Thursday, April 29, 2021

Slaugherhouse-Five

Banned by several American schools in the 1960s, Slaughterhouse-Five is a World War II era novel that gives the reader a perspective on the bombing of Dresden. Having previously enjoyed a book by Kurt Vonnegut, I was excited about this one, which is perhaps why I was disappointed.

I think it was meant to be moving, but perhaps I wasn't in the right mood. I found the book kind of annoying (Vonnegut repeats certain phrases, I guess to be funny? But it added little value for me.) and aimless. I did not understand the message, or at least what I gather the message to have been.

But the problem could be me. I'm having a hard time finding books that I deem worthy of finishing. I finished this one because it's short, but before this one I had put down about 4-5 books in a row without completing them. I don't know if I'm going through a phase of some sort, or if I'm just on a streak of bad luck, but I'm strongly considering taking some time to re-read some old favourites rather than continuing my usual preference of only reading new (to me) material.

1 comment:

LJN said...

Some books are suited best to a certain age and life period. I read Slaughterhouse V when I was a teen and enjoyed it immensely. Same with Norwegian Wood, read it as a teen and it was enjoyable, read it again as an adult and it was dull.