Slaughterhouse 5: The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance With Death
- Downloads：5267
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-21 09:55:58
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- ISBN：0099800209
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Summary
Prisoner of war， optometrist， time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim， hero of this miraculously moving， bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse。 Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the world's great anti-war books。 Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War， Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know。
Reviews
J i a j i a
，
pretty good
Morgan Pearce
，
All I can really say， is it was a very odd read。 It read like one of those "I forced a bot to watch a 1000 hours of _______ then forced it to write a script"。 Humorous and random， and interesting concept and take。 All I can really say， is it was a very odd read。 It read like one of those "I forced a bot to watch a 1000 hours of _______ then forced it to write a script"。 Humorous and random， and interesting concept and take。 。。。more
MacDougall
，
It's well-written but feels hollow。 I wanted to read this book because of how much Vonnegut is respected， and Slaughterhouse-Five is his highest rated book on Goodreads。 Despite the many themes that Vonnegut wove into the book I am still left feeling that it was empty inside， full of no significant characters or connections。 So it goes。 It's well-written but feels hollow。 I wanted to read this book because of how much Vonnegut is respected， and Slaughterhouse-Five is his highest rated book on Goodreads。 Despite the many themes that Vonnegut wove into the book I am still left feeling that it was empty inside， full of no significant characters or connections。 So it goes。 。。。more
Vivian
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so it goes
Michal Lansky
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“You know what I say to people when I hear they’re writing anti-war books？ ‘Why don’t you write an anti-glacier book instead？’” Entering this book without any prior knowledge， I had to stop after finishing the first chapter and search online for someone to explain to me what I'm reading。 I then reopened the book and started again， a bit less lost and confused。I'm so pleasantly surprised by this piece of history， being used to Vonnegut's quirky nonsense I haven't thought he had it in him to a “You know what I say to people when I hear they’re writing anti-war books？ ‘Why don’t you write an anti-glacier book instead？’” Entering this book without any prior knowledge， I had to stop after finishing the first chapter and search online for someone to explain to me what I'm reading。 I then reopened the book and started again， a bit less lost and confused。I'm so pleasantly surprised by this piece of history， being used to Vonnegut's quirky nonsense I haven't thought he had it in him to address such a complex subject as war。 “Where am I？” said Billy Pilgrim。 “Trapped in another blob of amber， Mr。 Pilgrim。 We are where we have to be just now—three hundred million miles from Earth， bound for a time warp which will get us to Tralfamadore in hours rather than centuries。”“How—how did I get here？”“It would take another Earthling to explain it to you。 Earthlings are the great explainers， explaining why this event is structured as it is， telling how other events may be achieved or avoided。 I am a Tralfamadorian， seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains。 All time is all time。 It does not change。 It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations。 It simply is。 Take it moment by moment， and you will find that we are all， as I’ve said before， bugs in amber。”“You sound to me as though you don’t believe in free will，” said Billy Pilgrim。 “If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings，” said the Tralfamadorian， “I wouldn’t have any idea what was meant by ‘free will。’ I’ve visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe， and I have studied reports on one hundred more。 Only on Earth is there any talk of free will。”So it goes。 Suffering from a traumatic childhood and PTSD from the events of WWII， it seems like Kurt was dealt quite a bad hand where what he could write about was concerned。 Yet。。 Somehow， in a manner in which I will probably have to read this book at least three more times to even begin to understand， Vonnegut managed to make it his own。 Dealing with war， pain and trauma with humor and imagination will be my goal from now on。 Seeing his reimagining of the events as a hysterically funny， completely insane tale of Tralfamadorians， time travel and living on the moon changed something in me。 If a person going through such horrors can narrate them in such a way - surely our lives can be snickered or plain laughed at more often。This is a fantastic piece of work。 If it seems weird to you - first of all， it's because it completely， magnificently， is - don't drop it。 If it's your first Vonnegut book， maybe read one of his other works before getting into it。 Then get someone to explain to you what it is you're going to read - I found some great analysis videos on YouTube - and enjoy this gem at it's fullest。 I am definitely going to return to the book one day， and am excited to watch spoiler summaries and analysis of it （and I'm happy to say there are many）， because honestly I feel like I barely begun scratching the surface of understanding it。 10/5 stars。 。。。more
Gianna
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This book was amazing and actually rlly helpful， I wasn’t expecting it to be so emotional and HUMAN I’ll def b revisiting
Bill
