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Ethan reads the ENTIRE book an a near monotone WHISPER. When I saw Ethan Hawke was the reader for this classic, I couldn't wait to check it out. When I brought it home and hit play, I was confused. I don't know if he was whispering because it was a stylistic choice, or because he wanted to save his voice, but it ruined the book. As a comparison, there is a clip of Vonnegut reading after a short interview at the end of the book, and it was a tremendous improvement.I was heartborken such a gifted actor delivered such a terrible reading.Do not buy.
Fantastic. I've read everything this man ever published and have never been disappointed. What a great mind.Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel
It just happens. Though we learn of this attack we also learn about Billys life as a whole, such as his wife that loves him much more than he seems to love her. He reminds me a bit of Forrest Gump. Originally it sounded more like I was jumping into the middle of a series of cheesy horror books but after minimal research I learned a bit more about the plot.This book follows a man named Billy Pilgrim.
I know he talks about his experience in the first chapter, I still wasn't sure originally if that was fiction or not. Vonnegut really did witness many horrors in his life including the attack on Dresden. Lately I've been on a sci-fi kick and somebody at my work recommended this book, Slaughterhouse Five. Occasionally he travels to Tralfamadore, a planet many light years away. Okay, I have to admit something else - when I first started reading this book I didn't know much about Vonnegut.
even though the writing style is simple (and brilliant I might add) I was able to pick up that this book really meant something to the author. Billy has a special ability, he can travel through time, through different parts of his life - though he is unable to do it intentionally. Here he is in a zoo, behind bars. Vonnegut is a master at the metaphor and you learn that he uses sci-fi as a vehicle for something much greater.
I'll admit, I'm not much of a reader (until fairly recently). I didn't know of his history. About 30 pages in I started noticing something. I started doing some more research on Vonnegut and I learned that it was in fact a fact. Billy was behind German lines during the Battle of the Buldge when he was taken prisoner and placed in a slaughterhouse (hence the name of the book). This book is simple, yet incredibly brilliant and much deeper then it first seems. Billy is a unique character, a man of few words.
It's amazing how much imagery Vonnegut can pack into a single sentence of simple words. Though the Tralfamadorians like to observe Billy, they also give him sound advice. Billy witnesses one of the most horrific events in recorded history, the attack on Dresden. Suddenly this book really started to make sense.Sure, this book can be classified as sci-fi but there are a lot of truths in there. I've read books that communicate a lot less with many more words.When I read something better (if ever) I will update this review, until then this is the best book I have ever read.
The most vivid memories come from Pilgrim's time spent in the war. Rather than focusing on living in his present life, though, Billy is constantly moving in and out of time in the search for why things are happening. In doing so, he created what could be considered one of the most innovative and successful works of literature of the modern age.Vonnegut's main character, Pilgrim, has the ability to "come unstuck in time." He has learned how to move in between memories of the past and visions of the future. Vonnegut took a creative risk by writing a novel that could be categorized as both science fiction and historical. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is a well known American classic. Why us for that matter. Billy, unlike most people, is given the opportunity to not only reflect on the different parts of his life, but also relive them. In my opinion, Slaughterhouse Five succeeds in conquering the eternal question of time.
He has to learn, like the Tralfamadorians already have, that the reason that something is happening is not important, it is just the fact that it is happening. Pilgrim also has "memories" of his time spent in the future on a planet called Tralfamadore, a planet where he is taken after he abducted by aliens who enjoy keeping him as a type of pet to study. It provides a look into the future, a peek into the past, and a narration of a portion of the present life of Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist and unlikely hero. He has been given a gift, but he is unable to take each moment as its own. He has many horrific reminiscences of being herded into Dresden, which, through his time travels, he knew would be destroyed. Vonnegut smoothly transitions between these two sets of recollections by Therefore, Vonnegut's work seems less like choppy satirical anecdotes, and more like a fluid story. Instead of thinking like and Earthling, Pilgrim must learn not to ask, as he does in the beginning: "Why you. Why anything." and just accept that the answer to all his questions of time is merely: "Because this moment simply is."
This presents an interesting viewpoint for a novel about war. The protagonist was actually underground during the bombings, and the reader only really sees the after-effects. On this journey the reader follows an unlikely hero, Billy Pilgrim, through his travels from Dresden to an alien planet, Tralfmadore, and back again--in no particular order. In this light, the question faced is, what then is the purpose of killing.
Though it is an antiwar novel, and is about the bombing of Dresden--one of the worst, if not the worst, bombings in history--it has a lighthearted tone, and does not really focus on the events of the bombing itself. Slaughterhouse-Five is an epic journey through time, space, and the human mind. It makes the reader wonder about the meaning of death, and war. Reading the novel, Vonnegut seems to be throwing ideas and concepts randomly at the pages. Vonnegut's antiwar sentiment is not found in gruesome details of the horrors of war, but in the way he presents his views on choices and fate.
If people would have been able to see the horror of the bombing of Dresden beforehand, does that mean that they would have done anything, or could have done anything to stop it. It is difficult to follow, and needs to be really thought about to understand (I'm not even sure if I still understand it). The events of the novel--though seemingly random--give an insight into the meaning of war, and the human experience. If it truly means nothing, then why is it done. Billy learns--while on Tralfmadore--that time is not what he thinks it is, and that humans are, in a sense, timeless.
Therefore, because time does not have a hold on people, what happens is decided more by fate than any choices they make. The author says that massacre's are meaningless, and then conveys this through his views on humanity in an interesting and incredibly intriguing style. The beauty of the message of the novel is found in so many strange details that do not seem to connect, but that somehow create a web of intertwining ideas and messages that, when looked at from afar, creates a picture of war as it truly relates to the human experience.
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