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Laz116 · 10-22-2009, 10:40 PM

So it's a classic I hear.

And on that note I thought I would take it for a spin.

But after finishing it I am somewhat perplexed.

Yes. I get that The Dresden bombings were so horrible so it cannot be approached directly.

Yes, I get the Walter Benjaminian notion of leaving war with a loss of experience.

Yes, I get the notion of fatalistic determinism as an end result of not being able to make sense in ones own narrative (as a consequence of the inability to speak of the horrors of war/ or the horrors of existence).

But still Vonneguts cut up narrative, with his occassional metacommentary, has been done a lot better by other authors imo.

I don't think slaughterhouse five does anything that fx Beckett didn't do much better in Waiting for Godot.

I just don't get it. Why is this a classic?

10-22-2009, 10:40 PM	#1
Laz116 Guru Posts: 640 Karma: 12129 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Sony PRS-700	Slaughterhouse Five So it's a classic I hear. And on that note I thought I would take it for a spin. But after finishing it I am somewhat perplexed. Yes. I get that The Dresden bombings were so horrible so it cannot be approached directly. Yes, I get the Walter Benjaminian notion of leaving war with a loss of experience. Yes, I get the notion of fatalistic determinism as an end result of not being able to make sense in ones own narrative (as a consequence of the inability to speak of the horrors of war/ or the horrors of existence). But still Vonneguts cut up narrative, with his occassional metacommentary, has been done a lot better by other authors imo. I don't think slaughterhouse five does anything that fx Beckett didn't do much better in Waiting for Godot. I just don't get it. Why is this a classic?