment on life (fatalism, free will, cosmic purpose or the big empty?), people (and our tendencies toward self-interest and self-destruction) and thereby god and the universe. Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees... but don't miss reading Vonnegut. If not this book, then Cat's Cradle or Sirens of Titan - all are exceptional and worth your time and money.

This book though one of the less artistic from Vonnegut, it however, is one of the most poignant. The great adventure of a WWII veteran seeking both a story to tell in his book and a rationale for all the people who died there. "So it goes." Vonnegut takes us in the psyche of many a soldier who served in that fateful war. His characters are so human and realistic that it is not hard to get involved with the story. The author, since he found wars to be utterly and shamelessly stupid and pointless, found a rationale and consolation in an explanation given to one of the character in a planet millions of light-years away. Among other things, Vonnegut shows us how time travel is already possible and we all can achieve it by just thinking about it.
This books is a great satire and quite funny at times. What forbids it from being funnier is the fact that the subject matter is indeed very serious and depressing. A must for modern meta-fiction readers.

That the victims of the Dresden firebombing were, by and large, innocent
bystanders caught in the cogs of a grisly machine called 'war' is irrefutable.
That a man named Kurt Vonnegut was there, witnessed it from the ground-level
(and below), and carried the psychological burden of it around with him for
years is obvious. That he was able to write such a brilliant book on such a
dark subject is, quite frankly, amazing.

On the surface, `Slaughterhouse-Five' deals with the trials and tribulations of
one Billy Pilgrim, ophthalmologist and erstwhile WWII chaplain's assistant,
whose life is apparently filled with more death and destruction than his mind
has the capacity for. At least, that's what his daughter thinks when Billy
starts behaving erratically. Little does she know that he has become unstuck
in time, experiencing his life in a random, non-linear fashion forever. Since
Billy has no way of knowing what will come next, all he can do is enjoy the
good moments when they come, and deal with the bad as best he can.
Who can make sense of a life like that?

And in a larger sense Mr. Vonnegut asks us, who can make sense of a world where
people blow each other to bits for arbitrary reasons? What is there to say?
It really is for the birds: poo-tee-weet.

Truly a masterpiece of 20th-century literature. Should be required reading for
every high-school student.

If anyone ever set out to write a comic, anti-war, Sci-Fi modern classic I am pretty certain they would have failed miserably. But this is what Vonnegut has done, and he has succeeded.

This is a short and powerful book. Vonnegut introduces it with a chapter about how he came to write the book, and then tells us how it begins and how it ends. In doing so he establishes an important point. The events in the book are to be viewed from a Tralfamadorian perspective. These aliens see all time in a single moment. Death is immaterial to them because existence is not linear, so you always exist, even after your temporal death.

So the events in the novel follow no chronology. They leap from 1960's America to the planet of Tralfamadore at any time, and back to the war in 1944, and back earlier, and forward later. The hero of the piecel, if he can be called that, is Billy Pilgrim, an american soldier in the Second World War, an optometrist after the war who is rich because he marries the fat daughter of a wealthy Optometrist. She marries him despite the fact that he is a psychiatric patient suffering a nervous breakdown because of the war, or because of college stress, or because his father threw him in the deep end of the pool.

Their son is a troublesome boy, who straightens himself out, joins the Green Berets, goes to Vietnam and contributes to the good of society by killing Vietnamese.

Vonnegut finds the absurd and the funny in the most mundane of normality. And because of this he constantly surprises the reader. The items Pilgrim finds in the coat in the war are a case in point. A diamond (that goes into his engagement ring) and a denture, which he keeps. One is as arbitrary as the other in value terms. Whereas his companion is shot by firing squad for "looting" a teapot in Dresden.

This is a short and easy read, but do not be deceived. It is a terse and concentrated work of art, that will yield returns to the careful reader long after you put it down.

The first statement I have about this book is that it is not for everyone. This book's plot jumps around between different moments in the main character's life. If to read a certain section of the book where the main character, Billy, is in World War II, in the next few pages, he could be an infant or an elderly man! Therefore the plot is difficult to navigate through.
However, the plot is no reason to deter you from his excellent novel! If you can follow it, the plot is extraordinary! The author introduces us to vivid characters, new lands, and a great message: Choose what is important and good in life and focus on that, and try to ignore the bad. You see, in Billy's spastic trips through time he meets a race of aliens called Tralfemadorians. These aliens can see in the fourth dimension, which is time, and they teach Billy a valuable lesson about life: "That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones." (Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut page 117).
This is also a great antiwar novel. The only plot that returns in a linear way in this novel is Billy's experiences in World War II. We learn of a place called Dresden, where there was no military action on behalf of the Nazis, it was a civilian area used only as a Prisoner Of War camp. The Allies bombed it and killed more people there than when they dropped the atomic bomb in Japan. The author shows us the true horrors of war, the desire of man to win; at all costs.
Slaughterhouse-Five is an excellent novel for most readers, but those who cannot follow plots, might want to look elsewhere. It has a great message and compels us to look at ourselves inside and see what we would do to win, what we would sacrifice.

I don't feel that I am making an overstatement when I say that this is the best novel ever written. The theme is one of man's insignificance in space and time. All we can do as humans is hold onto the present as it is. We will never change that the past has happened, that the present is happening and that the future will always happen. I first read this book in high school and then several years later when I was in college and it is amazing how the book seems to grow with you as your understanding and world views change. Vonnegut takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the life of his character Billy Pilgram and jumps from one peak to the next valley of the various stages of his life without ever losing his main story line. A very hard book to put down that only gets better each time you read it.

You may read this book and find it so funny and enjoyable that the underlying message will be missed. Which is ok bacause the true sign of a classic is a book you can return to and pull something new from it. That's the beauty of Slaughterhouse-five. There's no timeline. There's no strong characters. There isn't a bad guy. And the bombing of Dresden (which according to the author is the reason the book was written) lasts about a paragraph. And in the middle of all of this chaos and nothingness, Vonnegut still gives the reader something grab hold of and savor...again and again.

If you haven't read this book, this one is a 'must read'. Do yourself the favor.

The title Slaughterhouse Five, sounds like a cheesy horror movie, but you could never guess this story involves World War II, an American soldier, and time travel to a out of this world planet named Tralfalmadore. Slaughterhouse Five is a fiction novel based on historical fact. The life story of the main character, Billy Pilgrim, unfolds throughout flashbacks and brief flash-forwards. Billy is a clumsy American soldier in World War II who becomes separated from his unit. He moves along with three other American soldiers, until they are captured by the Germans. They are then taken to the doomed city of Dresden, Germany and held captive in the slaughterhouses. Billy was in "slaughterhouse number five," where the novel gets its name. A week after their capture, Dresden is bombed by the Americans and the city is completely destroyed, but Billy survives physically, but not mentally. Due to the effects of the terrible war, Billy's mind has been seriously altered. He claims to have visited a distant planet called Tralfalmadore, in the fourth dimension. As result of these visits, Billy is now able to travel through time. It is clear Billy Pilgrim is a very changed man from the effects of the war, but it is up to you the reader to decide whether Billy has simply gone insane, or whether he has been day dreaming the whole time. This novel is a great mix of historical fact and far off fiction, with a light touch of science fiction and a lot of twisted humor. The author, Vonnegut was an American soldier held prisoner in the Dresden slaughterhouses during World War II, so the descriptions are truthfully vivid. The only bad thing is that the time travel makes the story hard to follow but, after reading it you will have a different picture of what a war is like and what it can do to you physically and mentally.

Slaughterhouse Five is Vonnegut's magnum opus. At his best his strange worlds contains deeply humanistic themes and even at his worst Vonnegut is a very readable writer weaving higher themes in a deceptively simplistic style.

Written as a reflection of the horror he witnessed while a POW during the bombing of Dresden, Vonnegut viewed this novel as a cathardic artistic release. Like most of his novels on the surface it seems a cartoonlike simplistic story. And as with most of his books beneath this exterior lay common Vonnegut themes. It's only at the end when we realize how the main character's experience at Dresden is the cause of his "alien visitations".

Vonnegut's message is clear, at least for Billy: One person is pwerless to change things in this world and the best one can dois to focus on the good things. It's a deeply pessemistic view, adn Vonnegut has always acknowledged this viewpoint. But read on another level it's about the effect of war on the human psyche. One either faces its stupidity, acknowledges the pain and sufering or one becomes life Billy and finds other means to cope.

Slaughterhouse Five is a great read and I highly recommend it.

The Children's Crusades was, by far the most, boring and slow progressing book I have ever endured. When I first decided to read this novel I believed it would be interesting and exciting and after having done so I realize that it is as far from that as possible.
While in he process of reading Slaughterhouse 5, I could hardly keep my focus. I, very begrudgingly, finished the novel, due to the fact that I later had to hand in a paper showing that I had actually finished the novel.
Although I did not like the book, its plot or the way it flowed, I did however enjoy some aspects of the author's writing style. His ability to show the characters emotions in each situation and such was, for lack of better wording, amazing. The main character was struggling through his ability to be "unstuck" in time, and the way the author emulates to the audience how he is breaking down from the emotional roller-coaster ride that he has been forced to endure.
All in all, I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys something of the more "far-out", science-fiction nature. It is not however for those who enjoy fast- paced or clearly written books.
Even thought it is true that I did not enjoy this long and slow novel, I will however try to read other books by the same author due to the fact that his writing style is somewhat intriguing.
My review may not agree with that of other readers of Slaughterhouse 5, this is my personal opnion. I would suggest to read, by one's self to form a different personal opinion than that of mine.

Slaughterhouse 5 is every bit as good as it's reputation suggests. It is witty, observant, humane, and clever. Vonnegut writes in a deceptively simple prose, but which must have been difficult to have pulled off: namely, the way the story flits from the present to the past and to the future, very often in a single page, but manages to do it without disturbing the effortless flow of the narrative. No mean trick for a writer. A favourite book of mine. I can also recommend some of his earlier books: The Sirens of Titan; Piano Player; Mother Night, and Player Piano. His later books are not so hot; but Slaughterhouse 5 is his masterpiece. Like Heller's Catch 22, with which it has something in common, it is fun to read. My only gripe is with the cover, which is dull beyond belief. Leo and Diane Dillon: We need you. Where are you?

Although Slaughterhouse-Five was somewhat graphic, it was well written. Throughout the story, three different time periods were going on all at one time, but the story still flowed well. You were able to get inside the mind of the author, which was not a place I would like to be very long. The book was different than any I've ever read, but we all need variety on our bookshelves, don't we?

This book is not a typical book I would read. I wish I could say I gave it a try in order to expand my horizons and sample something different, but I started reading it out of boredom. At first I thought whoever wrote this book must have been on some major drugs, but as I started to get more into it, I realize that the book has a deeper message.
The book describes the events during the Dresden bombing through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, a simple man, who invents a very differnt way of dealing with things. Billy Pilgrim struck me as one of the happiest people on earth. I realize that this might not be the conventinal view, but who wouldn't want to be able to escape troubles of this life by travelling through time to better, more peacefull days? I was suprised that this book made me think (given it's weird events and almmost sci-fi feel, which is usualy not my thing) and that's really all that matters. I might forget the story one day, but this book's alternative views on war, life and death will definitelly stick with me.

This is an excellent book that examines the nature of war, its horrors, both psychological and physical, and about Time Travel and Tralfamadore. Whether or not Billy's experiences there are real or not is open to interpretation, it is just an extension of showing his isolation.

This book follows no plot and is continually switching time periods. It allows Vonnegut to make his book as diametrically opposite from any other war novel as possible. The very structure of the book seems to deemphasize war. In effect, this makes the story a strange and wonderful creation, needless to say powerful. The story follows Billy Pilgrim (note the name: it is critical to two aspects of his character). Pilgrim is an awkward young man sent to fight in World War II. Yet, the story also follows his experiences in a hospital after the war with an old eccentric named Rosewater, his experience as an opthomologist, his relationship with his family, and, finally, his delusions of Tralfamadore. Certain aspects are included later, such as his dad throwing him into a YMCA swimming pool.

This is a novel where nothing is as it seems. At first, it looks as if Billy is doing fine after the war. He lives comfortably, has a profitable practice, and seems happy. Yet, he is tormented by many things, experiences he can't get over, and finally the Tralfamadore visions. A masterfully written novel by Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" is a modern, anti-war classic. It is the story of Billy Pilgrim and his problematic life marred by his horrific experiences as a prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II. There, Billy experiences firsthand the catastrophic fire bombing that leveled the German city. The reader jumps back and forth to different points in Billy's life, many times randomly and unexpectedly. All of it adds up to a darkly (yet humorously) told story of a sad, existentialist life.

I must say that I, as a Believer, have a different worldview than Kurt Vonnegut and Billy Pilgrim. But this book is so very honest about what everyday human life must mean if there is nothing more than fire bombings, dogs barking, family members, dreams of trips to imaginary planets, and so on. If what we see is all there is, as many of us, with our actions and beliefs testify to frequently, well then, as Vonnegut writes, "...so it goes." The only thing we can do to cope is deny the fact and create our own subversions, unless we truly want to open ourselves up to something our very nature tells us from which to run.

"So.." said Billy gropingly, "I suppose that the idea of preventing wwar on Earth is stupid, too."
"Of course."
"But you do have a peaceful planet here."
"Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you've ever seen or read about. There isn't anything we can do about them, so we simply don't look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments--like today at the zoo. Isn't this a nice moment?"

This book was so confusing. All the events were out of order, and the time skipped around a lot, and I was so lost. I didn't understand what was happening, and I still don't know what exactly the "slaughterhouse five" is. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone...it was a waste of time to read it.

Kurt Vonnegut skillfully employs a cunning rhetorical strategy along with the clever utilization of repitition to create poignant anit-war statements and a dark humor which overshadow his novel, Slaughterhouse Five. While reading the sporatic plot structure, one ponders at the point of the unique rhetorical strategy. Along with the simple diction and the intorduction of aliens from a distant planet, the reader begins to discredit the protagonist, Billy Pilrgim. Throughout the course of the novel, the reader must piece together small segments of the novel seperated by time in order to achieve the intended message. This carefully plotted strategy brings about the thought that the novel seems slightly insipid and silly. However, one later realizes that this was Vonnegut's intent. By adding the sporatic rhetorical strategy, the reader realizes the pointlessness and stupidity of war, much as he realizes the complexity of the rhetorical strategy. The incessant repitition of phrases such as "so it goes" along with countless other brief statements also contributes to the novel's message as a whole. As people inevitable die in the war, the phrase "so it goes" is continually associated with their death. The nonchalant attitude towards the death of another being is incorporated on the planet Tralfamadore, Billy's fantasy world. While reading, a dark humor is aroused though the inept actions of Billy and through the almost humerous rhetorical strategy. In conclusion, the novel utilizes rhetorical strategy and repitition rather than a decisive plot, to bring about its powerful conclusion that war is pointless.

I would agree with the other reviews that say this book reminds them of Douglas Adams (or maybe Monty Python). Phrases are repeated and things that seem to make no sense initially, come back later for some humorous irony. Also, in typical Vonnegut style, there are no heroes or villains, and no punch-lines.

I also enjoyed the author's unusual directness and honesty. If you are fortunate enough to read the version of this book which contains the author's introduction; Vonnegut writes,

"The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless, finally, that only one person on the entire planet got any benefit from it. I am that person. I wrote this book, which earned a lot of money for me in royalties and made my reputation, such as it is. One way or another, I got two or three dollars for every person killed. Some business I'm in."

