First Thoughts on Vonnegut

I really enjoyed the first chapter of Slaughterhouse-Five. I must admit, it is nice to be reading something that I can actually follow and understand. I am excited to read further into this book. Vonnegut’s seeming preface sets an interesting tone for the novel and establishes it as being postmodern without seeming dense and indecipherable. I really enjoy deep books written in seemingly simple language, such as The Sun Also Rises, as you no doubt know by now is one of my favorite recently read books. Vonnegut’s establishment of the book as being anti-war is interesting and leaves me wondering where it will go and how it will discuss Dresden. I enjoy the scene with O’Hare and Mary as it beautifully shows how war tends to be depicted in the media as opposed to how it is viewed by many who have been affected by it. The mention of the Children’s Crusade draws a very interesting and relevant parallel that very strongly shows Vonnegut’s views. Also, I enjoyed the story of Vonnegut’s night in the Boston hotel. I have not read the book before, but I do know that it involves time travel.

The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only with the electric clocks, but the wind-up kind too. The second hand on my watch would twitch once, and a year would pass, and then it would twitch again. There was nothing I could do about it. As an Earthling, I had to believe whatever clocks said – and calendars. (Vonnegut 26)

I really enjoy how this passage foreshadows the themes of time and the perception of time. I find it interesting how Vonnegut states that at this time, during the war, time is standing still, and later on, the time traveler moves through time to a place where it does not move.