So, you get the point that I have many unread books sitting around in a pile that grows much faster than that other stack of books I have found time to read. Well, the other day a pulled one of those books off the shelf for the first time in a few months. I have owned Slaughterhouse Five for probably two years. I read it in closer to two days. I was hooked from the first page, finding myself conflicted because I couldn't put it down but at the same time was hesitant to finish it and not have more to go back to. If you haven't read this novel, go out and buy it now. Seriously, go! It's a wildly funny account of World War II veteran Billy Pilgrim, who has found himself "unstuck in time" and unable to control what part of his life he will live next. Oh, and he also gets abducted by natives of the planet Tralfamadore, who teach him a valuable lesson that no other Earthlings take seriously because they dismiss Billy as crazy. However, what makes this novel truly excellent, is that beneath all the humor lies Vonnegut's message about war, the value of life, and the things valued by our society. And this is not a flowery, naive "let's all stop fighting and love one another" proposal. It's complicated and sometimes dark, but peppered with reason and sometimes even hope, or at least a fresh perspective. If I haven't convinced you yet, please allow me to share a passage from a description of a science fiction book written by one of the characters and discussing the use of "burning jellied gasoline on human beings":
"It was dropped on them from airplanes. Robots did the dropping. They had no conscience, and no circuits which would allow them to imagine what was happening to the people on the ground.
Trout's leading robot looked like a human being, and could talk and dance and so on, and go out with girls. And nobody held it against him that he dropped jellied gasoline on people. But they found his halitosis unforgivable. But then he cleared that up, and he was welcomed to the human race." (p. 168, from a copy published in 1991 by Dell Publishing).
I have to wonder what other literary treats are sitting around waiting for me to discover them. I'm hopeful.
I feel compelled to take a moment to pay my respects to Ms. Rand and Mr. Steinbeck, whose long reign at the very top of my favorite authors list has finally come to an end. So it goes.
