Reviews with content warning for Death - Slaughterhouse-Five

I read Slaughterhouse-Five for the first time in high school. I found all of Vonnegut's work at the time to be highly compelling, to the point where for my senior quote in high school I chose the quote that is prominently featured in The Sirens of Titan. It is worth mentioning here that I also consider the period from midway through my junior year of high school until the start of my junior year of college to be the absolute lowest point I have experienced or likely will ever experience in my life.

I reread Slaughterhouse-Five in advance of a trip to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. I am glad that I did. It definitely enhanced the museum exhibits to see, for example, the ceremonial WWII saber that Vonnegut took home from his service on display (not particularly called out at the museum as such, but mentioned multiple times in the book).

I also found Slaughterhouse-Five to say much more about trauma and stress than I remembered. It may make sense that I didn't remember this - see above re lowest point in my life when I first read it - for all that I experienced stress and trauma as a teenager, I don't remember a lot from then anymore. A naive assumption one might hold about trauma is that Billy revisits the worst times in his life over and over. Instead, he travels at random through things that definitely happened in his life and things that might not have, a much more nuanced metaphor for feeling adrift and like agency has been taken from you in the wake of a traumatic experience. I was also reminded, having also read The Body Keeps The Score less than a year ago, of how recent our modern mental health constructs are and how post-traumatic stress treatment was not really available to Vonnegut's generation.

Overall - the book is fairly short, it's not satisfying and it's not meant to be. It does a good job of capturing a specific mood, and is worth reading for that even though it's not a pleasant mood.

Content Warnings

philippmk's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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dannymonty's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m not a quick reader but I flew through this novel by my standards. This is a profoundly strange, yet ambitious work that is great food for thought. I liked Cats Cradle a bit more, but I see why this one is the more famous novel.

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levtitticus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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alexisvana's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny fast-paced

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

4.25

I don't have much to say other than I'm quite excited to reread this one.

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worrski's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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frogreads_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-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

4.25

I liked this book even though I didn't understand it at times. A lot of the unstuck time stuff felt like ptsd to me, which at the time was not a disorder yet. Theres a couple of mentions of race, class, and gentrification earlier on that I liked. The antiwar sentiments are both covert and overt at times. I like how he used the fictional writers/books & addresses. A lot of parts in this book tied back to things mentioned earlier, it really becomes a tangled web of the protagonist mind.

I understand why this book is often chosen to be read in school. It was a good and compelling read and i tend to dislike historical fiction. The time jump aspect really made it so interesting to read. Full of black humor and irony.

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honey_buns's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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