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juushikaTitle: Slaughterhouse-Five
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Published: Dell Publishing, New York: 1999
Pages: 275
Total pages: 1913
Text number: 8
Read for: Themes in Apocalyptic Literature course
In brief: "A forth-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 tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet of Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace." (from the book's title page)
This is Kurt Vonnegut.
Slaughterhouse-Five is a dark comedy, an anti-war novel, a pseudo-autobiography, a satire, and a philosophy, and it should be read and interpreted as all that and more. On the surface, this book is a very amusing read: it is fairly short, written in brief episodes that allow it to move quickly; while the author states that it generally lacks a plot it is nonetheless engrossing; most of all, it is humorous and will keep the reader entertained.
The book is also an anti-war novel. Subtitled "The Childrens Crusade" is focuses a great deal on the innocence and helplessness of both the children that fought the War and those that died in the fire-bombing of Dresden. As such, the book has weight in the attrocities it describes and the sympathetic, if comical, portrayal of its helpless main character, Billy Pilgrim.
On yet another level, the book is about the Tralfamadorian philosophy. Billy "time trips," visiting different eras of his life. He is abducted by aliens who see in four dimensions (the fourth being time) and explain to him both what his time travels mean and how they understand the passing of time: "so it goes." People die; so it goes. Dresden is bombed; so it goes. While the book is anti-war, it also understands that the victims of war may not always be able to do anything about it. To them, it recommends an all-encompassing view of life and death (death is merely an appearance, and the individual remains very much alive in the past)—too accept the bad and chose to think about the good.
I have some minor problems with the fatalism of the philosophy, and reading the book can be awkward (reading any satire can be, especially one so capable of presenting humans at their lowest and most pathetic), but Slaughterhouse-Five remains a must-read book. It won't take you long and I guarantee you will get something out of it, so go pick it up.
(And so it goes.)
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Published: Dell Publishing, New York: 1999
Pages: 275
Total pages: 1913
Text number: 8
Read for: Themes in Apocalyptic Literature course
In brief: "A forth-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 tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet of Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace." (from the book's title page)
This is Kurt Vonnegut.
Slaughterhouse-Five is a dark comedy, an anti-war novel, a pseudo-autobiography, a satire, and a philosophy, and it should be read and interpreted as all that and more. On the surface, this book is a very amusing read: it is fairly short, written in brief episodes that allow it to move quickly; while the author states that it generally lacks a plot it is nonetheless engrossing; most of all, it is humorous and will keep the reader entertained.
The book is also an anti-war novel. Subtitled "The Childrens Crusade" is focuses a great deal on the innocence and helplessness of both the children that fought the War and those that died in the fire-bombing of Dresden. As such, the book has weight in the attrocities it describes and the sympathetic, if comical, portrayal of its helpless main character, Billy Pilgrim.
On yet another level, the book is about the Tralfamadorian philosophy. Billy "time trips," visiting different eras of his life. He is abducted by aliens who see in four dimensions (the fourth being time) and explain to him both what his time travels mean and how they understand the passing of time: "so it goes." People die; so it goes. Dresden is bombed; so it goes. While the book is anti-war, it also understands that the victims of war may not always be able to do anything about it. To them, it recommends an all-encompassing view of life and death (death is merely an appearance, and the individual remains very much alive in the past)—too accept the bad and chose to think about the good.
I have some minor problems with the fatalism of the philosophy, and reading the book can be awkward (reading any satire can be, especially one so capable of presenting humans at their lowest and most pathetic), but Slaughterhouse-Five remains a must-read book. It won't take you long and I guarantee you will get something out of it, so go pick it up.
(And so it goes.)
