Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Publication Date: January 1, 1976 (this edition) First published March 31, 1969

Publisher: Dell

Pages: 215

Genre: Sci Fi, Historical

Rating: 5/5

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of those books that I have always heard about but never, for whatever reason, thought to pick it up. Sometime in the past few years I thrifted a cool copy that was published in the 70’s and it has been calling to me ever since. I decided to put it on my 24 to read in 2024 list and it ended up being one of the first books I read this year. And I was blown away. I am kicking myself that I waited so long to read him but I cannot wait to dive into his entire backlist.

This book mainly follows the life of Billy Pilgrim in a completely original and non linear way. We are inserted into different parts of Billy’s life that mostly revolve around WW2, the bombing of Dresden, him being a prisoner of war, his honeymoon, and even a fascinating abduction by aliens and his time on their planet. Vonnegut also seems to self insert himself into the book as the first narrator the story opens up on. Which also served to make this book feel more heart wrenching and emotional since he was a prisoner of war and also experienced the bombing of Dresden.

Due to me only knowing this book by its name and having a vague understanding that it was a war novel I had no idea that it was actually a sci f story. Which was a fun revelation when those aspects started popping up. I also loved how it was a story within a story and our first narrator would pop in occasionally to remind us of his place in the story. I also think I vaguely knew somewhere in the back of mind that Vonnegut was a satirist which was an added bonus to this story. I love how he used satire to reinforce his ideas on war, violence and society.

Beyond all the fantastical elements of this story it is the harsh brutality of war that will stick with me the longest. Much like this book, I have heard of Dresden but I never knew anything about it. And I was shocked the more I read and understood the complete devastation and cruelty of what America did to that city. Everything to do with war is awful and inhumane and WW2 was especially filled with horror after horror. But to have such an immediate and first hand account that is told with such brilliant prose and imagination makes this a must read book.

There is so much to talk about when it comes to this book because there are so many layers and elements to it. Which really speaks to Vonnegut’s talents as a writer since this book is just over two hundred pages. I feel like I could spend weeks sitting and taking apart elements of this story and write essay after essay on it. But at the end of the day, I hope you see this review and decide to give this book a try.