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4 literature intermeDiate
BRIDGE | April | 2011

And So
ItGoes
Life according
toKurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, considered one of the best
100American writers of the 20th century,
often used science fiction to describe
modern life. But his work cant really be
described as pure science fiction.
Vonnegut (19222007) uses familiar human characters and normal
settings, but then his characters may suddenly travel in time or meet
aliens2, which helps explain and move the action of his books forward.
For example, in one of Vonneguts most famous novels, Slaughterhouse3
Five, the main character Billy Pilgrim claims he was kidnaped by aliens
and taken to the planet Tralfamadore. The setting for Slaughterhouse Five
isnt the alien planet, but actually Billy Pilgrims last days as asoldier in
World War II. One moment hes trying to escape from the Germans on
foot, walking and walking across the ice and snow of aDecember Europe;
thenext moment hes on display4 in azoo on Tralfamadore.
It is there that Billy Pilgrim learns about the Tralfamadorians belief
that all life past, present, and future can be viewed at the same time,
the same way you can see several peaks of the Rocky Mountains at one
Vonnegut illustrated some of his books. His first illustrated book was
time. This belief helps Vonnegut explain the tragedy of death with the Slaughterhouse Five and he continued with his felt-tip pen illustrations in
simple phrase, And so it goes. In Slaughterhouse Five he repeats that Breakfast of Champions.
phrase every time he mentions anyone, or anything, that has died. It
becomes aslogan similar to Such is life. If you think of the persons

Other famous books

death as merely5 one of themany peaks in the mountain range, it brings
akind of peace to the event.

Vonnegut himself was afoot soldier in World War II. He was
captured6 and imprisoned7 by the Germans (and kept in the
basement of an old slaughterhouse, number five), and survived
thefirebombing8 and destruction of the German city of Dresden.
These events greatly influenced most of his novels and are the basis for
Slaughterhouse Five.
byKurt Vonnegut
Player Piano
Written in 1952, this science fiction novel portrays a world run
by13 machines and asuper computer. Vonnegut said: This book
is not about what is, but abook about what could be. And many
of his predictions14 about life in thefuture have come true.

A writer of many professions Cats Cradle

Vonnegut had avery mixed career to support himself and his family
while writing. He worked as anews reporter in Chicago while finishing
graduate school, as apublic relations writer for General Electric in
New York, and was also avolunteer firefighter9 and owned acar
dealership10 there. For atime he also taught writing at the famous
Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa.
Published in 1963, this book explores themes of science,
technology, and religion. It is asatire on the arms race16 and
other war issues. Aman researching the history of the atomic
bomb meets one of the scientists who invented it. Hes also
invented akind of ice that freezes water at room temperature
and freezes everything it comes into contact with.

Vonnegut the critic Breakfast ofChampions

Vonnegut became more pessimistic about life as he grew older. He joined
awriters protest movement and refused to pay taxes during the Vietnam
War, and was active in the humanism movement11. Humanists believe
everyone is responsible for ethical behavior and trying to bring justice to
society, without relying on12 abelief in some kind of religion.
Mary Matz (USA)
Written in 1973, this book is aportrait of afictional town in
the American Mid-West (called Midland City) that is home to
agroup of slightly neurotic characters. An unknown science
fiction writer, Kilgore Trout, comes there and meets arich
businessman, Dwayne Hoover, who owns much of the city but
is slowly going insane17.
 BRIDGE | April | 2011
5

