SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
by Kurt Vonnegut
Originally Published in 1969
From Goodreads:
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time, Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we fear most.
I always think to myself, I should read more classics. Sometimes I marvel at a masterpiece and shame myself for not reading it earlier. Other times I find myself trying to figure out why said book was a classic. Slaughterhouse-Five is somewhere between.
Now before you light the torches and hoist the pitchforks, I still found a lot to like. The ideals were phenomenal. In particular, the way the humans were viewed from an alien perspective. The way the things that we do out of common sense flipped and made to look like the furthest thing from sensical was very thought-provoking.
The writing itself was hypnotic. So simple, but flowed like water. Each one seemed to be the perfect word and it all made the reading rather effortless. I’ve often heard that Vonnegut was notorious for publishing his first drafts. If that’s true, this level of writing is even more impressive.
My last bright spot was the premise in general. A man who travels across his own personal timeline. This concept of time not being a linear thing is something that’s been played with in many, many science-fiction stories. I even have a few ideas in my own repository that would play on this same concept.
My problems come in with two of the most crucial elements of a story in my own opinion. Plot and characters.
I didn’t feel like I knew any of the characters any more than I know that guy who I see running most evenings while I walk the dog: we recognize each other and give an awkward nod, but that’s about it. Everyone just feels so two dimensional. None of them travel with our main character, Billy Pilgrim, so they kind of only exist when Billy needs them to.
And then plot. As I said, the premise is something truly special, but the plot isn’t. It’s just a guy visiting different parts of his life. Sure, one of those parts is on completely different planet, but even in an alien setting, there was no real excitement.
I’ll be the first to admit that I may just not be capable of appreciating a plot that doesn’t have action packed into every corner. It might surprise you, but I still feel like everyone should read this book.
So simple, but flowed like water….. That was my impression of his writing in Cat’s Cradle too. A plus, for sure. But two-dimensional characters was also an issue I had with Cat’s Cradle. I though it was just me ‘not getting it’ but I was certainly not blown away and in no hurry to try another.