Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut, Delacorte Press, 1969
Jessica Lillie
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Kurt Vonnegut staked a claim when he wrote this book, creating a melting pot of genres that had never been seen before. He combines science fiction, comedy, and anti-war literature to create a piece of work that is striking in its originality and bleak in its honesty.
Billy Pilgrim is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's the anti-hero hero of the book; he simply wants to survive as best he can in a world that shifts crazily around him. He takes no control over his life or his surroundings; he does what he is told at all times and appears to be a coward because of it.
After surviving the terrible firebombing of Dresden, Billy is sent home, but is kidnapped by aliens - that's right, aliens - to be put into a zoo alongside a model who was also taken from Earth. The Tralfamadores, the aliens who abducted him, let him in on the big joke: human beings are the only creatures in the universe who see time in a straight line.
After this revelation, Billy finds that he can travel in time, but it happens unwillingly. He relives the war again and again; he sees his own death; he visits his childhood; he marries his wife again.
It's hard at times to decide whether or not Vonnegut meant for the book to be taken seriously. It takes a bit of time to decipher what the author is truly saying about war, love, and life as a whole. Once the idea is there, the book comes together and makes sense, deeper and more complex than a light reader could grasp.
The line between fiction and non-fiction is fine in this book. Vonnegut witnessed Dresden himself, and has this to say about the book: "All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his….And so on. I've changed all the names."
It is truly for the reader to decide where this book belongs, but it's well worth the read, if not for the depth than for the comedy and insanity.
Billy Pilgrim is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's the anti-hero hero of the book; he simply wants to survive as best he can in a world that shifts crazily around him. He takes no control over his life or his surroundings; he does what he is told at all times and appears to be a coward because of it.
After surviving the terrible firebombing of Dresden, Billy is sent home, but is kidnapped by aliens - that's right, aliens - to be put into a zoo alongside a model who was also taken from Earth. The Tralfamadores, the aliens who abducted him, let him in on the big joke: human beings are the only creatures in the universe who see time in a straight line.
After this revelation, Billy finds that he can travel in time, but it happens unwillingly. He relives the war again and again; he sees his own death; he visits his childhood; he marries his wife again.
It's hard at times to decide whether or not Vonnegut meant for the book to be taken seriously. It takes a bit of time to decipher what the author is truly saying about war, love, and life as a whole. Once the idea is there, the book comes together and makes sense, deeper and more complex than a light reader could grasp.
The line between fiction and non-fiction is fine in this book. Vonnegut witnessed Dresden himself, and has this to say about the book: "All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his….And so on. I've changed all the names."
It is truly for the reader to decide where this book belongs, but it's well worth the read, if not for the depth than for the comedy and insanity.
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