My first read (although I expect not the last) of Kurt Vonnegut’s sci-fi classic has me blown away by how smoothly Vonnegut was able to integrate aliens and the horrors of WW2. I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy of the upcoming graphic novel adaptation. Without being able to compare it to the original format, I found the graphic novel to be an incredible way to represent the story as it made time and space jumps easy to follow. The use of colour and illustration were also a fantastic addition.

Slaughterhouse-Five follows Billy Pilgrim, an American soldier who is captured towards the end of WW2 by German soldiers. Throughout the book Billy becomes “unstuck in time” as we learn that Billy is captured by an alien race called the Tralfamadorians who teach him a different way to perceive time. This use of time travel and discussion of memory throughout the novel enables the non-chronological narrative of the text to show both significant events and their implications. One of the most significant events in Billy’s life, and a focal point of the novel, is the Bombing of Dresden.

Going into Slaughterhouse-Five I was already well acquainted with the bombing and I’ve been lucky enough to visit Dresden (Germany). The city has since been reconstructed, though not without scars. If you have no idea what I’m talking about: in short, Britain and the U.S. firebombed Dresden such that an estimated 25 000 people were killed despite there being no significant military presence or significance to the city. The usual explanation for this is that the attack was in retaliation to the Coventry Blitz. I’d highly recommend reading up on it a bit before reading, but it certainly isn’t necessary to gauge the horror of the attack.

Despite its serious and horrific exploration of war, I also found myself smiling and laughing at other events in the novel. And I can’t say that I’ve read anything quite like it. There are clear anti-War themes throughout the text as Billy must constantly deal with the deaths of those around him as well as the bombing itself. The philosophy of the aliens which capture Billy adds some hope to the text as their view of time allows the good to exist alongside the bad.

Slaughterhouse-Five deserves its status as a modern classic.