Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHip41
I need to read SL5 again. Probably been 10 years
If you want a good book set around war. O'Briens "The Things They Carried" is very good.
I've heard that's good. And I'll likely end up reading it. For some reason the title always turns me off, no idea why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Husker
I re-read Slaughterhouse 5 last years ago after being a bit underwhelmed by it when I originally read it about 15 years ago. Gotta admit, I was still kinda underwhelmed by it second time around as well.
Okay, I'll admit, this is actually the third time I've read it. Second time I found it underwhelming like you did. I think my turnaround has a lot to do with what the book
isn't and how carefully Vonnegut handles themes so that they don't take over the book. Lots of war books either glorify or moralize battle, this vehemently does neither. Lots of scifi deals with aliens, this doesn't (I think we never meet a Tralfamadorian character in SH5, we only get the zoo crowds) -- not to mention how the absurd scifi situation begs other questions about the absurdity of war and life in general. Plus Billy Pilgrim's PTSD serves as a great vehicle for the time travel and scattered narrative, instead of using it as a random device like many authors would, Vonnegut uses these conditions to buttress and feed off each other. I think all the war and absurdist books (with my usual dose of scifi) I've been reading have helped me to appreciate all Vonnegut's techniques and style much better.
And oh yeah, I read another war book!
The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan. Panoramic view of D-Day invasion of Normandy, chronicling everyone from kindergarten teacher to paratrooper to Rommel. Staggering amount of individual stories in a small space, but handled well. It's not all-encompassing by any means, but it covers a ton of circumstances the soldiers and citizens endured on both sides of the battle.