Book freaks discussion

Hey Book freaks! Here's discussion thread for Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut two days earlier than usual so that you guys can begin to read and discuss to your hearts content! Let the discussion flow!

Oh, Vonnegut! I've already read a handful of his books translated in Greek, which, mind you, isn't the best introduction to his work. After reading Breakfast of Champions in English I'm hungry for more!

Savvas wrote: "Oh, Vonnegut! I've already read a handful of his books translated in Greek, which, mind you, isn't the best introduction to his work. After reading Breakfast of Champions in English I'm hungry for ..."

Haha that's interesting! I remember starting to read Twilight in Spanish. It was much better in Spanish!

You should read Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction aslo by him too!

I'll make sure to read it, after I'm done with September's group suggestion.

And, hey -- is that an oh-so-slight irony directed at Twilight? :-)

Savvas wrote: "I'll make sure to read it, after I'm done with September's group suggestion.

And, hey -- is that an oh-so-slight irony directed at Twilight? :-)"

Perhaps it is a slight to Twilight :-)

yey, yey! the thread opened!!!
as I told you before(but apparently have to again) I'm excited about September's read!! I already found the book and I'm starting right away....
:)))

Anastasia wrote: "yey, yey! the thread opened!!!
as I told you before(but apparently have to again) I'm excited about September's read!! I already found the book and I'm starting right away....
:)))"

Wow! You're beating me to the punch! I just ordered it today on Amazon!

Gorfo wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "yey, yey! the thread opened!!!
as I told you before(but apparently have to again) I'm excited about September's read!! I already found the book and I'm starting right away....
:)..."

:D
well I started it today...so...you are left behind..:P

Anastasia wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "yey, yey! the thread opened!!!
as I told you before(but apparently have to again) I'm excited about September's read!! I already found the book and I'm starting rig..."

How do you like it so far?

Gorfo wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "yey, yey! the thread opened!!!
as I told you before(but apparently have to again) I'm excited about September's read!! I already found the book an..."

well...I can't really say cause I'm in the beginning but I'm sensing satire apart from fiction in here..

Smells like satire indeed. I love Vonnegut's sense of humor. He doesn't really state the obvious, he lets you pick it up instead.

"Anyone unable to understand how useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either."

I've started it yesterday :-)

Don't be mad at me for this post, I know people tend to be irritated by some discussion abt bookstore sales etc. Thought it might help some of the Kindle owners.

18 books by Kurt Vonnegut (including Cat's Cradle - this month's group read :D) is going for $3.99 at the Amazon Kindle store. I just bought Cat's Cradle and I'm so happy I got it at that price. Will start reading after I'm done with my work on the 15th :D Cheers!

Savvas wrote: "Smells like satire indeed. I love Vonnegut's sense of humor. He doesn't really state the obvious, he lets you pick it up instead.

"Anyone unable to understand how useful religion can be founded on..."

This is the first of his books that I read..apart from Breakfast of Champions which I have in my to read list, do you have any other recommendations? (cause you seem to know your Vonnegut) :)

Jason wrote: "Don't be mad at me for this post, I know people tend to be irritated by some discussion abt bookstore sales etc. Thought it might help some of the Kindle owners.

18 books by Kurt Vonnegut (includ..."

I don't think that anyone in this group would get mad at you Jason...We're all very democratic in here....
Just START buying regular paper- smelling books OK???
(just kidding, I read some e-books too :P :D )

Anastasia wrote: "This is the first of his books that I read..apart from Breakfast of Champions which I have in my to read list, do you have any other recommendations? (cause you seem to know your Vonnegut) :)


I'd suggest Galápagos for a start; for his fans it'd seem like a peculiar suggestion, I know, but it's the one that made me fall in love with Vonnegut's style. Most people would suggest something in the lines of Slaughterhouse-Five, mind you, so that's a nice place to start, too.

Just got Cat's Cradle today! Will start tomorrow hopefully...just have to finish some required work and currently reading and then all systems are a go :)

Anastasia wrote: "Jason wrote: "Don't be mad at me for this post, I know people tend to be irritated by some discussion abt bookstore sales etc. Thought it might help some of the Kindle owners.

