It is safe to say that there haven't been too many writers like Kurt Vonnegut. Even when he tackles war as evident in "Slaughterhouse-Five," he doesn't choose to go an entirely conventional way. His approach involves alien invasions and time travel in a way that flies at breakneck speed, finding the audience jumping around a group of colorful characters lead by Billy Pilgrim. Long-time readers will likely remember figures like Kilgore Trout who make cameos in the book, adding to the strange texture of the novel. Still, with his own spin on war Vonnegut finds a way to turn the subject on its head, finding the ultimate sci-fi approach to PTSD and the feeling of regret that comes with it. Even at its most abstract, it's one of the most profound looks through satire that have ever been put to the page.
The novel begins in a bit of a normal state with a writer sitting down to put his memories down on the page. He wants to believe that what he's about to write will be something significant and full of deeper meaning. Anyone who knows Vonnegut will know that this is a bit of a laugh line that only adds depth to the overall story's impact. What he posits is that memory isn't a straight line, leading to a story that flashes from a moment of peace, sometimes in relationships, to hospital beds and the titular "Slaughterhouse-Five" that serves as an internment camp for war prisoners. There's imagery reminiscent of the Holocaust and World War II, and Vonnegut walks the line between making its bleakness into humorous commentary as well as just the deconstruction of a man losing his grasp of sanity.
The novel is at times insane, managing to reflect a sadistic group of people who dream of torturing dogs they hate and visiting adult film houses. It's a seedy vision that hits all of Vonnegut's tendencies as a writer, finding ways to be both amusing and reflective of an era where racism and sexism were more common. The fact that his overall text is able to get beyond it is a miracle. What he produces is something staggering and unforgettable in how he makes loyalty to different war figures into something comical as he takes down the egos of the American ideal in the process. He wonders why President Truman dropped the bomb, and what it truly means to lose a life when thousands died instantaneously.
It's a dangerous book and one that is equally entertaining. For those with PTSD, it likely rings a little truer for the text to fade in and out of moments, sometimes uncomfortably. War has a long-lasting impact that goes beyond one awful day. It lives with those involved, who have to constantly find themselves lost in thought, becoming incapable to move forward as they live in moments. Vonnegut's story is inevitably a cautionary anti-war novel done with creative twists and turns that make the experience more curious. There's also the flippant use of language that lightens difficult moments. It's his masterpiece that reflects his approach to storytelling. At best, it's innovative and unlike anyone else. At worst, it's full of small contrivances that reflect a man with some personal prejudices. Still, it's unlike any other book written on the subject of war, and that's saying something.
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