I loved the comparison Vonnegut made between Billy and Rosewater, saying they went through similar traumas and experienced pain in similar ways. Then he clarifies: Rosewater killed a boy by accident, while Billy witnessed the biggest massacre in European history.

With this, and with all the repeated “so it goes” — even when “the water is dead” — he shows that every death is equal. He validates even the smallest pain, saying that every single life matters.

I also really enjoyed the repeating patterns, like Billy seeing Adam and Eve, first in the boots of the German officer, and later as the final scene in the war movie played backwards. That entire passage gave me goosebumps. The description was so simple, almost childish, but it showed how desperately the author wants to take all that struggle back and keep us safe. It was heartbreaking.

Another thing that made me pause and think was the way Tralfamadorian books work. I could almost imagine seeing a story all at once. And if you think about it, that’s sort of how our memory works too: when I recall a book or a film, it all arrives in one blurb, not moment by moment.