Rating: 
Summary: We are so stupid!
Review: If you're interested in learning about the stupidity of man and why religion is useful as an art form, this book is for you. Vonnegut entertains us with an apocalyptic tale about three kids with a dangerous new form of ice invented by their father who helped build the atomic bomb. Through their shortsightedness, the world is frozen and almost everything dies. Of course, no apocalyptic tale can exist without some commentary on religion and Vonnegut doesn't disappoint. He introduces us to a new religion built on top of "foma" a.k.a. lies. Which makes humans just actors in a play about the struggle of good and evil; how entertaining!
Rating: 
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: Being the age of sixteen and being in the environment when not reading is considered "cool," my English class was assigned to read this book by Vonnegut as an assignment. Most teenagers fear this assignment, and I was one of them, not wanting to HAVE to read just for the sake of writing down notes and listening to what the teacher had to say about the author's words. But once I began to read the text, I was engrossed in Vonnegut's phrases and the satires he used to describe every day life. Among other books that I have read during my school years, this was the only one I truly read for content. I enjoyed the ways Vonnegut criticized scientists, and the way he described the made-up religion of Bokononism. His intelligent understanding of the way things are run in the world made it perfect for his words to capture the obsurdity that is really shining through. I loved this book and plan to read others by Vonnegut, and I thank my teacher for finally assigning a book that caught my attention.
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Summary: Really funny book!
Review: A great satire of the cold war, american life, and banana republics, as well as religion and other sacred cows. Bokonon rules! This book is a great way to introduce yourself to Vonnegut.
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Summary: Religion, politics, and scientific hubris
Review: "Cat's Cradle" is another brilliant novel by Kurt Vonnegut. A science fiction satire/tragedy/love story/dysfunctional family saga, "Cradle" is narrated by a writer who had set out to write a book about the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Ultimately he gets involved with the colorfully warped family of scientist Dr. Felix Hoenikker, a weapons technology researcher. The narrator's quest takes him to the Caribbean island republic of San Lorenzo and to an encounter with Bokononism, the remarkable religion that has been outlawed on San Lorenzo. And driving much of the story is the secret of Ice-Nine, a scientific discovery with horrific destructive power.Above is the bare-bones outline for a richly-peopled, tremendously imaginative exploration of human arrogance and frailty. "Cradle" is filled with brilliant motifs and details. From the San Lorenzan dialect to the details of Hoenikker family history, the book is a wonder. But possibly the best part of the book is Vonnegut's rich realization of Bokononism: its scriptures, rituals, and lexicon are intriguingly revealed throughout the book. "Cradle" is full of unforgettable scenes of both horror and whimsy, all brilliantly capture by Vonnegut's amazing prose. For a compelling companion text, try Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower," another sci-fi novel about a fictional religion.
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Summary: Magic Act
Review: Kurt Vonnegut is nothing short of a magician. Call him a writer if you must, but it seems unfitting for a man who weaves yarns about new religions, Ukranian midget dancers, apocalyptic chemical inventions, and feet-rubbing fornication. Writer just doesn't do justice. Regardless, Cat's Cradle is a wonderful read and a heck of a time. Plot, character, and setting, as always in Vonnegut's work, take a back seat to the infectuos humor and unconventional writing style of its author. The narrator is named Jonah, a writer who wishes to conduct a non-fiction story revolving the lives of people surrounding the Atom Bomb titled "The Day The World Ended". From this moment, our wild ride begins as we are introduced to the great cast of characters, including Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the so-called "Fathers" of the Atom Bomb, who may or may not have created a chemical capable of turning all the worlds water supply into ice, his family, the president(dictator)of a small Pacific Island San Marcos, Papa Manzano, and his lovely daughter, all the way down to Bokonon himself, founder of the Bokonon faith which is based in foma (lies). The journey through Vonnegut's mind is a worthwile one, if nothing else for his startling creativity, and hilariously bleak view at humanity. I will leave you with this quote from the great books of Bokonon: "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way." Well said.
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Summary: ...and plummeting to number 13...
Review: This was once my favorite book. Now I find it at #13 on my all time list (I did Listmania!). It's not that I don't love this book. I do indeed. It's just that it seems so... 5 years ago. Since then my tastes have ripened (pretentious, eh) a bit, and have left little books like this one seeming, well, a bit sophomoric. Still, it is thanks to books like this one that I graduated to bigger and better things such as the work of Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson, and Phillip K Dick. So like a girl who's outgrown the puppy love of her high-school sweetheart, and who now favors older men, I've moved on from Cat's Cradle, but I won't forget it.
