Reviews with content warning for Death - CATS CRADLE

Another one of those revisits from the mid-2010s when I was getting deeper into adult reading. I felt middling upon first reading "Cat's Cradle" in around 2015 or 2016. Upon this read, I get it a lot more, albeit it's still not my favorite Vonnegut. The parallels to MAD and nuclear warfare are more obvious, though it's clearly meant to be so - the man is angry. Vonnegut writes imperfect and unlikeable characters yet usually separate that from the author's voice (masterful in "Breakfast of Champions"), but here it's hard to separate the pseudo-nameless narrator from Vonnegut's own voice in the native sexualization and overuse of "midget". One can always say he's aware of this - especially since Newt gets it more than anyone else - but it's still jarring. The banana republic satire is similarly confused, at once sardonic toward the USA's involvement in the rape and pillage of those countries while also kind of playing it straight with McCabe and Bokonon.

Yet, as with some other mixed opinion reads this year, I still liked it. The ultimate "fuck you" to God at the end and mordant tendency toward fatalism is incredible. I had a friend who in his early 20s called himself a "Bokononist", and I see why.

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lovelymisanthrope's review

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I have had this book on my TBR for years in part because it is a modern classic and in part because Ice Nine Kills is my favorite band.
"Cat's Cradle" is the story of "ice nine" and its deadly implications it could have on humankind. Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding fathers of the atomic bomb, created an elusive substance called ice nine that has eluded experts for years. Following his death, no one knows what happened to ice nine nor what it even was. The narrator of the book is determined to uncover the truth, and he enlists the help of Hoenikker's children.
This was such an interesting novel and I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. The narrator ends up going on such a twisted adventure to uncover the truth about ice nine, and I never knew where he would end up next. I was also fascinated by the mystery around ice nine. What is it? How is it made? What would it mean to the world if it was unleashed? The human mind is capable of great things, and sometimes those things are better left in the human mind.
I will definitely be inclined to read from Kurt Vonnegut in the future.

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___'s review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Man, my first Vonnegut book and I'm pretty disappointed. Quite boring. I didn't care for any of the characters. I didn't even realize what I thought was a minor subplot was actually the main plot.

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technicolorxsn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book is the lightest of Vonnegut's novels that I've read so far honestly. I found it's engagement with faith very fascinating and somewhat adjacent to my own spirituality. I thought the concept of ice-nine was really cool and the exploration of its mechanics fascinating, even if it wasn't the core of the story.
(it's been a while since I've read it)

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