Project for Book 1

Idea

I propose the idea of having a tour around the possible places the American troops may have seen in the city of Dresden, Germany. This tour would be Kurt Vonnegut’s personal choices of places to visit based on the book Slaughterhouse Five. At every place your may visit in the city the tour guide would read a personal excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut himself. Vonnegut’s excerpts could be written about why Vonnegut picked the particular place, what he remembers about it when he thinks of it, or something else. This would allow people on this tour to have a much more personal connection. This personal connection would make the tour much more than a tour and more of an experience.

Why Dresden?          

Dresden is obviously the best choice for having this tour because it is where the book takes place. Those who have read the book are probably asking, “Wasn’t this city horribly fire-bombed and burned to the ground?” Yes, the city was fire-bombed, but it has been rebuilt in the places in the city that were inflicted the worst. It has been returned to its former glory. In the book Slaughterhouse Five it says, “…the doorways framed the loveliest city that most of the Americans had ever seen.” This quote just shows how beautiful the city is.

Dresden has some of the most beautiful architecture in Germany and even Europe. It possesses a very classical style, because the city itself dates back eight hundred years. The way it contributes to the sky line of the city is described in Slaughterhouse Five when the narrator says, “The sky line was intricate and voluptuous and enchanted and absurd.” The way the narrator describes sky line makes it sound picture perfect. The city just seems like a city that everyone needs to experience before they die. This tour would provide many people the reason to visit and experience Dresden for themselves.

Other Benefits of this Tour

This tour has many benefits other than just being a great tour. One of these reasons is that it can be very educational. This tour would include a lot about WWII and its effect on Germany and other parts of Europe. Dresden was one of the worst affected cities in WWII and you can learn and see that first hand on this tour. You can also learn a lot about Kurt Vonnegut’s experiences in WWII because he experienced everything on the tour and in the book. Another benefit of this tour is that it could boost Dresden’s tourism industry. This tour would attract many fans of this book and of Kurt Vonnegut. Since Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most acclaimed writers of American modern literature, this tour would attract a lot of new fans of Vonnegut and old fans alike. A third benefit of this tour is exposing those who may not be able to experience such a beautiful city a chance. In Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim describes Dresden by saying, “It looked like a Sunday school picture of Heaven..” A final benefit of this tour is that it can spark a new push for buying this book. Much like how movies that are based off books can spark a sudden interest n the original book, this tour could do this too. Since, this book was published around 1969 there is not a big interest in the book right now, so the tour could rekindle the fire to buy the book. Also, since this book was mainly released in America and the tour is based in Germany, this tour could start up a following in Germany.