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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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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paul Snook
- 13-06-16
War is madness; sometimes literally
A no-nonsense anti-war novel from based on the personal experience of the author. The main protagonist elicits your sympathy as he is clearly out of time, place and depth in a war that he is ill-built and equipped for. The descent into madness seems all the more reasonable as one considers the horrors that he has faced. To empathise the almost casual approach to death, there is a phrase that the author uses every time someone (or something) dies. At first you find it odd, then slightly annoying, then it begins to grate, until finally you realise just how many people have died during this novel and how casually their deaths are accepted. And, for me, that was the most chilling aspect of all.
The reading of this audiobook by Franco is laconic, almost lazy in style, yet it suits the material perfectly.
A great book that will appeal to the fans of Catch-22.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kevin Holloway
- 25-07-19
Crass music
A wonderful wonderful novel and very fine reading almost spoilt by gushing music played over the reading at beginning and end. And as soon as the reader finished the poignant last words, we were straight into loud Audible business. I find there’s often a mindlessness to the production and presentation of these Audible sound books; the producers clearly don’t understand their product and the needs of listeners.
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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
- OHW
- 10-07-16
and so it goes..
A great little book that puts the idiotic barbarity of war in focus and we are merely spectators of all things and for god sake try not to take things too seriously.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Arthur McKenna
- 25-04-21
great narration, hard to follow in audio format
The book is probably better in written format. It requires a fair bit of concentration and time to digest as the somewhat disjointed narrative is hard to fully parse through on a single pass. I'd probably enjoy sitting down to an academic discussion of the book to fully enjoy it.
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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
- Anonymous User
- 09-03-20
Best listen I've found so far
You won't stop recommending this to people and it will get real irritating real quick
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 07-11-21
Beautifully read, great story.
The reader captured the essence of the story. Really well read. And a fascinating story as well. Worth a listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Diane Severson
- 30-04-22
Great book - better narrator needed
I’m sure James Franco is a fine actor (I can’t say even whether I’ve seen him in anything, even if I do recognize him), but this book really needed someone who has experience with the German language and was able to do something better with the clipped short sentences Vonnegut is known for. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that the narrator do a good job with a language which is in heavy use in a novel. Franco did not. The sentence structure also leads one toward a monotone delivery and I’m sure it’s not easy to do but it needs to be overcome with this novel. It was a snooze-fest.
It’s a shame because the novel is brilliant in it Vonnegut way.
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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
- Morpheus
- 02-04-22
tales of the unexpected
I ordered this, not knowing anything about it. What a story. I am so pleased I found it. Of course I'll have to play it again as it works in the 4th dimension. But, to do so will be a pleasure.
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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
- Wendy French
- 24-07-22
incredibly weird
enjoyed it. jumbled and jangled but a good listen. James Franco was a bit nasal-y but got used to it. listened at 1.10 or 1.15, slightly slow
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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
- James Tiberius
- 06-02-23
So it goes.
Only one of the greatest novels ever written. “They were going to discuss if the novel was dead or not.” So it goes.
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