Slaughterhouse Five

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

I was told that this was a great war story... And with the title Slaughterhouse five. I was hoping that it was going to be a story about five friends who took on the German army single handed.
WRONG!
This is a story about a guy who is abducted by aliens. ?? He becomes unstuck in time and tells his story the way he flip flopped through time. It was interesting, but not a great story. I'm sure that when it was written it was cutting edge, but now I can't say that it was worth the time.

I can appreciate the fact that the story was written decades ago. It was written not to glorify war, and it did just that. But really... snore. I kept waiting for something amazing to happen.

I really don't get it. Maybe if I tried reading it again in 20 years or so? Or maybe I can't appreciate it because I have no understanding of what it means to go to war? Or live through a war? To me it is all something that happens in other places.

It is not a long book, and if you are looking for something strange and choppy to read, you should spend the time getting into this book. Otherwise, forget about it.

1984

Author: George Orwell

This was also another book that turned out to be something that I did not expect. This story was explained to me as a book that had predicted the future. The book that was written 40 years before its time. I was expecting to read about all the machines and gadgets that existed in 1984. And styles like rap music and the violence, and the freedom of religion and so on... but instead this turns out to be a story about the government controlling peoples thoughts.

Also I was a bit disappointed to find out that a large portion of the story was a romantic interlude. I guess it could have been worse. And I had to keep reminding myself that the story was written in the 40's.

I story became interesting in the end when the character was being tortured and manipulated. I found it interesting because he convinced them that he had been rehabilitated. But in truth, I don't believe that he had.

The end of the story was disappointing.

Save yourself the time and watch the movie.

Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

This story is messed up?? Its a short read. And I think its about politics and how people are like farm animals... I think?

The story is about a farm, where the animals take over and kick out hte farmer. It goes through a series of years and you can see how the animals are eventually manipulated and treated worse than they were before they rebelled. The pigs take over and in a way abuse the rest of the animals.

It shows how we can be turned by propoganda and manipulation. The masses think they might be doing something good, when in fact they are being lied to and worked to death.

This was a strange read, and I thin there is alot more to this story than I was able to grasp.

This book woul dbe good for people that are interested in politics and how to manipulate large groups of people.

The Prince (second attempt)

Author: Niccolo Machiavelli

Second time is a charm. I had trouble getting through this the first time. It is not a story. It is an account of wisdom for the prince. It goes over the history of the time and explains the do's and don'ts of being a prince, obtaining land, ruling the people, etc.

It was a tough read. It was boring on the most part. But I can say that there was an interesting section that spoke about character and morals. As well, I found it interesting when he compared ruling by love or by fear.

This is not a story, it was about history pre 1600's. This book is interesting but not for everyone. I found out while reading this book that it is required reading for poli-sci students in university. Sucks to be them, I can't believe picking this stuff apart would be much fun.

I don't recommend this to anyone, unless they are interested in pre 1600 Italian and European history. Or the pro's and con's and the how to of being a prince.