(no subject)
Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is one of the most interesting books that I’ve read, ever. The fact that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is my favorite author may have some influence on this statement, but biases aside, Mr. Vonnegut finds an interesting way to portray the horrors of war through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, a prisoner of war during World War II.
The main theme of this book is of the horrors of war, but Vonnegut finds a way to not convey this message through a monotone P.S.A., but through a science-fiction novel about time, space, and Tralfamadorians.
Our hero Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time (reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s latest effort, Timequake), thanks to the omnisciently perceptive inhabitants of planet Tralfamadore. Billy uses the knowledge he has gained from the Tralfamadorians to travel time and reminisce on his life during the war, which according to a hobo who was crammed in a boxcar with him during his capture, wasn’t all that bad. The hobo died in that boxcar, while Billy and a numerous amount of other P.O.W.’s were being transported to Germany, moments after he made that optimistic statement.
I adored the content of this book so much, that I cannot pick out certain highlights, the whole book was a highlight and I just couldn’t put it down.
Nevertheless, Billy Pilgrim does have some entertaining mishaps and misfortunes, along with some fond memories, in his journey through his life and through time. He was shipped out to war, he became an optometrist, he married a fat chick, he assisted a chaplain during the war, he was exhibited in a zoo 446,120,000,000,000,000 miles away from Earth, where he made love with a movie star, he was shot in the head with a laser, he met his favorite author, and he dug the grave of a prisoner of war who stole a teakettle. All at once!
I truly enjoyed this book because of Vonnegut’s writing style. I have trouble following most books because my brain moves at such a speed that I leave them in the dust. Most books stay on one theme, one topic, one place, one time, and progress from there. That’s just so trite and boring. Vonnegut’s writing is the polar opposite. He jumps around from times and dates and settings. It’s so all over the place that it makes no sense as you may be reading it, but by the end of the book it all comes together in such a tightly knit package, that it would be incomplete if it were written by anyone else, in any other way.
I believe that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is one of the most unique, if not one of the best, authors of our time. His way of blending themes and motifs that nobody ever thought could coexist within one book is just so powerful; the style in which he writes is so unique and distinct that it is just so appealing and perfect in every which-way. If I were Rodney Dangerfield’s Composition Professor in the movie, Back To School, I would’ve given him an A+. I think that every single person, on every single planet, in every single universe, should read Slaughterhouse Five, and every other book written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. All at once!
The main theme of this book is of the horrors of war, but Vonnegut finds a way to not convey this message through a monotone P.S.A., but through a science-fiction novel about time, space, and Tralfamadorians.
Our hero Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time (reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s latest effort, Timequake), thanks to the omnisciently perceptive inhabitants of planet Tralfamadore. Billy uses the knowledge he has gained from the Tralfamadorians to travel time and reminisce on his life during the war, which according to a hobo who was crammed in a boxcar with him during his capture, wasn’t all that bad. The hobo died in that boxcar, while Billy and a numerous amount of other P.O.W.’s were being transported to Germany, moments after he made that optimistic statement.
I adored the content of this book so much, that I cannot pick out certain highlights, the whole book was a highlight and I just couldn’t put it down.
Nevertheless, Billy Pilgrim does have some entertaining mishaps and misfortunes, along with some fond memories, in his journey through his life and through time. He was shipped out to war, he became an optometrist, he married a fat chick, he assisted a chaplain during the war, he was exhibited in a zoo 446,120,000,000,000,000 miles away from Earth, where he made love with a movie star, he was shot in the head with a laser, he met his favorite author, and he dug the grave of a prisoner of war who stole a teakettle. All at once!
I truly enjoyed this book because of Vonnegut’s writing style. I have trouble following most books because my brain moves at such a speed that I leave them in the dust. Most books stay on one theme, one topic, one place, one time, and progress from there. That’s just so trite and boring. Vonnegut’s writing is the polar opposite. He jumps around from times and dates and settings. It’s so all over the place that it makes no sense as you may be reading it, but by the end of the book it all comes together in such a tightly knit package, that it would be incomplete if it were written by anyone else, in any other way.
I believe that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is one of the most unique, if not one of the best, authors of our time. His way of blending themes and motifs that nobody ever thought could coexist within one book is just so powerful; the style in which he writes is so unique and distinct that it is just so appealing and perfect in every which-way. If I were Rodney Dangerfield’s Composition Professor in the movie, Back To School, I would’ve given him an A+. I think that every single person, on every single planet, in every single universe, should read Slaughterhouse Five, and every other book written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. All at once!