In all honesty, if one of the members of my freshman class were to ask me for a book recommendation next year, I’ll admit that I’d have trouble deciding what to recommend. At first I’d be worried about which route I should go: gratifying young adult romance novels or something thought-provoking that would impact them, and perhaps, change them for the better? Then, I would realize that I can choose both. With that, I would recommend Oscar Wilde’s The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray, Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. While all of these novels have impacted me, there is definitely one that I will never forget: Slaughterhouse-Five. While at first glance Slaughterhouse-Five seems like your typical anti-war novel, it is in fact a novel that affords the
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Vonnegut uses the first chapter to explain all of the struggles he went through to write the book. Vonnegut reveals that he had been writing this novel since he got back home from Dresden, but he wasn’t satisfied with anything. He knew that he needed to say something, but he was having a hard time getting it across. Vonnegut also reveals that Mary O’Hare, the wife of his war buddy, gave him the push he needed to finish what we now know as Slaughterhouse-Five. On that note, I will reveal that the second thing I learned was its okay to receive help. Vonnegut wasn’t ashamed of the help he received—if anything, he’s proud of it, considering that the book is dedicated to her. I rarely ask for help (because I like to exhaust every resource possible before I do), but Vonnegut encouraged me to ask for help more often. There should be no shame in asking for help when I need it. Sometimes, receiving help is what makes you reach the finish line of your goal. To me, Vonnegut is the antithesis of the phrase “pride comes before a
Vonnegut uses the first chapter to explain all of the struggles he went through to write the book. Vonnegut reveals that he had been writing this novel since he got back home from Dresden, but he wasn’t satisfied with anything. He knew that he needed to say something, but he was having a hard time getting it across. Vonnegut also reveals that Mary O’Hare, the wife of his war buddy, gave him the push he needed to finish what we now know as Slaughterhouse-Five. On that note, I will reveal that the second thing I learned was its okay to receive help. Vonnegut wasn’t ashamed of the help he received—if anything, he’s proud of it, considering that the book is dedicated to her. I rarely ask for help (because I like to exhaust every resource possible before I do), but Vonnegut encouraged me to ask for help more often. There should be no shame in asking for help when I need it. Sometimes, receiving help is what makes you reach the finish line of your goal. To me, Vonnegut is the antithesis of the phrase “pride comes before a