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A review by myweereads
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
5.0
“All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber.”
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the story about Billy Pilgrim, a person who survives the worst holocaust of World War II. Years on he finds himself time travelling and is kidnapped by aliens. Through this he begins to see the reality of life and death and shares it with the people of Earth.
A true modern classic, although first published in 1969, I find it eerie at how it speaks of the condition of the world today. Vonnegut is know for his satirical style of writing which is very much present in this book. I particularly liked the sci-fi element of this story. There are various themes that challenge ones perceptions about what is going on around them. The constant back and forth structure of the book is one that troubles a lot of readers, Ive never found it hard to follow.
The protagonist Billy becomes unstuck in time and begins to live random moments of his life including him being in a slaughterhouse, psychiatric hospital and being kidnapped by aliens and put naked in a zoo exhibit. All of this sounds crazy and comical and what Vonnegut has done is to use this humour to explain the realities of war and society today. What I find ironic is that he’s an optometrist, this can be perceived as him being the vision of the world through what he tries to preach to the people of Earth.
The main messages that speak out from this novel is about Vonnegut’s view on irrationality, self - destruction and our own inhumanity. “And so it goes..” is a phrase used several times throughout this book and it refers to attitudes towards the fact that some things just are and have to happen.
This cleverly written novel will always go down as one of my favourites by Vonnegut and I challenge everybody to read this banned book to gage a vision of the world Billy Pilgrim lived in and compare it to the one you live in today.
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the story about Billy Pilgrim, a person who survives the worst holocaust of World War II. Years on he finds himself time travelling and is kidnapped by aliens. Through this he begins to see the reality of life and death and shares it with the people of Earth.
A true modern classic, although first published in 1969, I find it eerie at how it speaks of the condition of the world today. Vonnegut is know for his satirical style of writing which is very much present in this book. I particularly liked the sci-fi element of this story. There are various themes that challenge ones perceptions about what is going on around them. The constant back and forth structure of the book is one that troubles a lot of readers, Ive never found it hard to follow.
The protagonist Billy becomes unstuck in time and begins to live random moments of his life including him being in a slaughterhouse, psychiatric hospital and being kidnapped by aliens and put naked in a zoo exhibit. All of this sounds crazy and comical and what Vonnegut has done is to use this humour to explain the realities of war and society today. What I find ironic is that he’s an optometrist, this can be perceived as him being the vision of the world through what he tries to preach to the people of Earth.
The main messages that speak out from this novel is about Vonnegut’s view on irrationality, self - destruction and our own inhumanity. “And so it goes..” is a phrase used several times throughout this book and it refers to attitudes towards the fact that some things just are and have to happen.
This cleverly written novel will always go down as one of my favourites by Vonnegut and I challenge everybody to read this banned book to gage a vision of the world Billy Pilgrim lived in and compare it to the one you live in today.