I just finished reading this book and imo it was my favorite work of his, surpassing Slaughterhouse-5 and his other more well known books, why isn’t this one discussed with the greats? I thought the book was devilishly hilarious and an excellent satire, balancing the tone in a way I’ve never seen handled. If you haven’t read it, give it a try, it crams so much content in a fairly short book. Definitely instantly became one of my favorites of all time.
Cat’s Cradle was my first impression of Vonnegut, and I remember despising it so much that I refused to touch anything else of his for years. Eventually, I did pick up SH5 and adored it; it’s easily one of my all time favorites now. Perhaps it’s time to give Cradle another chance. Feeling so drastically different about two works by the same author doesn’t sit well with me.
I always thought Cat’s Cradle was his second most famous work.
Yeah I’m confused, what is supposed to be more famous than Cat’s Cradle outside Slaughterhouse-5? Breakfast of Champions? The Sirens of Titan? What other Vonnegut books have you read, OP?
I do really love Sirens of Titan.
Might be my favorite!
It is. It’s just that Vonnegut doesn’t really get discussed a lot, though he is mentioned often.
It’s my favorite of his, mother night is great too. He has so many great stories that don’t get talked about enough.
I completely agree with you! “Cat’s Cradle” is, in my opinion, a masterpiece that often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves compared to Vonnegut’s more famous works. The devilish humor and unique satire in this book make it stand out, and I love how it manages to pack so much content into a relatively short space. It’s a hidden gem that instantly became one of my favorites too. I’m glad to see someone else appreciating it as much as I do!
Thank you!
The Bokononist concept that we are mud that got to sit up and take a look around has always stuck with me.
No damn cat, no damn cradle.
Player Piano is one of my favorites, very appropriate today.
I read that one earlier this year, and yeah I did find it very much applicable to today’s concerns about computers and alogorithms taking over peoples jobs and hence their identity in society.
It comes up all the time, and probably still a lot of high schools and stuff include it in their curriculum. If you’re a Vonnegut fan I think it’s 50/50 whether this is your favorite book of his.
As a The Sirens of Titan fan I’m kinda miffed
I’ve read 3 Vonnegut books. I didn’t like Slaughterhouse-5 as much as I thought I would, but that’s probably mostly to do with it being hyped up an incredible amount before I read it. I adored Cat’s Cradle, easily my favorite of the three I read. I also read Mother Night and liked it a lot. I started and got about half way through Breakfast of Champions, which was recommended to me as one of my friends’ favorite books, but I didn’t get into it as easily as Cat’s Cradle or Mother Night.
I hated it because I found it extremely racist. The caricature that are the San Lorenzo natives makes me mad: unintelligent primitive people that need to be saved, ugh. For a good articulation of how his depiction of the natives is very problematic, read this essay analyzing cats cradle here: http://amst.fullerton.edu/Final AP 2017-2018.pdf#page=39
It’s my favorite
Cat’s cradle is definitely considered one of his best already
Now go read Galapagos. It’s one of his later books, and I don’t se it discussed much. But it’s mind-blowing.
I just read this earlier this year as my introduction to Vonnegut and thought it was great satire and tone, OP said. It definitely encouraged me to keep exploring other books by him, and I just checked Slaughterhouse 5 out from the library!
Did CC and now on SoT and I gotta say… I don’t get Vonneguts writing style. Why does it feel like every other paragraph we are being told a new story that builds in endless spirals?