Book review

Books 3 & 4

            Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions are two rather different stories by the same author that both regard satire. Slaughterhouse five is part anti-war part sci-fi book that is very strange but also rather thought provoking. The original idea of time warping and inevitability of events make this book fresh and original. Such as the scene where the main character, Billy Pilgrim gives a speech in which he knows that he will be assassinated at the end, because he has already experienced it as he has time warped through events in his life, and there is nothing that he can do about it because “The moment is structured that way” (149) and always has been assassinated in that moment—and always will. This is a great example of the elements of sci-fi and different thinking. These are parts of the book that make it a fantastic read. They way that the book is written is marvelous; the reader must piece together the whole story as you are given little snippets through the main characters time warps. It’s not very confusing the way that it’s told but it’s definitely a way of making the story a lot better. The plot is incredibly original because it puts together really unrelated things and at points seems like two different stories; this is because of his time warping to another planet and Earth.

            The biggest weakness of Slaughterhouse Five is the repetitive appearances of the phrase “so it goes” which is introduced the story as an alien phrase to deal with death. It is a weakness because the author uses it in the book anytime that death is mentioned and this can make the reader quite tired of seeing the same words over and over.

            On a grading scale I would give Slaughterhouse Five an A- because the book does have its weaknesses but is still a good read because of its originality and great plot.    

            Breakfast of Champions is a realistic fiction comedy satire that regards all of the flaws that the author, Kurt Vonnegut sees in society. He tells that story in a comedic plot that follows a used car dealer and an aging writer whose work of fiction is taken as truth by the used car dealer. This book deals with topics such as racism, cross dressing and being poor. This book is rather funny and would come strongly recommended by me. This book will make you laugh as you think about how the stories reflect upon society and yourself. This books plot does tend to drag on at times with not a whole lot happening besides descriptions of people, places and things. But that is also a big part of the story because it is part of the satirical element of the book. For example, when the main character is in a diner with a truck driver who he has hitchhiked with he sees another truck that says “Pyramid” on it and begins to wonder why someone who runs a company that requires speedy delivery would have a name of a thing that has not moved “Since Christ was born”. This is just a way that the author complains about things in the book. But it also can be boring at times because of how often this happens with no real advancement in the plot. The book also is written a little uniquely in the sense that the author has made himself a character in the book and placed himself in a world that he has created. He does not introduce himself in the book—he rather just shows up at random points and describes himself taking the controls of his characters. This is definitely something that keeps the book interesting because you get to see the author interacting with his characters in his world, which is something that I have not seen before and makes the book a lot of fun.

            Breakfast of Champions biggest weakness is that fact that not a lot happens until the last four chapters or so. When you first pick up the book and read the back you expect the car dealer to go insane a lot sooner in the book. And you expect the writer to have to deal with someone taking his insane work of fiction as truth, but rather the writer never really knows that it is his work that drove that man insane. This is the biggest weakness because the reader goes into the book expecting a lot more than what they get.

            Overall I would give Breakfast of Champions a B+ because it does make a good read through its comedy and otherworldliness.