Slaughterhouse-Five: Or, the Children's Crusade:... by Kurt Vonnegut

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Description

Launched in November, Dell's Kurt Vonnegut reissue program continues with one of the world's great anti-war books. Centering on the infamous firebombing of Dresden, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the mythic journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we... read more

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Summary

Billy Pilgrim is a boy that attends the illium school in new york. He gets drafted into the army for world war 2. Billy is in thee battle of the bulge where he is taken as prisoner. Before being taken billy experiences his first time shifting, he sees his whole life flash before his eyes.... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

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Memorable Quotes

“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”
“He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.”
“So they were trying to re-invent themselves and their universe... Science fiction was a big help.”
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?”
“And even if the wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death.”
“How nice — to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive.”
“All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber.”
“If everybody would leave him alone for just a little while, he thought, he wouldn't cause anybody anymore trouble. He would turn to steam and float up among the tree tops.”
“The boy was as beautiful as Eve.”