"Slaughterhouse-Five," a graphic novel adaptation, by Kurt Vonnegut with Ryan North and Albert Monteys

I taught Slaughterhouse-Five for several years, and it remains a favorite novel. There's the dark humor, Vonnegut's deceptively simple prose style, the uncertain chronology, the war between cynicism and hopefulness. I often quote Vonnegut's admonition, at the end, to appreciate the nice moments (it's a sentiment he repeated in various mediums, though I always think of SH5). I couldn't resist trying the new graphic novel adaptation (it does have a pretty cool cover), even though I've been resistant to the genre as a whole. After all, Vonnegut's book is full of vivid images, from the fantastic Tralfamarodians to Edgar Derby's "climactic" execution for stealing a teapot.

I enjoyed seeing how North and Monteys brought some of the key elements of the novel to life. Shown in adjacent panels, the parallels between Billy's present and his "time traveling" flash backs to the war are made even clearer. Some of the more stunning images--the arrival in beautiful Dresden and its subsequent bombing--are made even more impactful through full-page spreads. Despite those and other arresting images, however, the book very much feels like a lesser adaptation. Something that might be fun as a parallel text in a classroom but which offers little as a standalone. 

Part of that is that a graphic novel must rely heavily on dialogue, which is the least interesting part of Slaghterhouse-Five, whose strength instead is in the deadpan narration. The oft-repeated "so it goes" is present in the adaptation, but it feels more forgotten, rather than the essential refrain it becomes in the novel. North and Monteys also explicitly take on the role of creators, so the first-person Vonnegut-as-narrator who frames the first and last chapters of the novel becomes a third person character too. That diminishes the way the novel challenges understandings of fiction and nonfiction.

The illustrations are fantastic, even if maybe it's better if the Tralfamarodians remain imagined. North and Monteys have worked hard to capture the spirit of the novel, even if it's not fully possible in this form. So I'm glad to have read it, even if it can't live up to the original.