|
| |||||||||||||||
What are readers saying about Cat's Cradle: A Novel?
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-21 09:36:39.
(Language: English)
 
A painfully funny read, though the ending caught me by surprise, if only because it was such a world-shakingly sudden change of pace from the rest of the novel. Finishing the book definitely left me needing to lay down, or walk around, or do -something- other than dwell on it. [Spoilers ahead] I don't know if it's just me being picky, but certain mechanics of ice-nine had me scratching my head. After all, if a single atom of it could freeze any other molecule of water around it, how come nobody froze when they breathed, or had some kind of cut? Maybe the sci-fi aspect takes a bit of suspension of disbelief like any fantasy.The aspects of Bokononism were fascinating, with a resounding sense of absurdism. Despite this, it felt like there was some real philosophy and truth behind some of the sayings (despite the text's initial disclaimer), and I had to remind myself that this wasn't a real religion.
|
Yes (0) 
No (0) |
|
A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-09 05:11:04.
(Language: Spanish)
From this novel alone, Vonnegut earns his status as a true master of modern American letters. I especially enjoyed the comical, but thoroughly intriguing, poems scattered throughout the story. "Cat's Cradle" (1963) is, indeed, a work of art that I believe will stand the test of time for many more years to come - highly ... recommended as an introductory piece for aspiring Vonnegut-philes.
|
|
Ashley posted a review at 2010-05-20 05:44:54.
(Language: English)
I didn't ever want to put this book down, it was incredibly intriguing and interesting but the ending was rather curious. I absolutely loved the book until the last 5 pages then when I read the ending and closed the cover all I could think was well...hmmmm. I know it's how Vonnegut wanted it to end, it's a thought-provoking book. Not my favorite book, but very, very good none-the-less.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-25 12:55:00.
(Language: English)
Kurt Vonnegut has a weird, but witty, sense of humor. Cat’s Cradle is a perfect example of that. Vonnegut’s made-up religion, Bokonon, is based on lies - and yet, it makes a lot more sense than some of our “real†religions. It’s a clever commentary on organized religion, its followers, its martyrs, and its enemies. Vonnegut also provides commentary on other social issues: women as sex symbols (the vapid Mona), science versus beliefs, and the role of the father, among others. Cat’s Cradle is cleverly written, well thought-out, and an all-around interesting read. Definitely one of my favorite novels.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-27 07:54:26.
(Language: English)
A fabulous insight about the dark side of human nature. Vonnegut does a wonderful job of weaving light hearted humor with heart wrenching truth. Vonnegut is a wizard with words and weaves an intriguing plot about a nobody author, together with a lonely midget, his miserable sister, and a motley crew of other assorted cast members. They are thrust into a plot device that could very well lead to Armageddon. Vonnegut baffles your mind with ideas and concepts of science and human morals that leave you wondering for hours. Nothing is safe from Vonnegut’s statistical humor as he also finds time to poke fun at religion, creating his own ideology, Bokononism, finds just about every way to make every religion and aspect of human nature seem futile and in some cases humorous. Cat’s cradle is a remarkable work of art that anyone who wants a wild ride that will warp and twist your ideals, challenge your morals, and have your mind spinning on its heels all the way until it’s over.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-04 05:45:34.
(Language: English)
Book about human nature and the nature of the humans that what would likely bring about the end of the world cos they do their own thing too much etc. etc. CHILLING STUFF! The ice nine apocalypse makes for a grim fantasy, and Vonnegut's razor-sharp insight into the human doings makes for GRIM REALITY(?!) good stuff! Would recommend to friends and relatives! EVEN CHILDREN!
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-22 01:28:05.
(Language: English)
As a scientist I really love the thoughts on science and how to apply it. It has a cynical foundation and that is cool as well. However, I somehow do not share the absolute enthusiasm for this book that Vonnegut and many critics had, I somehow did not care for any of the characters when the earth froze. I had a friend who was working on different ice geometries for his PhD, jokes about ice9 were a constant feature in the lab. Very amusing, worth reading but I like Breakfast for champions more.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-15 03:10:13.
(Language: English)
This book is the dictionary definition of black humor to the degree of pedigree. It centres around a strange religion that celebrates chaos. I must quote: The painting on which Nwet was working on was framed ina misty sea of sky and valley. Newt's painting was small,black amd warty.It consisted of scratches made in black gummy impasto.The scratches formed a sort of spider's web and I wondered if they might not be the sticky nets of human futility hung up on a moonless night.I did not wake up the midget who made this dreadful thing."
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-07 08:26:46.
