Book Review: Slaughterhouse 5

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Slaughterhouse 5, published in 1969, was the novel that propelled author Kurt Vonnegut into the minds of the masses. Written during the Vietnam war era, it focused on the ugliness of war, time travel, fate, free will and death (a lot of topics for 177 pages). Through Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut channelled his own experiences of World War 2 and specifically being a POW in Dresden when the bombs fell. What he created was a novel rich with black humour, sentimentality and irony, that withstood time and became a staple of American Science Fiction.

What I loved:

The freedom and confidence to write honestly stands out. The book is centred around World War 2 and Vonnegut's own experiences but he expressed his ideas freely. He writes how he wants to write, which is easier said than done. He isn't tied down by the dark subject matter but isn't obscene or tasteless toward events. Great death happened, lives ended but Vonnegut is able to show the human side of war, the unseen elements that history books brush over. It's this freedom to tell war from his perspective that holds the most memorable moments throughout.

The choppiness of the narration is similar to Japanese pulp literature. One minute the story is in Dresden, the next it's in a hospital bed twenty years later, before quickly heading back to Dresden. Sometimes the travelling from different parts of Pilgrim's life happen three or four times on a page. It sounds odd and a recipe for disaster, but it's a testament to Vonnegut's skill that readers never feel lost.

Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, is pretty empty, he watches and doesn't take part, almost like a kid in a Maths class far too difficult for him, but he won't put his hand up and say he's struggling. On initial glances Pilgrim appears to be a literary device, used by Vonnegut to tell his story, but as you dive into the story Pilgrim becomes an embodiment of the Tralfamadorians (aliens who destroy the universe, eventually, but not in this story - sounds wacky but it's not, at least not too much.) philosophy. It is a philosophy that questions fate and free will, think the oracle from The Matrix mixed with the apathy of Dr. Manhattan.

What I didn't love:
It's only 177 pages - when the only negative is it's too sure, you know you've done well.

Summary:

Slaughterhouse 5 is a fun read, showcasing the talents of an author who writes with confidence (TEACH ME!). It says a lot without saying a lot. As a victim of war, writing on war, Vonnegut could have fallen into the Robert Heinlein trap of devoting chapters and chapters of telling the reading why war is wrong, e.g Starship Troopers. Where Vonnegut succeeds is never forgetting that he is telling a story about Billy Pilgrim. He never loses sight of this, and it helps avoid preachiness and random episodes that webbed Heinlein's war based work.

This is a great read if you like humour, succinct writing and a story packed with reflections on society. I mentioned previously about the aliens and time travel, if that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea, I'd still give this book a go. Vonnegut uses these elements to create questions not commonly posed in alien/time travel work.

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allthingsm4tt

Writer of things, meme supplier, semi-occasional six string swordist, sporadic cinema goer and smiler.