18 books by Kurt Vo..."

Hehehe. I think I'm OCD sometimes. I usually purchase a physical copy of the ebook that I finished reading on my Kindle. Every friends that pay me a visit think that I'm weird, buying books that I never actually gonna read. :(

This book is witty, funny and it successfully satirizes the life as we know it!It doesn't contain hidden meanings as some(including myself) may come to think at first, there is nothing hidden, it's all there ready to be read and understood.
These are my favorite lines:

I turned to Castle the elder. “Sir, how does a man die when he’s deprived of the consolations of literature?”
“In one of two ways,” he said, “petrescence of the heart or atrophy of the nervous system.”

And I remembered The Fourteenth Book of Bokonon? which I had read in its entirety the night before. The Fourteenth Book is entitled, “What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?”

It doesn’t take long to read The Fourteenth Book. It consists of one word and a period.
This is it:“Nothing.”

I don’t think I’ll forget that face you’re working on very soon.”
“You’ll forget it when you’re dead, and so will I. When I’m dead, I’m going to forget everything—and I advise you to do the same.”


If you want an expert opinion, money doesn’t necessarily make people happy.”
“Thanks for the information. You’ve just saved me a lot of trouble. I was just about to make some money.”

“Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,”

Midget, midget, midget, how he struts and winks,
For he knows a man’s as big as what he hopes and thinks!

(if I continue, I'll end up writing the whole book)

Jason wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "Jason wrote: "Don't be mad at me for this post, I know people tend to be irritated by some discussion abt bookstore sales etc. Thought it might help some of the Kindle owners.

1..."

Don't worry, if they call you weird again tell them that :being weird needs a creative mind...;)

Just started reading Cat's Cradle yesterday! It's and I agree with Anastasia. It's not what you think at all. No hidden meanings, everything out in the open. I cracked up when I opened it up to the first page and read the first words of the book.

"Nothing in this book is true" so now I've barely begun and I'm tripping through the life of the illustrious or troubled Hoennikers is it?

Gorfo wrote: "Just started reading Cat's Cradle yesterday! It's and I agree with Anastasia. It's not what you think at all. No hidden meanings, everything out in the open. I cracked up when I opened it up to the..."

you'll be surprised....

Anastasia wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "Just started reading Cat's Cradle yesterday! It's and I agree with Anastasia. It's not what you think at all. No hidden meanings, everything out in the open. I cracked up when I opene..."

that's rather ominous

Finished it a couple of days ago -- I'm not usually that quick, it's just that the book kind of sucked me up. A great one :-)

Just started school but I'm around page 80...and beginning to realize that it's a small world

Gorfo wrote: "Just started school but I'm around page 80...and beginning to realize that it's a small world"

...it really is...

OK - ordered it in. Dunno how fast it will get here from the library.

Carly wrote: "OK - ordered it in. Dunno how fast it will get here from the library."

Take your time :)

Oh I just realized I never said it here! I finished Cat's Cradle and while I like it, I only liked it, didn't particular love it, I feel like it's bascially the pioneer book for this genre of book but sadly I've read many of these types of books lately, that being said I still like the wacky story of ice-nine and bokonon and science and love and lies. I think the first sentence pretty much sums up the satire of this book "Nothing in this book is true" :P

Gorfo wrote: "Oh I just realized I never said it here! I finished Cat's Cradle and while I like it, I only liked it, didn't particular love it, I feel like it's bascially the pioneer book for this genre of book ..."
I know what you mean Gorfo, we read so many fantasy, sci-fi nowadays and there's no pattern any more, sky is the limit but you have to admit the originality of this book, Vonnegut's sense of humor and the way he ''foists'' the unreal truths..

OK folks, I know I am late but just received this month's selection, Cat's Cradle. No I did not have it, never read it. I have read several of Vonnegut, so I am sure I will enjoy. Off to reading so I am done before the end of the month.
(cover opening).....

MarkG wrote: "OK folks, I know I am late but just received this month's selection, Cat's Cradle. No I did not have it, never read it. I have read several of Vonnegut, so I am sure I will enjoy. Off to reading so..."

Haha have fun Mark!

