[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 26 KB, 326x500, slaughterhouse-five.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2592975 No.2592975 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/ i didn't like this book. did it have some poignant one liners? sure. but it seemed to never really take off for me. i was still waiting for the story to begin by the time it had ended.

the aimlessness of the narrative is perhaps to reflect the author's opinion on the uselessness of war, but i couldn't help but feel disinterested in the characters and their stories. save, perhaps, that of poor old Derby.

obviously, im missing something. there are people who rave about this novel (novella?). i guess it just wasn't for me.

>> No.2592981

I only liked it enough to try The Sirens of Titan, which i loved.

>> No.2592987

Kurt Vonnegut is a mediocre writer and a mediocre mind.

>> No.2592988

What you have there is called an "opinion," and it's perfectly acceptable.
Just because you didn't like it doesn't mean you didn't get it, and any criticisms you've given are valid and presented subjectively. Good job.

>> No.2592989

Vonnegut's most ardent fans usually don't read anything deeper, OP.

Vomit tastes like candy to shithouse rats.

>> No.2593001

I like Vonnegut. But I don't love him. I don't even know why people expect so much from him that they feel "let down" by reading any of his novels. Lots of cynical babbies around here give him more shit than he deserves because of his popularity, though.

>> No.2593013

Holy shit. I just read this book, and I feel the exact same way about it. Thanks for putting my thoughts into words, OP.

>> No.2593073

You should read the Sirens of Titan instead. A much better Vonnegut read.

>> No.2593082

>>2593073
Personally, I find Slaughterhouse-Five to be much better, but the pacing in Sirens is better. S5 sorta peters out at the end, as it should due to the non-linearity. While Sirens just keeps escalating.

>> No.2593094

>i was still waiting for the story to begin by the time it had ended.
>the aimlessness of the narrative

This is more or less the case with all of Vonnegut (With the exception of The Sirens of Titan). You have to be able to appreciate that. I've posted this before, but Kurt Vonnegut is in the business of commentary more than storytelling, which is why most of his novels feels the way they do.

I'm guessing you made the same mistake that just about everyone makes when first reading Vonnegut, which is to expect his writing to be conventional, and it's not. You'll have to understand that. Or just do what these guys did:

>>2592987
>>2592989

And boldly declare that one of the most celebrated writers in U.S. history is actually shitty, and that, incredibly, everyone except /lit/ got it wrong. It's amazing how often that happens.

>> No.2593096

>>2593094

Well I dunno, Jailbird has a pretty coherently structured narrative.

>> No.2593097
File: 76 KB, 500x352, fag-talk.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2593097

>>2592975
“I thought Beatrice Keedsler had joined hands with other old-fashioned storytellers to make people believe that life had leading characters, minor characters, significant details, insignificant details, that it had lessons to be learned, tests to be passed, and a beginning, a middle, and an end...I had become more and more enraged and mystified by the idiot decisions made by my countrymen. And then I had come suddenly to pity them, for I understood how innocent and natural it was for them to behave so abominably, with such abominable results: they were doing their best to live like people invented in story books. This was the reason Americans shot each other so often: It was a convenient literary device for ending short stories and books.
Why were so many Americans treated by their government as though their lives were as disposable as paper facial tissues? Because that was the way authors customarily treated bit-part players in their made-up tales.
And so on."

> Reading Vonnegut expecting a linear narrative.
> Implying your interest in the book is at all important.

>> No.2593102

>>2593094

His writing's as conventional as fuck, though, my nigga.

>> No.2593105
File: 19 KB, 410x331, vonnegut2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2593105

>>2592975

Thanks for the opinion, OP. I feel differently, although not entirely. Slaughterhouse is a damn good novel IMO, perhaps not a great one, but a damn good one, and I'll always enjoy going back to it.

That said, it's far from his greatest work, it's perhaps not even top-tier Vonnegut, I couldn't say. Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan and Mother Night are all great works by the man and well worth a read if you find you're interested in seeing what else Vonnegut has to offer.

He has a lot of other decent-to-shabby works that are only really worth it if you're a big fan of the guy (which I am).

>> No.2593117

>>2593096

I haven't read that one yet, actually.

>>2593102

I wouldn't say that. The prose is often pretty simple and accessible, but, like I said, the thing with Vonnegut is that his characters are a second priority to whatever concepts or ideas he's attempting to convey. Much of the time, it's like a fictionalized essay, with how overt his tone is. Then there's the business with the postmodernism and the breaking of the 4th walls. I don't really think these are things that are immediately conveyed when people ask, "What's Slaughterhouse 5 like?" and they get something like "It's about the bombing of Dresden," or "PTSD," or the like.

>> No.2593119

Don't bother with Vonnegut, he's a racist.

>> No.2593124

>>2593117

You should, it's excellent. It also dispenses with the sci-fi stuff that can sometimes get in the way of the social commentary.

>> No.2593694

>>2593117

I see what you mean. I never read for character, so I hadn't picked up on that, but I guess the editorial quality could be quite jarring.

>> No.2593699

"i loved her for that because it was so HUMAN"