When I first picked up Slaughterhouse Five, I knew very little about the book. Going in, all I knew was that it was a well-known and generally well-liked book that has to do with World War II, but I quickly realized it was nothing like I had expected. Although the first chapter is narrated by the author, Kurt Vonnegut, and seems normal enough, the rest of the book is very different. Starting from the second chapter, the story told is that of a fictional character Billy Pilgrim, who was also an American soldier in the second World War. It quickly becomes clear that Billy uncontrollably travels through the time within the span of his life due to an encounter with an alien abduction- I was totally not expecting that. The story is relatively confusing to read, especially at first, because the narration follows Billy’s time travel. In my opinion, this causes the story to jump around way too much, which I found annoying to read. Because of the unconventional style of narration, events and details about Billy Pilgrim’s life are revealed in a completely random order, which resulted in a lack of a ‘normal’ story plot. Without the suspense that a distinct rising action and climax lead to in most books, this book would have been easy enough to put down without the urge to find out what will happen later on. Despite relatively simple language, this book was hard to read because there was nothing relatable about any of the characters, of which there were very few to begin with. Told from a third person point of view, narrator focuses on Billy Pilgrim and rarely on any other characters. While his life was very eventful, between the war, alien abduction, plane crash, and his wife and kids, Billy’s feelings are either hidden or nonexistent. For most of the book, it is hard to tell if Billy is indifferent toward everything that happens or if he just doesn’t express his feelings, but there is no explanation to explain why he seems so emotionless. Chances are the average reader can’t relate to surviving the fire bombing of Dresden or being abducted by aliens either, so it is difficult to make any meaningful connection to the main character of this story. One of the few things that I did enjoy about this book was the way that the perspective of the Tralfamadorians, the aliens that abducted Billy, made the reader think. One of these little extraterrestrial creatures told Billy, “All time is time. It does not change… It simply is.” As opposed to the chronological way in which Earthlings view time, the aliens believe that all points in time exist simultaneously. Therefore, they think it is stupid that humans are sad when people die, because as they see it, that same person is alive and well in so many other moments at the same time. It takes a little bit of thinking at first, but it is an interesting perspective to contrast how we see time, and throughout the story, Billy begins to think more and more like the Tralfamadorians. The other topic that these little toilet plunger-shaped aliens have a different perspective on is free will. They tell Billy that they had never known what free will was until they observed the humans on Earth, and they don’t believe in the concept because they already know how the universe ends. But does it really end if all the other moments exist at the same time? Hm. Billy also adopts this mindset after he sees exactly when and how he will die, and accepts the fact that he has no power to change this. These fresh viewpoints on topics that the Tralfamadorians brought were the most (and only) thought provoking parts about this narrative. All in all, Slaughterhouse Five lacked the suspense and relatable characters that every novel worth reading has. The confusing structure was frustrating to read, and there was not an interesting plot to make up for the hassle of following the jumbled narration, and therefore, I would not recommend this book.
Despite relatively simple language, this book was hard to read because there was nothing relatable about any of the characters, of which there were very few to begin with. Told from a third person point of view, narrator focuses on Billy Pilgrim and rarely on any other characters. While his life was very eventful, between the war, alien abduction, plane crash, and his wife and kids, Billy’s feelings are either hidden or nonexistent. For most of the book, it is hard to tell if Billy is indifferent toward everything that happens or if he just doesn’t express his feelings, but there is no explanation to explain why he seems so emotionless. Chances are the average reader can’t relate to surviving the fire bombing of Dresden or being abducted by aliens either, so it is difficult to make any meaningful connection to the main character of this story.
One of the few things that I did enjoy about this book was the way that the perspective of the Tralfamadorians, the aliens that abducted Billy, made the reader think. One of these little extraterrestrial creatures told Billy, “All time is time. It does not change… It simply is.” As opposed to the chronological way in which Earthlings view time, the aliens believe that all points in time exist simultaneously. Therefore, they think it is stupid that humans are sad when people die, because as they see it, that same person is alive and well in so many other moments at the same time. It takes a little bit of thinking at first, but it is an interesting perspective to contrast how we see time, and throughout the story, Billy begins to think more and more like the Tralfamadorians. The other topic that these little toilet plunger-shaped aliens have a different perspective on is free will. They tell Billy that they had never known what free will was until they observed the humans on Earth, and they don’t believe in the concept because they already know how the universe ends. But does it really end if all the other moments exist at the same time? Hm. Billy also adopts this mindset after he sees exactly when and how he will die, and accepts the fact that he has no power to change this. These fresh viewpoints on topics that the Tralfamadorians brought were the most (and only) thought provoking parts about this narrative.
All in all, Slaughterhouse Five lacked the suspense and relatable characters that every novel worth reading has. The confusing structure was frustrating to read, and there was not an interesting plot to make up for the hassle of following the jumbled narration, and therefore, I would not recommend this book.