num_pages: 275
description: It took Vonnegut more than 20 years to put his Dresden experiences into words. He explained, "there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again." Slaughterhouse Five is a powerful novel incorporating a number of genres. Only those who've fought in wars can say whether it represents the experience well. However, what the novel does do is invite readers to look at the absurdity of war. Human versus human, hedonist politicians pressing buttons &amp; ordering millions to their deaths all for ideologies many cannot even comprehend. Flicking between the USA, 1940's Germany &amp; Tralfamadore, Vonnegut's semi-autobiographical protagonist Billy Pilgrim finds himself very lost. One minute he's being viewed as a specimen in a Tralfamadorian Zoo, the next he's wandering a post-apocalyptic city looking for corpses. Slaughterhouse Five, or The Children's Crusade A Duty-Dance with Death is a remarkable blend of black humor, irony, the truth &amp; the absurd. The author regards his work a "failure", millions of readers don't. Released the same time bombs were falling on SE Asia, this title caused controversy &amp; awakening. Essential reading for all.--Jon Smith
language: English
title: Slaughterhouse-Five: Or the Childrens Crusade a Duty Dance With Death
titlecomplete: Slaughterhouse-Five: Or the Childrens Crusade a Duty Dance With Death (G K Hall Large Print Perennial Bestseller Collection)
characters: Montana Wildhack, Kilgore Trout, Bertam Copeland Rumfoord, Roland Weary, Paul Lazzaro, Robert Pilgrim, Billy Pilgrim, Edgar Derby, Eliot Rosewater, Barbara Pilgrim, Howard W. Campbell Jr., Valencia Merble
genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, War, American, Literature, Classics, Novels, Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
ratings_count: 1331044
places: Ilium, Dresden, The United States of America, Germany, Tralfamadore
awards: awardedAt: 28800000
name: Hugo Award
category: Best SF Novel, awardedAt: -31507200000
name: Nebula Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 28800000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 28800000
name: Chicago Publishers' Award
publisher: Rosetta Books LLC/G.K. Hall (NY)