Ironically, the book that was supposed to be about the firebombing of Dresden, contains very little information regarding the actual event. Vonnegut who witnessed the event first hand, admits that he had the intention of writing this fabulous book as soon as he returned from the war. However, he states that he just didn't have enough material for a book. Twenty-five years later he produces a masterpiece!

This is a short book and requires little investment to enjoy. I would recommend reading it in one sitting so that the many ironies are not lost. Well worth the effort.

When I sat down to read "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut I was expecting to find a well-written documentation of the firebombing of Dresden that occurred during World War II. What I got was a semi-fictitious story focusing on a young male soldier, who really wasn't much of a soldier (or a man, for that matter) and who I deemed to suffer from obvious psychiatric problems.

This book, in many ways, was a disappointment for me. I had read Vonnegut's "Welcome To The Monkey House" previously and was expecting the same style of writing and satire in this book. Unfortunately, the satire that was present was downplayed by the mental wanderings of the book's main character, Billy Pilgrim.

"It is short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds." (pg. 19)

I have found this quote from the beginning of the book to be true for the book. The formatting of the book is jumbled and short and all mixed together. It's as if the author threw all the different parts of the story in a bowl and drew them out one by one, pasting them into a book in the order he drew them. That does not create a good book.

However, this is not to say that I didn't enjoy some aspect of the book. The colorful language amused me, especially when it popped up unexpectedly. But other than that, I found the book to be lacking the majority of the qualities that make a good book.

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the best and most original writers of the last fifty years. Slaughterhouse Five is Vonnegut's masterpiece. One note of advice. If you are a person who always reads the first page of a book before buying it, which often works, make sure that you read the first page of chapter two. Chapter one is an introduction tot he story, and although it is good, it doesn't hold a candle to the rest of the book. There are an infinite amount of discussions that this book can raise. Is Billy Pilgrim a Christ Figure? Is this an Anti War/Glacier book? Does Time exist? True, this book is very deep, especially if you analyis it exstenseively. The book, however, is extremely enjoyable. It is a short book and fairly easy to read. Do your self a favor and read this book. You might not like it, I admit it is not for everyone, but it has the potential of changing your way of thinking. In a good way.

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first Vonnegut, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Perhaps there was more to it, but I just took the book for its face value, without over analyzing every grey little detail. To me, it was just like watching an episode of Seinfeld. It was short (ie sitcom in length), had a main character who conjured images of Kramer, and made liberal use of a catch phrase. So it went.

This book is way too confusing and jumps around too much! I don't get it and I can't believe that it was on the school reading list! Its by far one of the worst books I have ever read!!!

I never read Kurt Vonneguht before and, thus, had no idea what to expect from his book. Through the first few chapters I was a little confused to where he was taking this book; especially since it was said to be loosely based on his own experiences during World War 2. Kurt forced the reader to deal with the fantastic reality, that one could only view as absolute humor, and forced us also to deal with the harshness of life and death and the fine line between them. He intertwined the two and created a character whom was eternally trapped re-living his War days and the time when he was abducted to the planet Tramalfagador ( I probably spelled that wrong ). One cannot completely overlook the meaning of the "imaginary" world....because who is to say what is reality and what is not....I certainly dare not impose my opinion; figure it out for yourself.

The Children's Crusade, as i like to call it- i believe the publisher forced the name change (read the first chapter)- is without a doubt the best book i have read. Along with Catch 22, it turned me from a child facinated by war and eager for glory into a young adult who is totally opposed to armed conflict. The writing style allows the reader to enter a dream, or trance like state, where events have no order, and things just happen. It helps you to empathise with billy pilgrim. you become billy pilgrim, and you end up with the same sense of helplessness. However, you don't end up with billy's lack of concern. I think that is the whole point of this masterpiece. A truly world altering book.

Although I'm just beginning to explore Vonnegut's works, I did thoroughly enjoy this book. His cynical yet witty style reads wonderfully while the story's dark, anti-war sentiments are clearly present. Slaughterhouse five makes me excited to delve further into Vonnegut's work.

It's a book that consists out of flashbacks. That makes it hard to read. The main character barely survives the war and looks quite silly. You can't sympathise with his feelings, concerning for instance the Dresden bombing and his inprisoning, because he doesn't seem to have any.

The title of this review seems to run with the content. After I read Vonnegut's most famous novel, I found myself wondering if I liked it or not. As I read further Vonnegut works, I saw that the same style was emulated in each book and I kept questioning whether it was good or not. Vonnegut is truly nothing like any other writer you may have read; when reading the novel, the story seems whole, yet when you reflect upon it, it changes into merely a shell of a story. You also forget what you have read, both during and after you've read the book. It's quite an experience!

Billy Pilgrim has to be the weakest hero of any novel ever written and yet he might be the most beautiful. Through his ignorance and innocence we see how stupid war is. To bad Vonnegut did not write this novel earlier, who knows maybe some of our esteemed leaders of the early 60s would have got a hold of it and read it and maybe they would not have instituted a draft and fought a war in Southeast Asia. That is how powerful a novel this is.

This book made it onto the Library Boards top 100 English language novels of the 20th century. Guess what? It deserves to be there. Truly an awesome read with a powerful anti - war message without being extremely pendantic.

This book probably wont be a mandatory lesson in most peoples english classes because technicaly it's a sience fiction novel, and most english teachers hate them. So I would strongly advise reading this book for personal pleasure or for a book report. If your in the mood for a head-scraching book that has an interesting idea or two than this is the book for you, but if your to lazy to give thought to what the writer says and not question what he or she writes then you might as well just look for another book. The reason this book is so hard to understand is because it has not real setting or time at which events in the book take place. The only certain thing in the whole book is the main character Billy Pilgrim. If your still confused about this book, which you should be, just remember that the rest of the readers of this book that reviewed it online, like me, were once where you are right now. Completley baffeled. The ones who "got it",(the theme), gave it good ratings. The ones who didn't critisized it and didn't enjoy it. And as you can see most people, like me, "got it" and loved it. So chances are you will to.

This is fun! By simply reading the reviews on SH5 not only can I accurately gauge whether one likes or dislikes V, but I can guess age and education. Example, if you found this novel hard or disjointed you probably haven't had the challenge of English 101 yet. If you find the anti-war message trite, you're probably born after Vietnam. Why? If WWII was a great and just war (Saving Private Ryan) and displayed the worst of man's inhumanity (Dresden, Hiroshima, the Holocaust...), what does this say about a meat grinder like Vietnam (escalating when the book was published). If you don't like it because it was too simple then you are probably a college graduate and / or more accustomed to Mailer or some other hokum artist. I don't know many writers who in the late '60s or early '70s who wouldn't have sacrificed a limb to have written this book. P.S.--If you've haven't had the pleasure of Vonnegut in person then please see him before he coughs up his black lungs.

I didn't like this book at all. First of all, I beleive Vonnegut is a sicko. He writes about things that are so outrageous. The flashbacks did bother me some, and Billy Pilgrim, in my opinion is a loony. I had to read this in my English class and I would not recommend this book to anyone. I despise books about war and the loss of the mind, while people travel in time to the planet of Tralmafadore...very strange novel...I would have given it a one, but I have to admit that it wasn't too boring and was not slow at all.

after reading cat's cradle and especially sirens of titan, i was expecting to love slaughter house 5. Instead i was basically disappointed. it just seemed to be a rehashing of other ideas, and just when the book started to grow on me and really pull me in, it would loose it's focus and my interest would be gone again. i came into this book expecting so much and came out with so little.

I'm a bit bothered that everyone's interpretation of this book is "An anti-war statement." Were it nothing but that, I would give it 2 stars at most for covering a trite theme (everyone knows war is bad) in an annoying style.

But this book captures the horror of *living*, period-- the horror of going on a roller-coaster through whatever life hands you, with no rewind or ability to look at everything holistically. The sanity of the Tralfamadorians and the contentedness of Billy illustrate, by contrast, the confused, frustrating, short lives of normal people-- and the fact that they spend so much of their precious time, which can never be reclaimed, doing things that just aren't worth it, such as fighting for their countries.

One of the things I like best about Vonnegut's early work is that it is not persuasive or didactic, but merely analytical; it exposes truths about life for better or for worse, and lets the reader takes away what s/he takes away. In amazingly few pages, this book provides a terrifying yet mobilizing picture of the fact that we will never get back those lost seconds-- and while you may accept this idea intellectually, Slaughterhouse-Five will help you accept it emotionally.

I started "Slaughterhouse Five" three times before I finally got going. Then, I finished. Then, I read it again. Three reads later, I can only conclude: this book is brilliant. It is easily one of the Top 10 books of fiction written this century. It is my favorite Vonnegut book (although "Player Piano" is perhaps more ambitious) and one of my top two or three I've ever read. So it goes. It took so many tries because it is difficult to get a grasp on his story. At first, I got bogged down in the fact he was writing a war story of sorts, which can prove tedious. But once I got the "unstuck in time" concept, it became rewarding. And what a reward! Reading this book can give you a fresh philosophy of life (and time, of course) at the very least. The theory that the Tralfamorians (the aliens in the story) have about time gives a new perspective on how we view events, cause and effect, living and all sorts of other stuff. So it goes. "Five" wasn't the first Vonnegut work I read; new Vonnegut readers may not want to start with it. Or maybe they do. I could write on and on about the story, but let's just cut to the chase: read it, and draw your own conclusions. So it goes.

Slaughterhouse-Five the wrenchingly sad tale of Billy Pilgrim, tells the story of a man whose experience in WWII haunts him for the rest of his life. When the book was published, most middle-aged American men were veterans of WWI. Billy's nightmarish flashbacks, his contempt for women and his desire to live a middle-class life must have seemed familiar to many of them. Slaughterhouse-Five was a valuable attempt to shine a cartoonish light on the horrible memories that veterans carried in their hearts. It was a counterpoint to the myth of WWII, popular at the time, that WWII was a "good" war, and that the horrors of real war had not existed.

Slaughterhouse-Five is not about the bombing of Dresden. nor about the German people who were killed or survived the bombing. It is about the way the war can destroy a life, even after it is over. Billy Pilgrim, witnesses very little in Dresdin, but sees many horrible things during the war. During the bombing Billy was being is in a meat locker. When this book was published, the most shocking thing about the story was the coverup of the Dresden bombing by the American government.

Slaughterhouse-Five depicts war as awful and senseless. But beyond that, you can't read Slaughterhouse-Five and not feel the loathing that the author had for women. Female characters are viewed by the narrator the way a twelve-year-old boy might treat them--at his worst. Its a kind of objectification that has gone out of style in American literature.

For me the one dimentional, comic book style characters were more depressing than humorous. Billy goes though life in a dream that has little to do with the complexity of the human experience.

There are much better books that describe the horrors of war.

When I saw Ethan Hawke was the reader for this classic, I couldn't wait to check it out. When I brought it home and hit play, I was confused. Ethan reads the ENTIRE book an a near monotone WHISPER! I don't know if he was whispering because it was a stylistic choice, or because he wanted to save his voice, but it ruined the book. As a comparison, there is a clip of Vonnegut reading after a short interview at the end of the book, and it was a tremendous improvement.

I was heartborken such a gifted actor delivered such a terrible reading.

Do not buy!

Slaughterhouse Five is a staple in American Literature. Widely considered Kurt Vonnegut's greatest work, it tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a WWII soldier who was abducted by Tralfamadorian aliens and subsequently jumps through time. The reader goes along for the ride, jumping through different parts of Pilgrim's life on a nearly page by page basis.

The novel has two prevailing themes. At its core this is an antiwar book. Vonnegut says as much in the first chapter, but his second theme is both more original and more exciting. Vonnegut presents an interesting take on the concept of time. In his story events do not unfold in a linear fashion. According to the aliens of Tralfamador, all moments coexist at once, and our fates are all predetermined.

I realize that the science fiction genre does not appeal to everyone, but try not to get scared off by the aliens and time travel. This is not your typical science fiction novel. Vonnegut accomplishes a remarkable feat. He seamlessly blends historical events with fictitious and real characters all under the umbrella of a science fiction storyline. But the novel manages to avoid the sci-fi label, and it is taken seriously as a famed literary work that will appeal to almost anyone.

The writing is first-class, and Vonnegut is at once comical and dark. The somewhat simple language only serves to enhance his voice. The story is told from both a first and third person prospective with Vonnegut serving primarily as a narrator but often showing up as a character, leaving readers to wonder just how much of this story is actually true. Best of all this is an easy read and very quick. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a unique and rewarding reading experience.

I re-read this friend after twenty-five years or so, and it's as wonderful and terrible today as it was then. Vonnegut's style is original without trying to be different; it's a natural voice that is as easy to read as it must have been fiendishly difficult to write. Of all the book's wonderful qualities, perhaps its finest asset is its brevity. You will rush from beginning to end in a flash, and at the conclusion will be surprised that so much could have been packed into so few pages.

Although the book's comparison between Dresden and Hiroshima/Nagasaki is oblique, it nonetheless hits with great force. Vonnegut's derision towards the official Air Force history, and his portrayal of the military's discomfort with this act of terror against an unarmed city contrast with the self-righteous justifications of those who trumpet the use of atomic weapons on Japan in 1945.

This book was, and remains, one of the seminal English language antiwar novels.

Slaughterhouse-Five is a great stepping stone into the work of profoundly wise writer-philosopher. Although some may not identify with the bleakness and postmodernity of the work, if you enter this novel with an open mind, you will leave it with Vonnegut in your heart. It's tempting to say that this book is about absurdity, existentialism, quietism. War, meaning, peace. But I think the most poignant take-home from this brilliant satire is simple and resounding.

Don't cry about death and chaos defining our fragile lives. Laugh about it. It'll get you through.

Those three little words will get you through.

Slush entombs his feet / Billy Pilgrim driven mad / It had to be done

I recently replaced a lost copy of Slaughterhouse Five, gave it a quick read, and wondered what all the fuss was about. It didn't have the same punch that it had when I first read it nearly 40 years ago. Then I gave it a close read, and another and found things that weren't there, for me, even that first time long ago.

The central structural feature of S5 is the time travel of Billy Pilgrim and, given its importance, it's puzzling how readers remember the details so differently. Billy first encounters the 'time window' when escaping from the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, in Luxembourg. He was 'bleakly ready for death' and stopped to lean against a tree to await his fate. He could not escape by going forward, going backward, or remaining still. He was in a double bind as R.D. Laing has described and his only escape was through time, his madness the 'perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.' Vonnegut describes Billy in this moment as 'like a poet in the Parthenon.'

The poet reference puts me in mind of John Keats, also called a poet in the Parthenon, writing his 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' after viewing the Elgin Marbles taken from the Parthenon. The vignettes of Billy's time travels are much like the verses of the Ode, much like the sculptures from the Parthenon. Vonnegut's Tralfamadorians 'can look at all the different moments [of time] just as we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains . . . can look at any moment that interests them.' Just as Keats could look at all the moments captured in the marble frieze.

One moment, or verse, that is particularly apt is this: 'Who are these coming to the sacrifice? / . . . What little town by river or seashore / . . . Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? / And, little town, thy streets for evermore / Will silent be; and not a soul to tell / Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.' An eyewitness, thinking back to Dresden on the Elbe, might very well dwell on this verse, on this urn.

'It had to be done.' Not because the Tralfamadorians say so, but because that's who we are. Billy Pilgrim survives the war, sires a son who goes off to his own war. Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Vietnam. If not war, 'there would still be plain old death,' the human condition, from which there is no escape. As Camus would have it, 'But the point is to live' and 'Live to the point of tears.'

This is my third Vonnegut book. The first I read was Cat's Cradle, which to this day is my second favorite book (after Catch-22). I then tried Breakfast of Champions, which I strongly disliked. I was hoping this book would be more like Cat's Cradle, but I'm now halfway through and it reads exactly like Breakfast of Champions (although thankfully, there are no drawings). If you enjoyed Breakfast of Champions you will probably also enjoy Slaughterhouse Five.