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2。5 Stars。 First time reading something from this author。 With the exception of the antiwar theme I just couldn't connect or care to with anything else in this story。 This book should be placed on the psychedelic shelf。 It is extremely bizarre and difficult to follow especially when you combine time traveling， an alien abduction， and a main character with psych issues。 It seems to go everywhere and nowhere at the same time。 I was very disappointed especially considering many of the other positiv 2。5 Stars。 First time reading something from this author。 With the exception of the antiwar theme I just couldn't connect or care to with anything else in this story。 This book should be placed on the psychedelic shelf。 It is extremely bizarre and difficult to follow especially when you combine time traveling， an alien abduction， and a main character with psych issues。 It seems to go everywhere and nowhere at the same time。 I was very disappointed especially considering many of the other positive reviews。 And so it goes。。。 。。。more
kim v
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“If the accident will。”“So it goes。”“Um。”
Asiili
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not a fan of classics but i really enjoyed this
9987
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So it goes。
Geert
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a short novel with imaginative characters about the lack of impact people have on their lives （in regards to war time situations :））
Eamon Tuke
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I enjoyed reading this book。 Some books involving time travel are frustratingly oblique and disjointed， but this book is enjoyably comprehensible。 Any anti-war sentiment wasn't domineering but self-evident， which is a nice change from many books about war， which are about as subtle as a sledgehammer （though perhaps that is deservingly so）。 I felt like the ending was missing a bit of a kicker somehow， like I was enjoying a meal but it was missing that one ingredient that makes you say， 'you'll ne I enjoyed reading this book。 Some books involving time travel are frustratingly oblique and disjointed， but this book is enjoyably comprehensible。 Any anti-war sentiment wasn't domineering but self-evident， which is a nice change from many books about war， which are about as subtle as a sledgehammer （though perhaps that is deservingly so）。 I felt like the ending was missing a bit of a kicker somehow， like I was enjoying a meal but it was missing that one ingredient that makes you say， 'you'll never believe the chicken toastie I just had'。 。。。more
Monique Van hest
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❤️ de sprongen in tijd， de vraag die blijft hangen of het ‘echt’ is of dat Billy toch met psychische problemen te kampen heeft en de karakters。 Qua inleving mist het voor mij iets。 En daarom blijf ik op 3-3，5 ster hangen
Cher Yi Tan
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Bad disjointed prose。 This isn’t excused by the theme of trauma in war。 Also， the ‘so it goes’ irritates me a lot。 In all， the book tries too hard to show the theme of fatalism/ arbitrariness in the language and structure of the book。 It becomes unnatural to the point of annoying。
Krista Visconti
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And so it goes
William Gregory
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I picked this for my book group thinking the premise was interesting。 I ended up reading it over the course of one evening， something I don’t think I’ve done since the third Diary of a Wimpy Kid book in year four。 This is one of those books you glance over the Wikipedia page to understand the high concept premise and then promptly click off， happy in the knowledge that you’ve used a Spartan thirty seconds to expand your literary mind。 But there’s no synopsis that really captures how well constru I picked this for my book group thinking the premise was interesting。 I ended up reading it over the course of one evening， something I don’t think I’ve done since the third Diary of a Wimpy Kid book in year four。 This is one of those books you glance over the Wikipedia page to understand the high concept premise and then promptly click off， happy in the knowledge that you’ve used a Spartan thirty seconds to expand your literary mind。 But there’s no synopsis that really captures how well constructed and moving this book is （it’s probably an indictment of me that I even subconsciously assumed encyclopaedic passages had this ability）。I find that books that deal with what it really means to be human - the violence and tragedy that it often entails - are the ones that keep my eyes glued to the page。 My experience with this book was very similar as with McCarthy’s ‘The Road’。 While distinct in almost every way， both novels use their medium in a way a film or painting never could to force an introspection into the human condition motivated by a window into another person’s thoughts。 Vonnegut tells an enthralling story held back only by the not insignificant impact of Holocaust denier， David Irving’s falsification of the story of the fire bombing of Dresden。 。。。more
Ekaterina Ulitina
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Трагикомический тон был интересный， но Воннегута его， конечно， не изобрёл — а кроме него， вообще ничего не было интересным。 В который раз убеждаюсь， что не надо продолжать читать книги из уважения к авторитету автора， если дошла аж до половины， и все ещё скучно — надо бросать， и все。 Хотя «Колыбель для кошки» Воннегута люблю！
Brian Spencer
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The book started off as interesting story but got tedious。
Cami
