Cat's Cradle

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US hardcover, 1st edition.

Cat's Cradle is a science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut published in 1963. It's about a reporter trying to write a book about a fictionalized creation of the atomic bomb and discovering a doomsday chemical in the hands of a religious cult,

Despite not liking the first novel I read of Vonnegut's, Slaughterhouse-Five, I was convinced by friends to give him another try. I was still not impressed.

Status

I do not own this book, but have listened to an audio book recording.

Review

Good

  • I like the idea of ice-nine, and think that it gave the book some much-needed suspense.
  • Newt's explanation of religion as, "see the cat? See the cradle?" was pretty spot on.
  • The description of Bokononism, that all religions are nothing but a pack of lies, including Bokononism, is also accurate.

Bad

  • Although the book is often referred to as satire, I don't remember ever laughing, though I occasionally smirked while reading.
  • I kind of liked the idea of having a whole bunch of short chapters, but after awhile, I found it distracting.

Ugly

  • In general I just found the story boring. Most of the characters were dull, and a few were annoying, but I didn't care about any of them.

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