By Joni:
Kurt Vonnegut is one of my all time favorite authors and Slaughterhouse Five is in my top ten list of favorite books.
One of the most interesting things to me about this book is the incredibly diverse interpretations people can have of it. The story is about a man named Billy Pilgrim who was inept as a soldier during World War II but manages to survive being a Prisoner of War (held captive in an old slaughterhouse - "Slaughterhouse Five") and later returns home to a safe albeit dull existence.
The narrative of the story jumps from time period to time period. One moment Billy is still in Germany as a young man, the next moment he is at a luncheoon for optometrists as a middle aged man. The explanation for this scattershot narrative is that Billy has become "unstuck in time" - time traveling from moment to moment of his life.
A bizarre subplot is that, during one moment of his life, he meets and is kidnapped by aliens named Tralfamadorians who place him in a zoo-like setting on their planet and observe him.
I know. I know. It sounds bizarre but - when I read Slaughterhouse Five - I never took the whole time travel / aliens stuff literally. To me, it was more like commentary about memory and the infinite number of moments - sad, beautiful, absurd moments - that make up a lifetime.
And as for the aliens, Vonnegut described them as looking like a toilet plunger. All of Vonnegut's novels have odd subplots and it's no secret that Vonnegut was a fatalist. His personal experiences early in his life forever shattered any optimism in him. At 19, he was (like Billy Pilgrim) a POW in a German work camp. He was also witness to the tragic Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. This was one of the most controversial events of WWII. Many believe that the war was already won and that the bombing of a peaceful town with no military significance was an unnecessary slaughter. As a POW, the Germans forced Vonnegut to find and bury the corpses of the men, women, and children killed. Some estimates say between 25,000 and 30,000 civilians died in this bombing. Vonnegut struggled with depression for the rest of his life. He was also an outspoken pacifist.
Every time you read Slaughterhouse Five you find something new. It's about fatalism and pacifism and free will and the absurdity of the human experience. Vonnegut was a genius. He died this year - April 11, 2007.
So it goes.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Movie Review: Michael
By Joni:
Movie reviews are not cheating! It's our book club! We can do what we want! Besides, I just learned something about this movie that is really, really cool!
I have seen the movie "Michael" a couple of times but it wasn't until recently that I realized it was a retelling of the "Wizard of Oz" story! OMG, how dense am I that I missed it before? Andie McDowell's character is even named "Dorothy"!! There's a little dog, a "tin man" without a heart, and a long journey from Kansas (!!) to the Sear's Tower in Chicago wherer a little man controls things from behind the scenes. I love it! I liked the movie in it's own right before but now I can't wait to watch it again and look for more connections..... Anyone out there love this movie as much as I do?
Movie reviews are not cheating! It's our book club! We can do what we want! Besides, I just learned something about this movie that is really, really cool!
I have seen the movie "Michael" a couple of times but it wasn't until recently that I realized it was a retelling of the "Wizard of Oz" story! OMG, how dense am I that I missed it before? Andie McDowell's character is even named "Dorothy"!! There's a little dog, a "tin man" without a heart, and a long journey from Kansas (!!) to the Sear's Tower in Chicago wherer a little man controls things from behind the scenes. I love it! I liked the movie in it's own right before but now I can't wait to watch it again and look for more connections..... Anyone out there love this movie as much as I do?
Book Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
By Joni:
I initially picked up this book thinking it might be a light little chicklit read and I was looking for something light to read over the weekend.
It turns out, it wasn't that light. The story revolves around two friends growing up in 19th century Japan and it follows the girls from pre-pubescence through their childbearing years and later, for one of the girls, as an elderly woman reminicsing about her friend.
The accounts of the girls footbinding is pretty graphic and this is definitely worth reading if this practice has ever intrigued you. The book is also an interesting look at the roles gender and privilege played in Japanese society at the time.
Lisa See has a lyrical quality to her writing and, even though the subject is sometimes brutal, it's lovely to read and I recommend the book whole-heartedly.
After reading "Snow Flower" I looked for other books by See. I found a book called "Dragon Bones" that sounded good on the jacket but didn't hold my attention. I've heard "Peony in Love" is also very good but I haven't investigated it yet. Has anyone read Lisa See before?
I initially picked up this book thinking it might be a light little chicklit read and I was looking for something light to read over the weekend.
It turns out, it wasn't that light. The story revolves around two friends growing up in 19th century Japan and it follows the girls from pre-pubescence through their childbearing years and later, for one of the girls, as an elderly woman reminicsing about her friend.
The accounts of the girls footbinding is pretty graphic and this is definitely worth reading if this practice has ever intrigued you. The book is also an interesting look at the roles gender and privilege played in Japanese society at the time.
Lisa See has a lyrical quality to her writing and, even though the subject is sometimes brutal, it's lovely to read and I recommend the book whole-heartedly.
After reading "Snow Flower" I looked for other books by See. I found a book called "Dragon Bones" that sounded good on the jacket but didn't hold my attention. I've heard "Peony in Love" is also very good but I haven't investigated it yet. Has anyone read Lisa See before?
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