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Title details for Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut - Wait list

Slaughterhouse-Five

or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death

by Kurt Vonnegut
Ethan Hawke
Audiobook
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Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes "unstuck in time" after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

Slaughterhouse-Five is not only Vonnegut's most powerful book, it is also as important as any written since 1945. Like Catch-22, it fashions the author's experiences in the Second World War into an eloquent and deeply funny plea against butchery in the service of authority. Slaughterhouse-Five boasts the same imagination, humanity, and gleeful appreciation of the absurd found in Vonnegut's other works, but the book's basis in rock-hard, tragic fact gives it unique poignancy - and humor.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    November 11, 2003

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780060735555
      • File size: 169922 KB
      • Duration: 05:54:00

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Here it is in all its glory: the book that has baffled high schoolers for two generations. From Dresden to Tralfamadore and all the places in between, Vonnegut tells a story that's impossible to put down. To make matters even better, the book gets star treatment from narrator Ethan Hawke, who immerses us in the author's words. Hawke almost whispers his way through the text as if letting us in on a big secret, and he is marvelously effective. He uses impeccable diction and effective pauses to create an atmospheric world that gives the book an authentic otherworldly feel. By the end, Hawke has taken us on a journey that both illuminates the author's words and reflects our understanding of them. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 1, 2004
      "Listen: Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time." So begins Vonnegut's absurdist 1969 classic. Hawke rises to the occasion of performing this sliced-and-diced narrative, which is part sci-fi and partially based on Vonnegut's experience as a American prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany during the firebombing of 1945 that killed thousands of civilians. Billy travels in time and space, stopping here and there throughout his life, including his long visit to the planet Tralfamador, where he is mated with a porn star. Hawke adopts a confidential, whisper-like tone for his reading. Listening to him is like listening to someone tell you a story in the back of a bus—the perfect pitch for this book. After the novel ends, Vonnegut himself speaks for a short while about his survival of the Dresden firestorm and describes and names the man who inspired this story. Tacked on to the very end of this audio smorgasbord is music, a dance single that uses a vintage recording of Vonnegut reading from the book. Though Hawke's reading is excellent, one cannot help but wish Vonnegut himself had read the entire text.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Ethan Hawke's intimate reading of SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE breathes new life into this bravely constructed time-traveling tale. There's so much interesting stuff going on here--vivid characters, big ideas, absurdity, antiwar sentiment, pathos, and a whiff of existentialism--and it's all given narrative drive by Hawke's calming cadence and cozy tone. Whether you've read the book before or are just now discovering it, this audiobook is a wonderful introduction to Vonnegut and to a world where the joys of life may be buried on a distant planet. The production also includes an interview with Vonnegut and a selection of the late author reading a mesmerizing sequence. So it goes. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      The story of Billy Pilgrim, the time-traveling optometrist, is framed by Vonnegut's experiences as a prisoner of war in WWII. James Franco is an inspired choice as narrator for this anti-war classic. While still young, he still manages to sound world-weary--as if the weight of bombing, prison, and the general destruction of war are pulling him down. Although too sensitive to be an ideal soldier, Pilgrim remains self-possessed despite his capture by Germans and his eventual life in Slaughterhouse Five, a prisoner of war camp in Dresden, a city the Americans firebomb. Franco does a convincing job voicing the accents of the German, Russian, and American soldiers. Pilgrim survives the war and eventually returns to America. There the young ex-soldier studies optometry and marries. On a trip with fellow doctors, Pilgrim's plane crashes, leaving him the only survivor. By this time, Billy is an accomplished time traveler, having been taught how to move through time when he was abducted by aliens and exhibited in a zoo on the planet Tralfamadore. Pilgrim's adventurous life is well worth revisiting. He moves from past to present to future, reliving his imprisonment, his professional life as an optometrist, and his period as the sexual partner of a porn queen on the planet. Franco has fun with the offbeat characters and Vonnegut's quirky text but keeps the overall tone thoughtful. The famous refrain "and so it goes" woven throughout the story is a reminder of the ironies and passages of life, and despite its crazy premise, the tale seems almost believable. Franco's reading gives the 1960s classic a freshness that will appeal to both new listeners and Vonnegut's many fans. C.P.S. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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