Rating: 
Summary: The final weapon is water
Review: A masterpiece in dark science fiction, which, behind a showing simplicity and a smooth flowing, hides a highly polished and well-timed language, even in its slang expressions. A personal prophecy about use of "final weapons", with an interesting reference to solid state physics (people with some experience in crystal growth may find dynamics of Ice-9 a bit inconsistent, but it is nevertheless interesting, and who remembers the polywater affair?). A strange religion, exotic environments, politics, Vonnegut's seminal work mixes all up stimulating at a same time entertainment and reflection.
Rating:
Summary: Cat's Cradle
Review: Cat's Cradle is a book about a writer (Jonah) who wants to write a story on the day the atomic bombings during World War II. He requests information from the family of the man who invented the bomb, but soon finds out that there is more to this man than meets the eye. He finds out that man developed a chemical that can wipe out the entire world as we know it. On top of that, Jonah discovers a very mysterious religion that unfolds as the story progresses.This book is an excellent read with many un-expected twists and turns. The more you read, the more the book develops and the more in depth it becomes. It is a mind bender that makes you take a second look at many of today's religions, and the beliefs that go along with them.
Rating: 
Summary: Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle
Review: I enjoyed reading Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, it was an easy book to read. I loved how everything in the book made sense, and connected with one thing to another. Its the type of book you could read again and again and figure out something new that connects each time you read it. Cat's Cradle isn't a book you can skim and just go through the motions, you actually have to think about what you are reading and how it relates to the other things you have read. Cat's Cradle is a good book if you enjoy fiction books.
Rating:
Summary: Great for starters.
Review: If you have never read a Vonnegut book before, this is the one you want to start out with. It's a great book for any occasion, but it's perfect if you want to get acquainted with the author and his dark humor. It's a very easy read, fast paced, and a cleverly written story. Some of his other books that I've really enjoyed were Slaughterhouse- Five, Sirens Of Titan, Mother Night, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, the short stories in Welcome To The Monkeyhouse, and Breakfast Of Champions (don't read Breakfast of Champions until you've read some of the books previously mentioned, or else you probably won't understand where a lot of the material comes from).
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this one!
Review: This was the first Vonnegut book I ever read, and it's still perhaps my favorite. His unique genius truly shines in this novel as you are pulled along most willingly through the realm of both the impossible and unthinkable. Each character is vivid and lives on in your mind well after you've put the book down. Of course, actually putting the book down is a challenge. Even when you've finished, you'll want to read it again from end to beginning and look for hidden messages, because you know your own imagination is not nearly vast enough to have captured the seemingly endless facets of this story. Don't die before you read Cat's Cradle, because this is at least one more thing you need to do before you've led a full life.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut. Need i say something more?
Review: WOW! Thats really all i need to say about Cat's Cradle. WOW!
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: great novel by a great author thats all there is to it. p.s how can that guy even compare star wars to this star wars is like donkey kong to this.
Rating: 
Summary: Not As Good as Star Wars
Review: This is a decent sci-fi escape, but nowhere near as good an escape as Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, or Star Wars: A New Hope. This isn't very challenging, and you may feel compelled to read it because of the almost too simple story, and easy going language. This is basically a book about a mad scientist who tries to take over the world by freezing it over with a substance called Ice-Nine, and at the end he succeeds because of his children's greed to control it. Again, not very complex or deep, a basic fable, but still entertaining. But as entertaining as Star Wars? NO. I recommend renting the star war movies or getting the star war books, especially the ones with Jabba the Hut. Cat's Cradle has no point or meaning to it, unlike Lucas's prophetic, amazing vision. Vonnegut is funny, but not very intelligent.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut and Mad Cow Disease?
Review: I remember reading this book 20 years ago and it sorta stuck in the back of my mind. Then about 3 months ago I was reading about the prion theory of the transmission of mad cow disease in a popular science magazine, and it struck me as sounding very familiar....then I remembered Vonnegut's Ice9. The prion theory goes like this. There is a protein in your brain which normally folds itself into a particular shape in order to perform it's function. Along comes a prion, which is the same protein, except that it has folded itself into a new shape. This single mishapen protein molecule teaches the normal protein molecules in your brain how to fold into this dangerous, new, non-functional form. Soon afterwards, your brain begins to crystallize into something resembling swiss cheese. Twenty years ago, it bothered me that the central scientific premise of an otherwise fine novel was so implausible....obviously, I no longer feel that way.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut's Best!
Review: For those who haven't read Vonnegut, you must read this book! This short, simply written novel manages to reveal the latent absurdities in our most cherished institutions: politics, religion, and science. The novel centers around ice-nine, developed by the idiot savant Dr. Hoenikker (sp?). Hoenikker invents it as something of a game, but its first use will cause the oceans to freeze and the devastation of the world. We see clear parallels to the nuclear bomb and the rationalizations of its creators: according to them, they are advancing "pure knowledge," and the consequences are not their concern, even if it results in worldwide devastation. The novel also targets religion in the form of Bokononism, a religion whose own creator admits that it is "foma" (lies). Even so, the Books of Bokonon cited throughout the book are absurdly sweet and insightful. The Bokononist practice of "boko-maru," or merging of soles, also seems to be one of the rare ways to achieve genuine pleasure with one's fellow man. We see how religion, even where it may be technically false, may give great peace to its believers. When I first read this book in high school, I was tempted to become a devout Bokononist myself! Vonnegut always emphasizes the importance of family and genuine interhuman relationships, rather than the abstract absurdities of "granfaloons": nations, parties, sports teams, etc. This short, spare novel tears apart such granfaloons, and through it, we may see a glimmer of what is genuinely important in our lives.
|