One of the best things I learned in college was the name Kurt Vonnegut. His voice is uniquely his own and always worthy of the investment in the time to listen to. Slaughterhouse Five definitely is a work that all should invest the time to read. Personally, I think it should be read a couple of times over one's life to understand the collective and individual ravages of war.

A favorite scene of mine in the movie Back to School is when Rodney Dangerfield tells Vonnegut in a cameo appearance that he doesn't know a thing about Vonnegut. This is why I love Slaughterhouse Five. There are so many concepts presented here that everyone will interpret the elements of the book differently.
- Does Billy Pilgrim time travel or is he trapped in his mind from the horrors he has experienced?
- Is his time travel a copping mechanism from the dismay of being a POW?
- Is war just to be accepted as a natural event that should be ignored as the Tralfamadorians do or should we not accepted it and fight against it because as humans with free will we have the inherent capabilities to stop it?
- Do we have free will?
- Are we a more dangerous a people with atomic weapons when we proved capable of killing 135,000 people in Dresden and 84,000 in Tokyo with fire-bombing while killing only 71,000 in Hiroshima with an atomic bomb?
- Who is worse, the soldiers who killed innocent people and turned their body fat into candles or those who boiled the soldiers innocent children in the fire-bombing of a safe-city? Is revenge sweet as Lazzaro implies? If so, why did he not revel in the bombing of Dresden?
- Why do we allow children to fight our wars?

The list of questions to contemplate from this book can go on and on.

Again, to me Slaughterhouse Five definitely is worth reading a few times over one's life. Billy Pilgrim, unremarkable Billy Pilgrim, is a character worthy of note in the annals of literature. The seamless presentation of a timeless, though disjointed, story of Billy's life is exceptional. Everyone will have their own interpretation of the themes. To paraphrase from the book, here is light opera being played by crippled human beings, more fools like ourselves.

[One quick negative point, I read the smaller sized Dell paperback, which had terrible typesetting.]

Written in 1969, Slaughter House Five tells the story of an ex-World War II soldier, Billy Pilgrim, who is going mad due to what he saw and felt in World War II and then what is compounded by surviving a plane crash years later. Vonnegut tells the story through a unique method of forward and backward chronology - time warps. The manner of story telling is unique and has its share of humor; both black and laugh out loud funny.

Billy Pilgrim is shunted through his war years, with divergent moves to the science fiction world of Tralfamadore where he spends time in a zoo as the specimen. Other traumatic times of his life unfold through the time warps giving background and filling in the gaps. Billy is so shocked by the bombing of Dresden that it stays with him until he survives the plane crash. At this point, everything comes "unstuck" and to compensate for these horrendous events, he finds peace in his science fiction world. But the story is not all whacky fun and games. Vonnegut is brutal in his portrayal of WWII and the final train ride for many of the Allied prisoners of war after the Battle of the Bulge and their movement to internment camps. His use of black humor to tell this story shows how much it bothered him and how much of it remained with him.

Vonnegut uses techniques that I've never seen to tell such an original story in a way never done that it has to be taken as a masterpiece regardless as to whether you like the style or not. I admire the genius behind the story telling. The pictures and images painted will last a while.

What's wonderful about this book is how Vonnegut launches a head-on assault on the mythology of the 20th century's one Good War. History has decreed World War II a Noble Fight Against the Enemies of Civilization, but Vonnegut says it was a freezing firestorm that made a mockery of our very existence. My late grandfather was also a WWII vet. He never read any Vonnegut that I'm aware of, but he spoke of the war in the same way. I think it had something to with actually being there. Both Vonnegut and my grandfather were grunts sent out to do a dirty goddamn job. Neither of them crowed about a minute of it ever after. That doesn't surprise me. What surprises me is that they both carried on with dignity the rest of their lives, when they'd both seen the beating black heart of the worst horrors man can render upon man. I've always doubted my ability to do the same, and remain thankful to this day that I've never had to find out.

Vonnegut's anti-war screed has, if anything, only gained in prescience over time. (See Iraq, War in.) Makes you wish the Decider-in-Chief read books. At least this one.

The strange advice (albeit dished out by aliens who see Time akin to a Rocky Mountain panorama) to ignore what's bad in order to focus on what's good smacks of the reasoning of a man who has reached the end of all reasoning. Who can no longer compose a rationale for man's behavior. The sort of conclusion you might come to, say, if you had survived the firebombing of Dresden.

As literature, per se, Vonnegut's light-hearted dalliance with both the English language and the strictures of plot structure cause you to wonder why you spend any time reading books less fun than this. Then you realize that such an ephemeral style washes over you so quickly very little is left when the book is done, other than the sour taste of a moral lesson unwittingly learned. I suspect that was Vonnegut's very point. As a general rule, I loathe literature that attempts to teach me a lesson. But I'll make an exception for Slaughterhouse-Five.

Oddly, among all the carnage and contempt, the scene that stood out most in my mind comes near the novel's beginning. The narrator is at an old war buddy's house to discuss plans for his war novel. Old war buddy's wife stomps angrily around the house. Turns out she thinks the narrator is going to write a book about John Wayne fighting the war, when in fact World War II, like all wars, was fought by children. The narrator assures her John Wayne will not be making an appearance in his book. Vonnegut dedicated the book to her.

I originally read this in high school. Promptly forgot it. (Ah, youth.) I'm very glad to publicly rectify that oversight right here.

Somewhere in the first chapter (or maybe the second, if you are convinced that the first chapter is a foreword), it dawns on you: this is not normal. The main character is not dynamic. There is no real, driving conflict. There is no escalation, nor any other conventional literary mechanism used to move the story. That would probably be the best word to describe Vonnegut: anticonventional.

What follows is a masterful tale the likes of which we may never see again. The sublime tones combine with a graceful, immersive imagery and characters that are bare and gaunt while also full of fervor. The themes are beautiful and horrible to watch, but Billy Pilgrim's journey is one you won't be able to avoid. It'll call to you whenever this book is not in your hands. At any given moment, you'll find yourself murmuring to no one in particular, "So it goes."

I am not sure how this novel is assigned to high school literature classes, because the book is so subtle and layered: I would think that teaching this book to teenagers would be like describing Newton's theories to a family of Dachshunds. I guess that's why they (high school English teachers, not the dogs) descend to the level of Ethan Frome, or other such toys, to pass the time. Purely put, Vonngeut doesn't deserve to be put on your bookcase; the proximity to so many inferior works might lead someone to believe that Slaughterhouse-Five is comparable. I'd suggest framing the book and mounting it on your dining room wall, but that might prevent you from reading it again. Which you should. Immediately.

I had extremely high expectations for 'Slaughterhouse Five' and Vonnegut expertly delivered for the most part. I loved his creativity for starters: shifting in time was pure genius; it juxtaposed events in a way that showed the significance of events (or meaninglessness, depending on the circumstance) in a way a traditional plotline could not.

I also really liked how Vonnegut largely delayed the experiences of Dresden until the latter half of the book. This gave a true sense of foreboding to the proceedings and has the effect of giving the event even greater significance.

I thought the author's use of apathy, unintentional hilarity, and just plain ridiculousness (all for making a point) were expertly executed. I had to continually remind myself that while we almost expect these qualities nowadays in modern storytelling, these same qualities were much more rare at the time of Vonnegut's writing, and in that respect he was far ahead of his time.

That said, I did have a minor problem with the novel. I think Vonnegut just tries to be too cute sometimes. For example, the constant use of "So it goes" really starts to lose its effect and was overused to the extent that Vonnegut actually got in the way of his own storytelling I felt, hence the "minus" in "A-".

Ultimately, if you're looking for unconventional (though effective) storytelling and a novel that gets to the root of the meaninglessness/senseslessness we all feel at times - especially with regard to war - I think you'll find this to be a great book.

I found it to be an interesting story of a man mentally escaping to a fantasy world in order to deal with the unshakable hypocrisy, severity, and useless tragedy of war that he had to participate in at such a young age. While I never served in Iraq or Afghanistan, being a military member at a young age, I could identify with being so young and naive, having to make some very mature and profound choices. I did not find Vonnegut very funny, however; if you are trying to make a profound anti-war statement, soldiers taking a crap in a latrine as comic relief seems a little sophmoric and out of place. I did find the irony of Billy Pilgrim's appearance in the prisoner camp funny, however. It is very suiting. Overall, I found it a cool, modern look at the impact of the ethics (or lacktherof) of warfare, and the morality and mental fragility of its soldiers then and now.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut ****

Long concidered to be Vonnegut's classic and best work as an author...I strongly disagree. This is far from his worst work but it doesn't hold a candle to Breakfast of Champions or Cat's Cradle.

The satire here is great. The commentary on War and what it does to those involved and those around them. Written about his own service in World War II and his own tribulations of being there and what it caused him afterward only done Kerouac style through fiction. It doesn't always work however.

Often times the plot falters and feels boring. Readers will have trouble finishing the book if not familiar with Vonneguts work, but what saves it from being average is his over the top since of humour.

What it offers a look into is brilliant but it doesn't always deliver, and for that it can never be a five star read.

In my opinion, the greatest novel ever written. Slaughterhouse-Five examines war, free will, and time. Vonnegut had the ability to send chills down your spine. R.I.P. (So it goes.)

This is a book I'd always put off reading because of the title. I couldn't figure out what it meant, and it sounded too weird for me. In fact it is more literal than I imagined: it refers to five army personnel who survive the bombing of Dresden by taking shelter in a slaughterhouse.
It must have seemed a very clever book back when it was written, some 40 years ago now, but all the time-travel and general avant-garde story-telling is so mainstream today that it hardly registers.
In other words, the impact has lessened, and it's probably even dated a little. I don't want to be too harsh, though. This is a very powerful work, and once you know for sure that the author's own experiences were the catalyst, you can't fail to be moved as the novel moves towards its astonishing climax. It's also very witty and laugh-out-loud funny in many places.

Slaughterhouse Five is the sad tale of Allied firebombing of Dresden, Germany during the Second World War. The Dresden bombing caused nearly the same number of deaths as the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

This novel is based on Kurt Vonnegut's own war experience and took him over two decades to finish it. Vonnegut is actually present as one of the characters; he was the constant cynical narrator who makes all deaths equivalent with his comment:" so it goes".
Interestingly, the novel was published during the Vietnam War, a war where technology was again used against nonmilitary targets in an unjust war.
Through the protagonist Billy Pilgrim, we are taken on a sad journey through the scarring traumatic horrors that war inflicts on both sides for generations to follow.

Sarcastically, Vonnegut used the Tralfamadorians, who are aliens shaped as toilet plungers, to demonstrate the linear progression of time as opposed to all moments existing simultaneously. Through the Tralfamadorians, free will is also presented as the ultimate illusion; Beginning with Billy's childhood, free will is a repeated theme throughout the novel.

Slaughterhouse-five, a remarkable novel that condemns war along with any bureaucratic attitudes that attempt to glorify war and its heroes, while ignoring its destructiveness and horrors.

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.

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"

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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 many more. I understand what Vonnegut was going for, but it did get irritating before long.

I should warn you, though, that even if the sentences are easy to read, you do need to be the type of reader who can put up with the quirky nature of the book to read it. So it's not recommended to everyone. If you're up to putting together a puzzle and like a little sci-fi with your literature, then you'll be fine. Maybe you won't agree with Vonnegut and the Tralfamadore's view of the universe--maybe you like to believe in free will--but you should still be able to appreciate what a creative feat this book was and what a great author wrote it.

That is all.

Wow - little nervous about the flaming I might receive for giving this less than the full 5 stars. It's a good book, and is a 'compelling work of art,' but we're not talking Crime and Punishment here. The art of the book, I guess, is that Vonnegut created a fun to read (albeit bizarre) fatalistic world that somehow, in the midst of the sci-fi and light humor, portrays the horror of Dresden (but not with the force of a traditional straightforward delivery, in my view). If read aloud, one senses that a dull monotone is appropriate. The world of this book is fatalistic, ironic, and ultimately without point. Like 'Groundhog Day,' reality is on an endless loop, and Billy Pilgrim glides in and out of the planes of time without control or pain. I have to admit that I didn't really get all of the nonsense about aliens and time travel and all that, but I did see that Pilgrim is portrayed as (I think) the only human in the world who really understood what was going on, and everyone else was a tragic actor in a stupid and violent play. For me, I could not get over-the-top gaga about the book - there is too much absurdity for that to happen. And while it is not an endorsement of war, certainly, its message of anti-war is lost a bit in the clutter. Give Vonnegut some leeway; he was probably stoned out of his mind while he wrote this. Anyway, KV had a nice conversational style and this is an enjoyable book. 4 Stars.

In my "old age", I've taken up listening to audio books on my MP3 player while doing brain dead activities. Because 2007 is the Year of Vonnegut in central Indiana and because of his recent passing, I'm revisiting Vonnegut's books that I had read while in college. Slaughterhouse Five may be better now than it was then. However, that's a chicken and egg arguement. And it's an opinion based on a lifetime of experience. Nevertheless, Vonnegut's writings are just as timely now as they were when he first penned them.

Unfortunately, only a few of KV's books have been burned on CD's. Hopefully more will show up soon.

After the end of the reading, there's an interview with KV where he explains that Billy Pilgrim is NOT him, but was based on someone else he knew while in WWII.

This is a much acclaimed novel by Kurt Vonnegut that is not a simple tale, but an intricate story of the life of Billy Pilgrim. Billy Pilgrim is a man who is "unstuck in time" meaning his timeline goes back and forth in atypical order. The novel takes an anti-war stance relayed through Pilgrim's witnessing the bombing of Dresden and surviving being a prisoner of war. He is trapped in a marriage, trapped into a career and has also been abducted by aliens from the planet Trafalmador. According to the Trafalmadorians all life is happening simultaneously. Billy Pilgrim lives his life out of order, he never knows where in his life he will next awaken. Vonnegut's character also relives the terrible times repeatedly, like many people caught in traumatic devastating times. There is an oft repeated line in this novel, "And so it goes." Knowing that Vonnegut was a Pacifist this line seems to demonstrate the ability to just accept whatever comes your way with no hesitation or ability to question. It is this characteristic that "traps" Billy Pilgrim in his marriage, his career and in a world filled with inequitable situations, he just accpets these things at face value, no more important or less important than any other. I know this is a modern classic, attaining cult status, but I am just not a Vonnegut fan. I am glad that I read it for the sheer experience of reading a classic. Obviously Vonnegut was a gifted writer with an innate ability to convey his thoughts, feelings and experiences through his many novels and he has a significant and devoted following, but he is just not for me.

I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it posited an interesting theme; that time, at least the way most of us conceptualize it, does not actually exist.

Vonnegut presents this idea through the experiences of the main character, Billy Pilgrim, who is said to have become "unstuck in time." Throughout the book, Billy's present surroundings constantly fluctuate between his past, present, and future self (or selves). He also spends time on the planet Tralfamadore, where the inhabitants see time in four dimensions, accept their futures as unchangeable (because they've already seen them), and are aghast when Billy questions them about free will.

Consequently, Billy develops a fatalistic irreverence towards life and shrugs off seemingly catastrophic events with an attitude wholly captured by Vonnegut's go-to phrase "so it goes." To the reader, his attitude is often very humorous, particularly when it's juxtaposed against the worrywort nature of other characters.

