Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Kurt Vonnegut Published 1963-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Drama Themes Religion, Religious fiction, Science fiction, Surreal, War, World War II Age Group Adult

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.

Personal

Own?	No.
Read?	Audiobook read by Dan Lazar.
Finished	2017.

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

Review

Overall:

— This section contains spoilers! —

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

• The book is often referred to as satire, and I guess it satires religion a little, but that's it. Otherwise, I only remember ever occasionally smirked while reading it.
• I initially liked the idea of having a whole bunch of short chapters, but, after a while, 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.
• I found the ending to be rather disturbing.

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