Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Title: Slaughterhouse 5
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Publisher: Vintage
The Vintage Crucial Classics print is a selection of 12 classic novels produced in a limited edition format. These books are being sold at a special price of £3.99, including work by Graham Greene, Angela Carter, Iris Murdoch, and Mikhail Bulgakov. Of the dozen I have so far bought Bulgakov's The Master And Margarita, and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5.
Despite the reputation of Vonnegut I have never read any of his material until now. Starting off Slaughterhouse 5 I get impressions of Philip K Dick's work, a writer from the same general time, who at least initially seems to have the same kind of vibe. Though as I work my way forward the difference that makes Vonnegut who he is starts to come through.
There are a couple of interpretations of Slaughterhouse 5 available. One is that Billy Pilgrim is a unique individual, who has come unstuck in time, travelling from moment to moment over the course of his life without warning; including being kidnapped by aliens and made to live in one of their zoos. The other interpretation is that Billy Pilgrim is barking mad, a man thrown into World War II at the deep end and living with the repercussions for the rest of his life.
As far as Billy Pilgrim is concerned it all makes sense. He studied to become an optometrist. Was sent to Europe before he could finish his study. Was soon captured by the Germans and made a prisoner of war. As a prisoner of war he was witness to the catastrophic bombing of Dresden. Upon returning home he finished his training. Married and had children.
The flow of Slaughterhouse 5 however is not that straight forward. Just as the life of Billy Pilgrim would seem not to be that straight forward. Vonnegut cuts the narrative up, propelling us on with a certain tongue in cheek effect. One moment Billy is on his honeymoon, the next in a prisoner of war camp, the next in an alien zoo. Through which he has to maintain a certain outlook so he can keep going, his motto becoming - so it goes.
The bombing of Dresden is what Slaughterhouse 5 is really about. The first chapter accounting for Vonnegut's own experience as a prisoner of war, who witnessed the bombing himself. He explains how this is a book about those events, how it is not a big book, because only so much can be said. A comment which is true, this is not a big book, just over 150 pages, but even with that Dresden remains a presence. Something inevitable and dark, which can't be shifted, and reflects throughout the real tragedy that is Billy Pilgrim's life. Even if he manages to shrug everything else off, we the reader are left with the effect of Vonnegut's story.
RVWR: PTR
August 2003
