Thoughts

The quarter is ending and my work ethic is dwindling but I still have just about enough to churn out one final blog post before I take some time off for a bit of rest and relaxation.

Slaughterhouse Five went by remarkably fast and it is, without a doubt, my favorite out of all three of the books that we've read so far. I explained most of the reasons why in my last post: Vonnegut's great sense of somewhat black humor and also because I just utterly detested reading Mumbo Jumbo. Sorry Ishmael Reed.

Anyway, before I give my final thoughts on Slaughterhouse Five, I'd like to add on a few parts that I found particularly humorous. On page 93, Vonnegut describes Billy watching the movie about World War II backwards and everything happening is reverse. I just could not stop laughing while reading that section. I'm not even sure why because that scene didn't seem to have much significance to the plot line (he was about to be abducted by our buddies, the Tralfamadorians) and was just sort of like a random blurb about Billy's life. I guess it was his descriptions "It was their business to put them in the ground, to hide them cleverly, so that they may never hurt anybody ever again" (94). Another moment was his description of Jesus and his crucifixion: "Make absolutely certain he isn't well connected." I had never thought of that particular story that way, but now that he said that, I'm never going to be able to forget it.

Earlier this week, we were asked to write about the use of science fiction and whether or not it detracted from his "war novel" type book. I felt like the use of science fiction was actually incredibly helpful. You know how sometimes the best way to get your point across is not by berating an audience and pounding a few facts into their minds again and again but rather by humor and lighthearted guidance? Same idea. Vonnegut did not set out to write a book designed to be a movie with actors played by John Wayne or Frank Sinatra, and what better way to detract from the "war novel" idea than with aliens, flying saucers, and constant references to fictional science fiction novels? Some of the stories didn't seem to make much sense in the context and others seemed to ask questions that were left for the reader to answer--namely, The Gutless Wonder. What was Vonnegut satirizing about society when he said that the people could only accept the robot once he got over his horrendous halitosis, regardless of the fact that he had been constantly bombing cities with zero remorse? Makes you wonder...

Basically, I really liked this book. Hopefully, the upcoming ones with be just as interesting, if not more so, to read!

Slaughterhouse

I've heard about Vonnegut's writing for quite some time now, but as with many authors that are suggested to me, I never get around to actually reading about them because my memory sucks. Fortunately, Vonnegut's writing appeared not once, but twice on my booklist this year, although both times they were under the same book. When it was assigned in World Since, I read through it, but paid only just enough attention to write a quick response. Now, on my second time through, I've found that there are a lot of things I missed the first time around that have made this novel a ton of fun to read (so far, anyway).

Firstly, I actually read the title page and the little list of alternative titles, which adds a few new perceptions to the way Vonnegut wrote this and why he did so. I was also able to pick up on a lot more of his quirky and sometimes dark humor. I'm not sure if this is typical of Vonnegut's writing style or if he adopted this to fit his whole "wartime novel" attitude. Either way though, it's certainly very effective. He rarely, if ever, says an outright joke, yet I found myself laughing aloud at several points throughout the book. I can't place my finger on it--perhaps it's his descriptions, which are already comical to begin with, combined with his flat, matter-of-fact descriptions such as "He looked like a filthy flamingo" (42), "so the coat became a fur-collared vest" (115), and even the specificity of "446,120,000,000,000,000 miles away" (143) that causes all the hilarity.

Speaking of his matter-of-fact descriptions, I saw an interesting similarity between Vonnegut and Doctorow's writing styles: both authors tended to have little emotion during scenes describing the deaths of certain characters. This is especially apparent in Slaughterhouse Five with Vonnegut's "So it goes". The best part though, is how he still manages to capture your interest even though such an emotionally inanimate book would seem like a dull read.

Since a good portion of this novel revolves around Billy Pilgrim's time travelling experiences, it comes as no surprise that the book skips around a lot. Something similar occurred in Mumbo Jumbo, but instead of throwing me off and constantly confusing me (as Reed's book did), Vonnegut makes it work. I'm really liking this book so far!