Tuesday 20 December 2011

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegurt


I guess this has been on my 'to read' list for many years, for some reason I just didn't seem to get round to it.  Maybe the subject of war put me off, I can't cope with reading about war it really upsets me and so I tend to avoid books about it.  Or maybe it was the title, although I knew the subject wouldn't scare me - the title does make it sound like a horror.

I did worry that it wouldn't be an enjoyable read (although that isn't a reason not to read something) - I was wrong.

In a bookshop just before Christmas I gave in and on the spur of the moment bought it (crazy really as I'm sure that it can be found on the web for only a penny, or in a secondhand bookshop for a couple of pounds!).

Telling the story of Billy Pilgrim we follow him during his world war two experiences, his life before and after the war, his time as a POW, and as an alien abductee....yes, it's a strange little book!

Obviously very anti-war, it centres around the night of the bombing of Dresden, and Billy's time travelling around this point in his life.

In all honesty it's hard to describe this book, it's an easy read and the main character is engaging and interesting, you really do want to know what will happen to him next. 

I'm glad I got round to it, if I have any criticism of it, it's that it's too short.

19th - 20th December 2011