(Language: English)
A great Vonnegut book. Good for someone who has never read anything by Vonnegut before. Pretty simple, and yet very poigniant, storyline. Quick, short chapters/sections. Basically gives a great allegorical view of what the world was like during the Cold War, and maybe even more relevant in our post 9/11 world, with the thoughts of rogue countries/factions having the same nuclear weapon capabilities as the US and Soviet Union, and how those capabilities can (will?) eventually go wrong.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-14 09:17:50.
(Language: English)
Matt's wife demands that he search for a cradle she slept in as a baby. Since she will deliver their first child anyday, her request is reasonable and Matt is up to the task. The story is about the journey, not the destiation. Matt travels through Wisconsin, MInnesota, and Indiana to follow up on clues to the cradle's location and meets intersting/quirky charachetes along the way. In alternate chapters we read about Renee who remembers the reasons gave her child up/into foster care as her second child is off fighting in the Middle East. Seeing how the two plot lines converege is cool. It's such a tender book. I almost cried several times. The writing is fabulous and the story will suck you in.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-29 12:28:22.
(Language: English)
So I just finished reading my first book by Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle" after hearing such raving reviews about the author who recently died. My first reaction: WTF!!! (perplexed) But, after reading further, the apocalypic scenes, absurdities and subtle social commentary grew on me. I even converted to the fictional religion of the islanders in the novel: Bokononism! Here's an example of Bokononist philosophy taken from the book: "Lion got to hunt, Bird got to fly, Man got to ask himself why? Why? Why? Lion got to sleep, Bird got to land, Man got to tell himself he understand" SO TRUE!! At first I wasn't used to the non-linear way in which the story unfolded and I was put off by the fact that every character seemed too eccentric to be true. It made me angry while at the same time the way the short chapters always ended in some sort of odd punchline made me laugh. However, as if to atone and give me what I deserve from beyond the grave, here I find a quote of Vonnegut's which addresses my very anger: "Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae." Thanks Kurt. Although I haven't read "Man Without a Country" I have been thinking about global warming a lot lately, so I'll have to pick it up at some point or another, perhaps after reading "Slaughterhouse VII".
|
|
Shannon posted a review at 2010-05-25 08:16:56.
(Language: English)
This was a hard one for me. It wasn't hard to read, Vonnegut is actually pretty easy to get through, he often uses short sentences and paragraphs. Upon finishing I had no idea how I felt about the book. A month later I still don't know. Part of me really enjoyed it. I found the satire funny and riveting. Vonnegut has an amazing ability to write characters who are almost completely flat but still make you care about them, and I felt that. But I also didn't LIKE them- which may be the point. It was entertaining, enjoyable, and made a good point, but it was also frustrating. Probably because there isn't much redemption. Again, I think that's the point of it all. It's the kind of thing which might not be enjoyable, but it sticks with you and has a lot of meaning and importance. All in all I'm glad to have read it.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-11 08:36:09.
(Language: English)
For me, Kurt Vonnegut's CAT'S CRADLE is best appreciated as a product of a specific milieu. I think the novel preys on a specific kind of anxiety: humanity's annihilation through weapons of mass destruction, a fear that was very, very real throughout the Cold War, but in spite of (and perhaps because of) the financial crisis and the Gulf oil spill, now seems quite distant. Still, Vonnegut's tale about mankind's shortsightedness is thought-provoking, though personally, I was more drawn to his take on the falsehood (and necessity) of religion, as well as his rather caricaturish take on US foreign policy towards third world (and in this case dictatorial Latin American) countries. I haven't quite decided yet if current American policy towards Middle Eastern nations is an excellent echo, but if it was, then Bokonon would have been vindicated: "History! Read it and weep!"
|
|
Eddie posted a review at 2009-08-18 05:31:11.
(Language: English)
Decent book. I read this after Sirens of Titan, I've gotta say that I respect the ability to change styles so nicely without losing his very matter-of-fact, almost sardonic, way of presenting things. That said, I think this fell flat for me. Either nothing much happens, or too much happens without any substance behind it. This whole idea of Bokonism was interesting, maybe even intriguing, and I think that one quote sums the book up for me: "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". I resent everyone who didn't read this book.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-18 08:53:12.
(Language: English)
For a third time in 15 years I return to this book for some "wisdom" and laughter from the nihilist poet Bokonon. Aside from being this great satire of religion, politics and everything (in the style of the Hitch hiker's guide to the Galaxy) from which I deliver a great deal of pleasure, I also cannot stop thinking of the fact that Vonnegut IS at times Bokonon and his books are the "religion" of lies his character has created. As Bokonon himself has justified that: "I wanted all things to seem to make some sense, so we could all be happy, yes, instead of tense. And I made up lies, so they all fit nice, and I made this sad world a paradise."
