Slaughterhouse Five is a book that's familiar to many, even to those who have not actually read the novel. It's been laden with controversy (banned in numerous libraries and schools) while being wildly successful (and massively boosting Vonnegut's fame). Given the unusual weave of an alien-inspired narrative with a dire account of the bombing of Dresden (and all the quirks within), the first result is not terribly surprising. It is interesting however, to map just how the book did so well, and the effects that that triumph had.
Slaughterhouse Five was released in 1969, during some of the heights of Vietnam War controversy. It's been said that the themes of the book helped connect with many readers' anti-war sentiments. Moreover, the weakening of trust in government at the time helped Vonnegut push a more objective view on the events in Dresden (a view held by Vonnegut himself). These ideas hold up well through some reasoning: For a more optimistic audience, the book would seem to much harder to swallow. The constant refrain of "so it goes" to ends, and a general push towards a resigned acceptance of doom would seem to be repulsive to many, and yet the majority of readers had no such pushback.
Of course, the success of Slaughterhouse Five also has to be attributed to the power of the author himself. Vonnegut applies extremely liberal amounts of dark humor to great effect, balances the several simultaneous narratives through different periods of Billy's life, all while showing self-awareness with his early apology.
Going further into Vonnegut, he seems to have had an interesting trajectory before and after the writing of Slaughterhouse Five. Prior to its release, Vonnegut had had critical successes, but without popular acclaim, he had to use his writing of short stories to support a family. His star had slowly been rising in the couple of years before, before Slaughterhouse really skyrocketed it, to a point where that he didn't seem to reach afterwards. Breaking away from one stereotype I held on acclaimed writers (holed-up hermits who hate attention, or Salinger most prominently), Vonnegut used the fame for college commencements and other speeches. It was a interesting departure from what I had expected.
I decided to write more of an outsider look on Slaughterhouse because I'm still yet to figure out what I really think of the book. Unlike our previous readings, it doesn't lend itself (to me at least) well to this practice, but as of now, it's pretty neutral.
