Slaughterhouse-Five

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Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick, and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters..." Slaughterhouse-Five (taken from the name of the building where the POWs were held) is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch- 22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it a unique poignancy--and humor.

Book Description

Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous fire-bombing 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 are afraid to know.

Download Description

Unstuck in time, Billy Pilgrim, Vonnegut's shattered survivor of the Dresden bombing, relives his life over and over again under the gaze of aliens; he comes at last to some understanding of the human comedy. The basis of George Roy's great 1972 film and

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars.......2007-10-07

A classic and well worth reading. Read it after it was mentioned in the movie footloose (another classic)

Best sci-fi book isn't even sci-fi.......2007-09-21

I'd have to say this is one of the best "sci-fi" books I've read but honestly I don't think it's really a sci-fi book at all. It's almost a poem, yet written in easy to understand prose. It's fantastic but only illustrates the realities and absurdities of day to day living.

This book is quite a unique experience, and even if you hate sci-fi you might pick it up since it's a different experience than the genre implies. Even satire doesn't seem to sum it up as there is a human warmth here that is absent from many other books labeled "satire."

A wandering brilliance.......2007-09-11

So fluid is Vonnegut's style that you feel yourself on a voyage whose importance and profound nature you can't stop to contemplate until it's all over and you're left breathless. "So it goes".

This is - by far - my favourite Vonnegut story and that speaks to how beautiful this story is. A poignant masterful. Read it. Enjoy it on all levels.

An Interesting Read.......2007-09-06

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922 to 2007) was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, all intertwined. He was larger than life and very unconventional. He is recognised for three important novels: the present work, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. His main attribute as a novelist involved the ability to cross lines melding reality with science fiction and still have works that were considered important works of literature.

As a reader the most startling thing for myself was that he spends chapter one talking directly to the reader giving a background introduction to the novel, and then he uses an imaginative plot to make his point. I found the introduction a bit unsettling.

"I would hate to tell you what this lousy little book cost me in money and anxiety and time. When I got home from the Second World War twenty-three years ago, I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen. And I thought, too, that it would be a masterpiece or at least make me a lot of money, since the subject was so big."

The book is based on his own experiences as a soldier and prisoner of war, and that had a profound influence on his writings. Vonnegut witnessed the bombing of Dresden which destroyed most of the city. Vonnegut was one of seven prisoners of war in Dresden to survive in an underground meat locker of a plant known as Schlachthof Fünf or Slaughterhouse Five.

The vehicle of the story is the life of the protagonist Billy Pilgrim who takes a trip back using time travel. He uses Pilgrim to discuss life and death, and his supposed visit to the planet of Tralfamador. Billy Pilgrim is a World War II veteran who survived the Dresden bombing as did Vonnegut.

The novel is a bit odd, unique, and entertaining. I thought that Vonnegut's introduction where he talks directly to the reader was not needed but harmless, and overall the novel was a bit short as a masterpiece. But it was a unique piece of literature that made point and was an interesting read that everyone should read.

Was it on par with other short works - that are considered to be masterpieces - such as Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych or Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men? The reader can decide. I thought it was better than Steinbeck but short of Tolstoy.

Why did I wait so long to read this book?.......2007-09-04

Just buy this book. If you don't buy it, as least read it. Then you'll probably want to buy it anyway. I had high expectations with this book, and they were met.
If you're thinking about getting this, just take the advice of most of the people rating this novel, and get it.

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WARNING: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW
Confused!
Not easy, but worth the effort
How Lazy Can you BE?
Slaughterhouse Five: Giv me sum a dat

Slaughterhouse-Five (Cliffs Notes)
Dennis Stanton Smith
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822012057

Book Description

An odd book in that it mixes elements of science fiction with psychological analysis, Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a GI prisoner of war. He time-travels and wanders through a mysterious ether where spatial-temporal relationships are at odds with what we accept as reality.

Customer Reviews:

WARNING: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.......2003-08-16

I don't think the reviewer from England (and many others for that matter) understood that Billy Pilgrim went insane from the horrors he saw, and there were no aliens or time warps. It is simply a scatalogical novel, much live Pulp Fiction was a scatological movie. And much like Pulp Fiction, the story in Slaughterhouse Five was told this way to leave the biggest impact on the reader as possible. And it does.

Confused!.......2001-09-26

Don't know if it's just me, but I couldn't work this book out at all. Sure, I understood it but I couldn't really see what it was getting at. I understand this book is considered a literary classic in the USA so maybe it's because I'm a dumb English guy but, whilst I enjoyed it to a point, I couldn't really relate to it at all.

So, three stars because I'm sure some of you will like it but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Not easy, but worth the effort.......2001-08-04

You have to accept this Vonnegut-style, or you will be disappointed just by his strange ideas about time-warp, extraterrestrials and his special wit. If you fight through, you will find more than this - it's a short book about a man/child, driven into WWII although neither grown-up nor a real soldier, just to be imprisoned by the germans to work for them. Through several timeshifts he tells us about his life, youth, WWII including the horrendous bombing of Dresden, his later life as an optometrist and ... ohh no - it's short enough that you can read it for yourself. Try it, but don't beat me nor the writer for not matching your special taste in books :-)

How Lazy Can you BE?.......2001-05-21

You can read Slaughterhouse Five in a few hours. Nobody needs the Cliffs Notes to this book. Everyone knows Cliffs notes are not used for notes, so all you lazy students, just read the actual book. It's worth your time. Cliffs Notes don't deserve any stars, and in this case, don't waste your money. The book is incredibly simple, and short. Don't make it meaningless!

