Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

61 reviews

ssoha's review

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Rape, and War

josieruby1's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Animal death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

redbeanm0chi's review

3.75

At the start of the book the frank and brutal description of horrible things felt like being hit with a brick, but there’s almost like there’s no space for sadness or mourning here when everything is happening at once or all out of order. The constant repetition of “so it goes” no matter how sad or gruesome the death was, made the deaths seem insignificant almost. I was pretty numb by the end.

“You’ll pretend you were men instead of babies, and you’ll be played in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war-loving, dirty old men. And war will look just wonderful, so we’ll have a lot more of them. And they’ll be fought by babies like the babies upstairs.”

The kind of first-person, omnipotent narrator who is kinda the author and kinda not was actually super interesting to read. I applaud Vonnegut for finding such a good way to write a book that reflects the chaotic mosaic of ptsd and trauma. I always feel like it’s interesting to see and process the most human experiences and feelings through the lens of sci-fi and fantasy.

“It had to be done,” Rumfoord told Billy, speaking of the destruction of Dresden.

“I know. I’m not complaining.”

“It must have been hell on the ground.”

“It was,” said Billy Pilgrim.

“Pity the men who had to do it.”

“I do.”

“You must have had mixed feelings, there on the ground.” 

“It was all right,” said Billy. “Everything is all right, and everybody has to do exactly what he does. I learned that on Tralfamadore.”

The writing style is absolutely monotonous and flat throughout the entire book; a neutral observation. I can see how it could be boring to read for many, but I didn’t mind it. It felt purposeful and contributed to a mood that suited the fatalistic topics.

“Why me?”

“That’s a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?”

“Yes.” …

“Well here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.”

“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”

Maybe if we were like the trapfamadorians it could all be beautiful and death would be meaningless, but we aren’t. And it isn’t. 

“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.

And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like “Poo-tee-weet?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Animal cruelty, and Violence

lucyselim's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I think I enjoyed it. I'm a little confused and turning over the main themes of the book in my head still. I don't usually enjoy philosophical and vague stories, so I did not think this would be for me, but I'm glad for the experience. 

I spent most of the book assuming that it was the thoughts and ramblings of Billy's brain after his 'death'. The Tralfamadorian's philosophy that you don't really die made me think that perhaps after dying on earth you simply relive your life over and over in a time-travelling way. But then towards the end I felt the book hinting that this was really all in Billy's imagination. Either way, it doesn't really matter.

I do wish there had been more written about Billy's time on Tralfamadore and with Montana though.

Overall, this was definitely an interesting and thought provoking book that I think will always sit a little funny with me, but it was good for me to read outside of my comfort zone. 

So it goes.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Antisemitism, Genocide, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

megb64's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Violence, Torture, Gore, Excrement, Death, Confinement, Gun violence, Grief, and Genocide

Moderate: Infidelity, Animal death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, and Vomit

brainstewww's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Vonnegut's usual dark humor shines through in this powerful anti-war novel. This is unlike most of the books I usually read, but I knew I liked Vonnegut's work, so I was quick to pick it up AND quick to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, War, and Death

Minor: Body shaming, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Murder, Classism, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

reachingforstardust's review

dark funny slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal cruelty

frogpants's review

dark funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Mental illness, War, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Confinement

Minor: Car accident

dlsmk's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Torture, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Gore, Death, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Excrement, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

cptnstphy's review

adventurous dark funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It took me a while to get into it, but I was pleased when it clicked for me. It went from “this is a bit too odd for me without enough reward to get over it” to “alright I see what Vonnegut is doing here! I’m on board” 
I found the main character Billy’s experience of time and space very interesting and worth contemplating, even if just to pull ourselves out of our always-linear understanding of time. I also enjoy some fantasy and worldbuilding, so his recollections of the alien planet were creative and well-received. 
I did also appreciate the moral undercurrent to things that he says that are expressed as casual but read as subtly poignant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, War, Animal cruelty, Genocide, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Pregnancy