Items related to Slaughterhouse 5 (Vintage Past): Kurt Vonnegut
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.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of 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:
"Marvellous...the writing is pungent, the antics uproarious, the wit as sharp as a hypodermic needle" (Daily Telegraph)
"A work of keen literary artistry" (Joseph Heller)
"The individuality of Vonnegut's style is a curious yet perfect match for the pain of the emotional content. A humane, human book that always remains a work of art rather than biography, no matter how apparent the author's presence" (Kate Atkinson)
"A laughing prophet of doom" (New York Times)
"Unique" (Doris Lessing)
"A work of keen literary artistry" (Joseph Heller)
"The individuality of Vonnegut's style is a curious yet perfect match for the pain of the emotional content. A humane, human book that always remains a work of art rather than biography, no matter how apparent the author's presence" (Kate Atkinson)
"A laughing prophet of doom" (New York Times)
"Unique" (Doris Lessing)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherVintage Classics
- Publication date2016
- ISBN 10 1784871346
- ISBN 13 9781784871345
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages192
- Rating
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