Initially, one assumes this form of nihilism is a shot against religion; however, to Christians adhering to a Lutheran, and to a greater extent Calvinistic, interpretation of predestination and free will, Vonnegut's them isn't so bizarre. In fact, it may even be a challenge to those Christians to live like the Tralfamadorians, free of worry and anxiety because they too already know their fate.

Cool book. Highly recommend.

This book does not have as much comic relief as Vonnegut's wonderfully entertaining Cat's Cradle or Breakfast of Champions - after all the story tries to explain the awful effect of war on the human condition as his main character, Billy Pilgrim, survives the bombing of Dresden during World War II. Yet, his clever way of giving the reader the perspective of his characters and of injecting his own insight, will keep you turning the pages. There is no doubt in my mind that reading all of Vonnegut's works will make you laugh, cry, and most importantly - think.

Very interesting - need to read again. Not sure what the goal of the author was. Enjoyed the ending more than the first, because it directly dealt with the bombing of Dresden. I need to re-read, because I am certain I missed much of the message - there is more there than I read. Writing was creative - but seemed flat - and I suspect for a reason. Need to re-read.

With the recent passing of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., which eerily coincided with the first day I was going to teach this novel to my class, it was difficult to re-read "Slaughterhouse Five" without a lump in my throat. It always gave me that effect, but now, moreso.

This breakthrough novel of the late 1960s holds up incredibly well. One reason--out of many--is that Vonnegut's honesty and his very real sense of the loss of a once-great city (Dresden) rings through every page. I will resist discussing the plot, tempted as I may be. But what must be discussed is Vonnegut's tempering of dark satire with his very forgiving, human tone. Just when things get bleak, Vonnegut injects just the right amount of humor which has the added effect of heightening the tragedy, too.

I can type until my fingers fall off about how marvelous and joyous this book is. And I will swear on whatever you want me to swear on this one truth: I have never had a student tell me that they didn't like this book. That's some testimonial coming from students who are not majoring in literature!

Rocco Dormarunno
College of New Rochelle

I've had an interest for awhile in reading this book by Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five. I don't know exactly what drew me to this book but I think the title was a big part of it.. it just sounds like a really cool book.. This is the first book that I have read by Kurt Vonnegut and since he just passed away recently I thought there was no better time then to read something by him.. and I had Slaughterhouse Five on my shelf..

Slaughterhouse Five well what can I say.. Honestly I didn't really understand alot of this book.. not alot of it clicked.. it seemed like it was scattered all over the place to where it was very hard to follow exactly what was going on.. The whole idea that I picked up in this book is a mind that is unstable in the state of war.. it's hard to think clearly and be straight in a time when war breaks loose.. and maybe that was the intent on why it was written in this type of way.. so you can see what happens to the human mind when war occurs..

"The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamodorians can look at all the different moments just the way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever."

"When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad conidition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments, Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians says about dead people, which is 'So it goes.'"

I'm pretty sure this is the type of book that needs to be reread in order to really sink it in.. and since I have just read it once.. maybe that's a reason why it just didn't do much for me.. And so it goes..


Justin

This book was excellent. If there was a way to rate it more than 5 stars, I'd do it. I haven't read anything like it before and I plan on reading his other stuff.

I enjoyed the "so it goes" statement after every mention of death. Billy Pilgrim was sort of an interesting hero/anti hero. He didn't care at all about anything, but that was what was interesting about him.

Here's the question...
If you could travel through your own past and future..would you really want to?

I'd say, quite possibly, the pinnacle of his work; granted I've only read eight of his novels and most of his short stories. For me, it doesn't get any better than this. It's dramatic but not histrionic. Some people do get confused when reading it (students) but for the trained eye it can be a real pleasure. I've taught this book to both eleventh and twelth graders and each class, more or less, has loved it. Also it picks on Trout just a smidge (a minor-major character throughout his work), which only heightens the novel for me. Then there is Dresden. Enough said.

Sandwiched between two of the "boomer" generation's biggest hit movies, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting," the director of those, George Roy Hill, found time to make the film version of "Slaughterhouse Five." It became one of my favorite films over time. Yet I had never read anything by Vonnegut. With the advent of his death, I figured it was finally time. I enjoyed the book but am happy I saw the movie first.

The story revolves around a man who does not live his life in a normal aging sequence but instead, thanks in part to some strange extraterrestrials, lives by being "unstuck in time;" he jumps randomly from time period to time period. So, like the movie "Pulp Fiction," we get a current event and go into the past to undertstand how he got there or we see the past and eventually it ties into the present.

I believe the film captures the spirit of the book very well yet there are enough differences between the two for me to be very satisfied with both. The parts that differ from the movie really added to my enjoyment. The novel also alerts you to the fact that some of the action may have been taken directly from Vonnegut's life and the message Vonnegut was trying to get across is maybe a bit clearer than the movie can make it.

Funny, I am not sure I would have enjoyed the book without seeing the movie. Why? Well, I am not a big fantasy/sci-fi reader so it is quite possible the subject would have been difficult for me to embrace. I am not sure I would have "gotten it" without the film to provide the framework. I could also visualize the characters and their predicaments with the film to fall back on.

So my overall point is that this is a book you should enjoy immensely if you have seen the movie. Of course, I can't tell you otherwise.

Wee! I see Slaughterhouse Five is now #12 on the Amazon best sellers list, legions of illiterate clowns who never read this book before or didn't even know Vonnegut's name suddenly buying up his books a few days after his death. Ah, the idiotic joys of a consumer society. Give it a few weeks until the fad dies down and this book will be sitting at #732 again.

There were many bright ideas in here. The Tralfamadorian ability to see all points of life, which made death a nonissue; Billy Pilgrim's ability to time travel; his abduction and placement in a controlled environment, suggesting our vulnerability to distorted or incomplete information; war commentary from the mouth of a vet- the confused notion of "meaning" in life when war unwincingly slaughters little girls in pigtails. I also read "Timequake" and I'm intrigued by Vonnegut's recurrent use of time travel. There is much to be said about experience and memory as related to time, and I enjoy reading Vonnegut's plain, witty, cigarette style. I basically just went along for the ride on this read, but I intend on reading again later to extract a deeper brilliance.

Every time I read this it gets better. This time around it was for a course I took called "Modern Novel". I love this book, but if you aren't into abstract thinking and are easily confused by alien philosophy, and social commentary it's probably not for you. For the true Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams fan it is a masterpiece.

OK I guess. Really readable and I can't explain why. Kind of a mix of Catcher in the Rye and the Time Traveller's Wife. Antiwar? I suppose. War sure seems to suck regardless of whether Vonnegut says so or not. So it goes.

kurt vonnegut's book slaughterhouse five is a great piece of literary work in itself. his unique style of black humor, combined with his vivid imagination is second to none. this book was exciting and unpredictable as i continued to read! its main purpose involved the struggle of a man with his grip on reality. is he, or is he not crazy?

the imagery in this book was another great element, and many regard this as one of the greatest anti-war books of the century. this book is definitely worth reading and will not disappoint! you can't go wrong with kurt vonnegut's slaughterhouse five!

Slaughterhouse-Five is more relevant than ever. Kurt Vonnegut's is such a magnificent writer you're immobilized by his description of the horrific firebombing of Dresden. His talent weaving the war, time travel and aliens is inspiring.

I had not read a book by Kurt Vonnegut before and I did not understand what the big deal about his books were. When I first picked up Slaughterhouse Five I expected it to be like so many other standard "this happened, then this happened, and so on" books. After the first chapter though, I was hooked.

The character of Billy Pilgrim is perfect in that he illustrates the carelessness we have about war. The aliens and their perspective about "fate" also gives into this concept that "war is inevitable" which Vonnegut is in fact arguing against. I don't want to give away to much, so I'll stop here on the substance.

But beyond the "meaning" of the book the way it is written is also brilliant. The story goes back and forth and lets us see every moment in its full context. Also, Vonnegut does this clever tactic of bringing up seemingly small and irrelevant material in the course of reading the book only to bring it up again later in the book thus having you turn back the pages and ferociously look for the references.

This is at the top-tier of American literature and deserves all the praise it has received over the years.

Slaughterhouse Five is not what I expected it to be... then again, in the first chapter, the author tells the readers exactly what to expect. Or at least an idea but even after being told the first and last sentence or two and the climax I wasn't prepared for what I got.

Slaughterhouse Five is one of the most unique books I've ever read. Nothing happens. Let me correct that: people die, Billy Pilgrim (the main character) is abducted by aliens, he is part of the most horrendous bombing that took place in the second world war, and he becomes a common image on the TV. But none of it matters because none of it ever takes any precedence. A climax is impossible, a beginning and end are impossible for that matter. This book does not start or finish it is endless and rambling.

Kurt Vonnegut is writing of Billy Pilgrim, a man that has become "unstuck in time". This means that he travels to the future and the past, although that statement isn't entirely correct. All moments coexist universally, thus there is no possibility for a future and a past. The problem is describing the book means to enter into the book's world, which is impossible if you don't know what that world is: paradox.

The book supplied me with a lot of thought. My mind was always screwing itself up in reading it. The book makes you trip over the guidelines you lay out to understand it. I realize that much more powerfully in describing it now. The peculiarity and tendency to perplex however does not make it a bad book, it's very good on the other hand.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five brought up interesting issues although what it brought up is not what it's famous for in my opinion. They say it's an anti-war novel but I would say it's more like an anti-human mind novel. Oddly enough it says to us that humanity has no control whatsoever over what happens but it also says that there is nothing else that is in control but just what exists. What exists is there and is unalterable. Everything is laid out carefully, a perfect law that appears to be extreme chaos.

I don't necessarily agree with all that Kurt Vonnegut brings up in this famous novel but I do admit that I enjoyed the book for bringing these things up. I felt a new perspective stated clearly and without baggage. I could read this book without applying a philosophical label to it. All in all Slaughterhouse Five is a good discussion novel. It's great for its themes and the conversation that I'm sure will come out of it. The book though well written has very little to it without its ideas though. I would suggest it but only if you leave time for discussion and debate afterwards.

A 2006 Summer Reading List - Mini Review

Kurt Vonnegut experienced the atrocities of the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II. He was sheltered in Slaughterhouse-Five (A meat processing plant) during the assault. In the same way I and all his other readers experience The Dresden Bombing, WWII and the surreal in his novel Slaughterhouse-Five.

Billy Pilgrim is the main character an aptly name observer of the human condition. Vonnegut takes his subject seriously by not taking his subject seriously. The book is a crazy jumble of Pilgrim's travels in war, space, and time. It does not hit you immediately, but amid the craziness, Vonnegut is making solid points about the absurdity of war.

This is a funny and thought provoking book worth several readings.

Slaughterhouse five is an absolutely wonderful book. It is written in a very simplistic manner, yet it is so powerful that you'll wish there was more. The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is an ordinary man who seems to be lost travelling through time. You see his life both as foresight and as hindsight. He is portrayed as an ordinary man who experiences exceedingly extraordinary events. From his enlightening visits with the Tralfamadorians, which teach him much about humanity, to his horrifying experiences in Dresden, Billy's life is far from normal.
To me, the novel deserves 5-stars. It is interesting, funny deep, and dark. It has much to teach about life. However, when reccomending it to others I must point out that it is a strangely written novel and takes a certain mind to enjoy it. It is the kind of book where, either you love it or you hate it. Beyond that, Slaughterhouse five is one of the most powerful novels ever written. It is a truly unique book.

This is just a great book. Its a little science fiction, a little war, and a lot of a great book. It is interesting, insightful, and in a strange way, real. Although the main charecter goes through some interesting situations, you always maintain he is an average guy, just like you and me, and that is the beauty of the book.
Read it, you wont be disapointed

The story itself was great. But what made it great was Vonnegut's writing style. He takes a man's life, spread out the events of his life like a deck of cards, then shuffles the cards, and spreads them out again. At first it is confusing, but once you catch on, it is a magnificent journey.

But beware. This isn't a straight, WWII book. You have to have a little taste for science fiction. And a sense of humor.

This book is not only a staple of american literature, but also a modern classic. SH5 is a simply breath-taking anti-war novel. what made this book such an enjoyment for me was the fact that vonnegut used equal elements of humor, visualizations, compassion, all without ever breaking off from his main point. vonnegut's style is like nothing i have ever read, or will probably ever read. it does take a little getting used to, but it is well worth it. this is an excellent novel, it may even change the way you view your life. so it goes.

When I first picked up this book, I expected an action filled book about WWII and the bombings of Dresden. However this book is far from it. I was somewhat disappointed at first book this disappointment quickly turned into enjoyment.

Vonnegut's writing is unlike any I have ever encountered. It is informal yet poetic, speaking to the reader casually. I really enjoyed this book and am glad for having read it.

I'm not a very avid reader, but what I can say about this book is that it made me realize that there is some literature out there that I can really appreciate. I was recommended this book by a friend about 4 years ago in college who had similar tastes as I do. Since then I've read it three times among many, many more books than I had read before that.

The story is unconventional with its mostly unironic WWII/science fiction theme and nonlinear story telling. Its like Vonnegut is saying this time were doing it my way, were doing it Billy Pilgrims way, and this is the story of his life.

The use of blunt, sometimes vulgar language is one of Vonnegut's characteristic tools that he uses to get at a truth that can only be reached through this type of storytelling. The opening line: "Listen, Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time" says it all. The tone for the entire book and a mini-summary of it is all in that one sentence.

This to-the-point style is I think what makes it such and easy and popular read, although it is in no way unskilled. With that I'll just say that I think more people need to read this book. Other five star ratings dont even come close to what this one means.

Vonnegut's suberb 1960's antiwar fantasy based upon his experiences as a POW held by the Germans during the Anglo American firebombing of the "Open City"(no military targets) Dresden in 1945 seen by many as a revenge bombing for the destruction of Coventry by the Luftwaffe.
*spoilers*



The story is the unconventional tale of Billy Pilgrim who as a result of being kidnapped by aliens has become unstuck in time and travels back and forth between events in his life from childhood to his death at the hands of a madman.

Though it drifts back and forth I've always found the story to be rather linear in nature and easy to follow. The parts of the narrative related to Billy's experiece in the War are the most griping. Especially the description of the death and destruction as POW's are enlisted to search for bodies and clear debris in the aftermath of the Fire Bombing of Dresden where more people died than in either Hiroshima or Nakasaki. One is shot for basically "looting" a knick knack.

The story holds up quite well for being nearly 40 years old. Vonnegut's works will probably gain a new following due to the current War and the state of things today.

"Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower and awakened on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another in 1941. He has gone back through that door to find himself in 1963. He has seen his birth and death many times, he says, and pays random visits to all the events in between. He says."

This text was pulled from the beginning of Chapter Two in Kurt Vonnegut's classic American novel Slaughterhouse-Five. After being abducted by a race of aliens called the Tralfamadorians, our protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, believes that he has become "unstuck in time." These aliens live timelessly and believe that time moves in a circular method as oppossed to the linear method that we believe in, and after Billy's encounter, he is able to seamlessly and effortlessly move through the important time periods of his lifetime, especially when it comes to the days he faced as an American POW being held in Nazi Germany.

The only problem is that not even Billy can decide when he is going to time-travel; he'll often fall asleep in one year and wake up 20 years earlier or 20 years later, and as you have already read, he can time-travel simply by walking through doors.

Maybe he's not even time-traveling at all. Maybe it's nothing more than a sleeping disorder. Maybe Billy is having elaborate dreams that he cannot tell apart from reality. Maybe he's suffering from post-traumatic stress as an affect of WWII. You decide...

If you are a reader who has to experience a story analytically, this book is probably not for you. Clearly, this story isn't told in chronological order, but it's still rather easy to follow along with Vonnegut's relaxing and flowing tone, and it's very easy to realize when a change in time has taken place.

