Slaughterhouse-Five
Unstuck in time, Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut's shattered survivor of the Dresden bombing, relives his life over and over again under the gaze of aliens; he comes at last to some understanding of the human comedy. The basis of George Roy's great 1972 film and 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. 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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Smarter Choice
Launched in November, Dell s Kurt Vonnegut reissue program continues with one of the world s great anti-war books.... |
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Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
Pages: 288, Edition: Reissue, Paperback, Dial Press Trade Paperback |
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Paperback, Slaughterhouse-five: A...
General Fiction - Unstuck in time, Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut's shattered survivor of the Dresden bombing, relives his... |
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ProductReviews85/100 (100 Reviews)
Recent Reviews
- 2/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Sep-28-2009
- No Cat's Cradle
This is my third Vonnegut book. The first I read was Cat's Cradle, which to this day is my second favorite book (after Catch-22). I then tried Breakfast of Champions, which I strongly disliked. I was hoping this book would be more...
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- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Sep-21-2009
- Classy Science Fiction with WW II Destruction of Dresden
Slaughterhouse-Five is a deep book that can be read on many levels. On the surface, it's a science fiction tale that deals with a man, Billy Pilgrim, who was purportedly abducted by aliens and can become "unstuck" in time, and can move...
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- 5/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jul-07-2009
- Not just a fantasy
Where to begin? I feel that many of the reviewers have already captured the essence of this novel, but I also feel compelled to add to it.. after all, how can one not?Typically, I have not been a fan of science fiction/fantasy books,...
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- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jul-02-2009
- Interesting read
I saw this book on several different `must read' lists and decided to see what the hype was all about. Vonnegut has a unique style of writing which keeps the reader on their toes. At first, his jumping around annoyed me until I got...
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Selected Reviews
- 4/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Sep-21-2009
- Classy Science Fiction with WW II Destruction of Dresden
Slaughterhouse-Five is a deep book that can be read on many levels. On the surface, it's a science fiction tale that deals with a man, Billy Pilgrim, who was purportedly abducted by aliens and can become "unstuck" in time, and can move...
- read full review | report as inappropriate
- 3/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Jun-04-2008
- I can see why it's a classic, but . . .
Okay--so the juxtaposition of war, time travel, and alien abduction was certainly inventive, and the Vonnegut's deadpan frankness in dealing with the book's subject matter would have been fairly revolutionary for the time. The book is...
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- 2/5
- From: Amazon
- Posted: Sep-28-2009
- No Cat's Cradle
This is my third Vonnegut book. The first I read was Cat's Cradle, which to this day is my second favorite book (after Catch-22). I then tried Breakfast of Champions, which I strongly disliked. I was hoping this book would be more...
- read full review | report as inappropriate
