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Available
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Library's review
Indeholder kapitlerne "1. Den dag verden gik under", "2. Godt, godt, åh så godt", "3. Tåbeligt", "4. Føletrådene forsøger sig frem", "5. Brev fra en stud. med.", "6. Insektkampen", "7. Den berømmelige familje Hoenikker", "8. Newts affære med Zinka", "9. Underdirektør med ansvaret for
Hovedpersonen John sætter sig for at skrive en bog om atombomben. Og tage en række personer og fortælle hvad de lavede den dag, den første atombombe blev sprængt.
Det hele er flettet sammen med bokonoismen. Den første linie i Bokonons Bøger er: "Alle de sandheder, jeg vil fortælle, er skamløse løgne". Forfatterens tilsvarende advarsel er: "Ethvert menneske, der ikke kan forstå, hvordan en nyttig religion kan grundlægges på løgne, vil heller ikke kunne forstå denne bog." Og det er der ikke noget at gøre ved.
???
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vulkaner", "10. Hemmelig agent nummer X-9", "11. Protein", "12. Verdens undergang-cocktail", "13. Springbrættet", "14. Da der var krystalvaser i biler", "15. Glædelig jul", "16. Tilbage til børnehaven", "17. Pigepuljen", "18. Den mest værdifulde vare der findes", "19. Ikke mere mudder", "20. Is-ni", "21. Marinesoldaterne marcherer videre", "22. En mand fra den kulørte presse", "23. Den sidste plade småkager", "24. Hvad en wampeter er", "25. Det vigtigste for dr. Hoenikker", "26. Hvad Gud er", "27. Marsmænd", "28. Mayonnaise", "29. Gået bort, men ikke glemt", "30. Sover bare", "31. En anden breed", "32. Dynamitpenge", "33. Et utaknemmeligt menneske", "34. Vin-dit", "35. Hobbybutik", "36. Mjav", "37. En moderne generalmajor", "38. Verdens baracuda-hovedstad", "39. Fata morgana", "40. Håbets og barmhjertighedens hus", "41. Et karass for to", "42. Cykler til Afghanistan", "43. Demonstration", "44. Kommunist-sympatisører", "45. Derfor hader de amerikanerne", "46. Den bokononistiske måde at behandle kejseren på", "47. Dynamisk spænding", "48. Fuldkommen som Skt. Augustin", "49. En fisk der kastes på land", "50. En sød dværg", "51. Det er i orden, mor", "52. Uden smerter", "53. Direktøren for Fabri-Tek", "54. Kommunister, nazister, monarkister, faldskærmssoldater og desertører", "55. Skriv aldrig register til deres egne bøger", "56. Et selvforsynende egernbur", "57. En kvalmende drøm", "58. En ny slags tyranni", "59. Spænd sikkerhedsbælterne", "60. En underpriviligeret nation", "61. Hvad en corporal var værd", "62. Derfor blev Hazel ikke bange", "63. Vi er frie", "64. Fred og fylde", "65. Et godt tidspunkt at komme til San Lorenzo på", "66. Det stærkeste der findes", "67. Krrr-uuu-wå-åg!", "68. Huun-jira moor-turra", "69. En stor mosaik", "70. Opdraget af Bokonon", "71. Lykken ved at være amerikaner", "72. Pisseugle-Hilton", "73. Den sorte død", "74. Kattens vugge", "75. Hils Albert Schweitzer fra mig", "76. Julian Castle bliver enig med Newt om at alt er meningsløst", "77. Aspirin og Boko-maru", "78. En ring af stål", "79. Derfor blev McCabes sjæl forgrovet", "80. Vandfald-nettene", "81. En Pullman-portørs søn får en hvid brud", "82. Zah-mah-ki-bo", "83. Dr. Schlichter von Königswald nærmer sig ligevægtspunktet", "84. Mørklægning", "85. En masse foma", "86. To små flasker", "87. Min måde at være på", "88. Derfor kunne Frank ikke blive præsident", "89. Duffle", "90. Kun en hage", "91. Mona", "92. Digterens lovprisning af sin første Boko-maru", "93. Således mistede jeg næsten min Mona", "94. Det højeste bjerg", "95. Jeg ser krogen", "96. Klokke, bog og kylling i hatteæske", "97. Den beskidte kristne", "98. Sidste riter", "99. Djud boffte moijurr", "100. Frank ryger ned i oblietten", "101. Som mine forgængere forbyder jeg bokononismen", "102. Frihedens fjender", "103. En medicinsk udtalelse om virkningerne af forfatterstrejke", "104. Sulfathiazol", "105. Et smertestillende middel", "106. Hvad bokononister siger når de begår selvmord", "107. Hvad siger I så?", "108. Frank siger hvad vi skal gøre", "109. Frank forsvarer sig", "110. Den fjortende bog", "111. Pause", "112. Newts mors pompadourtaske", "113. Historien", "114. Da jeg mærkede kuglen trænge ind i mit hjerte", "115. Hvad der tilfældigvis skete", "116. Det store ah-vuum", "117. Tilflugtssted", "118. Den spanske kappe og oublietten", "119. Mona takker mig", "120. Til rette vedkommende", "121. Jeg er lang tid om at svare", "122. Den schweiziske familie Robinson", "123. Mus og mænd", "124. Franks myretue", "125. Tasmanierne", "126. Spil dæmpet videre, fløjter", "127. Slut".Hovedpersonen John sætter sig for at skrive en bog om atombomben. Og tage en række personer og fortælle hvad de lavede den dag, den første atombombe blev sprængt.
