This is a semi-autobiographical novel from Vonnegut (a native Hoosier) and it is rooted in the bombing of Dresden. I forget which novel introduced me to Dresden but, prior to that novel, I had not heard of the bombing. Why is this? This had more casualties than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So why is it lost in history? Dresden was one of the few cities that escaped damages from the war until the very end, when the entire city was firebombed, killing nearly every person there.
Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden at the time of the bombing, living in a slaughterhouse. This novel isn't a retelling, strictly, of his time there. Vonnegut tells us, in the beginning, how hard this was to write, how many stops and starts he went through, just to get this on paper. Then we head into Billy Pilgrim's world.
It's a strange world of joining the Army, trying to become an Optometrist, time travel, and being abducted by aliens. Billy's world is a confusing mess of a life that he is at peace with. He has the ability to become unstuck in time, and travel up and down his own life. He cannot change anything, but he learns to appreciate everything that happens. Once he starts speaking publicly on being abducted by aliens and being put in their zoo with a porn star....this is about when people start thinking he's crazy.
Billy doesn't seem like someone who ever should have been in the Army, let alone fighting in the war. He wants to give up many times, but another soldier, Weary, won't let him. They end up captured and eventually forced to Dresden as labor.
Vonnegut packs in a lot to this small book. Each word, each sentence has weight. I'm very glad I read this (finally!)
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