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-26 04:36:35.
(Language: English)
my FAVORITE vonnegut book. i was in stitches nearly the entire time. i found vonnegut's way of mocking without mockery causing me to release fully loud belly laughs on a cross country jet. the idea of the lilliputian love affair and the island with its own little religion and the addled, absent father all are part of a tangled web of interest. the surreal and poignant conclusion remind us that the absurdity of deadly weaponry and war and conformity from fear are really terribly sad things, and WOW what an ending!!! i whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for a relatively quick read that will keep you laughing and interested (all six hours or so).
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-15 12:17:27.
(Language: English)
The delight of life is in the details - and the details are missing in this doomsday novel. It is clever and dark - but not entirely truthful. People are not as plastic as they sometimes seem to be on the surface - and this novel rarely gets below that surface. Boko (the founder of Bokononism, a new religion) says that we need to lie to ourselves in order to be happy. I'm not convinced that life is so bleak - nor do I think Vonnegut really did either, at least not completely. My favorite Vonnegut quote is not from one of his novels, but from an article he wrote towards the end of his life: So I do the same now, and so do my kids and grandkids. And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.">
|
|
Jason posted a review at 2009-05-11 04:58:21.
(Language: English)
Vonnegut, with his characteristic simplicity and deadpan humor, tells the story of an author who begins work on a historical book about the inventor of the atomic bomb. This leads him to a Caribbean island nation where he meets the inventor's eccentric family, becomes president, and a convert to the religion of Bokononism. The tenets of Bokononism are a combination of common sense, fatalism, and gallows humor. The characters are a little weak and the plot is a little thin but Vonnegut does in Cat's Cradle what he does best: saying a lot by saying very little, satirizing the existential bad faith of religious thought. This is the work of a well-intentioned and ambivalent skeptic.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-14 12:09:30.
(Language: English)
Utterly amazing. Kurt Vonnegut has an incredible ability to take the darkest and most tragic aspects of humanity and turn them into something that's simultaneously fatalistic and hilarious. His extravagant and fatalistic plots teeter between the absurd and the rational, which forces us to notice how extravagant and dangerous our own plot often is. As in his other works, Cat’s Cradle takes an intent interest in the world’s destruction by man (ice nine, the invention of a Nobel-winning mad scientist, is capable of destroying all the water in the world and is a blatant reference to nuclear bombs). Bokononism, the book’s made up religion, is led by a prophet who refuses to speak in absolutes and himself acknowledges the ridiculousness of his own gospel. Perhaps Vonnegut is a Bokonon himself—a brilliant, socially suppressed voice that may not be heard until it’s too late.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-19 01:23:08.
(Language: English)
The narrator, Jonah, is writing a book about the first atomic bomb. A meeting with Newt Hoenikker (whose father created the atomic bomb) leads Jonah to the island republic of San Lorenzo. The religion on the island of San Lorenzo, founded by Bokonon, is based completely on "foma," or lies. Key aspects of Bokononism are "kara," a group of people you are linked to by fate, and "granfalloon," a group of people who only think they are linked, like by nationality or alumni status. Vonnegut's keen, satirical insights into religion, politics, and science will make you laugh through your tears as you stop and think about everything you believe to be utterly true. My favorite of Vonnegut's novels. A true masterpiece.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-19 05:46:04.
(Language: English)
The only Vonnegut novel I bothered to read, for obvious reasons (HINT: I'm a cat). It was really great I thought. But didn't have as many cats as I thought it would. Still at least he mention them in the title, that's something I guess. I wish he had mentioned us in Slaughterhouse 5, because I really actually want to read that one. However my rampant egomania about being a cat prohibits me from reading anything that doesn't promise to mention cats at least once.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-19 05:44:45.
(Language: English)
This apocalyptic novel is an interesting view of what the end of the world may be like. The hero, John (Johah, as he calls himself), begins work on a book about the bombing of Hiroshima, and ends up getting mixed up in the lives of the A-bomb's principal inventor's children. Interestingly enough, the man who was most responsible for the atomic bomb is also largely to blame for the final destruction of human life. Vonnegut may be a fatalist, and he certainly is a pessimist. His bleak view of mankind, of science, of religion (as exemplified by the outrageous theology he creates) is nothing short of a wake-up call. Vonnegut is immensely entertaining, Dark and enjoyable.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-29 02:39:48.
