Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut taught me some "truths" when I first read this book. People will forgive you for dropping napalm bombs on civilians, but they will not forgive you for having halitosis. Secondly, the secret of life (as revealed by the aliens of the Planet Tralfamidore) is " to concentrate on the happy moments [in] life, and to ignore the unhappy ones - to stare only at the pretty things as eternity [fails] to go by."

Slaughterhouse Five is ostensibly narrated by Vonnegut, who was in Dresden as a POW when it was fire-bombed by the Allies. The story is about Billy Pilgrim who was also present in Dresden.  In Billy's case, "present" is an unusual word to use because Billy has become "unstuck in time". As we follow Billy's story we find him bouncing backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards through time as he relives pivotal and innocuous episodes in his life. Few of them are happy, for Billy seems unable to capitalise on the advice of the Tralfamidorians. Even with all the time travel, the narrative keeps returning to Billy's experiences in Germany in 1944-45, culminating in the fire-bombing of Dresden and its immediate aftermath.

Narrator Vonnegut's open aim was to write an anti-war book. A friend remarks he may as well write an anti-glacier book. Vonnegut also explores the themes of free will and determinism, the nature of reality, the shortcomings of Christianity, and kindness (amongst others).

Vonnegut's humanism shines out from behind a text that is heavily laced with a hard irony. Every time someone dies in the book (which happens frequently), Vonnegut simply adds the words "So it goes". In the context, it seems to be both a description and a judgement. Slaughterhouse Five is filled (for the most part) with decent people, and yet one of its central motifs - the firebombing of Dresden - relates to perhaps one of the most indecent acts perpetrated by human beings in recorded history. Vonnegut is very much challenging us to consider the nature of evil.

Slaughterhouse Five was worth reading the first time around, and was even better the second time. "Farewell, hello. Farewell, hello."

I read the Rosetta Books ebook, which I thoroughly recommend.