Cat's Cradle

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrated by: Tony Roberts

Cat's Cradle is Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a little person as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny.

©1963 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

KV at his best.

To say that I worship at the alter of Kurt Vonnegut would be more mawkish than overstated. He is and will probably always remain one of my all-time, favorite authors. When picking up a book, one can only hope that the author can write; the surprise comes when an author’s contributions transcend what is on the printed page. Such is usually the case with KV. Not only can he write his butt off, he has the absolutely, incredible talent to hold up this mirror for all of us to see the travesty of so much we hold sacred in this American Experience and then laugh at the same time that we cry at our reflection.

About writing itself, KV once said in an interview, “Well, I've worried some about, you know, why write books ... why are we teaching people to write books when presidents and senators do not read them, and generals do not read them. And it's been the university experience that taught me that there is a very good reason, that you catch people before they become generals and presidents and so forth and you poison their minds with ... humanity, and however you want to poison their minds, it's presumably to encourage them to make a better world.” Bottom line for me, that’s what KV’s writings are always about: Humanity.

In 1971 the University of Chicago awarded KV his Master's degree in anthropology for Cat's Cradle. While at first blush that might seem a bit over the top, after reading this treatise on such subjects as science and technology, religion and morality, ethics and law, it becomes quite clear about his critique, KV did his homework. And, the originality of his work is unmistakeable. There are folks out there today such as Al Franken and Jon Stewart for whom KV had to have been an influence. KV was one of the originators of the movement for modern, self-reflection at least in contemporary America. That being said, this is not an unapproachable work reserved for the academic elite. This book is for the entertainment and edification of anyone and everyone: the unread generals, unwashed presidents and your any, off-the-street, Joe Blow, the Plummer. I cannot imagine anyone with a scintilla of humanity not loving this book. You're not into social critique you say. Great, read it just for the fun of it. It is funnier than _ _ _ _, well, it's just plain fun.

The narration could have possibly been done differently and still worked. It's hard to believe that it could have been done better.

One of the Best Performances on Audible

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I sure would, its a great book and a great performance by Tony Roberts.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I mean this book is hysterical, touching, thought provoking and well written. I would say Hazel encapsulated all elements of this for me, but every character is well done.

Which character – as performed by Tony Roberts – was your favorite?

The Hoenicker's, who really have elements of the story line in their background and characterizations.I cannot say this enough, Tony Roberts does a great job. He is an actor here, not a narrator. His nuances bring out Vonnegut's writing in a terrific way. I think it is the narration I have heard on Audible.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh is not the word. Hysterical, might be more accurate. This is funny and sad at the same time, which makes it so compelling.

Any additional comments?

Vonnegut is an important writer in American literature. This is one of his premier works and Audible does it justice. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Not for everyone ...

This novel is typical Vonnegut and requires that you think ... but not too much throughout. If you over think it, you won't understand it ... but if you are expecting to be spoon fed a a story with all the plot lines hilighted for simplicity, then this is certainly not for you.

The narrator gives you the feeling of sitting down around a fire and listening to your grandfather tell a tale of days long past. I actually quite enjoyed it.

interesting book

Everything about this book is capitaviting.
The reader did an amazing job narrating and making a clear difdrrents between the speakers

A Well-performed but Peculiar Tale

I think this book is best listened to with idle time to contemplate the unique mixture of absurdity and whimsy that encompass this story. I think that meandering pace of the tale had a hard time keeping my interest at the beginning but the way the everything began wrapping together into an amusingly depressing ending really cinched this as a thoroughly enjoyable book.

My favorite book

Love it. The Books of Bokonon never fail to make me giggle and think about how stupid we humans truly are.

Not bad, but my least favorite by Vonnegut.

I nearly returned the book while getting through the first third of the books, and even after that I can't say I was super interested in it. It lacked a lot of Vonnegut's usual charm. The narrator was dull and certainly didn't help. Perhaps in a year or two I'll come back to it again.

Always a surprise

This is only the second book of Vonnegut’s I have read/listened to just like Slaughterhouse Five it was a pleasant surprise and pleasure.

Good story with a few absolutely brilliant moments

I found the interview with the author at the end more interesting than the book itself. The narrator was really good.

Pure Gold

This is everything a story should be. Entertaining social commentary that's fun and thought provoking.