Savvas wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "This is the first of his books that I read..apart from Breakfast of Champions which I have in my to read list, do you have any other recommendations? (cause you seem to know your ..."

Galapagos made me a Vonnegut believer. I read it directly after Cat's Cradle and it cemented my love for his genius.

Looks like I'm not alone :-)

Jessica wrote: "Savvas wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "This is the first of his books that I read..apart from Breakfast of Champions which I have in my to read list, do you have any other recommendations? (cause you see..."

So I'm guessing I should read that next to cement my kind of iffy love?

This is a re-read for me. I read it a decade ago but it is interesting to read a book again when years have passed. Different circumstances, different age. One thing differs for me I've already noticed: a deeper awareness that the silliness of politics IS really deadly too.

April wrote: "This is a re-read for me. I read it a decade ago but it is interesting to read a book again when years have passed. Different circumstances, different age. One thing differs for me I've already no..."

Agreed there April..the only problem nowadays is that silliness

I sort of feel like this would be the perfect book to analyze in an English class. If only :)

Gorfo wrote: "I sort of feel like this would be the perfect book to analyze in an English class. If only :)"

There is a huge amount to dissect here, both ideas and symbols. The title for instance. There is no cat in the cradle; creating something out of nothing, a complex pattern of webbing that looks important but is quickly dissipated with a collapse of hands, people create meaning out of meaningless patterns, people get addicted to creating patterns, etc. The answer is, "what is humanity's ultimate destiny despite all of the tomfoolery?" or maybe Shakespeare says it best. You know the quote. for example. Books loaded with ideas and symbols are cool.

April wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "I sort of feel like this would be the perfect book to analyze in an English class. If only :)"

There is a huge amount to dissect here, both ideas and symbols. The title for instance...."

Yes! I love it! I love your title analysis! Seriously though when I was younger I really never got what people were doing with the game of cat's cradle. To me they just looked like lines, and I couldn't for the life of me ever see the cat....so I guess this book kind of spoke to me in that way :)

Just started Cat's Cradle :D Had to since all of you are raving about the book so much and tempted me to read it :D

Jason wrote: "Just started Cat's Cradle :D Had to since all of you are raving about the book so much and tempted me to read it :D"

Yes! Mission accomplished! How goes it so far?

Finished this today. What a great book. It's hard to believe it was written in 1963. Awesome. A third of the book minimum is quotable, probably for forever.

Gorfo wrote: "Jason wrote: "Just started Cat's Cradle :D Had to since all of you are raving about the book so much and tempted me to read it :D"

Yes! Mission accomplished! How goes it so far?"

All I can say about this book so far is it's amazing! Yes yes! :D

April wrote: "Finished this today. What a great book. It's hard to believe it was written in 1963. Awesome. A third of the book minimum is quotable, probably for forever."

Jason wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "Jason wrote: "Just started Cat's Cradle :D Had to since all of you are raving about the book so much and tempted me to read it :D"

Yes! Mission accomplished! How goes it so far?"

Al..."

Yay! Glad you like it! :)

I think this is the most quotable book the group has read yet!

Just finished the book. While I think it's an amazing book by it's own merit, Cat's Cradle is not really my type of book. But I had to say, I didn't see those twists coming (view spoiler)[(Frank recommending Jonah to be the President and how the ice-nine came to destroy the world) (hide spoiler)]. In the end I rated it a 3 star read.

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. This is definitely not a book I would pick up on my own. However it was very funny; but had some great insight into human nature as well. Maybe I'll convert to Bokonism. :0)

Rebecca wrote: "I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. This is definitely not a book I would pick up on my own. However it was very funny; but had some great insight into human nature as well. May..."

Remember though, bokonism and all religions are foma :-)

Jason wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. This is definitely not a book I would pick up on my own. However it was very funny; but had some great insight into human nat..."

Haha :) But foma is what life is made of my fellow bokonist...I thought the foot thing with bokonism was sooo cool :)

Deifinitely the "go to" religion for the dallying foot fetishist.

Boko-maru! That's what it is! I literally had to google that. I just realized today that now instead of calling things lies. I say "that's all foma". This book made more of an impact than I thought!