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Slaughterhouse-Five
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
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Slaughterhouse-Five
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Summary
Slaughterhouse-Five is the now famous parable of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran and POW who has, in the later stage of his life, become "unstuck in time" and who experiences at will (or unwillingly) all known events of his chronology out of order and sometimes simultaneously.
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence). The "unstuck" nature of Pilgrim's experience may constitute an early novelistic use of what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder; then again, Pilgrim's aliens may be as "real" as Dresden is real to him.
Struggling to find some purpose, order, or meaning to his existence and humanity's, Pilgrim meets the beauteous and mysterious Montana Wildhack (certainly the author's best character name), has a child with her, and drifts on some supernal plane, finally, in which Kilgore Trout, the Tralfamadorians, Montana Wildhack, and the ruins of Dresden do not merge but rather disperse through all planes of existence.
Slaughterhouse-Five was hugely successful, brought Vonnegut an enormous audience, was a finalist for the National Book Award and a best seller, and remains four decades later as timeless and shattering a war fiction as Catch-22, with which it stands as the two signal novels of their riotous and furious decade.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Wras
- 03-04-17
trapped in the amber of this moment.
A book about war and the inhumanity of being human, a timeless time perspective of all the things that keep on repeating the same mistakes with horrible regularity and yet we choose to accept as new phenomena of our very particular time, were we commit very old crimes “So It Goes”.
A sad beautiful tale that is not afraid to expose the ugliest of truth, a desperate attempt at creating a change in a world that is stuck in the amber of its own creation constant war to prove we were right once, or we can sell over there in freedom because we won the war and “So It Goes”.
A classic that is rebellious and confrontative, with anarchic, nihilistic thoughts, to liberate us from complacency and acceptance of the of the status quo, “So It Goes”.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- M. Griffiths
- 01-05-17
So it goes........
The narration is so "spot on" that it justifies the audio format. Something of Catch-22 and Forrest Gump, witty and dark.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mlc
- 12-04-18
learn a little German Franco!
listening to Franco labour his was through the German sections is so painful. it just comes across as lazy and unprofessional. still love the book though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jon
- 06-12-18
so it goes
this book made me sad and then happy again and then sad again
ten out of ten
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-08-19
Great book, not so great audio.
James read excellently but whatever the issue was with the sound detracted from the overall experience. It's audible but could have been a lot more crisp and clear.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- helen
- 13-08-17
classic
james franco brings this book to life. i think that this is my favourite narration.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Molly
- 27-04-21
Beautifully written and performed
The fact that this isn't an ordinarily structured novel makes it unique and beautiful and I truly believe that everybody should read this at least once in their lifetime. A wonderful, philosophical exploration of war and what it is to be human.
James Franco narrates this perfectly, his dry style couldn't be better suited to Vonnegut's tone. Just wonderful.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- "turkeyboy128"
- 08-04-20
And so it goes
The story of Billy Pilgrim made me feel his total powerlessness. His whole life was as if he was the dispassionate observer and I was the one wading through treacle.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fusgus
- 24-02-22
what an amazing book
what a remarkable telling of a dark day in world history. An unexpected journey through time and space. brilliantly performed, would highly recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- BookWorm
- 19-07-22
Great book
I wasn't sure how to feel about James Franco but it works.
Great book, I enjoyed it thoroughly; the war, post traumatic stress disorder, life, humour, death...
An absolute classic
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