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Slaughterhouse-Five

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Slaughterhouse-Five

By: Kurt Vonnegut
Narrated by: James Franco
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About this listen

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.

©1969 Kurt Vonnegut (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Classics Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Science Fiction Fiction Time Travel Funny Inspiring Witty Scary Aviation War

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Critic reviews

"James Franco is an inspired choice as narrator for this anti-war classic. While still young, he still manages to sound world-weary.... Franco has fun with the offbeat characters and Vonnegut's quirky text but keeps the overall tone thoughtful.... Franco's reading gives the 1960s classic a freshness that will appeal to both new listeners and Vonnegut's many fans." ( AudioFile)
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This is an all-time great novel, and I've enjoyed more than a few of Franco's acting performances in the past, so I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately, the way Franco has chosen to read the book is frankly soporific.

Woefully miscast.

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This book does not serve to force opinions upon you. It captures the melancholy of war and gives real depth to all of the characters. Do not be put off by the time travel to another planet, this gradually becomes clear why the character does this.
I will return to this book in the future and I loved the narration.

Honest account.

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love it start to finish, James Franco is a believable Billie Pilgrim. great tone to his voice

Great book, Great narrator

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Vividly read, beautifully written. The madness of war is lampooned with pity and wild imagination.

As astute and relevant today as it was in 1968.

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Took me a while to get used to the narrator, he doesn’t speak particularly clearly.

After the first couple of chapters I got used to him though, and he really helped to bring some personality and life to the character. Definitely recommended.

Wonderful book, odd narrator

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Occasionally hard to follow, but Franco really does make it feel like a trip into Billy's mind.

It manages to make you laugh despite the bleak backdrop.

A trip through history and space!

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An interesting and thoughtful modern classic. Slaughterhouse-Five is as much a philosophical novel as it is a sci-fi or war memoir.
An interesting part is the insight into Tralfomodorean space/time concept, which is rather similar to Einstein's conception, hence perhaps not so bizarre.
The novel contains interesting hypothetical time travel situations and some thought provoking observations into the destructive nature of war, and can be difficult to stomach at times and is perhaps not for the squeamish.
The James Franco narration captures the mood although his voice can at times have a somewhat sleep inducing effect at times.
But overall, a definite classic within an appropriate performance.

Definite Classic, Apt Narration

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James Franco does well to capture the characters within the novel yet the story as a whole I found not to resonate with me personally as much as other great novels have.

The narrative form, of following Billy pilgrims life in a non chronological order as he experiences his time traveling is a unique form to create small vignettes. However, his character is very shallow, even with the deep life experience which creates a disconnect between the audience and character. Whether this is intentional to show the humanly difference between a regular person and someone who’s experienced the extraterrestrial would be a good reason.

There are a lot of the short stories where with more considerate thought of the reader can invoke deeper philosophical argument and experiment.

TL:DR - lots of good short stories in a single narrative that give room for deep thought. But can be fairly disconnected in emotion from the audience.

Stories within stories

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Clever structure - I loved the fluidity of time and places that weaved throughout the story. Tge narrator was really good - very natural.

Clever structure

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Hard to say. the reader sounded monotone, inline with the antagonist. The story was gray and colorless for a litterary point. So it was interesting at least.

probably good, booringly interesting.

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