Slaughterhouse Five
Right from thebeginning of thebook
we are given thefacts about the main
character Billy Pilgrim.
We learn that he was taken
prisoner by the Germans,
returned home after the war,
became rich, married and
had two children, survived
an airplane crash and said
he had been kidnapped by
aflying saucer from the planet
Tralfamadore.
You dont expect to find out
about this right from the start
of astory. But that is not what
the book is about. The focus
is not really on who, when
and why. Vonnegut explains
and adds information about
characters by travelling in time
to express his thoughts in an
experimental way.
Billy first came unstuck in
time, he moved in time, during
the war behind the German
lines in 1944.
could not possibly escape him. In the next moment Billy
He placed himself hard against finds himself back in 1944 still
the left-hand door, searched feeling abit dizzy.
every square inch* of the area He was cold, hungry,
before him. When he failed to embarrassed, incompetent He
find the wheel, he moved over wished everybody would leave him
six inches, and searched again. alone. You guys go on without me,
Amazingly, he was eventually he said again and again.
hard against the righthand
door, without having found the The time-travels of Billy Pilgrim
wheel. He concluded somebody reveal his inner feelings and
had stolen it. This angered him give more information. It is as if
as he passed out. trying to put together the pieces
He was in the back seat of his of ajigsaw puzzle. By the end
car, which was why he couldnt of the book you think you can
find the steering wheel. finally see the whole picture.
task Look at the following words taken from
theexcerpt and try to match them with
theright meaning.
Little Billy was terrified, because
his father had said Billy was
1 sensed A) pressed himself
going to learn to swim by the
2 blinked B) not succeed in doing stg
method of sink-or-swim. His
3 windmilled C) realized
father was going to throw Billy
4 placed himself hard D) became unconscious
into the deep end*, and Billy was
5 failed (to) E) became aware of
going to damn well swim. It was
6 concluded F) felt awkward, ashamed
like an execution. His eyes
7 passed out G) moved as if in wide curve, rotated
were closed. When he opened his
8 was embarrassed H) opened and shut eyes quickly
eyes, he was on the bottom of the
Solution on p. 3
poolHe lost consciousness
He dimly sensed that somebody
was rescuing him. Billy blinked
and, travelled in time to 1961. It
was New Years Eve, and Billy was
disgracefully drunk at aparty discuss In the excerpt first Billy goes back to his
childhood, in the next moment he
and Billy found himself out in
his automobile, trying to find the jumps into a comic description of how he was trying to find
steering wheel. Billy windmilled the steering wheel. How do his time travels tie in with the
his arms, hoping to find it by moment when hes telling his fellow wanderers (soldiers) to
luck. When that didnt work, leave him behind, when he feel dizzy, cold, and embarrassed,
(Was the memory from his childhood a pleasant one?
he became methodical, working
in such away that the wheel

12 to rely on [rI"laI] spolehnout se 24 lost consciousness ["kQnS@snIs]

Vocabulary
1 pure [pjU@] st, ryz
2 alien ["eIlI@n] mimozeman
3 slaughterhouse ["slO;t@haUs] jatka
4 on display [dI"spleI] vystaven
5 merely ["mI@li] jenom, pouze
6 to capture ["k&ptS@] zajmout
7 to imprison [Im"prIz(@)n] uvznit
8 to survive firebombing pet
bombardovn
9 firefighter ["faI@faIt@] hasi
10 dealership ["di;l@SIp] obchodn
zastoupen
11 humanism movement
["hju;m@nIz(@)m] humanistick hnut
13 run by ovldan, zen
14 prediction [prI"dIkS(@)n] pedpovd
15 cradle ["kreId(@)l] kolbka
16 arms race zvod vezbrojen
17 insane [In"seIn] len
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE
18 flying saucer ["sO;s@] ltajc tal
19 square [skwE;] tveren
20 focus ["f@Uk@s] zamen,
pozornost, hlavn cl
21 to sink [sINk] potopit se, jt ke dnu
22 was going to damn well se ml
zatracen snait
23 execution [EksI"kju;S(@)n] poprava
ztratil vdom
25 dimly [dImlI] matn
26 disgracefully [dIs"greIsfUlI,
-f(@)lI] hanebn
27 steering wheel ["stI@rIN wi;l]
volant
28 left-hand door lev dvee
29 washard against narazil na
30 dizzy ["dIzi] mt zvra
31 to reveal [rI"vi;l] ukzat
32 inner feelings [In@ "fi;lINz]
vnitn pocity
33 jigsaw puzzle ["dZIgsO; "pVz(@)l]
skldaka puzzle
glossary*
deep end the deep part of
aswimming pool (=hloubka)
inch unit of length
(1 inch =2.54 cm), hear inch means
small amount or part of something
(=kousek, p)
Language point
Pilgrim (Billys surname) refers
to his ability to travel in time.
(pilgrim=poutnk)