I really enjoyed how Kurt Vonnegut molded his personal experiences into the novel. Vonnegut himself was a prisoner in Dresden, Germany, and witnessed the fire-bombing of the city, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians as well as many POWs. The title of the book itself is taken directly from the name of the prison that Vonnegut was held in during his stint in WWII.

I also enjoyed the way the novel was written. Kurt Vonnegut uses an almost sarcastic or satiric tone, and it's quite funny to read even with the mention of war, death, and alien abduction. The novel also forces the reader to think about and analyze the concepts of time and reality.

Overall, I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy the questioning of bigger concepts that cannot be explained. If you are a fan of The Matrix, you would probably love this book, and you should probably pick up a copy ASAP if you want to expand your mind.

- James-Carroll Parker Hayes

THIS BOOK IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER BOTHERED TO LOOK AT THIS WAS MY FIRST INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKS OF KURT VONNAGOT AND I ABSOLUTLY LOVED IT. THIS BOOK RULES AND I RECOMEND ALL HIS OTHER BOOKS AS WELL.

if you like great books. read this. one of my top 5 favorites of all time.

Truly an American masterpiece. This man knows what he's doing. It's gripping and utterly fantastic. I've read this book a few times for a few different classes and I've loved it everytime. Vonnegut is a brilliant author and his characters are compelling and real. Never a dull moment. An exquisite read.

If you read the back of this book,I highly doubt that you will read about how ironcly funny it is. If you are into time-travel and war, and ruling for the underdog, this is ur book! Its easy reading and will always keep you interessted.

Vonnegut is Vonnegut, but even though I was flabbergasted.
This book is not only of great inspiration to all creative minds but an instrument of contemplation.
Pulchritudinous, literature's orgasm.
Gave me more than I expected from a block of stained white paper.

_Slaughterhouse Five_ is so many things: witty, profoundly sad, moving, humourous, an accusation, a confession, an act of contrition. The story revolves around Billy Pilgrim, no one special in any particular way, as he bounces around in time: from his experiences in Dresden during World War II to his wedding day, to his kidnapping by the Tralfamadorians and back again. Through his experiences we learn much about what it is to be human and a little about time. I absolutely loved this book.

It is deceptively easy read, but don't be fooled: still waters run deep, as Vonnegut shares a profound insight: "Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones." Highly recommended.

I think Slaughterhouse-Five was one of my first books I read with aliens involved in it. And because I considered all alien-involving things to be boring, I considered this novel to be the same. However, the novel turned out to be very interesting. Because I am a slow reader, I often got bored with novels. But this novel wasn't boring. The continuous time changes provided new stories, and the freshness of each scene kept my eyes on the novel.
I liked the idea that Billy, the main character, wasn't able to change the happenings of his life moments. Although he revisited same scenes of his life, he couldn't change what had happened before. It showed the importance of decisions, choices, and actions people made in their lives.

When I was reading the novel, I wasn't focusing so much on the anti-war theme(what other people commented about). Instead, I thought Billy was really traveling through time, and I tried to imagine his life through my mind. And I pitied Billy. And I decided that going back time or looking out to the future was not always something to be excited about because people don't always have good memories and your past could be full of resentment. And I thought it would be most meaningful if I appreciated my "present," which Billy didn't have, and do my best to make my time full of happiness.

Slaughterhouse-Five taught me the value of life. It also planted me positive thoughts about alien-involving novels. Lastly, I just want to comment that the novel would have been more interesting if it showed more emotions. I wanted to see how the author would have made Billy feel. Although I liked the idea of leaving the interpreting the "very emtional part" to the readers, I wanted some profound emtions in order to understand the author's intention more fully. But overall, it was an exciting novel with various scenes and life-related morals to ponder on.

I've been reading and re-reading this book once or twice annually for nearly thirty years. I just cannot get over the poignant, filthy, worn out world of hope and shame this guy creates. Vonnegut was there in Dresden during the bombings. He has seen things that no one should ever have to see and he sorted out in his mind a way to present chaos,loneliness,inhumanity, humanity, space critters, plane crashes, fire bombings, time, and life itself into a book. He finds a place to look out at the world and contemplete time and aging. "I'm an old fart who smokes too many Pall Malls." and "My breath smelled like mustard gas and roses". To me these are heart wrenching lines in the context of the story. This is an anti-war book, just as it is a book trying to deal with the nature of mortality and time. It is also a book which attempts to deal with truth. The fire bombing of Dresden was an absolute military secret and until the mid-70's, the US government wouldn't admit that it had even happened. That this book was even released in the form of telling a story of Dresden is remarkable. But, as Vonnegut says, "I was there." I love this book and I always will. Everytime I read it I am aware of a new feeling or a new idea the book has proposed in my mind. Brilliant stuff in a simple, yet complex; funny, yet deadly serious tour de force of a book.

"life was an ember beside your pillow"

you're peeling dresdin

frere pogonip

the lateral sreen between hedrick on the left, braun on the right
protesting innocence of the tach gun

you're peeling dresdin

And with the muse maps... you have arrived krc
on the Senate floor in absentia

The penultimate meat locker krc.

The ultimate locker being your handle krc.

Welcome to the abattoir you have constructed krc, for
your own personal witty entertainment.

The entertainment you are peeling, krc.

{sims frankenstein]

the right upper eyelash to and fro

circuits dresdin

the water circuit ...

the women in my life you have stalked with only violence

krcx dc


your muse maps dresdin..

ddg ross 71 krc

st agnes baltimore, carribean

the eldridge dresdin

jessamine county airport

brookhaven

water haven

you're peeling krc

again with glee and wit

blankowits

the muse maps krc

then... you remember the telephone was ringing at this hour

who could it be?

This is the first Vonnegut book I read and I am quite eager to pick up another one. The book focuses on the life of Billy Pilgrim, a simple man from the US midwest who is a soldier in WWII. The defining moment in his life is his presence , as a prisioner of war, in Dresden during the allied firebombing that killed over 100,000 people.

The novel has a matter-of-fact attitude towards terrible events, in a sense subscribing to the notion of fate being inevitable. In a couple of different places it urges one to act on the things one can change, but then seems to say nothing can be changed. Vonnegut blends in science fiction to get this point across, as Billy Pilgrim is abducted by aliens who can travel through time and see everything, but can change nothing. What they do is choose to see only the good things in life.

There is also a deep comedic sense in it, though one is prevented from laughing by the sheer horror of the situations. It is quite a different depiction of life, fate and war, a very innovative way of seeing the world. This is definitely an interesting book, one that is clearly written from an experienced point of view (Vonnegut was himself in Dresden during the firebombing). I highly recommend it, especially since it very short, one that could be read in a two to three hour flight.

Prayer of Serenity
Slaughter House Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, deserves a reputation of being a great piece of American literature. The book follows a man, Billy Pilgrim through his life. Billy believes tralfamadorians have abducted him. The reader believes that it's through these aliens that he learns to time travel. In the book, Pilgrim explores time to all the various portions of his life, many times returning to World War II where he was captured and held in slaughterhouse five in Dresden, Germany.
One of the major themes of the book is fate. The prayer of serenity appears twice in the book stating that we need to change the things we can and be wise enough to know which things we can't change. Also the Tralfamadorians speak of fate. They say they know how the universe is going to end, but they do nothing to stop it. Vonnegut seems to say that war is one of those things we can't avoid, but we need to change the things we can about it, like the bombing of Dresden.
Overall, the book's message is clear, and Vonnegut delivers his message in a very accessible way. The reader gains knowledge on fate and what they can do to apply it in everyday life. The story of Billy Pilgrim is enjoyable to read, and contains many new insights.

Slaughterhouse 5, or Slaughterhouse five, or The Children's Crusade, also called A Duty-Dance with Death, is described by the author Kurt Vonnegut's alter-ego, Billy Pilgrim as a `fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod [and smoking too much], who, as an American Infantry Scout Hors De Combat, As a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, "The Florence of the Elbe," a long time ago, and survived to tell the tell. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace.' So it goes.

The book is an anti-war book, but tells us that it is about as useful being an anti-war book, as being an anti-typhoon book, meaning that some things will never change. Vonnegut tells us this by giving us the story of Billy Pilgrim, whose most important role in life was to witness the secret American British bombing of Dresden, where 135,000 died, and who spent most of his time as an American Prisoner of War, a survivor who can tell the youth of today what war is all about, by using his shellshock trauma induced time travel capabilities, given to him by the Tralfamadore aliens, to revisit the war, so that he can write a book about it, goes to see old war buddies, becoming unstuck in time, his life as a series of scenes in a non-linear fashion which ends up making linear sense, even though it did not at the time. So it goes.

Slaughterhouse 5 is a very interesting and somewhat touching series of events that finally all come home to roost in the final pages, the loss of man is the gain of man, whether we like it or not, is not the point, Darwin told us that this is what we are designed to do, Billy Pilgrim becomes an optometrist in the process, marries a woman who suddenly has a series problem, while Bill ends up in a zoo on an alien planet to produce children with Montana Wildhack, a famous movie actress, while trying to write his Dresdon story, filled with death, a plane accident where he was the only survivor following his POW term, fact from fiction, he thinks the rescue party are nazis, it sets off the time travel again. So it goes.

Vonnegut is not all down and war depressing however. His humour captured brilliantly by such antics as considering the money tree that grew hundred dollar bills, gems and bank bonds, feeding off the people who met the quicksand by its base, or a young Jesus who once built a cross with his father so the Romans could use it to do something to a protestor that they didn't like. When the wit is there it scores in aces. You have never read the likes of such clowning around before, although compared to Joseph Heller's Catch 22, this one is more personal, less satirical, more direct and exposes that horrible World War II bombing of Dresden. In 1941 Charles Portal, A British Air Staff officer, put forward the idea that entire cities and towns should be bombed. Air Marshall Arthur Harris agreed in February 1942. It was napalmed in 1945. Vonnegut made it very public in this 1969 novel. It was revealed by the historian David Irving in 1963 in his publication, "The Destruction of Dresdon". So it goes.

Billy spends the final days of his life out across New York looking to tell a radio show his story, ends up finding a world war II sci-fi book author's book as window dressing, attempts to buy the book as a memory keepsake because he met the author and knew the war buddy who introduced him to the books, and is nearly arrested, and or committed, old age coupled with the dying man's last bastion of whatever his mind can make of it all, gives us much to ponder in death, by remembering our lives, Pilgrim travels in his memory and says that death is living ones memories over and over again... so best be good... and enjoy life. So it goes.

I read Vonnegut's masterwork when most people read it- in school. I was too young, and the book was mature and too sad. I didn't get it. However, experiencing the book as a middle-aged adult, I get it now. Oh, boy, do I get it. It is a rich, rich feast of humanity, humility and soul-retrival. The tenderness with which Vonnegut tells the picaresque tale of Billy Pilgram alleviates the more tragic elements and gives us a melancholy story of a man who just wants to live his life. Billy Pilgram transcends his life to an almost Buddha-like understanding of suffering, happiness and death. I listened to the audiotape recently, read by Ethan Hawke. This has to be one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. Ethan Hawkes' spare tone, and lowkey voice are a perfect marriage of prose and interpreter. He brings out flavors and colors that sent me flying back to re-read the book when I finished. I am richer for the trip. Listen or re-read Slaughterhouse Five and prepare to be profoundly moved by a master.

Vonnegut

Billy Pilgrim is a rather unremarkable guy. A gawkish, unbrilliant optometrist that marries an overweight, unremarkable woman.

There are two events in his life that set him apart, however. In his 20's, he was among a handful of people who survived the firebombing of Dresden, in world war II; and he was the sole survivor of a plane crash when he was in later middle age.

Seeing so much death around him, Billy starts to lose his mind. After the plane crash, he thinks that space aliens have abducted him, and take him to their planet to study. His "aliens" have a different perception of time. They are in the "fourth dimension", which means that they not only see an object in space, but they also "see" it in time. They know the beginning and the end of all things, they see it in the same way we would see the color of someone's eyes. From their perspective, there is no anguish in death, war, tragedy, destruction. These things were, and are, and always will be. They do not hold the illusion that we can act to change things.

So, the book begins by saying that Billy has become "unstuck in time". His mental condition (shown in the storytelling) is such that he thinks that he is randomly transported from one point of his predetermined life to the next, with no ability to control it. He has been so changed since being with the aliens, that he "knows" the hour and the means of his death. Every moment in his life has been given back to him, without the gnawing sense of the unknown, and the anxiety that not knowing brings with it. He no longer feels anguish over the thing not done, or the fear of what might happen. All of these things are "written" already. He becomes a mere traveller in his own skin. In losing hope, he has also lost fear.

Vonnegut's gift as a writer - gravity. He writes in such a way that, no matter how foreign his subject might be, makes it sound not only believable, but also familiar. For example, when the main character is being taken to the prison camp in a train, the author describes the process of collecting prisoners, of the prisoners making room for themselves, standing, sleeping, and so on. He makes the scene so clear, that I often felt that I had some personal understanding of the character's situation, as if I had been in that situation before! Writing in such a clear way makes his characters responses more believable.

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, does not fall under the category of books I would usually read, but it is different from other books in this genre. It is ironic, captivating, and interesting. Most of all, it is passionate about it's anti-war message and can make even the most pro-war human being sympathize and indulge in deeper thoughts about the individuals and their lives that are affected by war. I definitely recommend this book because of it's light-hearted style used to deliver a serious message in a novel that everyone can find appealing.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is a fantastic, mind grabbing story about life, war, and death. Vonnegut writes with simple words that carry powerful ideas in this classic anti-war novel. In the book, Vonnegut's protagonist, Billy Pilgrim essentially becomes "unstuck" in time. Throughout the novel, Billy travels back and forth through time describing his service for the American military during WWII, his witnessing of the infamous bombing of Dresden, and his later life in the 50's and 60's. This novel would be easy for anyone to enjoy, but I would recommend it only to teenage or adult readers strictly because the book's jumpy plot does require the reader to put together ideas for themselves. Despite the randomness of the plot, Vonnegut's use of incredible imagery makes the story easier to follow. Over all, this book is definitely worth reading!

This must be my all time favorite book. (among many)

The story is disjointed, but not jarringly so. Vonnegut starts with the story of why the book is subtitled "The Children's Crusade", and segways seamlessly into a brief lesson of one of WW II's most shocking and little known occurances.

You feel like you are there, a fly on the wall, throughout the many stages of Mr. Billy Pilgrim's (the protagonist's) life.

Vonnegut writes with an amazing economy of words, and lesser authors would do in 500 pages what Vonnegut accoplishes in little over 100 pages.

I could not put the book down, and re-read my copy so often, it is falling apart.


God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.

Read this book. Full of humor, existential spinning, quantum leaps, horror, absurdity and other life defining delirium. A favorite passage is from page 76:

Billy licked his lips, thought a while, inquired at last: "Why me?"
"That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?"
"Yes." Billy, in fact had a paperweight in his office which was a blob of polished amber with three lady-bugs embedded in it.
"Well, here we are Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.

This is a book that can be read quickly and frequently. The writing is easy and to the point. The imagery is active too. Passing from different times in time, from an office in 1967 to a hospital in a POW camp in 1944 for example, all I had to hold me in place was Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim is the fortunate or unfortunate, I suppose there could be an argument either way, hero of the novel. Slashed at by existence and spun into a universal adventure that gives him two "wives," three children, lots of dead friends, a sense of peace amidst the most heinous and hilarious circumstances, and synchronicity with himself through time and space, among other things, that moved me with its elemental truth. So it goes. So it goes.

