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  • Slaughterhouse-Five

  • Written by: Kurt Vonnegut
  • Narrated by: James Franco
  • Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (559 ratings)

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Slaughterhouse-Five cover art

Slaughterhouse-Five

Written by: Kurt Vonnegut
Narrated by: James Franco
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Publisher's Summary

Slaughterhouse-Five is the now famous parable of Billy Pilgrim, a World War II veteran and POW who has, in the later stage of his life, become "unstuck in time" and who experiences at will (or unwillingly) all known events of his chronology out of order and sometimes simultaneously.

Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence). The "unstuck" nature of Pilgrim's experience may constitute an early novelistic use of what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder; then again, Pilgrim's aliens may be as "real" as Dresden is real to him.

Struggling to find some purpose, order, or meaning to his existence and humanity's, Pilgrim meets the beauteous and mysterious Montana Wildhack (certainly the author's best character name), has a child with her, and drifts on some supernal plane, finally, in which Kilgore Trout, the Tralfamadorians, Montana Wildhack, and the ruins of Dresden do not merge but rather disperse through all planes of existence.

Slaughterhouse-Five was hugely successful, brought Vonnegut an enormous audience, was a finalist for the National Book Award and a best seller, and remains four decades later as timeless and shattering a war fiction as Catch-22, with which it stands as the two signal novels of their riotous and furious decade.

©1969 Kurt Vonnegut (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

"James Franco is an inspired choice as narrator for this anti-war classic. While still young, he still manages to sound world-weary.... Franco has fun with the offbeat characters and Vonnegut's quirky text but keeps the overall tone thoughtful.... Franco's reading gives the 1960s classic a freshness that will appeal to both new listeners and Vonnegut's many fans." ( AudioFile)

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What do you get when you pair literary classics with expert narrative talents? A listening experience like none other. Enjoy your favourite titles brought to you by top A list actors and actresses. From expert narration to full-cast readings, these celebrity Audible titles pull out all the stops. We’ve compiled a list of some of the 20 best celebrity audiobooks narrated by some of your most beloved famous actors. Enjoy the tales you know and love read by acclaimed celebrity audiobook narrators that put their own personal spin on these classic tales.

What listeners say about Slaughterhouse-Five

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not as good as I thought it would be.

While the narration was a bit monotone, it was clear and easy to understand. This book is on many 'must read' lists and after finishing it, I just can't see why. The story plays out without any truly interesting characters or events. The structure of how the story is told and the use of time travel to explain the personal and subjective experience of dementia is clever, but to move back and forth through such a boring life is to wade through a bog of tedium. The only thing that kept me going while I slogged through this yawnfest was knowing that this book is of no small fame, so it must get good at some point, right? Well no, it doesn't. As it ended, all I felt was relief that now I can move on to something more interesting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book, Decent Reading

First thing: once you get used to James Franco's cadence, things move along rather quickly - but the disaffected approach he seems to take is off-putting at the start.

The book is a classic, and worthy of that title: a powerful examination of death, war, and other inhumane behaviours, couched in madness, a touch of science fiction, and ambiguity. Masterful.

#Audible1

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent classic Vonnegut well read

Vonnegut is joy to read, and James Franco’s familiar tones were a welcome guide through his dark funny prose.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

monotone performance on an okay story

Admittedly, I love the idea behind how this book as structured but it's also hard enough to keep track of the constant time jumping without being lulled to sleep by the extremely lackluster performance. It feels like a high school kid being forced to read out loud to the class when he doesn't want to.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

meh

it was good enough I suppose, I would have thought being a classic it would have more substance, no real story just recalling events in a strange order, aliens were cool though

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Weird But Enjoyable. Bad Narration

This book - following a Time-Traveling American soldier from his time as a German POW, witnessing the Fire-bombing of Dresden, surviving a Plane Crash post-war, and being kidnapped by Aliens - jumps into and out of timelines. Somehow, it's still pretty easy to follow and is an engrossing tale.
Vonnegut is a brilliant author with truly crazy characters. The plot is bizzarre and tbh, reminded me of 'Donnie Darko'. The prose is excellent, with a nice mixture of vivid mental images and brutally realistic dialogue.

James Franco is an indifferent narrator at best. He slowly plods his way through the text with a strikingly monotone delivery. I had to speed the Recording up to 1.25x.

I give this recording 7 out of 10 stars

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic classic about the struggles of life

this book was amazing, I loved it dry dry humour, James Franco did great. it's almost like his narration was that of the main protagonist, because Billy is a dry character and Franco is a somewhat dry reader, however his subtle changes in tone and expression to fit another speaking character we're great. His performance did not take away from the story, and it was completely focused on telling the story and not just performing it. I think it worked great.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well done

Loved listening to this book. Although I sometimes started falling asleep while listening due to the monotonous nature of the audio I still really enjoyed the story

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Classic

This book had been recommended to me several times over the years, but I'd never read it. I'm glad I did! It's one of those books that will stay with you forever. Put it on your "Must Read" list. It's timeless.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Franco’s Fine, But Not Dynamic

The story is a classic must. But Franco’s particular stone tone and range makes it a bit of a drone. Though I would be lying if I didn’t think it fit the story.

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