World War II sort of hangs over most modern US history and
literature. If it’s not the outright point of the story it hides in the
background, visible only to those who like to pick through the tall grass.
Slaughterhouse-Five is the most unusual WWII book I've ever
read. It’s funny but not celebratory. It’s touching, even sad, but not
romantic. It’s honest but has aliens that look like plungers.
Billy Pilgrim is unstuck from time and as such lives random
moments of his life over and over again. The narrator of the story, Kurt
Vonnegut one assumes, tells his story as best he can.
Like other WWII writers, Vonnegut’s language is simple. He
is very economical with words and as such the entire thing is tiny (especially
when compared to some of the other books on this list). This simplicity, when
mixed with the horror of the firebombing of Dresden, has a scorching, purifying
result.
To be honest, I finished reading this book a couple weeks
ago and it’s been on my mind ever since and I’m still not sure what to say
about it. For all its simplicity of language it’s pretty saturated.
I think it has something to say about PTSD- living out of
time is a pretty good descriptor of that I think. It has something to say about
war- a seemingly simple message that war is wrong and soldiers aren’t the heroes
we tend to make them. Take this quote:
“I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee.”
It also seems to be about the very nature of stories. The
things happening are not happening to the narrator, but he was there at some of
them as he points out a few times in moments of unsettling clarity:
“That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book.”
The fact that Vonnegut was
actually a prisoner of war held underground in Dresden during the bombing
becomes almost like a ghost in this story.
The bombing of Dresden is interesting in and of itself. The
allied bombing of a German city with of no military purpose but with
significant cultural value becomes the epitome of mindless war.
Again, from the book:
“There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.”
And that is pretty much it. This makes the whole abducted by
aliens who teach Billy the truth about time more of a somber realization than a
fantastical story element.
OK! Coming up next. I just finished “Portnoy’s Complaint”
and will write about it soon. I’m about halfway through “Money” and just
started “To the Lighthouse.” I also decided to give up on the Top Ten concept
for these posts. It seemed artificial.
Also, we reached number 20 on the list! 1/5th of
the way through!
No comments:
Post a Comment