Product Description
Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.
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Amazon.com Review
Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden. Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "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..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor.
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 On Another Level ( danhermann )
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.
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Like Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. ( spacegrassman )
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.
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A highly creative and simultaneously amusing and thought-provoking novel that hammers home its themes; "A-" ( robert_wade )
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.
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 Fun, Subtle War Bashing
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.
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One of the best
This is one of the best books I have ever read. If you have a room temperature IQ it may be a confusing novel, but other wise it is a true master piece.
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