Cat's Cradle

A little bit ago, Amazon was having a sale on Vonnegut books so I purchased Cat's Cradle. I'd only ever read Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut, which I really liked. I first read in my 10th grade American lit English class. I reread it earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Going in to Cat's Cradle, I was expecting to enjoy it because of my feelings on Slaughterhouse Five, but it was a bit hard to get into. I'm not a science fiction kind of reader, so I had to force myself to read it. In the end, I'm really glad I did.

Cat's Cradle is the story of a creator of the atom bomb and his next project, Ice 9. Ice 9 was suggested by a Marine who didn't want to tromp through mud. The mixture will freeze water. Through a comedy of errors, Ice 9 threatens civilization. Whoops.

I really enjoyed Cat's Cradle. It's got the same WhatTheHellness as Slaughterhouse Five. Perhaps I should pick up some more Vonnegut.

The Handmaid's Tale

Stop what you are doing and go read this book.


I was serious. Go read this book, then you can come back and goof around on the internet.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a book that I've heard people rave about for years. I have this thing about dystopian books so it wasn't on the top of my list. I read it for the seasonal online challenge for the category of a Canadian author. It was a great example of how the book challenge gets you to read things you might not otherwise pick up.

The Handmaid's Tale is set in an alternate future where a conservative Christian group has taken over society and the environment has been severely degradated. The laws in society divide women up into different categories. The narrator is a handmaid whose job it is to produce children. Handmaids are not allowed to read and are only allowed out of the house once a day.

There were so many things to love about The Handmaid's Tale: the idea that such a society isn't that remote of an idea, the writing, and the ending. I won't say anything about the end, other than it was brilliant. Freaking brilliant.

This was one of the best, if not the best, books I've read this year. It's one of the best books I've ever read.

Wither

Wither is a young adult dystopian story. (Is it just me or are they all dystopian these days?) Anyhow, I watched a vlog by Lauren DeStefano and thought she was hilarious. My library had Wither as a downloadable audio book so I checked it out.

Wither is set in a world where girls die at age 20 and boys at 25. Scientists are working to find a cure, but in the meanwhile, each new generation dies off very early.

In Wither, Rhine is kidnapped to be a bride for Linden, son of a very wealthy and important man. Rhine is a virtual prisoner at her husband's estate. Her father in law, Vaughn, is older and is not infected with the virus that is killing off society's young. He is working on a cure, but Rhine is suspicious of how he's going about his research. Rhine is also concerned about her twin brother. She has no way of contacting him to let him know she's still alive.

Rhine spends most of the book plotting her escape from Linden and Vaughn's house. Her relationship with her sister wives was really interesting.

I enjoyed Wither, but I'm glad I was able to check it out from the library instead of buying it. I will be interested to read the next book in the trilogy to see where the story goes.

Lord of the Flies

I read Lord of the Flies for the first time about a year ago. I'm currently using it in a class I'm teaching about government. Lord of the Flies seems to be one of those books that people frequently read in high school. I didn't read it then, but when I recently read it was somewhat glad. I don't think I would have appreciated it as much back then.



I mentioned this recently with my reread of Catcher in the Rye, but as an adult, I actually get why books are assigned in high school.

Lord of the Flies is about a group of boys stranded on an island after a plane crash. The boys create their own system of power which gives a great allegory to political life. I think the symbolism is really easy to find, but I don't think it's overbearing. Each of the characters and their power says something about political power. It also says a lot about how people act in the absence of an authority figure.

If you were a fan of Lost, the TV show, I don't know how you couldn't be a fan of Lord of the Flies. Plane crash, deserted island, disputes over leadership, etc. Once on the island, all hell breaks loose and the story is the struggle of the boys' survival.

I obviously found it to be an important enough read to use in class. It's a classic that deserves that label.

The next book on the schedule is Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas for the section on immigration.

The Giver and dystopian novels

One of the categories in the book challenge is a dystopian novel. I have heard great things about The Giver and it's a Newbery winner. Another of Lowry's books, Number the Stars, is one of my favorite children's books.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm really not a fan of dystopian stories. I'm not sure I can articulate why, but the depressing nature of them is part of it. This is somewhat of a weird thing for me to say because I read and enjoy lots of non-fiction on depressing topics. I do like 1984, but I love Orwell.

I read The Hunger Games last winter and felt the same way. Twenty of so pages in to The Giver, I did not want to continue. I wouldn't have if it weren't a part of the book challenge. Needless to say, I'm not chomping at the bit for Mockingjay.

I think I'm done with dystopian novels for awhile. It might sound silly to give up on the genre after a couple books, but I've also had The Handmaid's Tale on my shelf for a long time. Every once in awhile, I'll pick up and then immediately think, "I really don't want to read this." Plus, life's too short for books you don't enjoy.