Danville Public Library’s Page Turners Book Club will be discussing this book Thursday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m.
In true Vonnegut fashion, this is a weird little book. It includes a fake religion known as Bokononism and a scientist who develops a means to destroy the entire world. No big deal though, since he didn’t tell anyone about it before he died, right? The narrator is working on a book about the day the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima, and interviews those who knew Felix Hoenikker, one of the scientists who designed the bomb. In his investigation, he finds out that Hoenikker had also been working on something purely theoretical called ice-nine which could turn water into ice immediately and had a melting point of well over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Thing is, he succeeded in creating it and now his three children each have a piece of ice-nine.
All throughout the book, the narrator (who identifies himself as Jonah in the first chapter, and then his name is not mentioned again by him or anyone else throughout the book) provides quotes and insights from The Books of Bokonon, the holy texts of Bokononism. It’s funny, because a few of these quotes I had encountered elsewhere over the years, never knowing this was their source. The book overall is funny, though darkly so, which is typical of Vonnegut’s writing. While this book predates his more famous Slaughterhouse-Five, the idea of wars being fought by children is touched on here as well.
As an avid Vonnegut fan, I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read most of his non-fiction and a large handful of his novels, and this is the first time I read Cat’s Cradle. It is clearly not as strong as his later fiction, yet the dark humor and just plain weirdness of the story and of Bokononism still make me enjoy this book as an odd little cautionary tale. Vonnegut has great insight into human nature and has this strange way of almost cheerfully predicting the worst outcomes of humanity. His narrative voice is always bemused, even when talking about terrible things. I love Kurt Vonnegut and anyone else who considers themselves a fan will want to read this book too. If you’re new to Vonnegut, and you enjoy dark humor and quirky stories, you should give Cat’s Cradle a try.
Review by Jessica A.
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