Rating: 
Summary: Cat's Cradle
Review: Cat's Cradle
By: Kurt Vonnegut
Reviewed By: J. Gagnier
Period 1 Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is a very good book. It is about a man who is trying to write a book about the day the atom bomb fell, and the people that constructed it. He soon found out that the chief designer of the atom bomb was a strange man named Felix Hoenikker. He mails Two of Dr. Hoenikker's children, Angela and Newt Hoenikker. Later on he finds out about a chemical called ice-nine, then the trouble starts.
I really liked the way the writer worded the book. He wrote about how the world came to an end and the events preceding it. I enjoyed the way that he presented his personal opinion on how man makes things to complicated. He wrote about an imaginary religion called Bokonon that is nothing but "sweet lies" according to the founder of Bokonon himself.
My favorite part of the book was when Angela was talking about ice-nine. I like the idea of ice that has a melting point of 114.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately if such a substance were made the end of the world would be it's effect on humans and nature alike.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I thought Vonnegut was good when I read Slaughterhouse Five, but then I picked up Cat's Cradle. I won't ruin any of the story for you by telling you what happens, but it is, like Vonnegut's other books I have read, funny, but at the same time makes you think. Keep an open mind when you read it, that would be my only advice other than read it.
Rating:
Summary: No damn cat, no damn cradle
Review: Cat's Cradle may be Kurt Vonnegut's best book, and John -- the main character who is not mentioned by name beyond the first page of the book -- may be a bit like Vonnegut himself, a man swept up by events, an involuntary protagonist. Vonnegut's characters, as always, are eclectic, unusual and extremely funny. The general subject matter is at once irreverent and relevant to the world we are in today, and the insight into human nature is timeless. Without giving away the story, the end of the book is biblical, one way or another. I see it as apocalyptic, which is an easy interpretation, but a friend sees similarities with the Great Flood, a cleansing event. Now I wonder if the first and last books of the Bible have more in common than I first thought. Thanks, Kurt, John, Ice-9. For those who don't know much about Vonnegut himself, the man never meant to become one of the leading writers of his generation. He was a short story writer in the 1940s and 1950s, when that was still a viable profession, and he turned to novels reluctantly. According to his biographies and interviews he's given, he saw himself as a simple story teller, a catalyst for readers to live in a different reality for a few pages, to chuckle a little on the bus home. But his longevity, the importance of the then-contemporary issues he has written about and the impact he had on generations of young people (who later became middle aged and then old people while remaining influenced by the writer from Indianapolis) have solidified Vonnegut's place in the American literary canon, and Cat's Cradle is the best example of his work. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: light, dark, and delightful
Review: This book is at the same time very light and very dark, and this dynamic tension is what makes this book such a joy. To start, Vonnegut's characters are often hilarious. They are shockingly vivid, often absurd, and they sometimes say very funny things. But their very extravagance serves to shock as well as amuse, and the reader's laughter is born of a mixture of hilarity and unsettledness. The book's subject matter is dark but delightful. The world is destroyed by greed and human stupidity, and the book's final scene is devastating and desolate. But at the same time, the book's good-natured style leaves the reader with a sense of naive optimism which is somehow untainted by the continuing theme of helpless meaninglessness. The book's fast-moving and engaging style makes it very easy to read, and so it goes down easy despite being difficult. The theme is desolation, but it still feels good. Its final effect is disturbing and yet somehow refreshing, and its ending is one of the most painfully beautiful things I have ever read. In short, this is a very good book.
Rating:
Summary: On the brink of insanity...
Review: Perhaps Vonnegut's masterwork...although many would argue for Slaughterhouse. This appears to be the start of Kurt's insane phase which seems to span from Cat's Cradle all the way until Galapagos, give or take. Where this books tops many of his 'insane era' novels is it is more a mesh of his early, 'money-making' novels where he tried to follow more traditional writing guidelines (i.e. Mother Night, Player Piano). Again, many will disagree, but due to Cat's Cradle combining Vonnegut's insanity and early Orwellian/Huxlian style this book is ultimate read to truly taste Kurt's entire pallate (of course, ignoring the later 'Bitter, Old Man' phase [Bluebeard, Timequake]). For those looking to sample the taste of a brilliant, raving lunatic, which is Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle is the true paterfamilias, not Slaughterhouse.
Rating:
Summary: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s Entertaining Cat's Cradle
Review: As a high school reader I missed the Vonnegut craze. But, on one Saturday with nothing to do my father suggested that I read this. I can say that a few hours later it is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. It my not be the best structured book, but I really enjoyed it thoroughly. It is written so the main character, Jonah, has already gone through this. This makes it helpful to the reader to explain some of the plot before you get there. Anyway, Jonah is writing a book about the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on a Japan. As we go though his research he see Vonnegut insights into the institutions like science, religion, and many others. This is a book that really is going to make you think about ideals that you hold deal. I can't wait to read other books by Vonngut.
Rating:
Summary: Lies, lies lies!
Review: Vonnegut is one of those author's with such a ridiculous cult following that he never interested me. I've got friends who would bleed for Vonnegut, who would gladly get into barroom brawls with people who slander him in any way. So I always avoided him: I'm not down with overhype. But I read Slaughterhouse-Five, and it wasn't bad, so I borrowed a copy of Cat's Cradle, as a light read. Holy cow. What a great book! Cat's Cradle revolves around the concept of lies. One of the main features of the book is the tenets of Bokononism, a made-up religion that is admittedly based on lies. The name sake of the book, the Cat's Cradle, is a reflection of lies in society-- There's "no damn cat, no damn cradle." Lies in conversation, lies in life: it's an ongoing commentary on it all. So it's about lies. But it's Vonnegut, so it's not a heavy read, and the prose flies. It's a book you can finish in a single sitting, and still come away with handy hints on life ("Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.") I hate to admit that I'm now hooked on Vonnegut. But I am. I don't know that I'd fight for him, but I'd be much more apt to consider it at this point.
