Monday, November 22, 2010

Teaser Tuesday 61: Slaughterhouse Five

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few “teaser” sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!


I hope you don't mind a two-for-one this week, both from the same book. This was an...interesting...read. A bit different as the action wasn't linear, but jumped around the way the main character's unhinged mind did. It wasn't a difficult read, though the format did make it a bit challenging to keep up at times.



"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."

"Um," said Billy Pilgrim. (pg 117)


* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I'm afraid I don't read as much as I ought to," said Maggie.

"We're all afraid of something," Trout replied. I'm afraid of cancer and rats and doberman pinschers." (pg 171)



A bit About the Book:
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Don't let the ease of reading fool you--Vonnegut's isn't a conventional, or simple, novel. He writes, "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..."



15 comments:

Alice Audrey said...

I never got through Slaughter House Five. All that jumping around drove me nuts.

Shelley Munro said...

I'm not sure if this one is my cup of tea. Hubby and I have just watched a TV show that jumped back and forward. It drove me nuts.

Heather said...

Alice: This one did take me a few days to get through due to all the jumping around. I don't think I would have been able to finish had I attempted to read it in HS or college.

Shelley: Believe me, the fact that I stuck with it for that reason alone is a miracle. All the jumping forward and backward is why I gave up on "The Event" after the first 3 weeks. I really wanted to like that show, but watching it gave me a headache!

gautami tripathy said...

This is on my tbr pile!

Here is my Tintin teaser!

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I'm surprised, sometimes, that I haven't read this one, but I did see a movie based on the book in the 70s.

Those are teasers that make me stop to think and wonder....

Here's mine:

(click my name)

Heather said...

Gautami: This is one of two classics bought off a Target display of recently reissued classics this past summer. The fact that it only sat on my TBR pile a few months is quite amazing. Here's hoping you get to it soon!

Laurel-Rain: Glad you found the twesers interesting! I had the honor of hearing Vonnegut lecture back in college but, having never read him before now, I might have appreciated his talk more had I read him sooner.

Anonymous said...

I'm ashamed to say I've never read this book... yet!

Here's mine: http://wp.me/pFyoG-pZ

Heather said...

Domestic Goddess: Don't feel so bad--I won't mention how many years it took me to get round to reading anything by this author. ;)

jlshall said...

Both of those are wonderful teasers. I read this book many years ago, and really loved it. Of course, that was during the height of the Vietnam War, and the book really seemed to touch a nerve for the early Boomer generation. I imagine it's not quite as electric these days, but still a great book.

Here’s my teaser from The Distant Hours.

kayerj said...

I didn't mind two for one--they were both fun teasers. Thanks for stopping by.

Pam said...

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I think Kurt is hysterical but I think I'm probably very alone in this. I'm glad you gave it a try, though, and I have to say that I LOVE the new, bright pink cover!

Alayne said...

Haha I want to read that book. Nice teaser. Mine is at The Crowded Leaf.

Aisle B said...

Slaughterhouse Five... You got one heavy read there.

Enjoy the sarcasm and poignant references by the V man. He's not one to mince at words.

Heather said...

Joy: It is a good book, but I think you're right about it having more meaning for a generation before mine.

Kaye: Thanks, I'm glad you liked them! :)

Pam: Vonnegut was indeed an interesting character, which I do believe is reflected in his writing. Oh, and um...that cover is actually bright RED, lol.

Heather said...

Alayne: Glad it piqued your interest and that you do get around to reading it. Thanks for visiting!

Aisle B: As noted, the book has been read, and while I didn't love it, it was pretty good. If nothing else, you gotta love his irreverence.