Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Slaughterhouse-Five

I tore through this book in less than 24 hours and absolutely loved it. When I picked up this classic, all I knew was that it was anti-war and centered on the destruction of Dresden, which piqued my interest immediately. What I didn't know was that Kurt Vonnegut would use science fiction and time travel to drive his point home. This book is semi-autobiographical and draws off of his experiences as a real-life prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II, which was interesting to consider while reading this book. While the characters were not real, they were based on people he knew, and that made it all the more interesting to consider what happened in the book and the toll that war took on these characters. The Tralfamadorian philosophy in this book was interesting to consider and clashed with a lot of the ways I was thinking about the story, and considering that way of thinking can provide a numbing viewpoint to the concept of war, especially a large destruction like the one that occurred in Dresden near the end of the war. This book was challenging and got me thinking about the philosophy of war, free will, and death all at once. I now understand why this is such a popular novel and a classic that will live on for so long. I loved the writing style and both the humor and darkness behind the book. I appreciate Vonnegut writing this novel over two decades after his real experiences as a POW, and I was surprised to see the portrayal of PTSD symptoms in the post-war sections as well. It is difficult to discuss the book, as it occurred in a non-linear fashion and constantly tore me all across Billy Pilgrim's life, but as you travel throughout the decades, the main themes start to come out and portray the big picture that Vonnegut is portraying. This is one of my favorite classics that I have read, and it makes me want to consider dipping into science fiction more frequently. I was pleasantly surprised by my love for the book, and not for the reasons why I initially decided to read it.

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miniingrid's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

imogenclendinning's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Banned Books Week 2023

The OG Everything Everywhere All at Once but of the horrors of war, death, and dehumanization, C-PTSD, depression, suicide ideation, aliens, and what even tf fuck is time? It also goes hard on how the US is a danger to itself and others, and well, I can see why war mongers, pro-2A people, capitalists and the like absolutely hate this book lol. I personally didn't see the funny in this (I was aware of the satire but instead of wanting to laugh I wanted to cry; this book is horrifyingly sad) and it wasn't an enjoyable read to me, but, I still appreciate what KVJR set out to do with it and haters gonna hate but he was spitting facts left and right idk what to tell yall.

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ruby_mae_read's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective fast-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

3.75

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ssoha's review against another edition

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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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josieruby1's review against another edition

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3.75

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redbeanm0chi's review against another edition

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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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