This Book was written by a World War Two veteran at the time of the Vietnam War marrying the Existentials coming to the fore in Philosophy commenting on the absurdity of life with a generation who were in line to go to War ( a time when like Michael Moore , even juniors who were 12 years old feared , and in some cases went to war when they hit 18).Hence the meaning of the oft-occuring leitmotiv "...and So it Goes.." which to us seems a flippant remark , but to the readers of the time was a loud and clear scream at the political system that systematically failed to end the wars called for by authority that butchered the century.
The fuller title of the work also contains "The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death" which gives added thrust to the argument that in the case of an open-ended conflict like Vietnam ( and now the War on Terror) the political leaders and their backers are sending kids who are still in primary school to war , with the pre-ordained patriotic propaganda of participating in a noble cause not to dissimilar to the disastrous 13th century crusade that led many poor to their deaths and even begging long before they ever got to their destination.
This marvelous lecture puts into context the background , ideas , reception and current relevance of the Book.
It was thought for a long time the lead character Billy Pilgrim was fiction of the part of Vonnegut , but in this interview he reveals , amongst many other insights, he was based on a real person.
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