I hope that this book is read and read over and over, especially by school kids, who have English teachers who keep seeing this on lists of "challenged" books. I think there is an attitude similar to the scenes toward the end of the book when Pilgrim shares and hospital room with Rumfoord, historian of the Air Force. Rumfoord sees Pilgrim as a moron, and despite Pilgrim's eventual admission that he was in Dresden during the firebombing, to Rumfoord he still has no understanding of what war is. Such is Vonnegut to so many "patriots" and die-hard industrialists who perpetuate advocacy for such horrors. So it goes.

This is a book that brings out many emotions, and evokes a sense of experience that has no apparent reasoning. A true classic.

Slaughterhouse Five is a novel that, like many others, I have heard of for years, and always thought I would get to it 'someday'....someday finally arrived.

Described to me by a co-worker as a quasi-science fiction novel, quasi-war novel...I was almost turned off enough to not read it, as those are my two least favorite genres of literature.

But from open to close, Slaughterhouse is compulsively readable.

Centering on the life of one Billy Pilgrim, the story floats back and forth through episodes of his life as he has become, per his own description, 'unstuck in time'. Weaving between events from his childhood; time spent in the Vietnam war; his marriage; his career; etc.; Billy provides a glimpse into the horrors of war, and the life-long effect they can have on a person.

The strengths of this novel are that the language is easy to follow, the tale is never preachy in its opposition to war, and the humor of following Billy through his time-travels, and the disbelief of others.

At the end, one is left to question the validity of Billy's travels, as evidence is presented to support what could be deemed simply an 'escape' into past events of his life to deal with the effects of the war....juxtapositioned with present events, that Billy, lost in his past, describes as the 'future'...

Whatever the 'truth' of the story is, Slaughterhouse Five is entertaining, easily read, and highly enjoyable.....

Hopefully others who plan to read it 'someday' will get there eventually. It's worth the wait.

I wish I hadn't procrastinated reading this for so long. I'm going to have to read this again sometime soon so I can be sure to soak up every little detail.

There are few books that I have read in my lifetime that left such big imprint on me. One of the most imaginative, if not original books that I have ever read that I always go back reading to is Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s "Slaughterhouse-Five". A friend and former co-worker of mine at a local grocery store I had worked at one summer gave me a copy of this vivid story. This was my first (and only) exposure to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s writing. The second I started reading the book, I was immediately hooked.

The premise of the book centers around Billy Pilgrim. One minute he is reliving his days as a solider and currently serving his country in Dresden. Eventually he is captured by the enemy and ends up in the cellar in a slaughterhouse. Then the following scenario has Billy being kidnapped by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore where he would be put on exhibit like an animal at the zoo along with a popular adult entertainment celebrity Montana Wildhack. If that wasn't confusing enough, Billy manages to do some time traveling between earth and Tralfamadore. Somehow Kurt manages to keep the entire story flow cohesively together. I was wildly entertained and still am whenever I feel like reading this book. There was a good enough humor from the sub-plot as an exhibit for the Tralfamadore aliens entwined with the poignancy of Billy's days as a solider of war and his role as father and husband. Thirty five years later after it was published, "Slaughterhouse-Five" still remains relevant to society as it did back in 1969. It is truly an immortal classic for me.

I always have mixed feelings when discussing Vonnegut. Some of his works are fascinating, fun, and ultimately moving ("Sirens of Titan") and some are flat, off-putting attempts at juvenile sarcasm ("Cat's Cradle").

There's no doubt where "Slaughterhouse-Five" falls. It's not only his most powerful work, but the best distillation of the Vonnegut world-view:

(you can almost hear him spitting venom between clenched teeth) "Life sucks. People suck. History sucks. What a laughable mess this human race is. What an absurd excuse for existence."

(short pause)

"...but there are so many nice things to see and do along the way."

It's that powerful moment of recognition of beauty that ultimately redeems all the pain and humiliation of life, and nowhere has Vonnegut so clearly and forcefully driven this concept home. The novel is stunning and heartfelt. He makes full use of his now well-honed ironic style (purposefully monotonous prose that sends banality into the realm of dark comedy) and sends his hapless hero, Billy Pilgrim, on a weird and disorienting journey through time and space, as well as to exorcise his own demons from the war.

It's a pity that science fiction is so poorly regarded in this country. Otherwise this novel would be considered one of the great anti-war statements of our time.

Because, as Vonnegut puts it, there really is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. It's best to let the birds have the last word.

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.

Slaughter House-Five is a captivating novel of Billy Pilgrim and the jounrey through his life. One of Kurt Vonnegut's best works. He combines humor, science fiction, and one of the world's greatest anti- war books in to one. When Billy Pilgrim, a weak and mostley quiet man, becomes "unkstuck" in time after being captured by aleins, you travel through his life. From his terrible World War II experience (inspired by Vonnegut's own war experience), including the tragic bombing of Dresden to the planet of Tralfamadore where Billy and the reader are introduced to a whole new concept of time and death. The reader journeys simultaneously through all phases of Billy's life which is centered on the war and the effects of the war. Constently the reader is torn between reality and fantasy and questions the sanity of Billy Pilgrim. This is a complex novel , basically without following a story line or a conventioal flow of characters. Through out this book Vonnegut makes you laugh, cry, and most importantly think. By the end of the novel the reader is captivavted and stunned by the brutality and horrors of war and questions our own fractured society. Slaughter House-Five is one of the best peices of American literature and I recomend it to anyone.

This was an interesting book that I would not have choosen if it had not been for a recommendation from my english teacher. Although I though it was a very confusing book I never felt board. The crazieness of it made me want to turn each page cause you never know whats going to come next. Unless you are an extreamly analitical person I would recommend reading this book with an english teacher or somebody would could help you to understand the "deeper meanings".

The hero, or antihero, of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is Billy Pilgrim, a time traveling idiot savant. The central event in Billy's life is the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, an event he witnesses with little emotion. Billy has the sense to cry when he sees a pair of horses suffering but he is unnaturally passive in war, in his marriage, in raising his son, in being kidnapped and taken to the planet of Tralfamadore, and so on. From his experiences on Tralfamadore, Billy comes to perceive time in a different way that is very comforting to him and perhaps to Vonnegut as well.

First published in 1969, Slaughterhouse-Five has an experimental feel to it. Billy's time travel leads to some unconventional juxtaposition of scenes, and Vonnegut makes frequent use of asides to the reader to tell us about himself and why he wrote the book. Tragic events are described in flat, emotionless terms.

Slaughterhouse-Five is a quick and entertaining read, and it educates the reader about the horrors of bombing directed against civilians. Because of the flat tone, though, and because the characters are so unattractive, there doesn't seem to be much of a message here except to say that men are fools.

I picked up this book about a month ago because I had never read it in high school and I was aware that it was a classic. Now I know why. After reading it in a matter of days, I walked away very pleased and eager to read more books by Vonnegut. Although it is not my all-time favorite novel (that label belongs to John Steinbeck's ingenious "Grapes of Wrath"), "Slaughterhouse-Five" is without a doubt the craziest and most abstract novel I've ever read.

The story is about Billy Pilgrim who is "unstuck in time" and can travel to his past or future. There is no order in the story whatsoever, in fact it is quite chaotic... which is why it is such a fun read. It does have anti-war elements in it, but I wouldnt say that it is the overriding theme of the novel (although the part of the book where Billy watches a war movie backwards points out the absurdity of war). What Billy learns from the Tralfamadorians (the alien civilization that abducts Billy) is just as important of a theme.

Well after I finished this novel, I ordered "Cat's Cradle". I'm halfway through it right now and it is just as impressive. I suggest you pick up one of these two books immediately.

More than a simple satire Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" is one of the most important books written in the North America in the 20 Century. Dealing with both personal experiences, fiction and introducing himself as a character, the writer has created a unique work that will remain in the literary cannon forever.

It is hard to tell what this novel is about, because it is sometimes funny, sometimes a sci-fiction, and sometimes very very sad. By using such device, Vonnegut shows the reader the absurdity of the war and of the 20 century as well. Death and life are side by side in his words. At the same time, the novel is a personal journey towards the center of himself.

Using a fragmented prose only enhances the experience of reading this novel. With such technique, the book requires more attention from the reader, and increases the curiosity of what will happen next, and when this part of the narrative will be resumed. This is one reason why many readers find Vonnegut's work stranger than the average writer. So he is, but in a good way. This elliptic narrative is very sophisticated and beautiful to those who read a book and care about language, character development and plot.

Vonnegut's sense of humor and sarcasm are brilliant turning what could be a tacky story into a deep work, filled with undertones and, psychological and political ideas. The constant use of the sentence `So it goes' display a high level of sophistication, that many veteran writers will never acquire.

All in all, `Slaughterhouse-Five' is an important read for everyone who is interested in good and profound books. Those works that make us care more about the world we live, the society we are building everyday and, above all, the life we are leading.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is about a writer (Vonnegut himself) who is writing about a book about an optometrist/WWII vet who regularly converses with aliens. Yes, it's a writer who writes about another writer, whose writings are based on the original writer's war experiences.

Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist of said novel, is unstuck in time, which basically means that he relives old memories in a seemingly random order. He is totally unfit for war, yet he is forced into service to fight in World War II. Vonnegut's novel within a novel details Billy's experiences before, during, and after the war. During the war, Billy sees many things that would be considered heroic by many, yet Vonnegut portrays these would-be heroes as ridiculous and obnoxious.

The book has a clear anti-war message, but ultimately, it states that war is inevitable. Vonnegut brings his book to a filmmaker, who states that being anti-war is like being anti-glacier; you can dislike it, but it's going to happen anyway. When a death in the novel occurs, Billy Pilgrim's only response is, "so it goes," which reflects on his powerlessness in his situation. He may not like what occurs around him, but he cannot do anything to stop it, and so he accepts the way things are.

Slaughterhouse Five is written well, but it is rather difficult to keep up with because of all the changes in setting. There are several settings Billy is unstuck in, such as America during the Vietnam War and Billy as a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden. Also, Billy's encounters on the alien planet Tralfamadore are just strange. Despite this, Vonnegut's message is clear, and it is articulated in an interesting, albeit perplexing manner.

One of the things that I love about Slaughterhouse Five (and many of Vonnegut's other books as well) is how the sci-fi elements are there, but they are not the focal point of the story, nor of the characters.

The sheer mention of Tralfamadore rockets this novel into the classification of science fiction. Yet, despite the "popping between time" of Pilgrim that tries to defy a physical setting, the story remains solidly anchored within an emotional setting: the bombing of Dresden (WWII), which keeps everything in perspective. Tralfamadore, and many of the "non-linear" qualities of the story could as easily be the creation and fixation of a weakened mind, just as much as they could be (?) real. You never know. Vonnegut always keeps you guessing.

SH-5 is a great introduction to Vonnegut. If you enjoy this one, I would recommend moving in either one of two ways: for those who liked the character elements and emotional qualities, move to "Bluebeard". For those who were more intrigued by Pilgrim's temporal displacement, try "The Sirens of Titan" next.

First of all, I'd like to say that I'd give this book four and a half stars if I could, it's funny but deals with serious subjects. Slaugtherhouse-Five foucus on the life of Billy Piligrim, a quite timid,man who is able to travel through time to different points in his life. Billy jumps from being a POW, like Vonnegut, to a sucsessful optometrist, to a human being in an alien zoo. Much of the book focuses on Billy as a POW who was a survivor of the fire-bombing of Dresden. After the war, Billy becomes sucsessful, but begins to mentally fall apart, he doesn't like his wife and is not close to his children. When the aliens from Tralfamadore capture Billy they explain all moments, past, present, and future, are structerd and cannot be changed so he accepts all that has happend. One aspect of the book I like is that you can see how things Billy has already seen in the future effect his life in the past and vice-versa. This funny look at the life of a mentally deteriorating man and many aspects of culture is defently worth a read.

This is impossible not to like. You'll probably like it, even if you don't like to read. It's just that good.

This book probably is becoming more relevant in times like this where we need to think about why war exists and why it is so common between civilizations. If it's something that no one wants to happen then why does it happen so often. In the conflict with Iraq in the Spring of 2003 the opinions are split by two fervently polar sides. This book was written in the midst of the Vietnam War at the height of popular disapproval of ongoing death of troops and destruction of property which were lost for no apparent reason.

Vonnegut I thought took a good approach with the book's subject material. The book doesn't naturally talk about Vietnam which was naturally going to be admonished by one side and raved by the other or hating by both should the book be perceived as sitting on the fence. He drew from his experiences of war from the bombing of Dresden to described the relevant events of Billy Pilgrim's, the hapless main character's, life. The bombing of Dresden was the most devastating operation by the American forces upon a German city. But its not just this that makes the book good and its not just about the bombing in Dresden as the book spans the whole adult life of Pilgrim. From the start the book tells you that the book is written in a "schizophrenic" form that bounces Pilgrim back an forth through his life in the form of a stream of consciousness. As the character experiences a certain emotion or speaks upon a certain subject, he switches into a different point in his life where he's experienced (or will experience) something similar. This happens often within chapters and yet it is not confusing. Ironically you'll also come out with a sedate feeling if you understand the point of the author and the quotes from reviewer of the book will make more sense the next time you read them on the front and back cover after reading this book. The book was entertaining as well as memorable and philosophical. I include memorable because Vonnegut creates passages that talk about an idea or a thing and that idea or thing becomes a symbol for something. When the author recalls that iconographic idea its easy to understand the meaning of the passage and its these ideas that tie together the fabric of the plot. The philosophical part was simply the moral of the book about knowing the difference between what you can change and what you cannot and knowing what to do in either case.

I would recommend this book to college students and people who are uptight.

This book was rather interesting. This being the first book I have read by Vonnegut, I wondered if this would be a difficult book to read or not. "Slaughterhouse Five" was a fairly easy book to read, no more difficult than most others were. The most difficult part of this book was following the story. The story is told through the memories of a day-dreamer. The story jumps around from topic to topic with the author popping in with his own insight every so often, much as the mind of the main character Billy.

The story of Billy Pilgrim twists and turns through experiences in his life that have greatly effected him, which you can see through out the book. Experiences such as the bombing of Dresden in 1945, a devastating plane crash, and other small but integral glimpses through out his past come back to haunt him in his daily life.
Coming in to this book I thought this was going to be a book about war, death, and other atrocities, but was I fooled. As you read this book, you can tell this is anything but a tale of war. The subject of war was a traumatizing and atrocious part of his life, which furtherd the feeble, and weakening mental state of the character.
While reading this book, I realized the lack of form in his writing and the spuratic thought paterns are used to futher illistrate the emense mental tolls on Billy`s mind.
To say I recommend this book is to say the least. The dynamics of this book take you through different emotional states, which help you relate to the character on a personel level as well as a phisical level.Although, the lack of form in his writing was new to me, it doesnt make the book any more dificult than most others. Since I have read this particular book from Vonnegut, I plan on reading more of his books to see if they are as interesting as this one.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is not one of my favorite books. This is the only book by Kurt that I have read. Slaughterhouse Five was very confusing and hard to follow. The structure of the novel is totally unconventional and does not really have a clear beginning, middle and end. The main character in this book is Billy Pilgrim, who is able to time travel. One minute you are in present time and the next you are back in World War Two with no notice at all. Besides that total lack of a time unity, there is no unity of place. The setting jumps rapidly and repeatedly between war and the planet Trafalmadore. These are reasons that the book was hard to follow. Also, the fact he was abducted by aliens seem ridiculous to me. A large part of this book is in third person; there is also first person narration in the first chapter when Vonnegut enters the novel as commentator/character. He is present in the first and tenth chapter. This switch of narration further adds to the confusion.
The one thing I liked about this book was the fact it didn't glorify war. It told what I think are true stores from World War Two. It told the sad truth of war, the things that go on and never are talked about. A major focus of the book is on the horror of the bombing of Dresden. This event is first described in the opening chapter, although details are found throughout the book. This book is truly an anti-war book.

