Top tags: fiction, science fiction, satire, humor, kurt vonnegut (all tags)
“This one is a wild ride.”
“Somnium...the phrase "no cat, no cradle" is really one of my favorite parts of the book. The concept is so accurate--how a simple game with string can act as a metaphor for so much. The whole idea of lies and constant untruth seems so relative to our current culture, even though the book was written decades ago. Cat's Cradle is definitely a worthwhile read...there is just so much there to discuss, and thus this is such a great book for a club or just for friends to read concomitantly. The idea of ice-nine, the way the book is written as a foray of random events and with very sporadic chronology--what one expects at the beginning and what actually occurs can be no farther from each other. This is great because its sci-fi, its a political commentary, its a satire, its a rant on religion, its a telling of the truths no one wants to hear or people are afraid to talk about. The characters are interesting and distinct, the setting and the island where the climax unfolds is just fascinating. I would recommend to any reader, + those who don't usually enjoy novels.”
“Hw long does it take a slow reader”
“Hi Lot,I want to start reading some of these books but how and where do i start from. Please give me a short lecture on this.”
“An easy read that led to Vonnegut's Anthropology B.A. The story evokes questions regarding mankind's ignorance when faced with scientific achievement.”
“There's a pretty good plot summary here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s_Cradle”
“Ok so....what is this book actually about? I don't mean "it's about capitalism" or anything like that, i mean who is the main character, what does he have to do, what is the conflict in the story; that kind of "what is this book about?" is what I'm asking. Can anyone explain?”
“Cat's Cradle is probably my favorite novel ever. Papa Kurt's strangely and beautifully upbeat cynicism has always spoken to me. This is a short book, and I read it in an hour or 2, but it's had an inestimable impact on the way I view the world. It's also one of the 2 books I constantly keep stocked in my home in case I find someone to loan it to. (Tom Robbins' _Still_Life_With_Woodpecker_ is the other.)”
“agreed. he was one of my only heros that still lived. But as of today, that's another amazing individual who has left this planet. Mr. Vonnegut, Rest in Peace”
“One of my favorite Vonnegut novels is Jailbird published in 1979. In typical Vonnegut fashion, it weaves stories of Sacco and Vanzetti, the Cuyahoga massacre, World War II, Alger Hiss, Kilgore Trout, and Watergate among others.The prologue includes a quotation from a reader's letter that Vonnegut describes as "... the single idea that lies at the core of my life's work so far....'Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail'."It also includes a description of the main character, Walter Starbuck, a nobody in the Nixon White House who winds up in jail with the other co-conspirators. I found it comforting, even inspirational when I first read it, and it has stayed with me as Vonnegut's description of how to live in the modern world, even if you are not a saint:"You couldn't help it that you were born without a heart. At least you tried to believe what the people with hearts believed -- so you were a good man just the same."”