jonwood's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was quite disappointed with this boo and found it more gimmick than good. Sure, the nonlinear story telling may have been new at the time, but just because something is the first dose not make it the best. Perhaps Doctor Who and Christopher Nolan have spoiled me with a diverse selection of nonlinear story telling (both well and not so well executed), but even removing comparisons of executions, I didn't find that much substance buried within Slaughterhouse-5. I've read and seen much better reflections on tragedy and post-traumatic stress (just tune into MASH or China Beach). My take away is that the main character is losing his mind and that the aliens and time travel really aren't there, just metaphors and illusions, but I feel that is giving the author too much credit. There's a lot of disgusting things litter in the book, weather it's about people urinating/vowel movements, one character taking glee in describing tutor methods, or just how the narrator describes women (one example is of the narrator describing a woman as dull, but having a body that makes men want to fill her up with babies) that left a bad taste in my mouth.
Frankly, I don't think there was much reflections going on. I suppose the theme is that there are moments in time we are powerless to change, and sometimes there's no fighting it, one person can't always make a difference, "so it goes." However, it would have been more interesting seeing that struggle play out and the character learn the lesson via failure (like Clark Kent in the 100th episode of Smallville unable to prevent tragedy completely, and altering events only made other things worst), but instead the narrator just tells us this and the protagonist, Billy, just accepts this form of "enlightenment" without ever trying to fight it. Also, I did not find this book all that funny, despite it supposedly being funny at the same time as being traumatic, the book just lack heart for me.
Between the lack of entertainment, and the gross nature of some of the narration, I highly doubt I'll want to try to read another Vonnegut novel, and am left wondering why he has the reputation of literally genius that he does.
Frankly, I don't think there was much reflections going on. I suppose the theme is that there are moments in time we are powerless to change, and sometimes there's no fighting it, one person can't always make a difference, "so it goes." However, it would have been more interesting seeing that struggle play out and the character learn the lesson via failure (like Clark Kent in the 100th episode of Smallville unable to prevent tragedy completely, and altering events only made other things worst), but instead the narrator just tells us this and the protagonist, Billy, just accepts this form of "enlightenment" without ever trying to fight it. Also, I did not find this book all that funny, despite it supposedly being funny at the same time as being traumatic, the book just lack heart for me.
Between the lack of entertainment, and the gross nature of some of the narration, I highly doubt I'll want to try to read another Vonnegut novel, and am left wondering why he has the reputation of literally genius that he does.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
imogenclendinning's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Gore, and War
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Banned Books Week 2023
The OG Everything Everywhere All at Once but of the horrors of war, death, and dehumanization, C-PTSD, depression, suicide ideation, aliens, and what even tf fuck is time? It also goes hard on how the US is a danger to itself and others, and well, I can see why war mongers, pro-2A people, capitalists and the like absolutely hate this book lol. I personally didn't see the funny in this (I was aware of the satire but instead of wanting to laugh I wanted to cry; this book is horrifyingly sad) and it wasn't an enjoyable read to me, but, I still appreciate what KVJR set out to do with it and haters gonna hate but he was spitting facts left and right idk what to tell yall.
The OG Everything Everywhere All at Once but of the horrors of war, death, and dehumanization, C-PTSD, depression, suicide ideation, aliens, and what even tf fuck is time? It also goes hard on how the US is a danger to itself and others, and well, I can see why war mongers, pro-2A people, capitalists and the like absolutely hate this book lol. I personally didn't see the funny in this (I was aware of the satire but instead of wanting to laugh I wanted to cry; this book is horrifyingly sad) and it wasn't an enjoyable read to me, but, I still appreciate what KVJR set out to do with it and haters gonna hate but he was spitting facts left and right idk what to tell yall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal cruelty, Violence, Death, Genocide, Animal death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism and Fatphobia
Minor: Sexism, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Misogyny
shoohoob's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Super interesting book! I wasn’t into the first half but I’m glad I kept reading. The last half really brought me in and I felt the cynicism come to a head. It’s fascinating that a book written about a war almost 80 years ago is still relevant today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Sexual content, and War
joharrismay's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
Thank you lauren crocco for telling me to read this it’s so good top 10 books of all time. I loved the characters and Kurt Vonnegut’s writing style is amazing.
Will probably read another Kurt Vonnegut book
Will probably read another Kurt Vonnegut book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness
Moderate: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content
ruby_mae_read's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, and War
ssoha's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Rape, and War
library_kb's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I went into this not excited about it....and it was simultaneously easier to read than I expected and less easy to read. I read this because it was part of the Upper School's summer reading options, which I wanted to have read all of...I would be curious to see if/which students pick this option and what they take from it. The style of jumping around from time period to time period was not super easy to follow. The nice thing is that there was a lot of page breaks which made the book read pretty quickly (plus it isn't super long, which was its saving grace). I don't know why you need a story like this to tell you war is awful and pointless, but there you have it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
josieruby1's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma
maeve_simone's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death