Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death

It took Vonnegut more than 20 years to put his Dresden experiences into words. He explained, "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again." Slaughterhouse Five is a powerful novel incorporating a number of genres. Only those who have fought in wars can say whether it represents the experience well. However, what the novel does do is invite the reader to look at the absurdity of war. Human versus human, hedonist politicians pressing buttons and ordering millions to their deaths all for ideologies many cannot even comprehend. Flicking between the US, 1940's Germany and Tralfamadore, Vonnegut's semi- autobiographical protagonist Billy Pilgrim finds himself very lost. One minute he is being viewed as a specimen in a Tralfamadorian Zoo, the next he is wandering a post-apocalyptic city looking for corpses. Slaughterhouse Five-Or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death is a remarkable blend of black humour, irony, the truth and the absurd. The author regards his work a "failure", millions of readers do not. Released the same time bombs were falling on South East Asia, this title caused controversy and awakening. Essential reading for all. So it goes. --Jon Smith

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strong but incoherent - Rated
A powerful book and consistently interesting to read.

But ultimately if someone is a time traveller and is present equally at all moments in their life and knows what will happen at all moments in their life and ALSO lives their life as if they were NOT a time traveller sometimes (ie have SOME ordinary human reactions) and AS IF they were a time traveller at other times (ie look at life sub specie aeternitatis...well this does not add up...

A work of genius - Rated
I finished this book on a sunny afternoon. It was one of the most powerful books I have ever read, it doesn't matter if you have an appreciation of WW2 or not. Everyone should have to read this book.

It grew on me. - Rated
Another of my book club's suggestions and not my normal thing.

At first I didn't like this, i thought the lead character was a little bit strange and i didn't identify with him at first. The writing style could also be quite annoying with the narrative skipping from present day, to his time in the zoo, to WW2 and the continual "So it goes." after every death.

It wasn't until my friend Caroline pointed out the metaphor that it suddenly all made sense for me! Rather than a straight forward story it was of a mans descent into madness and how he dealt with what he had seen. Suddenly It all became clear and I loved the other metaphors and characters representations.

Definatly one to make you think and quite enjoyable even if it leaves you thinking "Huh?"

One of the best - Rated
One of the most unique and best American novels ever.Massive impact and influence.A true human classic.

A cool (not classic) book about the war - Rated
How can you write a book about a massacre without dramatizing or glorifying war?

That was the dilemma Kurt Vonnegut faced when he decided to write about his experience as a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII. He wanted to tell three stories: how he went to war and became a prisoner in Dresden, Germany (and worked at the Slaughterhouse 5, hence the title!), how Dresden was completely destroyed even though it posed no threat or strategic importance and about the American soldier that survived the battles and the bombing of Dresden just to be executed for stealing a tea pot. So it goes!

So we follow the story of Billy Pilgrim, a soldier by accident that is also a war prisoner at Dresden. Billy is "unstuck in time" so as he travels back and forth through his life, his story is told the same way with snippets from various significant events. We learn he's a successful optometrist, married with 2 kids, was once abducted by Trafalmadorians and spent 7 years in their human zoo, survived the Dresden bombing and even survived a plane crash later in his life. His daughter thinks he's crazy because he decided to tell everyone about his outer-space experience and how death doesn't mean anything because somewhere in time, the dead person still alive. So every time we hear about a dead person, it's followed by a "so it goes" from Billy. His daughter believes that he's gone cuckoo because of the plane crash but she also blames his friend that writes the sci-fi books that coincidentally narrates stories very similar to Billy's experiences.

The whole book is written in what I classify as half diary and half rant. It's almost like "Sophie's World" meets "On the Road". Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds! But one thing I appreciate is the fact that the book flows without having a linear storyline and it doesn't dwell on the same things over and over - even on key events. It's extremely easy to read. It's intriguing and very comical, which can make you feel a bit guilty because the book is about the war. So I guess the author managed to tell us about what he experienced during the war, made a point that they were all just kids being sent to a pointless death.