After reading Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, I found myself wishing I had read it long ago and not waited so long. I had heard mixed reviews, a lot of negatives, and never decided to find out for myself until this year.

While the book has been reviewed as both a comedy and a tragedy, I could not help but feel pain throughout the book, pain for Billy mostly, but pain for the human race.

Vonnegut seems to know our faults, including his own, and exploits them in such a way that we are faced with a horrible image of how we treat one another, even in a time of tragedy. We seem blind to others pain and focus solely on our own, and Vonnegut has something to say about that. He introduces us to a character, both pathetic and not, stronger perhaps than most people, someone that would be and has been kicked around. What makes Billy Pilgrim a hero in my eyes is not his plight, but his tremendous ability to survive, to find happiness in memories of what seems like a miserable life, from his overweight wife to his experieces during WWII.

We can learn much from Billy about our own lives, about finding happiness where it seems unavailable, about how we should treat one another. This lesson alone helps keep this book on my list of favorite books of all time.

I have never read anything by Kurt Vonnegut before and thought I should read this book. I cannot say that I found this book to be "enrapturing" or "dull." It sort of fell in the middle. So it goes. Vonnegut's writing style is light and quick-paced, which helped me finish it very quickly and he had very unusual subplots going on all the time. I like the aspect of time and the lack of chronology in the book. As muddled as the timeline is, I can't say I found it confusing.

I would have to say that Catch 22 in many ways was better. I compare it to Catch 22 because both are about WWII and both are satirical in nature, being anti-war books. I didn't especially like Catch 22, but the sense of an underlying theme was stronger than in this book. All Vonnegut was trying to do in this book (as I see it) was to make people see the ridiculousness of war and do so by treating it lightly. He makes many things that are important (like death) more trivial. So it goes. I don't mind this, but it got boring after a while. I like light books that aren't overly dense about things this touchy, but because of it I can't call this book a masterpiece. It is hard for me to take a book too seriously that doesn't take its subject matter that seriously.

Interesting read, though. So it goes.

The book that I read was "Slaughter-House-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a fictional story about a man named Billy Pilgrim. Billy experiences many interesting things throughout his life. They range from being a husband and a father of two children, to being a prisner of war. Throughout the book he meets many people from all over the world. He also believes that he had lived on the planet Tralfamadore.
"Slaughter-House-Five" was a real attention grabber. I had no problems getting into the story. On the other hand, this was not my favorite book to read. Throughout the book you feel lost in Billy's time travles. Different events or people that he meets, would spark his memory and the book's setting would change. For example, Billy would be talking about the war with someone and all of the sudden, he is back on his honey moon with his wife. In another Billy fell asleep and he would be back on the train in the war. These are just a few of the plot's twists. I found this organizational structure difficult to follow.
Secondly, the grusome details and language that was used to describe Billy Pilgrim's life in the book,was not only un-necessary but very explicit. For example, when Billy was on Tralfamadore with Montana Wildgack,Kurt Vonnegut explained what happened between them in great detail. To many details were also given when the book described Billy's wedding night. With less detail and language the story would have been just as effective. It also would appeal to more readers of different ages.
Even though the book was not my favorite, it had some great aspects. The description and personality anyalisis of the characters were amazing. It made the reader feel as thoughthey knew the character. Such as Edgar Derby. He was a high school teacher. when you first meet him, he does not seem very brave but, as you read on , you realize that he is not as cowderly as first suspected.
I think that Kurt Vonnegut had something big going for him with this book. "Slaughter-House-Five" would appeal to an older and mature audience. This is not a book for everyone. I guess it is just on of those thing that you either love or hate. This book opened my eyes to the events in my own life. It also made me realize no matter how bad my life is, it can always get worse.

Wonderful book. In a nutshell, this books is a novel in a novel. The book starts following the "author" who is wrote a story about Dredsen -- a famous bombing during WWII. The main character in his book is man who is able to move about in time as he will. That probably sounds a little confusing, but that's the best way I can describe it.

This book doesn't glamorize war. In fact, it's a very anti-war book. It doesn't make the people in the war look like heroes with an unhealthy lust for defending their countries. Most of the characters were just human. Some were too old, too young, too cowardly for war. They questioned the need for war, but still they had no way to stop it. Many were too young for the war hence the sub-title "The Children's Crusade".

But the book isn't just about war. Some might see it as a SciFi book (the time traveling). We see the character, Billy Pilgrim, in various stages of his life, his birth, his marriage, his wife's death, etc. This book is also slightly cheeky in nature. Some might see it as a satire. There are many things going on in this book making it one of those book that you have to read more than once to catch different subplots.

Vonnegut has a style that tends to ramble, and I can see why that would annoy some people. The story also could be a little confusing, and one might question the point, but it made perfect sense to me. I enjoy this book muchly.

Beginning a review for this book isn't an easy task.

Most likely how it wasn't easy for Vonnegut to catalog his time in Dresden, as is evidence by this book. Yet, he still tells an intruiging story that subtly explains his view of that time.

After a short prologue about the book (thought titled Chapter 1), we continue the story of Billy Pilgrim. Yes, continue. The events of Billy's life are not displayed in chronological order, but rather, in the order Billy experiences them in his mind, as he first falls through time and understands the events of his life from during his time in WWII, knowing his career, his relations, and even his death before he ever leaves Dresden. And even in these times, he falls through time while in these falls through time, as evidenced by his mate in the Tramalfadorian zoo.

It's a fragmented story, trying to portray a man's fragmented life, while the undertones regard fate, massacre, and meaningless effort. And some of the story may not be real, or perhaps all of it is imagined while Billy daydreams in Nazi Germany, arousing problems with those around him. Things such as his abduction by the Tramalfadorians and being put in a zoo seem ridiculous, as well as his relation to Kilgore Trout and his reactions toward people.

In short: Billy's mind is also fragmented. He can't think straight, he daydreams, and seems too stupid or awestruck by everything to understand what goes on around him. It's amazing a man this disoriented became a doctor; and maybe downright impossible if he really is imagining all his travels and experiences in different points in life.

"Slaughterhouse Five" is a very strange novel, but it will have a profound effect on its reader, as one realizes near the end the impact of the words engraved on his mate's necklace towards the rest of the story. It's about fate, whether Billy imagined it or not, and while it's an odd tale, it's Vonnegut, and there's a valuable message, whether you agree with it or not.

-Escushion

The more Kurt Vonnegut I read, the more I begin to think his skills as a writer are somewhat limited and his writing itself sophomoric. However, "Slaughterhouse-Five" is certainly the best of what I've read of him, and unlike some of his other books ("Breakfast of Champions," for instance) holds up well to multiple readings.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is typical Vonnegut in many ways, but it works better than the majority of his novels due to an emotional element that is usually lacking. I felt for Billy Pigrim as a person and really cared whether or not he was able to pick up the pieces of his life and recover from the hell-on-earth atmosphere of World War II. One scene stands out clearly in my mind---Billy at the window of a factory that manufactures (maple syrup I think? Anyway, something sweet) and crying as he licks a spoon---crying because of the utter simplicity and unqualified pleasure something like maple syrup can give him. It's as if the intensity of the horror he experiences during the fire-storming of Dresden increases the intensity of all other experiences as well, so that for this one moment, his whole world has come down to the taste of maple syrup on a spoon. Wow, what a great scene.

This novel inevitably gets compared to "Catch-22" because of its subject matter and quirky tone, but really the two books aren't very similar. I like "Catch-22" better, but would still recommend "Slaughterhouse-Five."

Although you should all be reading the Vonnegut collection instead of reading my shanty review, I will go ahead and say that this book is wonderful by all standards.
Read it as soon as possible.
So it goes.

Now that I think about it, I think that this is one of the best books that I have read. I notice that sometimes when I write I start jumping around and such through time and I can't help that this book had an effect on me. It was a fun read and it moves along quite quickly and it was never boring to me. One minute you're in a crowded boxcar living in excriment and the next you are recalling your wife's death. I thought the ending was great and really tied together this perfect anti-war novel. I had it figured out early on, which is unlikely for myself, yet made the book so much more enjoyable. A brilliant piece of literature.

In Slaughter House Five, Kurt Vonnegut writes about Billy Pilgrim's adventure through war, time travel, and life in the end. Vonnegut is able to write well because of experience from writing many other books.
Vonnegut's main point is that war is bad because things die from it. He does an excellent job of proving his point, by having an enourmous amount of objects and characters die. He reminds you of how much death there is by adding the short phrase "So it goes." after every death.

Vonnegut is saying something by having aliens in his story. The aliens teach him to take time in one chunk, instead of dividing it with different events.
Slaughter House Five can be compared easily with Catch-22. Catch-22 is also an anti-war book, and shows downsides of war. People die, go crazy, and hate war in both. Both books use a lot of humor.
The book was not written in any order. It may confuse some people. Adventurous readers may like this, for a challenge.

This `anti-war book,' as Vonnegut himself has called it, focuses on the life of a World War II prisoner of war named Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim (along with Vonnegut, the narrator) was present when Dresden was bombed and destroyed by the Allied forces, killing far more people than the atomic bombs in Hiroshima or Nagasaki. The bombing, and the ensuing ruinous carnage of the former city, serve to show the horrors of war, and the violence and destruction of innocent lives which are sometimes a price of the bloody game of war.

But this is not your typical anti-war book. Vonnegut does not openly criticize the Allies for bombing Dresden--in fact, one of his characters points out that, at the time, it seemed like it had to be done. Another, more subtle consequence of war is the focus of this book, however, and this consequence is exemplified in the mental state of Billy Pilgrim. Billy thinks he has stepped outside of time, and no longer sees things chronologically. Instead, the novel constantly jumps back and forth in time to different events in Billy's life, including a supposed alien kidnapping. Though the book treats these time jumps as real, enough hints are given for the skeptical reader to doubt. The war left Billy's life in shambles, and he spends the bulk of the novel trying to make sense of it all (hence the non-linear narrative).

Vonnegut seems to be showing us two ugly sides to war. The first is the side we all know by now--the innocent victims, the meaningless slaughter, the terrible destruction. But the second, subtler side can only be seen in Billy Pilgrim's character, and it seems this is another horrible effect of war. War causes carnage and bloodshed while it is occurring, but it also has long term effects. Depression, anxiety, and many other forms of mental illness can come about because of war, as Vonnegut so eloquently points out in this novel. This is considered to be one of the greatest modernist novels of the 20th century, and with good reason. I highly recommend this unique take on war.

Without doubt one of the finest books I have ever read. All Sci-Fi books should be like this.
The book operates on number of levels.
The Story of Billy Pilgrim and the 4 dimensional beings who have abducted him.
The almost heart rending account of Vonnegut's own experinces during the Bombing of Dresden where he was prisoner of war.
And by giving an idea what it would be like to see time as an additional dimension. That the future and past are just places where one can visit but not change. So - without giving away the plot - when the man is shot for picking up the teapot. It comes as no suprise it has always happened and always will happen.

So it goes.

I was never really impressed with the story line of this book, it was on line with what i'd expect from Kilgore Trout. But i couldn't put it down, have you ever heard a voice so beautiful that it dosen't matter what it sings just as long as it sings? this is how Vonnegut writes. He takes a cheesy Sci-Fi plot (by the way i love sci-fi) and makes one of the greatest pieces of literature to be written in the last 50 years

Vonnegut is without a doubt an excellent author. His novels, both shockingly tender and painfully cynical, compose a body of work that ranks among the best satire ever written. The problem with "Slaughterhouse-Five", however, is that it has received much more attention than it is due. It is one of the few books of Vonnegut's that I have read and felt disappointed with.

Because this novel is promoted so heavily in university's and high schools, and a beloved of many critics, it is unpopular to criticize it. And while it is a strong argument against war, and marks a turning point in Vonnegut's writing, as well as being an early example of post-modernism, it simply isn't that satisfying a read.

Perhaps it is because Pilgrim is a more difficult character to empathize with than Kilgore Trout or Eliot Rosewater, the protagonists in other novels who make an appearance in "Slaughterhouse-Five". It may also be that Vonnegut hasn't quite gotten his new style down pat, and so when he leaps from idea to idea and place to place it doesn't always seem to work quite right, the way it does in "Breakfast of Champions".

Whatever the case, anyone interested in reading Vonnegut should almost certainly begin with "Cat's Cradle", and move outward from there. "Cat's Cradle" will show you Vonnegut at his best, and keep you hungry for more, even when you trip over the occasional novel like this one.

fyi for vonnegut fans: he was in fact in the 106th division in WW2. The 106th was in Europe for 15 days prior to absorbing the brunt of the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. He was became a prisoner of war, and was sent to Dresden just prior to the fire bombing. The American prisoners were in fact kept in a makeship slaughterhouse. Read "A Blood Dimmed Tide"

Kurt Vonnegut shows me the reason that this book is considered as one of the greatest pieces of literatture of all time. He sets the main caracter (Billy Pilgrim) as a soldier in World War II. From there he tells the adventures that Billy goes through. Som events are from Billy's real life and opther ar from Billy's imagination. These events mixed wioth Vonnegut's dark humor leave you lauging continuously throughout the book. Yet at times I felt bad for the pain that World War II cause Billy to experience. This is an awesome book and I would recommend it to anyone thatis interested in literature.

Kurt Vonnegut's book Slaughterhouse Five is a unique and interesting anti-war book.There has never been a book written quite like this one. The story doesn't unfold like most other stories. It takes place in a series of different times and places. The places are Dresden, Iliam New York, and an alien planet to mention a few. The main theme of the book is very clear even if the time and places that it takes place in isn't. That theme is war is pointless and so is life sometimes. The constant changing of time and place give the reader a very exciting and adventurous ride through the life of Billy Pilgrim. The story is told in a new way giving it a fresh life. If you ever find the time to read a Kurt Vonnegut book this should be the one. It is truly original and creative with a dark sense of humor that appeals to almost anyone.

"The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes. But the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes." This poem has great significance to Slaughterhouse-Five. The main character in the book is Billy Pilgrim and the journeys and everything he experienced. The poem has to do with Billy because when something bad happens in his life he does not cry over it, he just kind of has an acceptance of this horrifying event. Billy can travel to the past and to the future in a blink of an eye. That is why I believe that Billy has an understanding towards a tragic event. He is able to see the bad events in his life before it really happens to him. Therefore he knows it will happen and there is nothing he can do about it accept to accept it and move on. Billy can travel from World War II to when he is an optometrist in 1967. He travels to the past and future many times throughout the book, when he was a child, when he was in the war, or after the war. He has also seen his death many times.
Kurt Vonnegut, JR. creates this alien world where Billy is transported after he gets kidnapped by the aliens. This world was called Tralfadore. I believe that this world that Kurt Vonnegut, JR. creates is a replica of Billy's mind. I believe this because the people on Tralfadore have a great acceptance towards events that happened. The only concept Billy doesn't have is that everything and every event was structured to be and you cannot change that.
I believe that Slaughterhouse-Five is a great book and it states its moral well. I would recommend this book to people who want to learn good and interesting concepts and lessons in life.

