
Slaughterhouse-Five
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Narrated by:
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James Franco
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By:
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Kurt Vonnegut
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.Critic reviews
Featured Article: The top 100 classics of all time
Before we whipped out our old high school syllabi and dug deep into our libraries to start selecting contenders for this list, we first had to answer the question, "How do we define a classic?" The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might guess, though there’s a lot to be said for the old adage, "You know it when you see it" (or, in this case, hear it). Of course, most critically, each of our picks had to be fabulous in audio. So dust off your aspirational listening list—we have some amazing additions you don’t want to miss.
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With cutting wit, fierce conviction, and surprising empathy, Vonnegut explores a diverse range of topics including society, politics, sex, literature, and mortality. Fans who believe they've read all of Vonnegut's work will be delighted to find the author speaking frankly about timely and relevant new topics - with an amusing yet insightful style that's instantly recognizable.
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Not a place to start.
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Capaldi is FANTASTIC; tech editing, not as much
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Player Piano
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Animal Farm
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Performance
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If you hate spoilers, save the intro for last.
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Slapstick
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Overall
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Performance
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Lonely No More!
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Bluebeard
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Overall
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Performance
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Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters) with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.
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Kurt Vonnegut explores the arts
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Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
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- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
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Oddball Translation
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By: Homer, and others
If you could sum up Slaughterhouse-Five in three words, what would they be?
psychedelic, surreal, chaoticWhat did you like best about this story?
Billy's time travel back and forth and beyond and how Vonnegut made the transitions. The refrain "and so it goes" every time someone died was hilarious.Which scene was your favorite?
This is hard to say, because I love them all. The firebombing of Dresden and its aftermath stood out.If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
And So It Goes.Any additional comments?
The novel is fresh, modern, non-linear. Vonnegut pushed the form. It requires focus to listen to. Enjoy the ride. Do not try to make sense of it. Enjoy. "And so it goes."Important Post-War Novel
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If you feel the same about it, and hesitant about the purchase of this book, take the risk. Franco's voice and narration are a bit unsettling at first but so is the book. As unlikely as it may sound ,it's a great pairing.
So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Yes, it will be a bumpy one.
Surprising in many ways.
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I see why this is a classic
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I am very frustrated there's no other option but this version, because I feel like it was a wasted credit even though it's a great book.
I don't recommend this version at all, you will enjoy it much more if you read it yourself. He is too monotone, a slow reader (I played it at 1.5x to balance that), and he made me question parts I found so funny in this book when I read it myself just due to his delivery.
Love the book, hate the reader
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So it Should Go
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Vonnegut. The best.
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good story, almost spoiled by narration
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Nice surprise!
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James Franco is excellent in how he captures the mod of the book. Very Tralfamadorian.
Worth your time and money.
Wonderfully thoughtful.
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Perfect narration from James Franco. I thought Vonnegut was often silly but with this reading I see he was trying to make sense out of an absurd world.
War is still hell
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