Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a great read! Vonnegut begins his story with a promise that his book will not glorify war. He keeps his word! Another hint in this direction is the second title, The Children’s Crusade. This is a fitting title as the childishness of the soldiers is emphasized throughout the book.
Often (very often), Vonnegut will punctuate a story with the words, “So it goes.” This has attracted some criticism from some who say Vonnegut takes a flippant attitude toward tragedy. It is quite the opposite. Vonnegut shows his readers a flippant attitude to further disgust them. It’s quite effective. The story follows childish soldiers who experience horror. Rather than tell us to get angry about it, the author makes us angry about it with a casual, “So it goes.”
Not only is Vonnegut very flippant throughout the book, but he is also very irreverent. This is a mature novel and contains harsh language and mature themes such as scenes including sex and masturbation. It’s exactly what it needs to be as an effective anti-war novel, but it isn’t for youth.
Creighton's Blog 