... Slaughterhouse-Five is a convoluted tale, and thus difficult to describe. On first inspection, it is the story of Billy Pilgrim, a drafted soldier who survives the infamous firebombing of Dresden. It¡¦s the meaning, however, the overall effect of the book, that is important. The novel is not actually about a man who lives his life out of chronological order, or a man who was abducted by aliens from the fourth dimension, or even a lost soul in a world full of pain and countless sufferings. It is about an average man, a boy really, trying to cope with war, who¡¦s horrors nobody can easily endure. In his creation, Vonnegut highlights the same twisted humor that must have been shared by anything that created such a world. Billy is representative of every poor person forced to face offhanded death and hatred. It is a moving experience to join this category so vividly, as you will be while Vonnegut¡¦s work unfolds.
Kurt Vonnegut dispenses entirely with a beloved part of great writing: foreshadowing. Somehow, Vonnegut tells you the whole story in the first few pages and then keeps you enthralled for two hundred more. Slaughterhouse-Five is not simply the story of a young optometrist turned soldier. It is about the inescapable desensitization to death and the unhealthy alterations the mind of a human must undergo to make sense of so much destruction.
Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the defining postwar novels. Gripping yet horrifying, this astounding novel will be embraced by any reader looking to be moved to a whole new perspective on war, humans, and life in general.

-...

Looking beyond the otherworldly time travel subplot, it is not difficult to see that this novel is an antiwar statement. A story about one man who finds himself trapped in a place he does not want to be which results in his unwillingness to cooperate with a society that refuses to get along with itself. Ironically, he is one of the few to emerge from the war alive and unharmed, while the noble, hardworking, and dedicated fall from all around him. So it goes.
Obviously, the bombing of Dresden was a mistake. Because of this, it has quietly faded away and been forgotten. Almost. I had never heard of a city known as “Dresden.” Up until the last pages of the novel, I thought the place was fictitious. Humanity simply wasn’t capable of such a hideous feat. Indeed, I was partly right, but no matter how you look at it, the events did happen. So am I missing something? If thousands of people died that day (so it goes), why don’t I have the name “Dresden” burned into my brain. Perhaps society as a whole does not wish to familiarize itself with all of the inhuman details of it’s ugly past. On a personal note, I believe the knowledge of these occurrences (surely Dresden is not the only one) can give us a chance to reflect on our mistakes and take steps to ensure that at least we, as a whole, have learned our lesson. I believe this is what the piece is trying to say. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a terrible event, but it happened for a reason that, over the years, has been more or less justified: it stopped a war. Did destroying the city of Dresden accomplish that? Of course not. It accomplished nothing. And yet it is rumored more people died that day than the days of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. So it goes. Not many people wish to know that. But Vonnegut cares not. He only wants to get the message across. And he does an excellent job.

Reading Slaughter-house Five is nothing less than an adventure. I've read many anti-war books and was expecting much of the same qualities in this one, but I was certainly in for a surprise. Told through the eyes of a man who is completely unhinged from reality, this book - which is based around the bombing of Dresden - is full of symbolism and interesting ideas.

Billy Pilgrim is an optometrist. He is the son of an optometrist and is married to the daughter of an optometrist. He believes that he was once kidnapped by aliens and brought to their planet where he was put in a zoo and given a famous actress to mate with. He believes he can travel through time to any moment of his life and that Adam and Eve can be seen in a pair of leather boots. And he is a soldier in World War Two. By living in a world which is so constantly unreal, Billy seems to perceive what is real (i.e. the horrible war which he is fighting in) to be fiction. Because he believes that all moments of time coexist at once, death does not affect him. Whether a bottle of champagne goes dead or a friend is killed by firing squad, his reaction in the same: "So it goes." As Billy drifts in and out from the real and the unreal, we can begin to understand the relationships between the everyday occurances of our lives and the extraordinary circumstances of a horrible war.

I checked this book out of a USAF base library 20 years ago specifically because it was a perennial on local school district banned book lists when I was growing up. Otherwise, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. I ended up reading most of the rest of KV's books, which in turn, had a great deal with the shaping of my political point of view. To the school districts of Long Island N.Y who banned this book during the 70's, thanks for showing me the way to the best reading experiences I've ever had. What good is this book? Well, I'm no literary critic, but I will say to younger readers out there, this book was the first I read that married comic and tragic elements in the same instance. KV may not have invented this concept, but he certainly knows how to use it.

Vonnegut truely out did himself in this story, delivering a tale revealing the effects of war on society, individuals and family. It taught me a lot about the end of the second world war as the story is partiallly placed in Dresden before, during and after its bombing and placed on another planet-according to the protagonist, who can travel through time-where aliens put him in an inhuman zoo with a female of our species. It is original, funny, depressing and uplifting. A work of imagination and much thought, as it is an American classic. I am looking forward to reading more from Vonnedut.

This is the ultimate World War II classic but far from typical. Slaughterhouse Five is sophisticated and eye opening. Written in Kurt Vonnegut's unique style it's one of his most personal novels describing the destruction of the German city of Dresden and it's lasting effect on the main character, Billy Pilgram. Slaughterhouse Five points out the absurdity of war and destruction, the torment of mental dysfunction and raises questions about cosmic justice and human nature. There is so much packed into this novel it can be overwhelming. Read it more than once and you see new aspects each time. This story makes you think!

I'm reviewing a second reading of this book. Fifteen or so years have gone by since I first picked it up with unreal expectations and a teenager's misunderstanding of many of the key ideas Vonnegut attempts to set forth. The first time I was amused and occasionally moved by the poignancy, drama and rather offbeat satirical insight of aspects of life I couldn't yet hope to have a grasp on. Now, this time, after a day and a half of plowing through this remarkable (and remarkably easy to read) novel I feel as though I have been touched to the very core of my being . . .

Now of course this praise is a bit high-faulting, based more on my mood at the time of the undertaking, but it is a powerful and educational experience nonetheless. A story of time and key moments lived in jump-cut fragments, Slaughterhouse Five relates the key memorable moments in a man's life, a man so harrowed and scarred by irrational realization and recognition of the horrors of the world he lives in that he literally becomes 'trapped in time'.

Not so much a 'science-fiction' novel as a study of mental degeneration, Vonnegut tells the story of Billy Pilgram, a man who witnessed the greatest massacre in the history of warfare and lived through it to become a productive, happy and successful member of American society. But he is haunted by the past and his witness has allowed him to not just to expect the worst from the future, but to accept it, to allow these events to crash down upon him (plane crash killing all but him, death of a wife, the increasing indifference and resentment of his children as he grows older, et cetera, ad infinitum). The statement of 'time' as a concept lived all in the same moment, of life existing spontaneously in elliptical cycles, past merging with future and the present never truly mattering relates how desolately unhinged this victim of circumstance has become. I do not believe that Billy has truthfully become unglued and randomly travels through time, back and forth, throughout his life, but that his life simply stopped at the bombing of Dresden and the shattered reflections and memories of his overwhelming terror and moral approbriation have haunted him throughout his life, so much so that the rest of his existence is spent waiting to die; simmering, forever experiencing the past as his life forms and decontructs in the present tense. The addition of an alien society actually take the place of God, a once loyal concept that ceased to hold meaning for him. These aliens have simply given him a new gospel to preach, a new understanding to base his life upon and, whether real or imaginary (like any conceptual 'higher power') they have a profound affect on his life.

It is a deep, very personal look (Vonnegut repeatedly refers to himself throughout the novel, opening with a very significant autobiographical chapter that outlines his own ideas on witnessing the massacre) and even goes so far as to include a fictional recreation of himself shuddering right there in the slaughterhouse beside all these products of his imagination, imagination, it seems, saving his own life. For all its simplicity, for all its good-natured and often dark comedy, there is no laughter in this book. There are smiles, there might be the occasional titter, but the ultimate effect, for me at least, was one of aching, heart-rending movement, stirring even my own black heart of pitilessness into a genuinely humane feeling of honest human empathy.

And the best part is, reading over several of the other reviews, is that it seems to affect each reader in a dicisively different manner . . .

The ideas and themes of this book are excellent and well thought-out. However, the manner in which they are presented leaves something to be desired. This being an anti-war novel, much of the book consists of war anecdotes condemning any kind of killing whatsoever. The fictional planet of Tralfamadore is also present, displaying another world where war is accepted as an unavoidable force, and is ultimately ignored in time. This represents a good descrpition of this book's ideals. When the main character, Blly Pilgrim, lives different parts of his life throughout the book, is where the novel takes a rather unappealing turn. It seems we read too much of his later life, and what we read gives no representation of who Billy Pilgrim actually is. As another reviewer points out, Billy is treated as a pawn, with no real personality. And because this book unremittingly goes against killing off any sort of life, in any capacity, it seems that treating Pilgrim as just another life is inappropriate. Overall, I wasn't totally pleased with the book, but would still reccomend it nonetheless.

If there is a single book I believe everyone in the world should read, for some reason, that would be this one. The Tralfamadorians are the epitome of intellectual thought, and Vonnegut forces the reader to examine his own beliefs on the nature of time, death, and what it means to be a human. Vonnegut is my hero!

I found myself wanting to understand more about what the main character thought about the war, about the people in the war, about his relationship with his wife and kids, etc. But he seemed to think nothing at all. Billy was simply be a pawn in someone elses game, always. That's pathetic, depressing, and disturbing. I fault the author and his main character with not taking any responsability for anything. NO, we are not just pawns. We do have some control over our lives and our fates are not pre-known (we do not jump around in time so we have no idea what is going to happen to us in the future). But if you do nothing to take control of your life, you can be sure that others will take control of it for you.

...

I don't think the book was very good. It didn't have any tension at all. It is an anti war book that didn't show the really bad sides of war. I think it shows how thinks that happened not only in war but mostly in his family and surrounding screw up his life. I wouldn't want to read it.

This is a serious book about war seemly hidden by Vonnegut. The book jumps around a good bit, as the main character is unstuck in time. Because of this and the lack of character interaction, many people may find the book a hard read. However, the book is well worth the effort. It certainly gave me a new perspective on conventional war.

This is a great little book. It's the story of Billy Pilgrim, a kind of awkward nobody who floats through life without really living it, and who becomes successful in spite of himself.

There are two main themes in the book. The first has to do with the way Billy's perspective on life is affected by his ability to travel through time. The book too jumps between periods in his life, revealing a bit more about Billy's life with each jump. Billy is eventually abducted by aliens who tell him that time travel isn't a strange thing at all; the aliens can see time all at once as a sort of panorama. They even know how the universe will end. This may explain Billy's way of life: he never takes action because he already knows how it all ends. So do we. In the begining of the book Vonnegut tells us how the book ends. Further, as each character is introduced we get a bit of his future (like how he dies). This technique may seem a bit anticlimactic, but it lets you see life through Billy's time traveling mind. By the end of the book I felt like I didn't care about anything in real life either since I knew how the universe was going to end :)

The second theme is the firebombing of Dresden by the allies. Kurt Vonnegut was there himself and he pops up unobstrusively throughout the book. Billy is completely numbed by the war and by its horrible horrible violence. By the time the bombing starts you've already experienced the petty nature of war, the tiny details that mean the difference between life and death for tired, miserable soldiers. We don't really know who the good guys are. He talks about jews and gypsies being turned into soap by the Nazis with the same dispassionate prose as he uses to describe German civilians being turned to dust by the allies. This theme is especially timely as our leaders prepare to march us into one war after another.

The two themes merge together to make you really feel how insignificant life's problems are, and how important it is to focus on and enjoy the happy times.

A final bonus is that you get all of this in a very efficient dose. The book is short (only ~200 pages); you'll finish it in a day or two, and be ready for your next Vonnegut book.

This deserves every star I gave it. The "and so it goes" after almost every death of anything has great meaning. Vonnegut is refering to the fact that Billy is unstck in time and knows the past as well as the future. Hes saying "so it goes" in connotation to the timeline. Anybody who gave thius book under 5 or 4 stars should read it again. Its a great book and when i finished the last page, realized this. Read it!

Vonnegut based many of his novels on his experiences in World War II. Slaughterhouse Five is probably his most notorious and well recieved novel he has written. Being a big Vonnegut fan, I would not go as far as that. Though it is an incredible book, it is a little toned down and obvious in its social commentary. Vonnegut seems to be less sarcastic in this novel. In contradiction, it could also be argued that this book cannot be as sarcastic because of its serious topic. This book seems to be Vonneguts strongest attempt at a serious and affective anti-war novel. Of cours, Vonnegut does not take the conventional methods to preaching the evils of war. This novel somehow combines time travel, alien abducttions, WWII, along with Billy Pilgrim's, the main character, whole life. Bill becomes unstruck in time and no longer travels in a chronological order. He leaps from moment to moment in his life. Though this idea maybe hard to follow at first, and it is deffinitely difficult to see the relevence of an alien culture that resembles toilet plungers to World War II, the book eventually ties together extremely well. He manages to use these other unrelated topics to help underline his major themes. Whether it is Vonnegut's best or not,it is a brilliant book that I would reccomend to anyone.

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is increadable. It is a book that gets better every time you read it. His style of writting is fast paced and full of things you won't catch the first time. His unique narrative sets this book apart from all other novels I have read and his message is profound. A must read for everyone.

i know im going to enrage a lot of diehard vonnegut fans out there, but i honestly dont think this book is the holy grail its made out to be. its entertaining, original, funny, and even a little educational, but there are better books out there that have gotten less word-of-mouth advertisement. i liked, and i highly recommend it, but not as the modern-classic end-all-beat-all. that honor, in my humble opinion, belongs to thomas pynchon for Gravity's Rainbow.

Slaughterhouse five presents a refreshing view of the time-worn anti-war theme. The novel skillfully blends history, science fiction, and humor to illustrate the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who was never made for war. Slaughterhouse five focuses more on Billy's life than the actually bombing of Dresden to show that war itself is not as dramatic as the people's lives who fought it and were changed by its effects.

If you are deciding whether to read Slaugherhouse five or Catch-22, pick Slaughterhouse five. Though both books are similar in theme, Slaughterhouse five is shorter, easier to follow, and far more amusing and enjoyable than Catch-22.

Slaughterhouse Five is an intersting book which gives science fiction a neat twist. The plot is very hard to follow because of the main characters time traveling. This stream of consiousness book makes you think about life now and after death. But if you are looking for a no brainer easy read this is not the book for you.

I loved the positive spin on this book. The main character is not a typical guy -- through his strange experiences with aliens, soldiers in WWII, family and doctors, he tells his anti-war story convincingly.

A very fast read.

I read this book in Grade 11, because it was recommended to me and is considered to his greatest work. It's not exactly his greatest, but it's way up there. If this book isn't to oyur liking, then maybe Kurt Vonnegut isn't for you. I love it, and ever since I've read it, Vonnegut has become one of my favorite authors.

Slaughterhouse 5 was written by Kurt Vonnegut in 1969. Within the story, Kurt Vonnegut is an author who is writing another story. The Kurt Vonnegut who is a character in the story is writing a book called The Children's Crusade. In The Children's Crusade, Billy Pilgrim is the main character. Vonnegut also makes connections between himself and Billy Pilgrim. Billy Pilgrim is the main character in the story. The first chapter is an introduction to the author, and his reasons for writing The Children's Crusade are explained. Much of The Children's Crusade describes the horrors of World War II, specifically the firebombing of Dresden. Vonnegut had first hand experience with the destruction caused at Dresden, so he had a strong basis for describing the war. Strangely, in The Children's Crusade, Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time", which means that he randomly travels through time to different periods of his life throughout the story. The idea is that Billy has lived his whole life already and died, but now he continues to skip around through different moments which have already passed. Billy spends much of the story going through his experiences at war. He skips around to moments ranging from his life as an optometrist after the war to his abduction by space aliens known as Tralfamadorians. Billy even experiences moments where he is already dead. Both the structure and ideas of the story are intriguing and new to an unsuspecting reader.
I recommend Slaughterhouse 5 because Kurt Vonnegut opens the reader's eyes to many ideas and problems which may not hav