Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

13 reviews

___'s review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Man, my first Vonnegut book and I'm pretty disappointed. Quite boring. I didn't care for any of the characters. I didn't even realize what I thought was a minor subplot was actually the main plot. 
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technicolorxsn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book is the lightest of Vonnegut's novels that I've read so far honestly. I found it's engagement with faith very fascinating and somewhat adjacent to my own spirituality. I thought the concept of ice-nine was really cool and the exploration of its mechanics fascinating, even if it wasn't the core of the story.
(it's been a while since I've read it)
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abmochapman's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this was mid, nihilism is overrated, and i think i do deadpan comedy better than vonnegut. 
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wemilyebb's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective

3.5

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emoryscott's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I enjoyed this read. Several times, I found myself laughing aloud. I don’t think I fully understood the broader picture that Vonnegut was trying to paint with this story, but here and there I was able to notice the deeper meaning. Vonnegut is a tricky author to read, but he can be very reflective. 
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emmalouisereads's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

I will admit, whatever the humour was here, went over my head. It seemed you needed to remember a load of nonsense made-up words to follow what on earth was going on here. 

What didn’t go over my head was the problematic language, including a lot of super unnecessary ableism.

I was glad when this book was over.
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bookpilerjo's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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beardelzebub's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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dark funny fast-paced

3.0

I would be lying if I said that I fully understood what happened in this book. There were one too many instances where I thought, “He is definitely alluding to something here, but I couldn’t tell you what that something is.” As a result, it impacted my overall enjoyment of reading this novel, particularly because it felt too disjointed (for a lack of a better descriptor). It almost felt as though the book was written more for the sake of being absurdist more than anything. However, and again, it’s quite likely that a lot of things flew over my head.

There was definitely an allegorical aspect of Cat’s Cradle that aligned well with what was happening at the time (i.e., responding to the Cuban Missile Crisis). Had I paid more attention during my US history class, maybe I would have had a better sense of what Vonnegut was trying to get at. I did, however, find the way Vonnegut explored religion through Bokononism really interesting with how upfront the religion is about its untruths. There was also the—frankly, scathing—observation that humans are just… stupid, especially in their pursuit to find meaning in their existence and often with the help of religion.

I think this might be one of those books I might have to revisit later in life— But this is definitely a must-read for anyone who loves working out what Vonnegut is alluding to, as well as his distinct writing style.
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