"Slaughterhouse Five" - Kurt Vonnegut (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

ISBN 10: 1604135859 ISBN 13: 9781604135855

Publisher: Chelsea House Publishers, 2009

Synopsis

Captured by Germans after the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, soldier Kurt Vonnegut and other prisoners of war were taken to Dresden, Germany, where they were confined in a cement shed used for butchering livestock and called ""Schlachthof-funf"" or ""Slaughterhouse-Five."" Several weeks later, American and British planes firebombed Dresden, killing 135,000 civilians and leveling the city. Amazingly, the prisoners survived, by taking cover in an underground meat locker. Vonnegut spent two decades coming to grips with the experience, producing this classic American novel as his ultimate response to the ordeal. In this new collection of critical essays, students of literature will find information about the author's life and other works, an index for quick reference, notes on the contributing writers, and an introductory essay by noted literary scholar Harold Bloom.

About this title

Review

It took Vonnegut more than 20 years to put his Dresden experiences into words. He explained, "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again." Slaughterhouse Five is a powerful novel incorporating a number of genres. Only those who have fought in wars can say whether it represents the experience well. However, what the novel does do is invite the reader to look at the absurdity of war. Human versus human, hedonist politicians pressing buttons and ordering millions to their deaths all for ideologies many cannot even comprehend. Flicking between the US, 1940's Germany and Tralfamadore, Vonnegut's semi- autobiographical protagonist Billy Pilgrim finds himself very lost. One minute he is being viewed as a specimen in a Tralfamadorian Zoo, the next he is wandering a post-apocalyptic city looking for corpses. Slaughterhouse Five-Or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death is a remarkable blend of black humour, irony, the truth and the absurd. The author regards his work a "failure", millions of readers do not. Released the same time bombs were falling on South East Asia, this title caused controversy and awakening. Essential reading for all. So it goes. --Jon Smith

Review

"Students preparing research papers and students boning up for class will reach eagerly for these well-designed additions to accessible literary criticism..."

"Each attractive volume presents recent essays by noted critics who examine in detail aspects of a single literary work...Highly recommended for academic collections."

About this edition

• Publisher: Chelsea House Publishers
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1604135859
• ISBN 13: 9781604135855
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 188
• Editor: Bloom Harold