cat’s cradle | Anakalian Whims

Oh Dear, Another Vonnegut…

February 2, 2010 at 4:45 pm (Reviews) (book, cat's cradle, classic, religious practices, review, science fiction, social commentary, vonnegut)

A Review of Cat’s Cradle (kind of)

My problem with Vonnegut is that his novels are too short. I was just finally becoming fascinated by the Bokonons and their rituals and the book ends. I want his tales Dickens style – with two or three hundred pages on Bokonon establishing his religion and living in the jungle, then I want another hundred pages on Newt, Angela, and Frank. Instead, I get a sentence here, a paragraph there, and finish the book unsatisfied. On top of that, I feel like a jerk for not appreciating Vonnegut the way the rest of society seems to. I have the appropriate shelf of my library dedicated to all his work, but I just can’t muster up the love. Like Salinger, he’s good, he’s even really good, but he’s not the best thing ever (though I am repeatedly told that he is). Perhaps the hype has ruined him for me.