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worstarchitect's review
3.0
This was good. Not particularly charmed by the whole framing device with the time travel aliens. Funny and clever at points, my favorite parts were the ones in first person. So it goes.
introbat's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
tobes44's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
pssworded's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lochnessmister's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
emma_liz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rsuray's review against another edition
4.0
My second time reading through "Slaughterhouse-Five", and my overall ending question remains the same: is Tralfamadore real, and is Billy really able to time travel? Or is it all a giant parallel to the Bombing of Dresden and other war experiences, and "time travel" is really just a way for Billy to cope with the war and his PTSD flashbacks later in life? Thankfully, and the mark of a good novel, Vonnegut doesn't supply you with the answer. In fact, by making himself a character in the story, he seems to emphasize the possibility that Billy's experiences are real. Through each read-through of the novel, I have tended to side with the thought that Billy imagines Tralfamadore to cope with bad situations in life. However, this is the only Vonnegut that I've read so far, and I understand that he pulls the planet and its alien inhabitants into other novels....so I could very well be misunderstanding the intention of Tralfamadore. If anything, "Slaughterhouse-Five" is fun satire of a war that is hardly ever satirized.
yikesonspikes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Recently, I felt nostalgic to read something Anthony Bourdain read and loved. I decided Vonnegut's work would be a safe choice compared to other authors Bourdain loved. So, I listened to Slaughterhouse-Five, narrated by Ethan Hawke. Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who is too young and small to be a soldier. He was never armed and was instead given the position of assistant to a chaplain. He was stationed at the front, became a prisoner of war, and was sent to Dresden just before the Allied forces bombed it. He somehow survived. When he returned to his hometown of Illium in upstate New York, he became an optometrist, husband, and father.
Throughout the novel, Pilgrim traveled in time due to his relationship with the Tralfamadorians, aliens who experience time like we humans experience space. For Tralfamadorians, time can be easily traversed. I was left wondering if, in the context of the book, Pilgrim experienced alien abduction or if he had a mental breakdown and continued to experience PTSD psychosis episodes related to his time in the war. The anachronistic telling of his life helps build confusion and an engaging portrayal of Pilgrim's psyche. Despite the narrator's insistence that the events in the book occurred, I believe we, as readers, are meant to feel unsure of the veracity of Pilgrim's story; the important part is that it was Pilgrim's lived reality.
Slaughterhouse-Five is classic American fiction. While the world was burning, Pilgrim disassociated and lived through the most horrific bombing in Europe with his naivete intact. There is something terrible, beautiful, and funny about Billy Pilgrim. For me, the repetition of "so it goes" was humorous, then annoying, but ultimately landed on meditative. Everything happens in Slaughterhouse-Five as in life, not as it should, but just as it does. So it goes.
Throughout the novel, Pilgrim traveled in time due to his relationship with the Tralfamadorians, aliens who experience time like we humans experience space. For Tralfamadorians, time can be easily traversed. I was left wondering if, in the context of the book, Pilgrim experienced alien abduction or if he had a mental breakdown and continued to experience PTSD psychosis episodes related to his time in the war. The anachronistic telling of his life helps build confusion and an engaging portrayal of Pilgrim's psyche. Despite the narrator's insistence that the events in the book occurred, I believe we, as readers, are meant to feel unsure of the veracity of Pilgrim's story; the important part is that it was Pilgrim's lived reality.
Slaughterhouse-Five is classic American fiction. While the world was burning, Pilgrim disassociated and lived through the most horrific bombing in Europe with his naivete intact. There is something terrible, beautiful, and funny about Billy Pilgrim. For me, the repetition of "so it goes" was humorous, then annoying, but ultimately landed on meditative. Everything happens in Slaughterhouse-Five as in life, not as it should, but just as it does. So it goes.
hudikatz's review
4.0
Confusing in a great way. Ending wrapped it up beautifully. Loved the moral muddling of dresden bombing at the end w harvard professor, easily my favorite part