A First Look At Slaughterhouse-Five

I have definitely heard of Slaughterhouse-Five but I really knew nothing about it, so I dove into it quite blindly.  After reading chapter one, it is evident this is no "ordinary" book.  In just a matter of pages the author seems to break a number of the unspoken rules that writers follow.  By only the second page Vonnegut is relating all of the trouble it has been to finish the "lousy little book."  He tells of the hardship in actually remembering stories from Dresden to write about for most of the chapter.  Vonnegut breaks the biggest rule of book-writing by telling the reader what he believes will be the climax of his book before we have even really begun reading it.  He describes what he believes to be the most exciting parts of his time in Dresden right off the bat, leaving the reader to wonder if it is even worth reading the rest of the story.  Within the first paragraph he gives away what appears to be some major plot spoilers.  Vonnegut himself says that nothing else that happened is really of as much note.  In the close of the chapter he calls the book a failure and reveals what are probably the the two most important lines of the book: the very beginning and end.

What does make the read enjoyable is his humor dropped here and there on the pages.  I love how he refers to himself as an "old fart" or calls drunk-dialing a "disease...involving alcohol and the telephone."  He has a way of downplaying the big events by intermingling the historic moments of the war with comments on his regular life in the present.  He says that the woman whose husband was squashed by his car said only "what you would expect her to say," as if this was a common occurence.  This juxtaposition between the harsh realities of death and his now mundane life, combined with his neutral attitude make everything seem almost ridiculous.  From dedicating the book to another man's wife (who didn't even like the idea of a war book) to quoting a whole passage in German, Vonnegut does nothing in ordinary fashion.

I find it quite refreshing that he seems to break all of the rules, setting Slaughterhouse-Five apart from books.  I enjoy his humor that seems to pop out of nowhere.  I am looking forward to seeing what Vonnegut will tell me next.