According to Kurt Vonnegut himself it seems that he regarded this book as a failure. With reviews being very polarized and not too many that bear the middle ground of the 2 opposing spectrums of “one of the best books I've ever read” and “horrible, never pick it up.”I personally don't consider it a failure, while i wasn't hooked and turning the pages like a mad man wondering what was going to happen, i also didn't just dismiss the book at its more lethargic points. However at the end i was wondering if the book was ever going to begin because it never did, so it goes. The book is credited with being science fiction but I want to disagree completely, it's simply the main characters delusions as he is in the hospital after WWII. This book is historical fiction mixed in with Vonnegut's creative license and a dash of spastic placement of events. Everything needs to be a symbol and the reader might get so lost in all of the wording that the current situation in which the main character is in is lost to the reader. Vonnegut's main character, Billy Pilgrim is a shell of a person, with a potato where a brain should be. Most likely out of delusion Billy makes terrible decisions that show a detachment from reality or a carelessness to himself and his surroundings. Characters in the book tend to not make much of an impression on you and usually fade out of existence when not interacting with the main character. The situations and events are generic with a hint of self pity in the writing almost suggesting that we need to meet the author halfway on the emotional bridge to actually feel for the characters. However even with all of the books shortcomings it is a good book. The messages are meaningful and the author slips in his own opinion on war with sly comments and suggestions that aren't too glaring unless truly focused on. Two quotes that stood out to me were; “The nicest veterans...the kindest and funniest ones, the ones who hated war the most, were the ones who'd really fought.” which makes complete sense. One will learn to hate any situation that he is in given enough time, however with war its either all for or all against. This quote blends the line and shows the results of conflict and Vonnegut himself would know as he did experience the bombing of dresden personally. The other quote that i enjoyed was “That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.” this is said from the point of view from one of the “aliens” that had kidnapped Billy Pilgrim and while it may seem like something a hippie would say to you while on the side of the road it is true. People get caught up in their own self pity and juist circle into an endless cycle of regret and self pity. People need to learn how to break this cycle and focus on the good, c’est la vie, that's life, and you can't do anything to change it. So when you're down, focus on the good moments and don't pay attention to the bad ones.
The book is credited with being science fiction but I want to disagree completely, it's simply the main characters delusions as he is in the hospital after WWII. This book is historical fiction mixed in with Vonnegut's creative license and a dash of spastic placement of events. Everything needs to be a symbol and the reader might get so lost in all of the wording that the current situation in which the main character is in is lost to the reader. Vonnegut's main character, Billy Pilgrim is a shell of a person, with a potato where a brain should be. Most likely out of delusion Billy makes terrible decisions that show a detachment from reality or a carelessness to himself and his surroundings.
Characters in the book tend to not make much of an impression on you and usually fade out of existence when not interacting with the main character. The situations and events are generic with a hint of self pity in the writing almost suggesting that we need to meet the author halfway on the emotional bridge to actually feel for the characters.
However even with all of the books shortcomings it is a good book. The messages are meaningful and the author slips in his own opinion on war with sly comments and suggestions that aren't too glaring unless truly focused on. Two quotes that stood out to me were; “The nicest veterans...the kindest and funniest ones, the ones who hated war the most, were the ones who'd really fought.” which makes complete sense. One will learn to hate any situation that he is in given enough time, however with war its either all for or all against. This quote blends the line and shows the results of conflict and Vonnegut himself would know as he did experience the bombing of dresden personally. The other quote that i enjoyed was “That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.” this is said from the point of view from one of the “aliens” that had kidnapped Billy Pilgrim and while it may seem like something a hippie would say to you while on the side of the road it is true. People get caught up in their own self pity and juist circle into an endless cycle of regret and self pity. People need to learn how to break this cycle and focus on the good, c’est la vie, that's life, and you can't do anything to change it. So when you're down, focus on the good moments and don't pay attention to the bad ones.
Rating: 7/10
Difficulty: 6/10