Book Thoughts: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read Vonnegut (and Slaughterhouse Five in particular), in college (which is more years ago than seems possible. I was hooked then, and despite the consistency of my affinity for his work, its always hard to explain - both his work, and why I like it. His writing is so different than everything else that I read - incredibly eccentric but amazingly accessible at the same time. His works are easy to read, but hard to get; and ultimately, I love that challenge.

Slaughterhouse Five remains my favorite Vonnegut work. It touches on so many different things that I think an entire class could be taught just on the book. For example:

1. Is the book anti-war? How does Vonnegut's portrayal of WWII, and in particularly the fire-bombing of Dresden, help or hurt such sentiments.

2. How does Vonnegut's own experiences in WWII (he was personally a POW in Dresden during the bombing) shape this novel? How autobiographical is it? Does the autobiographical nature limit its application?

3. Is the book science fiction? There are aliens (spoiler alert I guess), but its not about them. What constitutes science fiction? Where does this book belong in terms of genre?

4. What is time? Vonnegut's use of the aliens and how they view time, in contrast to how we view time, raises an interesting metaphysical question. Does time actually exist independently? Is it solely a construct of human existence?

5. Do we have free will? The discussion of time above informs this question. What does it mean to have (or not have) free will, not just philosophically, but morally.

6. Does the book embrace hope, or a fatalistic existentialism? Depending on your interpretation to this question, what does it say about you?


These were just some of the questions that came to mind as I reread the novel, and I'm sure scholars much more educated that me can come up with more. But as I hope I convey, Vonnegut gives his readers so much to chew on to the point that when you get done with the book, you're not really sure what the book was about, from a narrative point, but you have lots of ideas about what the book is telling its readers.

As I said, I first read the book many years ago, and this is the third time I read it. Each time it gets better, because each time I think I have more knowledge and experience to bring to the questions the book necessarily raises. For me, anyone remotely interested in 20th Century American Fiction, and in particularly the impact of WWII on its generation of writers, have to read Vonnegut, and have to read this book. Its an insight into the soul of a time period - not just its events, but its thoughts and discussions and philosophies; and in reading it, one gets insight on their own self.

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