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I went into this book with no expectations， not even knowing the decade in which it was published。 And although it tackles many painful topics and uses repulsive imagery， it now holds a very special place in my heart。 I read it alongside a friend， who helped me notice more symbolism and make extra connections between the characters and scenes。 I love how cyclical and non-linear the story line is， while at the same time， it didn't feel like much of a challenge to keep up with the protagonist and I went into this book with no expectations， not even knowing the decade in which it was published。 And although it tackles many painful topics and uses repulsive imagery， it now holds a very special place in my heart。 I read it alongside a friend， who helped me notice more symbolism and make extra connections between the characters and scenes。 I love how cyclical and non-linear the story line is， while at the same time， it didn't feel like much of a challenge to keep up with the protagonist and his point of reference。 The sci-fi elements reminded me of a Philip K。 Dick novel， especially since I spent the past year reading quite a few of his works。 But "Slaughterhouse-Five" feels more organized and deliberate to me， and I got the sense that each page counts in a different way than what I'd expect from a PKD novel。 Vonnegut's writing didn't feel like it was meant to shock readers with sensational stories， instead relying on somber， logical progressions of the plot to contribute to and expand overarching themes。 I wish I had discussed this book in a proper English class， because I would love to learn more about the author's life and larger literary career。 。。。more
Hari Subramanian
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I liked how Vonnegut manages to tell a poignant war story in a gentle way， without any attempt to glorify anything or anyone。 I guess this became a classic because it makes people reflect on their values and their approach to life。 And maybe even prompt them to question their own views。 To do the above through a novel in a gentle way is the accomplishment of this book。 This is my first Vonnegut novel。 When I was reading it， I was surprised how much Douglas Adams' （Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galax I liked how Vonnegut manages to tell a poignant war story in a gentle way， without any attempt to glorify anything or anyone。 I guess this became a classic because it makes people reflect on their values and their approach to life。 And maybe even prompt them to question their own views。 To do the above through a novel in a gentle way is the accomplishment of this book。 This is my first Vonnegut novel。 When I was reading it， I was surprised how much Douglas Adams' （Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy） style was influenced by Vonnegut。 。。。more
Diane
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We are trying to add a "classic" to each year's list for our book club。 This was the first。 I know I enjoyed it and we had a good discussion， but in doing this much after when I read， can't think of too many things that really affected me about it。 We are trying to add a "classic" to each year's list for our book club。 This was the first。 I know I enjoyed it and we had a good discussion， but in doing this much after when I read， can't think of too many things that really affected me about it。 。。。more
Natalia
，
3。5nie mogę wojennych książek， ale jak ktoś może to polecam
araya
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cool very anti war so cool
Isabella Ruiz
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*3。5
Rishabh
，
Thoroughly loved it。 A definite must read。
Sogol DRF
，
well war literature is definitely not my cup of tea。 I mean I'd rather boil my own hair and drink it like tea than so much as read a poem that deals with war。 now， despite this level of aversion， this book was quite touching。 no preachy passages condemning the war， no。 that was the beauty。 you have this unreliable narrator who's been through so much that his perception of the whole world is now warped。 the atrocities of war are described quite eloquently。 the cyclical structure of the plot was a well war literature is definitely not my cup of tea。 I mean I'd rather boil my own hair and drink it like tea than so much as read a poem that deals with war。 now， despite this level of aversion， this book was quite touching。 no preachy passages condemning the war， no。 that was the beauty。 you have this unreliable narrator who's been through so much that his perception of the whole world is now warped。 the atrocities of war are described quite eloquently。 the cyclical structure of the plot was also quite satisfying to get through。 。。。more
Jeana
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Odd， brilliant， ridiculous， and powerful。 I can see why this is a modern classic。 Quick read too。
Ken Westfall
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Having no idea what this book was about before reading， it was an often-times confusing experience， but I quickly got the anti-war message from the matter-of-fact descriptions。 I was hoping the sci-fi aspect of Billy's experiences would have been wrapped up with some explanation at the end， like his time-traveling was actually all occurring in his head while he was in a coma after the plane crash， but I guess it didn't matter in the end; the point was made and I was left searching for meaning in Having no idea what this book was about before reading， it was an often-times confusing experience， but I quickly got the anti-war message from the matter-of-fact descriptions。 I was hoping the sci-fi aspect of Billy's experiences would have been wrapped up with some explanation at the end， like his time-traveling was actually all occurring in his head while he was in a coma after the plane crash， but I guess it didn't matter in the end; the point was made and I was left searching for meaning in my life as well。 So it goes。 。。。more
Mitchel Hopkin
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He is such a eloquent writer， so it goes😉😉😉😉
Faith
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