Rating:
Summary: Edge-of-Control Satire
Review: Are humans foolish enough to turn a gentle geniuses' idle curiosity to the end of the world? Cat's Cradle isn't anti-science, it's anti-people. This is a richly comic motley crew of characters and situations that forget plausibility in the service of the high art of low comedy. K.V. takes a stab at religion, industry, dictatorship, science, poverty, cold war espionage, the military, classism, love and devotion, and as always human foolishness and folly. The pace is quick, witty and full of more unexpected turns of plot than so few pages have a right to. All of it skewers with perfect timing and aim. Vonnegut's wild, satirical side at the edge of control. Classic.
Rating:
Summary: An outstandingly intelligent story that is a must read
Review: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is by far one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. Vonnegut brings this fictional story to life with great detail at every turn. From the creation of ice nine to Bokonism, Vonnegut weaves a complex but entirely believable story. The novel begins with the main character John who is writing a book on the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima called The Day the World Ended. His writing this book leads him to his destiny as he travels to the laboratory where the bomb was created and then to San Lorenzo where he becomes president. San Lorenzo's founder, Bokonon, created a religion for the people. This is an average idea except for the fact that Bokonism seems uncannily real, with it's own terms and practices all created by Vonnegut. This novel is a masterpiece. Cat's Cradle is fast passed, deeply detailed, and very interesting. The novel is very ironic and a must read for everyone. Kurt Vonnegut weaves a great story that never lets you down. Through its outlandish turns and twists Vonnegut makes it seem so very real. This novel is definitely a 5 out of 5.
Rating: 
Summary: You could do worse, but you could do so much better.
Review: To be honest, I was left with a strong feeling of distaste after having finished Cat's Cradle. First, there's the book's rather blunt ridicule of science. In Cat's Cradle, science is represented by two characters - Dr. Hoenikker, inventor of the atomic bomb and all-around genius, and a fellow scientist whom the protagonist goes to interview some years after Hoenikker's death. The latter is basically an overbearing pompous ass and veritably invites the reader's contempt, especially given his praise of the former. The former is portrayed as a completely delusional psychopath to whom nothing exists besides research; his complete lack of contact with reality or with anything outside of his laboratory leads to the death of his wife and the severe maladjustment of his children, and aside from the other scientist, the whole town still hates him even years after his death. Hey, Vonnegut, you don't think you're being a bit too hard on scientists there, man? I mean, certainly, given the premise of science being irresponsible, deluded and in many ways blind and repugnant, like Hoenikker, then Vonnegut's "parable" about "over-reliance on science" makes perfect sense. But the entire premise is completely intellectually dishonest. There have been, believe it or not, works that have examined the same problem, in the same way of looking at the life of one scientist who is too wrapped up in his work to notice other aspects of life. The film Nine Days Of One Year immediately occurs to me as an example. But that film, though it reached a conclusion similar to Vonnegut's - that, the search for truth aside, one must not forget certain other important things in life - was far more honest about its subjects, acknowledging that they were more than just garish caricatures, and was all the more thought-provoking and powerful as a result. In comparison, Vonnegut's portrayal of science (which, in the book, is always greatly and deliberately praised by the most vacuous and unlikeable characters) is just ham-fisted and crude. Essentially, it proves a point about something that has no basis in reality in the first place. But that flaw, I suppose, would be forgivable. It's not uncommon for artists to oversimplify this issue, and it doesn't mean that the end result can't be good. The real problem I had with Cat's Cradle was the grotesque and very forced "comedy." Actually, to be more accurate, it was the way Vonnegut turned _everything_ into grotesque and very forced "comedy," and expected me to laugh at it. The prime example of this is that bit where Newt, Hoenikker's midget son, falls in love with a beautiful young circus freak who turns out to be a Russian spy and, moreover, twice as old as Newt. How does that sound to you? To me, it sounds like some gag made on some bad "cult comedy entertainment show," and it was genuinely painful to read. Yes, yes, yes, plenty of great literature contains scenes in which characters suffer painful humiliation - but _this_ scene made me feel, very uncomfortably, that Vonnegut _himself_ was actively getting off on inflicting this sort of mean-spirited, artless tripe on his characters. And then there was that bit with Frank Hoenikker, the missing son who suddenly became second-in-command in a small island dictatorship, when he suddenly tells the protagonist where and why he had been secretively running about throughout his youth. Which would've been possible to ignore, if not for the exposition, in which we view him as a talented, creative human being and are told what he _really_ spent his time doing. Why did the author ever bother characterizing him if he was just going to turn it into another hideous caricature with no depth later on? Why am I supposed to laugh at people being abased for no reason? Oh, wait, I get it. It's supposed to prove some kind of facile "point" about how "life is really one big joke!" Insightful. I could say more. I could talk about the utterly awful "Calypsos," about the way Vonnegut bludgeons the reader with his overwrought message, about that silly religious terminology, and about other things. But that's all secondary. The science fiction element is original, and Vonnegut's an inventive and imaginative author, but this book simply left a bad taste in my mouth.
|