Slaughterhouse Five: Giv me sum a dat.......1998-11-25

In this sci-fi novel Vonnegut thrills the reader with fantastic and wonderful tales of society. This book tells the story of war in a funkified version. Slaughterhouse Five is the emitome of the process of funkification. In this book there are hidden messages to Inseo Choi that enrich the experience of the reader.

THE SIRENS OF TITAN; CAT'S CRADLE; GOD BLESS YOU MR ROSEWATER; WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE; SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE

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THE SIRENS OF TITAN; CAT'S CRADLE; GOD BLESS YOU MR ROSEWATER; WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE; SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE
Kurt Jr Vonnegut
Manufacturer: Dell Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LVXSNY

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Slaughterhouse-five (Bloom's Guides)

Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 079109295X

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE Or the Children's Crusade

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SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE Or the Children's Crusade
Kurt Vonnegut
Manufacturer: PIRATE.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GM4TTK

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Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B0006BYP1S

Cat's Cradle, God Bless You. Mr. Rosewater, Slaughterhouse-five

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Cat's Cradle, God Bless You. Mr. Rosewater, Slaughterhouse-five

Manufacturer: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BZ9XM0

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Slaughterhouse-Five

Manufacturer: Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
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Binding: Paperback
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Kurt Vonnegut (6 Books) Slaughterhouse Five, The Sirens of Titan, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night

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Kurt Vonnegut : All Star Collection

Kurt Vonnegut (6 Books) Slaughterhouse Five, The Sirens of Titan, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night

Manufacturer: Octopus Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0905712471

Customer Reviews:

Kurt Vonnegut : All Star Collection.......2003-05-12

Six novels from Kurt Vonnegut. Includes Slaughterhouse Five, The Sirens of Titan, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and Mother Night.

A great value when considering purchasing each title individually.

Slaughterhouse-Five: Reforming the Novel and the World (Twayne's Masterwork Studies, No 37)

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Slaughterhouse-Five: Reforming the Novel and the World (Twayne's Masterwork Studies, No 37)
Jerome Klinkowitz
Manufacturer: Twayne Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Amazon.com

The fifth volume of Rice's Vampire Chronicles is one of her most controversial books. The tale begins in New York, where Lestat, the coolest of Rice's vampire heroes, is stalking a big-time cocaine dealer and religious-art smuggler--this guy should get it in the neck. Lestat is also growing fascinated with the dealer's lovely daughter, a TV evangelist who's not a fraud.

Lestat is also being stalked himself, by some shadowy guy who turns out to be Memnoch, the devil, who spirits him away. From here on, the book might have been called Interview with the Devil (by a Vampire). It's a rousing story interrupted by a long debate with the devil. Memnoch isn't the devil as ordinarily conceived: he got the boot from God because he objected to God's heartless indifference to human misery. Memnoch takes Lestat to heaven, hell, and throughout history.

Some readers are appalled by the scene in which Lestat sinks his fangs into the throat of Christ on the cross, but the scene is not a mere shock tactic: Jesus is giving Lestat a bloody taste in order to win him over to God's side, and Rice is dead serious about the battle for his soul. Rice is really doing what she did as a devout young Catholic girl asked to imagine in detail what Christ's suffering felt like--it's just that her imagination ran away with her.

If you like straight-ahead fanged adventure, you'll likely enjoy the first third; if you like Job-like arguments with God, you'll prefer the Memnoch chapters. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

"STARTLING . . . FIENDISH . . . MEMNOCH'S TALE IS COMPELLING."
--New York Daily News

"Like Interview with the Vampire, Memnoch has a half-maddened, fever-pitch intensity. . . . Narrated by Rice's most cherished character, the vampire Lestat, Memnoch tells a tale as old as Scripture's legends and as modern as today's religious strife."
--Rolling Stone

"SENSUAL . . . BOLD, FAST-PACED."
--USA Today

"Rice has penned an ambitious close to this long-running series. . . . Fans will no doubt devour this."
--The Washington Post Book World

"MEMNOCH THE DEVIL OFFERS PASSAGES OF POETIC BRILLIANCE."
--Playboy

"[MEMNOCH] is one of Rice's most intriguing and sympathetic characters to date. . . . Rice ups the ante, taking Lestat where few writers have ventured: into heaven and hell itself. She carries it off in top form."
--The Seattle Times

Customer Reviews:

The Best.......2007-10-06

Anne Rice managed to make us fall in love with the Devil despite ourselves. There isn't a more charming and charismatic Devil since Milton's Paradise Lost. The cover of the original hardcover version has Memnoch, God's beloved, in his magnificent angelic "accurate form". See the image I submitted.

