I stopped at page 175 and I have NEVER done that. I never give up on books I start. This book made me re-think that practice. Normally, even if I do not like a book, I can find something about it to keep me going but with Cat's Cradle I just had to quit. I need to feel something - curiousity, irritation, sadness, happiness, love, desire, anger, escapism, like I am learning something new, that I need the lesson this book is offering... whatever. I need to connect to the book, the story, the chara...

When he embarks on a project to write a book about the creators of the atomic bomb, Jonah has no idea what he's going to unearth: Dr Felix Hoenikker and Ice-Nine, a substance that will instantly freeze any water it comes into contact with into more Ice-Nine, a substance capable of destroying all life on earth. Can Jonah find the missing Hoenikker children and secure their chips of Ice-Nine to safeguard the world?Here we are, my second experience with Kurt Vonnegut and one of his Big Important Bo...

Another review in the KISS series (Keep It Short, Steve)In Anne Fadiman’s superb book about books called Ex Libris, she divides readers into two categories: those who keep their books in pristine condition (courtly lovers) and those who delight in marginalia (carnal lovers). I started out as one of the former (conditioned, no doubt, by fear of library fines), but became one of the latter. Cat’s Cradle was my first prurient experience, dating back to high school. Part of the reason was that I sna...

Vonnegut's best? Many will say that it is and who am I to disagree. It does include all the best elements of Vonnegut in his genius: humor, dark and subtle, and sometimes not subtle at all, irreverence, absurdity blended with realism to create a surrealistic setting where the reader is cautiously intrigued by whatever is going on. And the messages and themes, of love, relationships, responsibility, both internally and globally. Also, like several of his more endearing works, this one remains tho...

Hasty and jokey, Cat's Cradle begins as a satire about a journalist's attempt to investigate the life of one of the creators of the atomic bomb, but ends as a bleak allegory about the annihilation of life on earth. Vonnegut's irreverent wit and straightforward prose make his work a useful gateway to adult fiction for teens, and this novel ranks amongst his best. Adults who never encountered Vonnegut's books during their youth, by contrast, might find the book's pessimism or its hyper-episodic st...

I loved this book! It turned out to be one of those easy-to-read stories that leave you thinking, and thinking, and thinking. The science fiction aspect of the plot is not important at all. It is the impact of power, knowledge and ritual on every single individual that made me want to restart reading it as soon as I finished. I absolutely adore the creation of Bokononism and the development of a new language to suit the needs of the religion-in-the-making. Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam experiment...

Most people have read Cat's Cradle, so I won't bother to try and hide spoilers. Did you say you hadn't read it? Well, what are you waiting for? This isn't Ulysses, you know, it's short and funny! So, now that it's just us people who know the book, I want to say why I disagree with the criticism you often see, that it's too fragmentary. On the contrary, I think it's very focused, and makes its point with near-perfect economy and wit. There are two obvious themes. One is how the irresponsible use

Live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy. Cat's Cradle ~~ Kurt VonnegutBuddy read with AesaanI've told this story before, but it bears repeating. My junior year of college, I had a roommate, Don, his nickname was Har Don ~~ which he hated; Har Don loved Kurt Vonnegut ~~ no, he worshiped Kurt Vonnegut. It’s ironic since everything Har Don believed in was the antithesis of what Vonnegut stood for. Har Don insisted I read Vonnegut's SLAPSTICK. He told me it w...

Health Warning: Truths Kill Better Than CigarettesI have a theory that only adolescents and geriatrics can appreciate Vonnegut. The first because he confirms what they fear and despise about the adult world they’re about to enter; the latter because they equally have learned to fear and despise the world they’ve left behind. Those between the extremes literally cannot afford to take Vonnegut seriously. The cost of doing so would be severe depression or social (or bodily) suicide. But for those w...

Unfortunately I had to power through this one. This is my fourth Kurt Vonnegut story and I think he's written better books. He does a good job of creating black humor with the use of technology and religion. The overall theme was the fatalistic warning of the misuse of technology. The second theme was the danger of blindly following religious precepts. I am a religious and spiritual person but I interpreted this book as the dangers of fundamentalism when religion goes off the deep end. In the bo...

