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Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut

Published: 1999-01-12
Paperback : 288 pages
8 members reading this now
35 clubs reading this now
14 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 3 members
Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing 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 fear ...
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Introduction

Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing 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 fear most.

Editorial 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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Member Reviews

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by kelly o. (see profile) 10/13/19

 
by Marsha D. (see profile) 08/28/19

 
  "Slaughterhouse 5"by John L. (see profile) 01/09/11

 
  "War is Insanity"by Shari M. (see profile) 07/06/10

An easy read which switches between moments in Billy Pilgrims life on Earth and Tralfamadore, sanity, insanity & the effects of war. Thought-provoking but not preachy, humorous but not funny, sad but not... (read more)

 
  "Brilliant"by Pamela K. (see profile) 02/19/10

Vonnegut is brilliant all of the time, but this book in particular because it touches on his reality.

 
  "Mind-bending storytelling that blends science fiction with a sort of metafictional consciousness."by Sandra S. (see profile) 11/30/07

For such a famous book, Slaughterhouse-Five is extremely easy to read while being richly layered. Note that its subtitle is very important: The Children's Crusade, a Duty-Dance with Death.

... (read more)

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