One of the worst books that I have ever read..........2007-10-01

I am about a hundred pages from finishing this book and the only reason I am still reading it is because I keep thinking that it will only get better. I am not a huge Anne Rice fan. I read Interview with the Vampire over a decade ago at the behest of a friend and was not impressed. When I heard it was going to be made into a movie, I read it again and was still not impressed. The movie was better. Anne Rice has a huge fan base so I thought I must be missing something and attempted to read Ramses the Damned. Not impressed. After one hundrd pages into the Witching Hour, I gave up. No more. Recently, a friend of mine at work told me about the story of Memnoch the Devil and I decided to give it a shot because it sounded so interesting. This book sucks. Interesting concept but very badly executed. Boring. Why does this writer have so many devout fans? This will be the last Anne Rice book I ever read.

Original, yet boring?.......2007-09-15

I loved the first three books, particularly The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. This book was extremely boring and I am a person very interested in religion. I think that Rice has an original and interesting perspective on hell and the devil which she divulges in this book but it is so drawn out and rediculously boring. I have almost never found myself skipping pages in a book (last time may have been Grapes of Wrath in 10th grade) but I did that here. Also Lestat turns in to some kind of emotional superpansy in this book and can not make any decisions on his own.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Yep, this is bad. After Lestat kills a gangster, he ends up meeting a ghost.

That is not all though, as he meets a Devil, and we get a long, tedious explanation and pontification on the whole relgion Heaven and Hell thing, and all may just be David Talbot had mentioned to Lestat before.

Travelling to hell, Lestat gets hurt, and goes crazy, and Maharet has to help him.

If you are a fan of the first three books, and that is the sort of thing you want, and don't want to read religious discussion through the mouthpiece of vampire characters, please avoid this book.

Wonderfully Gothic.......2007-08-24

"Memnoch the Devil" is my favorite Chronicle to this day. I just finished all of the Vampire Chronicles, and Memnoch holds true to its placement. I don't believe in God or the Devil, but this is an exciting journey which Lestat guides us through. This book didn't make me believe in God or even question the existence. It was just a fun book. And I think it has the best ending I have ever read or seen in any movie.
Rice maintains her wonderful descriptions of life through a vampire's everlasting eyes and deep philosophical sentences that keep you awake at night, pondering how she can think of such bravura sentences. In her words "Maybe that's what hell is. You go mad, and all your demon's come and get you just as fast as you can think them up."

Interview with the Vampire + The Vampire Lestat + The Queen of the Damned + The Tale of the Body Thief + Memnoch the Devil (THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES - Numbered, Signed Limited Edition, 5 Volume Matched Set)

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Interview with the Vampire + The Vampire Lestat + The Queen of the Damned + The Tale of the Body Thief + Memnoch the Devil (THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES - Numbered, Signed Limited Edition, 5 Volume Matched Set)

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000CDIMWI

Product Description

Limited edition of 3000 copies including Interview With The Vampire signed by the author

Memnoch the Devil - the Vampire Chronicles

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Memnoch the Devil - the Vampire Chronicles

Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Vampire Armand (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 6)

ASIN: B000HK46X0

6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Taltos, Memnoch The Devil, Servant of the Bones, Violin, Pandora, Armand

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6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Taltos, Memnoch The Devil, Servant of the Bones, Violin, Pandora, Armand
Anne Rice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UVHC14

Product Description

Title: 6 Anne Rice Novels, Hardcovers - Taltos, Memnoch The Devil, Servant of the Bones, Violin, Pandora, Armand Binding: Hardcover Publication date: 1994-1997

Anne Rice Collection (Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos, Servant of the Bones, Violin, Memnoch the Devil, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the body Thief,)

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Anne Rice Collection (Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos, Servant of the Bones, Violin, Memnoch the Devil, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the body Thief,)
Anne Rice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SMOCL8

Product Description

or the first time you can find all your favorite night-stalking, blood-guzzling undead--Lestat, Claudia, Louis, Akasha, Armand, and Memnoch--all in the same place at the same time. Here -------- Engrossing and hypnotic tales of witchcraft and the occult spanning four centuries, we meet a great dynasty of witches--a family given to poetry and incest, to murder and philosophy, a family that over the ages is haunted by a powerful, dangerous and seductive being

Anne Rice Collection II (Witching Hour, Taltos, Lasher, The Vampire Armand, Memnoch the Devil, Blood Canticle, Interview with a Vampire, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief,)

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Anne Rice Collection II (Witching Hour, Taltos, Lasher, The Vampire Armand, Memnoch the Devil, Blood Canticle, Interview with a Vampire, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief,)
Anne Rice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SMOKMY

Product Description

The Mayfair witch saga with some of the Vampire Chronicles provides either entertaining evenings or weekend. Enjoy

LOT 3 BOOKS LASHER , TALTOS, MEMNOCH THE DEVIL

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LOT 3 BOOKS LASHER , TALTOS, MEMNOCH THE DEVIL
ANNE RICE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WR96R4

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MEMNOCH THE DEVIL
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Chatto and Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KD3E7I

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Memnoch the Devil
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY1VIS

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Memnoch the Devil
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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