First Kurt Vonnegut book I have ever read, it won’t be the
last. Kurt is a weirdo that is for sure. Not as weird as Palahniuk.
Slaughterhouse Five is supposed to a be a literary
masterpiece for antiwar books written in the late 60s. Not having particularly
studied it, I might have missed much of the hidden text. Though you can tell
from the writing and Vonnegut’s point of
view why this book would be considered an Antiwar book.
The story starts off with the writer describing his need to
write a book about Dresdan, a small town in Germany. As it turns out the book isn’t completely fiction, as the
“city was completely destroyed by the controversial Allied
aerial bombing towards the end of World War II.”
Wikipedia.
The Bombing of Dresden was a military
bombing by the British Royal
Air Force (RAF) and the United States
Army Air Force (USAAF) as part of the allied forces
between 13 February and 15 February 1945 in the Second World War. In four
raids, 1,300 heavy bombers
dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on
the city, the Baroque
capital of the German state
of Saxony. The resulting firestorm destroyed
39 square kilometres (15 sq mi) of the city centre. (Wikipedia)
The story is followed by a presumably fictional character
Billy Pilgrim, and Vonnegut reports over 135,000 people dead. Though actual
facts…. In the first few decades after the war, some death toll estimates were
as high as 250,000, which are now considered unreasonable.[6]
An independent investigation commissioned by the city council in 2010 finaly
reported a minimum of 22,700 victims with a maximum total number of fatalities
of 25,000. (Wikipedia).
Billy Pilgrim, isn’t your typical hero, but turns out that
with much luck he carries on his story, his very colorful story which makes
this book very unique. Can it be that Pilgrim has what is now known as PPD!
This book also explores the fine lines of war and the
characterization of humanness in time of great pressures. What is a human to do
when faced with the gruesomeness of WWII.
I am surprised I was never told to read this in school through a History
class, as it was very fascination especially following the battle.
I look forward to reading more of his book!
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