Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five"

If you are the sort of person who enjoys exploring entertainment that increases your capacity for thought at the same time, you are probably always on the lookout for good books. You are absolutely happy as long as the book is well-written, entertaining, and informative - no matter if the book is fiction, non-fiction, instructional, or historical. One book that fits all three of these cateogries is Kurt Vonnegut's fiction masterpiece, "Slaughterhouse-Five," which was published originally in 1969.

When it comes to dark humor, few writers in the history of American literature match up to Vonnegut, and "Slaughterhouse Five" - his sixth published novel - was his most notable work. Vonnegut worked on this novel for about twenty years before figuring out how he wanted to write it - and this struggle was understandable, given the subject matter.

Kurt Vonnegut was a prisoner of war during World War II, and - along with many other prisoners of war - he was sent to Dresden, Germany by the Germans. Dresden was supposed to be a "non-combat" zone, but the city was soon fire-bombed, killing more than 135,000 people (more than were killed in Nagasaki or Hiroshima). Vonnegut and his fellow prisoners of war only survived the fire-bombing because they were hidden away in an underground slaughterhouse - slaughterhouse-five.

Vonnegut spent years after the war talking about the "famous Dresden book" he planned to write, but it took him quite a while to come up with the right approach. In the end, Vonnegut decided to settle on the approach he used in all his books: he mixed humor and absurdity with dark, heavy subject matters. Vonnegut's main character in this book is a fictional man who was in the same group of prisoners Vonnegut found himself in. And throughout the book, we watch the war and the fire-bombing of Dresden through this man's eyes - while also (possibly!) watching the man go crazy.

This book has been heralded as one of the most important works in the history of American literature, and it is entertaining while also being full of poignant ideas, insights, and knowledge. "Slaughterhouse-Five" might be just the book you are seeking if you are wanting to find a good book that will entertain you while also being enlightening.

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