What a terrible review! Do I even know what I'm talking about? This is a great book. Anyone who disagrees is flat out wrong. And stupid too.
Rating:
Summary: A history of human stupidity
Review: "Cat's Cradle" is a heavy-handed satire about the military-industrial complex using brilliant scientific minds to create weapons of mass destruction, but because it's written by the inimitable Kurt Vonnegut, you get a cleverly conceived tale of science fiction delivered with the comical madness of a Marx Brothers movie. This novel is pure fun even at its apocalyptic extreme. The narrator ("Jonah," as in trapped in the belly of a whale) is a journalist who plans to write a book about August 6, 1945, the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Particularly he is interested in the life of the late Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the principal scientists who worked on the bomb. After corresponding with Hoenikker's midget son Newt, he interviews fellow scientists at Hoenikker's place of employment, a think tank called the General Forge and Foundry Company. Jonah learns that one of the last things Hoenikker was working on was something called "ice-nine," a substance which freezes water at temperatures much higher than 32°F. Then Jonah gets an assignment to interview a philanthropist named Julian Castle who runs a charity hospital on a Caribbean island called San Lorenzo. On the plane to San Lorenzo, Jonah happens to meet Newt and his horse-faced sister Angela who are on their way to the same destination to attend the wedding of their brother Frank, who happens to be a high-ranking official on the island, to a beautiful native girl named Mona, the adopted daughter of "Papa" Monzano, the island's dictator. Arriving at San Lorenzo, Jonah finds out that all the islanders practice an outlawed religion called Bokononism, started by a calypso singer named Bokonon. Bokononism is in a constant state of development as its founder thinks of new things to write about, but its main attribute seems to be a sort of shoulder-shrugging fatalism supported by well-meaning but useless aphorisms, a playful lexicon, and a bizarre foot ritual. Frank offers Jonah the Presidency of San Lorenzo upon Monzano's imminent death, simply because no one else wants the job. Unfortunately, a few stray samples of ice-nine and an ill-fated air show spell disaster for not only Jonah's lucrative new position, but the world. Note the modern implications of what the defense industry today calls "technology transfer" -- sure, ice-nine kills every living thing that touches it, but it has practical uses like solidifying muddy roads for military operations. As Vonnegut feels that writers are society's canaries in a coal mine, this novel is like a big red flashing warning signal to the powers that be, not that they'd heed it, and besides, it's too late already. What else is there to do but laugh?
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Summary: Ice nine is not a rap singer
Review: Why does everyone say this is Vonnegut's best work?
Simple. It is. The end of the world. A Calypso (Hey, why not? Psalms worked!) Caribbean prohet. His fascist dictator counterpart. Vengeful midgets. Soviet spies. Mad scientists. Voluptously naive femme fatales. Written sometime before Kurt got sober and tamer, this ultra-fast paced tale of the ultimate weapon---a powdered chemical, a pinch of which dropped into any body of water initiates a chain reaction capable of freezing the sea itself---is probably the best dark comedy ever written. Yes it's a commentary on the stupidity of humanity and the apparent indifference of God but expressed with such craft and humor that THE END just doesn't seem so bad after all. I can't help but wonder if Kubrick ever tried to option the rights? Should have made a wickedly funny follow up to Dr. Strangelove. . .
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Summary: Eye Opening and Thought Provoking
Review: "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut received my vote in the MENSA BULLETIN poll of the best fiction books of the 20th century. I still remember the November 1972 day I came across it in the Wichita, Kansas Public Library. It was a green cover hardback misfiled at the end of the sports books with the games and crafts books. I surmise that someone filing books thought "cat's cradle is a string game, therefore, Vonnegut's 'Cat's Cradle' must belong here." I am glad that it serendipitously came to my attention. It was and is an eye opening and thought provoking book. It remains one of those books that I enjoy revisiting every few years just for the pleasure of becoming lost in the joyous meditation of reading. Harlan Ellison thought Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" should have won the HUGO AWARD as best science fiction novel of 1963. I agree. More than science fiction, it transcends the genre and moves into literature. Bravo, Kurt Vonnegut. Job well done.
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Summary: A certain irony
Review: I have heard it said that this wonderful book was written as a warning against blind advancement in science, but there is an interesting flip side, which is that a lack of understanding in science was evil whereas the creation was great. This is just one of the thousands of stimulating thoughts which came out of this incredible book. A must read for anyone, even if just for the intreguing fiction and prose.
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