Update: I decided to upgrade the rating to 5*. When trying to "sell" the book to my father I realized how much I enjoyed this. The last time I read more than one book by the same author in one year was probably in high-school. I usually prefer to read as diverse as possible, even if I lean toward a certain genre. Saying that, I read two Kurt Vonnegut books in six months and I do not regret my deviation from the norm. I think I might be turning into a Vonnegut fan. I do not know what it is so spe...

Cat’s Cradle (1963) is perhaps less famous than Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). It is also less complex, less pomo in style, less “busy, busy, busy”, as Bokonon would say. In short, less of a cat’s cradle. But there is a certain quality to this book that makes it one of Vonnegut’s most profound and enjoyable novels. For the most part, the plot is fairly linear and arranged in the classical form of a Swiftian-Voltairian fable. It is told by a first-person narrator/writer/protagonist (“Call me Jonah”,...

there are probably as many reviews of Cat's Cradle as there are stars in the sky, so no doubt there's little i can add that's of any value. who cares? i love hearing myself talk, so let's go for it! ..... well, this is harder than i thought. it's as easy as describing why i love my favorite pillow or threadbare t-shirt, or why i like rainy days as much as sunny days. okay, here goes. the inventiveness of Cat's Cradle and its bleak, absurd humor was incredibly eye-opening to me in high school and...

This was a difficult re-read. In the flush of youth, when I first read it (at my cynical, pessimistic - and arrogant - peak), every line spoke to me. Now, I am amazed at how flimsy the story, and how brittle and bleak - but oh-so-deeply entrenched - is the cynicism. I don't remember it that way. Today, it made me deeply, almost unbearably sad to think that the world - that I - felt so aligned with the dominant worldview of this novel. It still speaks to me, but it says different things.I haven't...

There are two voices inside my head. Let's call them Lore and Enzo. At the moment L & E are quarreling on Cat's Cradle. (...)L) Oh come on! This book is wonderful. Perhaps it's the best novel Vonnegut has ever written.E) Are you kidding me? Have you read the whole of it?L) Of course I've read it from its first word to the very last one.E) And haven't you noticed anything strange?L) What are you talking about?E) I mean, you know, it's a discontinuous novel. I can't deny it has a great beginning,

A group read with the following wonderful people: Ashley and Erin. Please let me know if I missed somebody.Before I start talking about the plot let me give you a piece of advice. If after you finish reading this one the first question that comes to your mind would be ,"WTF did I just read?" it is perfectly normal and common. You can imagine now how easy is it to discuss the plot. Anyhow, Dr. Felix Hoenikker happened to be one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb. The MC named John (whos...

I've read this book four times. It's better than the Bible, because unlike the Bible, this book knows it's fiction.

(Book 427 From 1001 books) - Cat’s Cradle, Kurt VonnegutCat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way. After turning down his original thesis in 1947, the University of Chicago awarded Vonnegut his master's degree in anthropology in 1971 for Cat's Cradle. At the opening of the book, the narrator, an everyman named John (but calling h...

Progress: scientific revolution, revolution number nine, ice-nine… Science is neutral and it may serve evil as readily as good…After the thing went off, after it was a sure thing that America could wipe out a city with just one bomb, a scientist turned to Father and said, ‘Science has now known sin.’ And do you know what Father said? He said, ‘What is sin?’Some invent powerful explosives and some invent new religions and it is hard to say which invention is more dangerous.Well, when it became ev...

Nothing in this review is true.As much as I enjoy reading Vonnegut, one of the nagging little doubts I always have is that I'm missing something. That there's a hidden message in there that I'm not picking up on. Or, on the other hand, that I am picking up messages that just aren't there.Which is, perhaps, the point of the whole book.The world is full of lies. Good lies, bad lies and indifferent lies, but lies nonetheless, and we pick and choose the lies that make our lives happiest. The lie tha...