Week 1: Slaughterhouse Five
And my second resolution of 2010? Finish a book a week. A modest goal for now, but the real challenge will begin when midterms start and papers come due. But I am resolved. And I resolve to stay resolved.
The first up is Kurt Vonnegut’s classic sci-fi novel Slaughterhouse Five published in 1969. It was an anti-war book of a new variety, not the sort that glorified violence or the sacrifices of the babies—as Vonnegut called them—who fought and died on the battlefront.
Vonnegut wrote about the adventures of Billy Pilgrim, the time-traveling World War II veteran, who was uprooted it time. Pilgrim was abducted by creatures from another planet called Tralfamadorians who see time (the fourth dimension) as humans see space (the third dimension). Pilgrim learns to see time and he travels back in forth between his childhood and the time of his death. The book is a portrait of the whole of Pilgrim’s life, a collection of experiences.
Vonnegut passed away in 2007 leaving behind an impressive collection of novels and short stories, including Cat’s Cradle and Breakfast of Champions.
Next book up? The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs.