Slaughterhouse-Five
Vonnegut is a very polarizing author; you either love him or you hate him. In my opinion, he is a goddamn literary genius and you are tripping balls if you don’t agree. (Side note: you know you are a thorough writer when you perform a little CTRL-F action to make sure you haven’t overused the phrase “tripping balls” in your blog. To my surprise, this is the first time. To your benefit, it won’t be the last). I first introduced this author with my post on Cat's Cradle and I’ve been a little cultishly obsessed every since.
Reasons Vonnegut is the shit:
I’m a big fan of philosophy because, I dunno, it helps explain why we exist, do what we do, think the way we think, and know the things we know. Vonnegut’s shtick is *philosophical fiction*.
He incorporates bizarre science fiction without being all in your face about it.
He loves using an unreliable narrator— a technique in which the person telling us the story isn’t entirely credible, either by their own admission or by the fact that they are too wound up in the plot to notice their own biases. I like this approach because it makes me feel like I’m a part of the fictional journey.
He's a humanist and it shows.
Enough about how awesome I think Vonnegut is and more about this book in particular. Slaughterhouse-Five follows Billy Pilgrim-- a WWII POW in Dresden, Germany when a massive bombing occurs in the city. This was a historical event that happened to Vonnegut himself IRL. Because it’s a war book, there’s speculation as to the meaninglessness of life and usage of fatalistic themes that so often accompany mass-slaughter. While it would be easy to introduce those themes straightforwardly, Vonnegut embodies them in an alien race of Tralfamadorians who, fittingly, live on Tralfamadore. Pilgrim is prone to narcolepsy, and when he falls asleep, he travels in time. At one point, he is captured and transported to Tralfamadore, where they each learn about each other’s way of life. The Tralfamadorian way of life is pretty sick.
Vonnegut is not for everyone, but you should definitely give him a try. Cat's Cradle is excellent, but I’ll give Slaughterhouse-Five a slight edge—although that might just be the recency effect. Both books earn the coveted 5 out of 5 flames and should be a staple of any bookshelf.
PS: I’ve reviewed a few more Vonnegut books since this review. I don’t feel like linking out to them, so you can use the handy search feature if you want.
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