Slaughterhouse-Five

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrated by: James Franco

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

"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)

Good story. Bad narrator

James Franco slurs all his workds and doesn’t seem to be able to make anything seem interesting. Didn’t like it

A little mind bending but worth the ride

This is not a book for people who want a traditional plot line and routine characters.

This book isn't a plot, it is a mosaic. The narrator (who isn't, I think, entirely reliable) hands out the story in bits and pieces and lets the reader/listener weave them together. He tells his story with detachment, and yet there is pathos and humor in there too. The use of language was fascinating to me. In large part it is prosaic, but parts were nigh on lyrical.

It was a book that made me think more than it made me feel, and yet it kept me engaged the entire time. Let your disbelief be willingly suspended and then hang on for the ride.

I thought Franco did a very good job with the narration. I think his tone suited the story well. If he had tried for a lot of voices and 'acting' I think the story would have suffered for it. I am not sure why others are saying he was difficult to understand, it was clear and easy to comprehend for me.

War and Time-travel and Aliens, oh my!

If you could sum up Slaughterhouse-Five in three words, what would they be?

see headline XD

What was one of the most memorable moments of Slaughterhouse-Five?

I liked the part where the protagonist was trapped in a human zoo out of time with a sexy celebrity woman. It truly displayed how far fetched he was willing to make his story.

If you could rename Slaughterhouse-Five, what would you call it?

See headline

Any additional comments?

This book illustrates in its format how war and PTSD can damage a mind. The book is narrated by Billy Pilgrim, who tells his life's story is a complete jumble of memories and flash-forwards, talking about his childhood, his life after the war, and his adult life. Through this jumble of snippets, the only linear narrative is of the events that led up to the bombing of Dresden, after which Billy developed severe PTSD. He thinks that his jumbled mind is a sign that he is time-traveling, and that he has actually been kidnapped by aliens.

Sad, funny indictiment on war

In his droll voice, James Franco captures the mood of Vonnegut. Half playful, absurd, funny and overwhelmingly sad and tragic. An amazing indictment of war, which is as relevant today as it was then. Remarkable account and rendition.

Finally Read

Avoided reading this book in high school...Finally read it 40 years later and enjoyed it...Billy Pilgrim is a fantastic character and leads an interesting life...I wonder why the title of the book came to be...? Of course they mention a Slaughter House in the story but not significant enough to name the book after IMO...Oh well..."So it Goes"....

Depressing, but very well written.

This book is somewhat depressing. There are many deaths and they are all vividly depicted. There are many characters are all are extremely well developed. Vonnegut has a knack for giving extremely descriptive, but concise backstories for each character, to the point that you feel as if you’ve known each character personally for years before they begin their dialogue. Like I said before, the material can be a bit depressing at times as death and dying and insanity take a central role in this book , but this was done intentionally to bring attention to the horrors of war. It is an anti war book after all.

Nobody could have narrated this better

This is my first exposure to Vonnegut's work, but I'm now a fan. I'll be reading or listening to more.

James Franco was an inspired choice for narrator. Give the man a reward.

Not for me

I actually found James Franco's performance to be pretty good. The novel itself, however, was not to my liking.

First Vonnegut Novel

I wanted to love it. I am a James Franco fan, for the most part and I wanted be able to incorporate this into my AP Literature and Composition course, but the constant repetition of the writing style, ending every thought with "So there it goes" was driving me nuts. Then the cursing, I do not have a tolerance for foul language and this novel is riddled with it, so if you do not appreciate the frequent curse words, skip it.

Very good. First time reading

I really enjoyed this book. I think that Franco was the perfect choice for narrator given how irreverent the narration is. The only thing I didn't like was when he read a passage in German. His German isn't very good. Neither is mine but I'm not a narrator. Otherwise the book was excellent and so was the narration.