Alex's review
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut
Alex's review
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Alex's review
rating:
recommended for: Josef Stalin
Perhaps Vonnegut's best story. Certainly 'Slaughterhouse 5' is most acclaimed for its historical relevance, and 'Breakfast of Champions' might be the most fun. But here Vonnegut has crafted a tight story of human woe splayed against a scrim of the world's end.
In so doing, he succeeds where other 'serious' sci-fi writers of his time (like Philip K. Dick) often fail. It seems all too easy, one one side, to play up the apocalypse far and away from our protagonist's worries, and easier still, on the other side, to fizzle the tale. But Vonnegut walks the razor's edge. Consider: the world's oceans are frozen, food and water are scarce, and yet our hero worries not even about 'what's for lunch?' but 'what did my prophet mean?' Perhaps that's the most, or only, worthwhile question to ponder, given the circumstances. More likely the crucible of Bokononism is a sort of exercise in disaffection.
But I gave up on those types of essays when I got me degree. The real joy of the ...more
In so doing, he succeeds where other 'serious' sci-fi writers of his time (like Philip K. Dick) often fail. It seems all too easy, one one side, to play up the apocalypse far and away from our protagonist's worries, and easier still, on the other side, to fizzle the tale. But Vonnegut walks the razor's edge. Consider: the world's oceans are frozen, food and water are scarce, and yet our hero worries not even about 'what's for lunch?' but 'what did my prophet mean?' Perhaps that's the most, or only, worthwhile question to ponder, given the circumstances. More likely the crucible of Bokononism is a sort of exercise in disaffection.
But I gave up on those types of essays when I got me degree. The real joy of the ...more
