ISBN: 9780099800200

Synopsis Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller – these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. “Slaughterhouse 5” is one of the world’s great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

Bookclub Review Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller – these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. “Slaughterhouse 5” is one of the world’s great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim’s odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know.

What the group thought:

Slaughterhouse 5 generated a great deal of discussion. Is it an anti-war novel? How can survivors talk about their war experiences? Some people questioned the science fiction elements and the general feeling was that the story stands up on its own without them. Vonnegut seems to be saying that the only way to deal with an atrocity like the fire bombing of Dresden is absurdity. Several people believed that the book is of its time – the late 1960s. This assessment was reflected in some of the comments: “Trippy,” “Classic,” “Hallucinatory,” “Trafalmadorgiastic.”