"Derby spoke movingly of the American form of government, with freedom and justice and opportunities and fair play for all. He said there wasn't a man there who wouldn't gladly fie for those ideals." pg 164 Vonnegut
I've got to say this book wasn't that bad. It was fairly easy to read and moved along quite quickly. It also made an interesting social commentary about the harsh realities of war. But overall I was left underwhelmed. There was no big climax or exciting scene. Even Vonnegut admitted that the closest moment to one was when poor old Edgar Derby stood up and defended America and its values. The author could have added some description of the bombing or some more interesting stuff about his alien encounters. Instead he chose to focus on the moments in a person's life and how they were effected by war. I understand he did this so as not to glamorize war by describing big action scenes and focusing on the despair of the people, but it was kind of boring. Maybe I'm just not deep enough to enjoy the social commentary, but I just didn't like it. Maybe I'm not supposed to like it though, because people aren't supposed to like war. Just maybe that was the point all along.
You're wrong, this book was great. But why did the Billy Pilgrim story end on Tralfamadore after that girl with the crazy name and Billy had a baby? What importance does that cliched saying on her locket have at all? I do agree that I was disappointed that there was no climax, but now, in fact, I am fully satisfied with the novel.
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