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howlinglibraries 's review for:
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut
This is one of those reviews that is a bit painful to write, because I already know people are going to judge me for it, but wow, where do I even begin to tell you how strongly I disliked this book?
This was my first time reading anything by Vonnegut, and I had high hopes. So many people in my circles love his writing, and he's considered by many to be one of the greatest satirists of our time (as someone who loves a good bit of satire, this in particular piqued my interest). I didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what I got.
This book is a disaster. The writing is all over the place, there is no cohesive plot (even many of the 5-star reviews I'm seeing state the same thing, so at least I know I'm not alone here), the repetition is god-awful, and the sci-fi facet is so underdeveloped that I kept forgetting it even was a part of the book—which is a damn shame, considering this book is so frequently marketed as science fiction!
On top of how much I disliked the general narrative, story, and humor (I physically rolled my eyes more than once), this was such a ridiculously uncomfortable thing to read. I know, "it's a product of its time", so I can promise you, the star rating is not based on what I'm about to say (if it were, this would be a 1-star read instead of 2), but what the hell was up with Vonnegut's obsession with people with dwarfism? He literally could not refer to one character for more than a single sentence without calling him a "midget" or referring to him as "small" or talking down to him. It was disgusting and crass, even for that time frame, to treat someone as less of a human than yourself because of a medical condition they were born with.
I could honestly rant for days about how much I hated this book, and how hard it was to power through to the ending. It's also grossly sexist, features what might have been the world's first example of insta-love in a sci-fi novel, and creepy. The only reason I'm giving this 2 stars is because, as someone who was burned by Christianity when I was younger, I have to admit that some of his rude remarks about religion were entertaining and/or very valid, observant points.
I'm so sorry to everyone who had such high hopes that I would love this author, but this book was honestly a bad enough experience that I doubt I'll pick up any of his other works.
This was my first time reading anything by Vonnegut, and I had high hopes. So many people in my circles love his writing, and he's considered by many to be one of the greatest satirists of our time (as someone who loves a good bit of satire, this in particular piqued my interest). I didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what I got.
This book is a disaster. The writing is all over the place, there is no cohesive plot (even many of the 5-star reviews I'm seeing state the same thing, so at least I know I'm not alone here), the repetition is god-awful, and the sci-fi facet is so underdeveloped that I kept forgetting it even was a part of the book—which is a damn shame, considering this book is so frequently marketed as science fiction!
On top of how much I disliked the general narrative, story, and humor (I physically rolled my eyes more than once), this was such a ridiculously uncomfortable thing to read. I know, "it's a product of its time", so I can promise you, the star rating is not based on what I'm about to say (if it were, this would be a 1-star read instead of 2), but what the hell was up with Vonnegut's obsession with people with dwarfism? He literally could not refer to one character for more than a single sentence without calling him a "midget" or referring to him as "small" or talking down to him. It was disgusting and crass, even for that time frame, to treat someone as less of a human than yourself because of a medical condition they were born with.
I could honestly rant for days about how much I hated this book, and how hard it was to power through to the ending. It's also grossly sexist, features what might have been the world's first example of insta-love in a sci-fi novel, and creepy. The only reason I'm giving this 2 stars is because, as someone who was burned by Christianity when I was younger, I have to admit that some of his rude remarks about religion were entertaining and/or very valid, observant points.
I'm so sorry to everyone who had such high hopes that I would love this author, but this book was honestly a bad enough experience that I doubt I'll pick up any of his other works.