Paperback, 188 pages
Spanish language
Published Aug. 18, 2006 by Anagrama.
Matadero Cinco o La cruzada de los niños catapultó a Kurt Vonnegut como uno de los grandes ídolos de la juventud norteamericana y se convirtió de inmediato en un clásico de la literatura contemporánea. Una historia amarga, conmovedora y a la vez divertidísima, de la inocencia confrontada con el apocalipsis, «una novela con ribetes esquizofrénico-telegráficos», en palabras de su autor. Kurt Vonnegut fue hecho prisionero en la Segunda Guerra Mundial y se encontraba en Dresde cuando esta ciudad fue bombardeada y arrasada por la aviación norteamericana; este hecho le marcó profundamente y decidió escribir un libro en torno a ese tema: "Matadero Cinco".
La historia de un superviviente de la matanza que, muchos años más tarde, es raptado y transportado al planeta Trafalmadore es una de las muchas tramas que se entrecruzan en una obra profundamente innovadora, en la que resplandecen cegadoras metáforas de la nueva era y en la …
Matadero Cinco o La cruzada de los niños catapultó a Kurt Vonnegut como uno de los grandes ídolos de la juventud norteamericana y se convirtió de inmediato en un clásico de la literatura contemporánea. Una historia amarga, conmovedora y a la vez divertidísima, de la inocencia confrontada con el apocalipsis, «una novela con ribetes esquizofrénico-telegráficos», en palabras de su autor. Kurt Vonnegut fue hecho prisionero en la Segunda Guerra Mundial y se encontraba en Dresde cuando esta ciudad fue bombardeada y arrasada por la aviación norteamericana; este hecho le marcó profundamente y decidió escribir un libro en torno a ese tema: "Matadero Cinco".
La historia de un superviviente de la matanza que, muchos años más tarde, es raptado y transportado al planeta Trafalmadore es una de las muchas tramas que se entrecruzan en una obra profundamente innovadora, en la que resplandecen cegadoras metáforas de la nueva era y en la que los pasajes de ciencia-ficción funcionan a la manera de los payasos de Shakespeare. El humor, a menudo muy negro, es esencial en la obra de Vonnegut, quien ha afirmado que «lo cómico es parte tan integral en mi vida que empiezo a trabajar en una historia sobre cualquier tema y, si no encuentro elementos cómicos, la dejo».
Sombrío, divertido a veces y siempre triste.
Me ha sorprendido su prosa y la estructura que me ha parecido maravillosa al enfocar y conseguir casi, en carnes propias, un estrés postraumático que nunca se supera.
It's a little embarrassing to confess that I'd never read Vonnegut. That's not true. I read Harrison Bergeron in some sort of enrichment reader in 6th grade. I thought that was pretty great, and the only story I remember fondly from that age outside of an Edgar Allen Poe collection that I probably read until the cover came off, and then read again. Somehow I always expected this book to be some kind of hippie acid trip because the people I knew growing up who read it had black light posters and blew smoke into their iguanas' faces to give them a contact high. I did not expect the book to be about WWII, to play with time the way it did, or to make me cry, not for anything in particular, but just a little catharsis for a moment after the book was finished. The book is lively and …
It's a little embarrassing to confess that I'd never read Vonnegut. That's not true. I read Harrison Bergeron in some sort of enrichment reader in 6th grade. I thought that was pretty great, and the only story I remember fondly from that age outside of an Edgar Allen Poe collection that I probably read until the cover came off, and then read again. Somehow I always expected this book to be some kind of hippie acid trip because the people I knew growing up who read it had black light posters and blew smoke into their iguanas' faces to give them a contact high. I did not expect the book to be about WWII, to play with time the way it did, or to make me cry, not for anything in particular, but just a little catharsis for a moment after the book was finished. The book is lively and readable, and feels at all points as though you've read it before, but can still be utterly disarming, especially when humor gives way to Vonnegut's most humane or damning observations.
I liked how Vonnegut manages to tell a poignant war story in a gentle way, without any attempt to glorify anything or anyone. I guess this became a classic because it makes people reflect on their values and their approach to life. And maybe even prompt them to question their own views. To do the above through a novel in a gentle way is the accomplishment of this book.
This is my first Vonnegut novel. When I was reading it, I was surprised how much Douglas Adams' (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) style was influenced by Vonnegut.
Last time I read it I didn't think so much of it. I don't know why. Could be the translation, as I am not an English speaker.
That said, found this time the book is so sad, and the story becomes tired of itself. Of the ridiculousness of all: war, time travel, optometry. Well, not optometry, but the thing with social classes and money and how that is how you are someone in life.
I found it sad. Furiously sad. I finished not twenty minutes ago and went to google Dresden and bombings. The stupidity of war (the second one, for that matter) it is something I've been trying to understand myself. The amount of casualties, the ruins. The fact that people tried people as if they were worse than animals (and, definitely, animals don't deserve the treatment they get).
Well, I'm not talking about the book. Or I am. …
Last time I read it I didn't think so much of it. I don't know why. Could be the translation, as I am not an English speaker.
That said, found this time the book is so sad, and the story becomes tired of itself. Of the ridiculousness of all: war, time travel, optometry. Well, not optometry, but the thing with social classes and money and how that is how you are someone in life.
I found it sad. Furiously sad. I finished not twenty minutes ago and went to google Dresden and bombings. The stupidity of war (the second one, for that matter) it is something I've been trying to understand myself. The amount of casualties, the ruins. The fact that people tried people as if they were worse than animals (and, definitely, animals don't deserve the treatment they get).
Well, I'm not talking about the book. Or I am. This time it got me good.
