Slaughterhouse Five is a difficult book to start into. Vonnegut chooses to use meta narrative when writing the book, where he distributes the narration to himself and the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, as he travels through time. This can be confusing when you are trying to figure out who is talking. The split narrative is the biggest obstacle in reading Slaughterhouse Five, but once one overcomes it, the book is an enjoyable read. I would recommend it, not only because it is a classic, but because it makes the reader think about the points that Vonnegut is trying to make, and one must consider what he is warning through this novel.
There are many things to be said about this novel. Firstly i would say not to let the first chapter throw you off. It is almost completely aside from the real plot of the book and is merely Vonnegut narrating his experiences. Vonnegut also interjects throughout the novel. This novel can get confusing at times as well through the constant changes of setting so read closely or you will miss a lot.
Slaughterhouse Five, the magnum opus of Kurt Vonnegut, is one of the best books, in my opinion, that you will read during this course. It’s unconventional style may bias it’s audience however this style helps illustrate the major point of the novel. To show that time is not linear. It has one over reaching narrative illustrated and supported by many short episodes from the protagonist’s life. The sentence structure is short and blunt, which is similar to the narrative style. So to conclude the book may only be appreciated if the writing style is appreciated as well.
Slaugherhouse Five is a fantastic book that is an easy read and is hilarious. There is some profanity, as in the "f" word is used a lot and there are some sexual themes. Luckily, the sexual themes are not described in great detail so there really isn't anything to worry about. The narrations do change and the book is in constant time travel. You can easily tell the difference between the narrators however, the time traveling could get you a bit confused. Usually, the narrator will tell you when the main character is going back in time or going into the future and they will tell you the date and where the place is so that so much of a problem. Other than that the book is amazing and really puts a great perspective on the mind and how it behaves after its seen the horrors of war. Just as a side note, the author Kurt Vonnegut served in WWII and was in Dresden when the bombing occurred. If I were you, I would research the Children's Crusade and the Bombing of Dresden while reading the book. Actually, just look up any book that Vonnegut mentions and I guarantee you will understand the book more and more.
Slaughterhouse Five is a hard book to get into. Written in short sentences and simple drawl its pretty easy to breeze through without really taking anything in. Even though it just seems like a crazy man rambling about the war, this book has some deep meaning. Again, you need to pay close attention while reading because Vonnegut switches between multiple time periods and narrators.
If you really want to understand the novel its a good idea to do some background research on WW1 and Dresden.
This book is incredibly entertaining. The first chapter of the book hints at certain things, so pay attention, even though it is mainly unimportant. The best part of the book is the fact that it becomes more and more exciting with every turn of events. The part that makes it entertaining as that weirder and weirder things happen, drawing up more and more until the climax. Occasionally it does not make sense, because of the raw oddity, but it is not very difficult to comprehend. Some of the aspects that may annoy/bother the reader is the constant direct reference to 'strange' aspects such as the constant profanity and immense amount of sexual/bodily reference and also the constant 'pointing out' of irony. The latter is the only thing that stops the reader from being hooked for hours.
After reading the first chapter of the novel you will be completely lost. Try to pretend the first chapter of the book is actually the second. The story moves around to different times and events with the main character Billy. This is hard to read because once you start getting into one part of the story and then it switches to another time and place. There are two narrators within the novel but they are easy to distinguish. The phrase, "so it goes" is repeated so frequently that you will never want to here it again. The only very interesting concept in the novel is time. It questions if anyone is really dead because they are alive at some point in time. The end is disappointing. There is no rapping up of the stories and you feel like there is still more that is needed to be said.
Slaughterhouse Five is a difficult book to start into. Vonnegut chooses to use meta narrative when writing the book, where he distributes the narration to himself and the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, as he travels through time. This can be confusing when you are trying to figure out who is talking. The split narrative is the biggest obstacle in reading Slaughterhouse Five, but once one overcomes it, the book is an enjoyable read. I would recommend it, not only because it is a classic, but because it makes the reader think about the points that Vonnegut is trying to make, and one must consider what he is warning through this novel.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things to be said about this novel. Firstly i would say not to let the first chapter throw you off. It is almost completely aside from the real plot of the book and is merely Vonnegut narrating his experiences. Vonnegut also interjects throughout the novel. This novel can get confusing at times as well through the constant changes of setting so read closely or you will miss a lot.
ReplyDeleteSlaughterhouse Five, the magnum opus of Kurt Vonnegut, is one of the best books, in my opinion, that you will read during this course. It’s unconventional style may bias it’s audience however this style helps illustrate the major point of the novel. To show that time is not linear. It has one over reaching narrative illustrated and supported by many short episodes from the protagonist’s life. The sentence structure is short and blunt, which is similar to the narrative style. So to conclude the book may only be appreciated if the writing style is appreciated as well.
ReplyDeleteSlaugherhouse Five is a fantastic book that is an easy read and is hilarious. There is some profanity, as in the "f" word is used a lot and there are some sexual themes. Luckily, the sexual themes are not described in great detail so there really isn't anything to worry about. The narrations do change and the book is in constant time travel. You can easily tell the difference between the narrators however, the time traveling could get you a bit confused. Usually, the narrator will tell you when the main character is going back in time or going into the future and they will tell you the date and where the place is so that so much of a problem. Other than that the book is amazing and really puts a great perspective on the mind and how it behaves after its seen the horrors of war. Just as a side note, the author Kurt Vonnegut served in WWII and was in Dresden when the bombing occurred. If I were you, I would research the Children's Crusade and the Bombing of Dresden while reading the book. Actually, just look up any book that Vonnegut mentions and I guarantee you will understand the book more and more.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSlaughterhouse Five is a hard book to get into. Written in short sentences and simple drawl its pretty easy to breeze through without really taking anything in. Even though it just seems like a crazy man rambling about the war, this book has some deep meaning. Again, you need to pay close attention while reading because Vonnegut switches between multiple time periods and narrators.
ReplyDeleteIf you really want to understand the novel its a good idea to do some background research on WW1 and Dresden.
This book is incredibly entertaining. The first chapter of the book hints at certain things, so pay attention, even though it is mainly unimportant. The best part of the book is the fact that it becomes more and more exciting with every turn of events. The part that makes it entertaining as that weirder and weirder things happen, drawing up more and more until the climax. Occasionally it does not make sense, because of the raw oddity, but it is not very difficult to comprehend. Some of the aspects that may annoy/bother the reader is the constant direct reference to 'strange' aspects such as the constant profanity and immense amount of sexual/bodily reference and also the constant 'pointing out' of irony. The latter is the only thing that stops the reader from being hooked for hours.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first chapter of the novel you will be completely lost. Try to pretend the first chapter of the book is actually the second. The story moves around to different times and events with the main character Billy. This is hard to read because once you start getting into one part of the story and then it switches to another time and place. There are two narrators within the novel but they are easy to distinguish. The phrase, "so it goes" is repeated so frequently that you will never want to here it again. The only very interesting concept in the novel is time. It questions if anyone is really dead because they are alive at some point in time. The end is disappointing. There is no rapping up of the stories and you feel like there is still more that is needed to be said.
ReplyDelete