Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

ISBN:  9780385333849
New York:  Rosetta Books, 2000
Kindle edition
Warning--this review is influenced strongly by Vonnegut's writing and so may not satisfy the reader's need for clear interpretation of the text as a choice for the YA audience.  On the other hand, I see no way other than what I've written here to describe what I think should be a required experience, not just a book, for young readers over the age of 16.

Plot - This is a very difficult book to summarize because time and space are not in their usual order.  Meet Billy Pilgrim.  He's a time traveller.  Well, he's a person who's kidnapped by the Tralfamadorians, put on exhibit, and taught the true nature of things, which is that past, present, and future are all around us all the "time."  Billy was in "Slaughterhouse-Five," the name of a holding building for prisoners, when the Allies bombed Dresden because....  That's the central question of the novel, though it's not pursued as a normal question might be because there is no answer out there to find.  Why would the winning team kill over 100,000 utterly innocent civilians in a stunningly beautiful city with bombs that exploded into fire for no strategic purpose whatsoever?  Vonnegut himself experienced this bombing as a prisoner and speaks in the book about the reality of it.  Billy Pilgrim, though, can't get out.  He's perpetually swinging through time, back to Tralfamadore, back to Dresden, back to outer space, all with an unperturbed acceptance of what we would call the absurdity of the whole adventure.  But that's Vonnegut's point--only an absurd sense can possibly witness such a massacre and keep breathing by choice. 

Critical Evaluation -This book has a gentle, rocking pace through devastation and humor.  It's a masterpiece of organization, no, of construction.  How Vonnegut was able, finally, to take his tragic memories of more than 20 years before, combine them with his absurdist science fiction vision, and wrap them up in a story that moves like a gentle river through a forest fire is beyond me.  But he did it, and the book is not only heart wrenching, it's really fun.  There are points that are laugh-out-loud funny, just enough to prime the reader for a good kick in the belly.  War never got such a bad rep.

Reader's annotation - Billy Pilgrim is experiencing PTSD, but in his case, he's not just scattered emotionally; he's being dragged through time and space and just can't stop ending up in that horrible scene where the whole world is on fire.
Information about the author - Kurt Vonnegut was born in 1922 and died in 2007.  He was an American, born in Indianapolis, where there is now a Kurt Vonnegut Library.  Some of the very best information about him comes from graduation speeches he gave throughout his career.  He believed teacher was the "noblest of all professions in a democracy" (graduation speech at Agnes Scott College, 1999), and that forgiveness and understanding were the ultimate, first, and last things we should teach our children.  His own mother committed suicide on Mother's Day in 1944.

Curriculum Ties - History, English
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Read a section about the bombing itself.  Stop before the gore gets too much.
2. Simply fill the listeners in on the firebombing of Dresden.

Reading level -16+  I believe this book is taught to younger students sometimes, but it shouldn't be.  It's very heavy and very light, and to get both of these in turns, the readers needs a good dose of maturity.  Into 11th and 12th grades is where I would really recommend it.

Challenge issues -violence, stupidity of Allied forces

Challenge defense ideas:

• Librarian must read the book carefully and include it as a resource intended for older teens.
• Librarian greets students and regularly discusses their reading choices; she provides individualized, age-appropriate guidance in book choice.
• Explain the ways in which the librarian accompanies and guides younger students looking for books, and knows students well as individuals. 

Why I included this book - It's a life-changing book, if it hits the person at just the right time.  Otherwise, it's a sometimes funny, sometimes wrenching story that's worth the read.