Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
One of the best novels of the twentieth century.
Regarded by many critics as the book that put Vonnegut on the map, it tells the tale of a man and the obserdity of religion. Vonnegut makes up his own religion (if L Ron Hubbard can do it) and his own vocabulary to illustrate that the world is the way it is because of the way we persive it and if you were to alter your perception maybe you might change the world. This book is a must for any Vonnegut fan and an easy, insightful, mesmurizing, thrill ride that will make you laugh and cry at its truth and at its absurdity. --Mark Eisenman, Anchorage, AK |
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Cat's Cradle is by far the best Vonnegut novel that I have yet read. Blending his patented wry humor with acute social insight presented in an absurd fantasy world, Vonnegut has written an exceptional novel of love, lies, and the self destruction of mankind. The story centers around the narrator, Jonah, who is called by name once in the entire book. We are told in the beginning that he is writing a book on the events of the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. His research leads him to a correspondence with Newt Hoenikker, the midget son of Doctor Felix Hoenikker, father of the atomic bomb. After meeting with Newt, destiny leads our protagonist to the impoverished island republic of San Lorenzo, where among other adventures, he finds religion, falls in love, and becomes president. All of this by itself would make for a very entertaining book, but it is not in the story line that Vonnegut's genius lies. Cat's Cradle is rife with painfully accurate insights into the institutions that our society holds so dear, such as, religion, politics, and science. Vonnegut invents for the inhabitants of San Lorenzo a brand new religion based completely and admittedly on "foma", or lies. This wouldn't be so shocking, except for the fact that this "bokonism" seems to make perfect sense. Other Vonnegut ironies pervade the book and are too elaborate to go into. Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author of all time. Cat's Cradle is one of his funniest, most absurd, and frightening novels. This book truly causes one to stop and think about the things that one holds as unquestionably true. All of the incredible people, places, things, and ideas in Cat's Cradle are intricately woven into a perfect tapestry that sums up and spells out many of mankind's self-created problems in 191 pages. --Matthew Wittman, Winter Park, FL
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My dad told me to read this book and I looked at him like he was crazy. I hadn't read a book any harder than Harry Potter and MAD magazine for the last few years, why would he expect me to read this mumble jumble. I agreed to give it a try and sat down and read the back. It sounded like a intersting book so I decided to read the first chapter or so. After about an hour of reading I realized that I could not put the book down. One thing about Cat's Cradle is that it is very well written but it doesn't have a high diffuculty of reading, so a boy like me could read and enjoy it. Cat's Cradle is a very fun and a feel good book, but it has suspence and drama that keeps tou on the edge of your seat. The book features a whole made up religion, started on a crazy made up island and crazy characters on the island and even a crazy substance that could end the world, all this coming from the mind of Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote the wonderful tale. I think that if there is 5 books that everybody should read in their lives, this should be one of them. Cat's Cradle is just so imaganitive it just makes you want to be inside the book. So if you haven't read this book, I suggest you jump out of your seat right now and go to the library and read Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. It is a great book.--
Rudy Horn, Seattle, WA USA |
Art & Lies by Jeanette Winterson
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I am compelled to say that Art and Lies is by far the most inspiring book I have read by an author of our day. To give this book justice, one must read it more than once. Jeanette is a master of pushing past the limits of literature, constantly challenging the reader and creating characters so life-like that the imagery stands out like a pop-up book. Art and Lies is a work that will provoke different trains of thought each and every time. I don't need to tell you what it is about, just read it and I am sure you will find something unique and just for you.
--Marcy Billings, Denver, CO |
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I've read all of Jeanette's books, including her two screenplays, her book of essays, her comic book, and collection of short stories. Art & Lies remains my favourite of all time. Rich with layers, and exceedingly profound, this book changed my life. It's her most difficult one (which is why some people hate it), but the most rewarding. Read it several times and it will only get better. --Jane Hernandez, New Brunswick, OH |
I really do like Jeanette Winterson and have read several of her novels, all of which have been very good. Books like Sexing the Cherry, Oranges are not the Only Fruit, Passion and Gut Symmetries were well written, insightful, truly unique and well constructed stories told in a bold, clear & decisive voice. This book, however. is an unfortunate mess. I hate giving authors I truly like such a lousy rating, but in this case it's unavoidable. One of the blurbs on the book cover speaks to a "writer writing about something terribly important", which may in fact be the case, if only one could figure out just what it is. It's really a shame as the concept is intriguing-the execution is the problem. Winterson is a master of the use of language, usually leaving the reader painting vivid-though often very unsettling-mental pictures to accompany the text. Here however the text is so dense, the characterizations so obscure, the thought process so complex that one can-and often does-- read and reread a passage several time, still emerging with no real idea what is going on. Everyone has a bad day now and then-and with this effort, Winterson has definitely had hers. This is truly an author worth reading but this effort should be skipped. --David J. Gannon, San Antonio, TX |
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Jeanette Winterson cloaks her dark and mystical gems in bright, shiny trappings. I have added this one to my permanent collection, as well as given out several copies to friends. --Reeta Johanson, Birmingham, AL |