(Language: English)
Cat's Cradle is my unsurprising favorite, maybe the rare--or even one--time when Vonnegut's humor and despair were in perfect balance, sketching a portrait of a mad scientist and his dysfunctionally unhappy family, the birth of a cheerfully nihilistic religion, and the end of the world through crystallization (did this provide the germ for Ballard's hauntingly beautiful The Crystal World--my favorite end-of-the-world scenario--published three years later?). Vonnegut seemed to have said it all with this one (unfortunately he wrote for several more decades ("See the cat? See the cradle?")). But for this and a for a few others of his early work, I'm grateful for him.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-20 11:03:39.
(Language: English)
I think I came into this book with the wrong ideas about it. I had heard of Vonnegut being this monolithic science fiction writer and since I've always liked science fiction I thought I would love this. In reality very little of this book seems like science fiction to me, it reads like a regular fiction novel in which the only thing science about this fiction is the invention of ice 9 a kind of ice that can freeze the entire planet. Cat's Cradle is meant to be a satire and I think that maybe that is why I don't care for it. All it does is hit you over and over again on the head with this sort of "if we don't stop acting like idiots this is what will happen" type message which gets rather repetitive. None of the characters were particularly interesting to me as it seemed that we don't really get to know the inner mind of any of the characters. Alright, but I don't think I'll bother with another Vonnegut book.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-21 09:39:05.
(Language: English)
၂၀ရာစု ဂ်ာမန္-အေမရိကန္စာေရးဆရာ Kurt Vonnegut ရဲ့ Cat's Cradle ဝတၱဳရဲ့ အဓိကရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္ကေတာ့သိပံနည္းပညာေတြ ဘယ္ေလာက္ပဲ တိုးတက္ေနပါေစ ကမၻာဦးေခတ္ကတည္းက လူရယ္ၿဖစ္လာကတည္းက အတူတူပါလာတဲ့ ကေလးဆန္မွဳ၊ မရင့္က်က္မွဳ၊ မိုက္မဲမွဳ နဲ ့တစ္ကိုယ္ေကာင္းဆန္္မွဳေတြဟာ ဘယ္ေခတ္ ဘယ္အခ်ိန္ပဲေရာက္ေရာက္ ဘယ္ေလာက္ပဲတိုးတက္ေနပါေစ မေပ်ာက္ပ်က္သြားပဲ အၿမဲဒြန္တြဲေနတာကိုေၿပာခ်င္တာၿဖစ္တယ္။ သေရာ္စာပုံစံေရးထားေပမယ့္ အဓိပါၸယ္ေလးနက္မွဳေတြ ပါဝင္ေနတာကိုေတြ ့ရတယ္။ စစ္ေအးကာလအထြတ္အထိပ္ေရာက္ေနခ်ိန္ ကေနဒီေခတ္ၿဖစ္တဲ့အခ်ိန္မွာ ထြက္ရွိလာတဲ့ဒီဝတၱဳမွာ Vonnegut က အေမရိကန္ႏွင့္ဆိုဗီယက္တို ့ရဲ့ လက္နက္အၿပိဳင္အဆိုင္တိုက္ဆင္မွဳေတြ၊ ကြန္ၿမဴနစ္စနစ္၊ ႏ်ဴကလီးယားလက္နက္ ႏွင့္ ဘာသာေရးခုတုံးလုပ္ၿပီးမိုက္မဲမွဳေတြကို မသိမသာေလးေရးၿပီး ပုံေဖာ္ထားတာၿဖစ္တယ္။ ဒါ့အၿပင့္ ဘိုကိုႏုိဘာသာဆိုတဲ့ Vonnegut ကိုယ္တိုင္ ဖန္တီးထားတဲ့ ဘာသာနဲ ့အဲဒီဘာသာကိုကိုးကြယ္တဲ့ ကာရီဘီယန္ရွိ ဆန္ေလာ္ရင္းဇိုး (စာေရးဆရာဖန္တီးထားတဲ့ကြ်န္းႏုိင္ငံ) ရွိ ဘိုကိုႏုိဘာသာဝင္ေတြရဲ့ ဘဝ နဲ ့အဓိကဇာတ္ေကာင္ ခရစ္ယာန္ဘာသာဝင္ေဟာင္း ဘိုကိုႏုိဘာသာကိုစိတ္ဝင္စားသူ စာေရးဆရာေလာင္း ဂ်ဳိနာ ဆိုသူရဲ့ ဘဝ နဲ ့ကံတရားေတြဘယ္လိုတိုက္ဆိုင္သြားသလဲဆိုတာကိုလည္း ပါးနပ္စြာေရးသားထားသည္ကို ေတြ ့ရတယ္။ စိတ္ဝင္စားဖြယ္ေကာင္းတဲ့ အခ်က္ကေလးေတြကေတာ့ ဘိုကိုႏုိ ဘာသာမွာလည္း ဘိုင္ဘယ္ရွိၿပီး အဲဒီစာအုပ္ကိုေတာ့ ဘုိကုိႏြန္ စာအုပ္လို ့ေခၚတယ္တဲ့။ ဘိုကိုႏုိဘာသာတည္ေထာင္သူ ဘိုကိုႏြန္ဆိုတဲ့ လူမည္းအမ်ဳိးသားရဲ့ အေတြးအၿမင္ေတြကို အဲဒီစာအုပ္ထူၾကီးတည္းမွာထည့္ေရးထားတာေလ။ ဘိုကိုႏုိဘာသာအၿပင္ အၿခား ယုံၾကည္ကိုးကြယ္ရာဘာသာေတြအားလုံးဟာ မုသားေပၚမွာတည္ေဆာက္ထားတာတဲ့။ ၿပီးေတာ့ ဘယ္ဘာသာဝင္ေတြမဆို အဲဒီလို မုသားေတြ နဲ ့ၿပည့္ယွက္ေနတဲ့ သူတို ့ရဲ့ ဘာသာကို ကိုးကြယ္ခ်င္းအားၿဖင့္ ကိုယ့္ကိုယ္ကို ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္မွဳေတြ၊ ၿပည့္ဝမွဳေတြ ခံစားရလုိ ့လူၿဖစ္လာတာ တစ္နည္းအားၿဖင့္ သူတို ့ရဲ့ဘဝဟာ အဓိပါယ္ၿပည့္ဝေနတယ္လို ့ခံစားမိတာ ၿဖစ္တယ္လို ့ဆိုထားတယ္။ Vonnegut ကိုယ္တိုင္ကလည္း ဘာသာမဲ့တစ္ေယာက္ၿဖစ္ၿပီး ယခု လူသားမ်ဳိးႏြယ္တစ္ရပ္လုံးရဲ့ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္မွဳေတြဟာ အေၿခအၿမစ္မရွိတဲ့ ကိုးကြယ္ရာဘာသာေတြရဲ့ ေခါင္းေဆာင္၊ လမ္းညြန္ၿပသူေတြရဲ့ မုသားေပၚမွာ အေၿခခံထားတာတဲ့။ Vonnegut ရဲ့အထက္ပါအာေဘာ္ေတြဟာ အစြန္းေရာက္တဲ့ပုံစံရွိေပမယ့္ သူကိုယ္တိုင္ကေတာ့ အစြန္းေရာက္မဟုတ္ခဲ့ပါဘူး။ Cat’s Cradle တစ္အုပ္လုံးမွာ ဘုိကုိႏြန္ စာအုပ္ရဲ့ စာေၾကာင္းေလးေတြကိုညွပ္ညွပ္ၿပီးထည့္တာေလ့ရွိတယ္။ အၾကိဳက္ဆုံးစာေၾကာင္းေလးေတြက “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly, Man got to sit and wonder “Why, why, why? Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land, Man got to tell himself he understand” နဲ ့ “Someday, someday, this crazy world will have to end, And our God will take things back that He to us did lend. And if, on that sad day, you want to scold our God, Why go right ahead and scold him. He’ll just smile and nod.” ဆိုတဲ့ philosophical ကဗ်ာပုံစံစာေၾကာင္းေလးေတြၿဖစ္တယ္။ ဇာတ္ေကာင္ေတြ အားလုံးဟာ သေကၤတေတြ၊ underlying အဓိပါယ္ေတြနဲ ့အမ်ဳိးမ်ဳိး interpret လုပ္ လို ့ရတဲ့အၿပင္ dialogue ေတြဟာလည္း ရုိးရွင္းၿပီး အခန္းတုိကေလးေတြ အမ်ားၾကီးခြဲထားတာေၾကာင့္ Cat’s Cradle ဟာ Kurt Vonnegut စာအုပ္ေတြမဖတ္ဘူးသူေတြအတြက္ ေပါ့ေပ့ါပါးပါးကေလး စဖတ္လို ့ရတဲ့ ဝတၱဳစာအုပ္ပင္ၿဖစ္ေပတယ္။ သူရဲ့ Slaughterhouse-Five ကေတာ့ၿမန္မာၿပန္တယ္။ Cat’s Cradle ေတာ့့ ရွိမရွိမသိပါ။
|
Share your views!
Similar books
