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.
At Smarter.com, we aim to ensure we give you the most sound buying advice possible. With our 'Cumulative Product Rating' system, in order for a product to receive a rating score, it must have a minimum number of ratings to qualify.
This system is not intended to diminish the value of products with a low number of ratings and reviews, they're great, and hopefully very helpful, but if you want our advice, we want to make sure that the product you're thinking of buying has been rated and reviewed by enough shoppers like you to be a valuable indicator of product quality.
Additional Product Information
- ISBN: 9780385333849
- Manufacturer:N/A
- Reviews: Write a Review
- Shop: Compare prices
696 Reviews
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 29, 2008 Type: User Review |
Complex and Compelling
Vonnegut's novel is about life, thought process, and death set against the author's life experiences in Dresden during WWII and his fictional character, Billy, who we see through memories and partial linear plot line. In my opinion, the story,...
|
 5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 21, 2008 Type: User Review |
Great book....
I have sat here for some time now pondering on what exactly to write, but with so many other reviews, which are excellent, I am left a bit uncreative. Let's just say this is a great book. SL5 was recommended to me in a lit class I took last...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 11, 2008 Type: User Review |
Vintage Science Fiction
This is Kurt Vonnegut's Masterpiece. It achieves everything that good science fiction aspires to achieve. The world of Billy Pilgrim is not to be missed. This definitely has to be one of the greatest science fiction books ever written if not it is...
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 10, 2008 Type: User Review |
Poo-tee-weet
Straightforward Fantasy of Baffling Reality
|
5.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 10, 2008 Type: User Review |
Slaughterhouse 5 Criticism
June 9, 2008
|
 2.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 07, 2008 Type: User Review |
random
I can almost imagine the author sitting at his typewriter, his wallpaper outline in yellow crayon tacked on the wall, typing a line at a time--all the while wondering if this book would ever be finished.
|
 4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 07, 2008 Type: User Review |
The Genius of Reverse Psychology
Set during World War II, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is a humorous antiwar book. Billy Pilgrim is a war veteran who becomes "unstuck in time." He seems to be obsessed with the aliens, called the Tralfamadorians, that supposedly abducted...
|
4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 05, 2008 Type: User Review |
Poo-tee-weet?
|
4.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: Jun 04, 2008 Type: User Review |
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 also...
|
 3.00/5 |
| From: Amazon Posted: May 23, 2008 Type: User Review |
A Great Read
Somehow I was never required to read this in high school or college. I read it shortly after graduating from college and I loved it. It is an engaging and interesting read, and at times can be bizarre and unusual but it is worth every second that...
|
5.00/5 |
Similar Products:
*Shipping costs are based on an estimate of the lowest shipping rate available within the contiguous US, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Only merchants with this product in stock are listed (Merchants with this product back ordered have been removed from this list).
Do you see a pricing error? Please let us know by filling out a simple form: Click here