Det hele er flettet sammen med bokonoismen. Den første linie i Bokonons Bøger er: "Alle de sandheder, jeg vil fortælle, er skamløse løgne". Forfatterens tilsvarende advarsel er: "Ethvert menneske, der ikke kan forstå, hvordan en nyttig religion kan grundlægges på løgne, vil heller ikke kunne forstå denne bog." Og det er der ikke noget at gøre ved.
???
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Collection
Publication
Kbh. Stig Vendelkær (1969) 198 s.
Description
Cat's Cradle is Vonnegut's satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet's ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist; a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer; and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny.
Media reviews
"Cat's Cradle" is an irreverent and often highly entertaining fantasy concerning the playful irresponsibility of nuclear scientists. Like the best of contemporary satire, it is work of a far more engaging and meaningful order than the melodramatic tripe which most critics seem to consider "serious."
User reviews
LibraryThing member littlegeek
Whenever I meet someone I instantly resonate with, I assume they are in my karass. This was my first Vonnegut novel and is my second fav (Sirens of Titan is my fav.) All the Vonnegut-isms are there: brilliant scifi-ish ideas mixed with sociological observation and a little history thrown in.
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Vonnegut understands that the best way to make a point about the bleakest of human qualities, is to make people laugh about it. And he makes up a better religion than L. Ron Hubbard. One of those books I can't forget, but wish I could so I could discover it all again. Show Less
LibraryThing member markatread
Kurt Vonnegut wrote Cat's Cradle at the height of the Cold War. His satiric look at science, religion, politics, business, and ethics is a mirror he holds up to his 1960's world where the atomic bomb had already been dropped on HIroshima and two countries are poised to use the bomb to annihilate
The narrator, John (aka Jonah), begins the book by telling the reader that he began his journey with the intent of writing a book about what famous people were doing on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. After learning about Felix Hoenikker, the fictional "father of the bomb", he contacts Hoenikker's 3 children and learns from his son Newt that on the day that the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the father of the bomb had been showing Newt the Cat's Cradle, a child's string game. John abandons the book about Hiroshima and is giving an assignment to go to San Lorenzo where he meets all three of Felix Hoenikker's children and is introduced to Bokononism, a religious movement that was invented by a local man and is openly based on nothing but "lies".
The local government uses Bokononism to manipulate the natives of San Lorenzo and outlaws the religion so that the people will believe it even more. The religion that is based on nothing but lies is the great hope for the people of San Lorenzo and brings them happiness.
(to be continued)
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all living things. The narrator, John (aka Jonah), begins the book by telling the reader that he began his journey with the intent of writing a book about what famous people were doing on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. After learning about Felix Hoenikker, the fictional "father of the bomb", he contacts Hoenikker's 3 children and learns from his son Newt that on the day that the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the father of the bomb had been showing Newt the Cat's Cradle, a child's string game. John abandons the book about Hiroshima and is giving an assignment to go to San Lorenzo where he meets all three of Felix Hoenikker's children and is introduced to Bokononism, a religious movement that was invented by a local man and is openly based on nothing but "lies".
The local government uses Bokononism to manipulate the natives of San Lorenzo and outlaws the religion so that the people will believe it even more. The religion that is based on nothing but lies is the great hope for the people of San Lorenzo and brings them happiness.
(to be continued)
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LibraryThing member madepercy
On the way to Berlin, Dresden, and Hann. Münden. Vonnegut, a second generation American of German descent seemed to be a good choice for the flight. I usually find it easy to knack over a Penguin paperback on a long-haul flight, but not this time. I've been struggling to read deeply since a major
I purchased a Penguin Vonnegut at the airport for some light reading but didn't manage to finish until some months later. I found Vonnegut's work to be interesting but a little far-fetched - it smacked of a Woody Allen style of science fiction (see the trailer for "The Sleeper") that was somehow banal yet allegorical in a mildly interesting way.
Much of the social commentary was lost on me. I suppose for a conservative reader of the early 1960s the foot-touching free love may have been a bit out there, but for me it was all old hat. I had the feeling of the 'thirteen days' and the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Usually I am a fan of history but Vonnegut is rather economical with his contextual elements - an Animal Farm kind of focus on the sociological order rather than the 'iceberg' cerebral development approach. It was interesting today that I listened to a podcast on Jack London's literary style.
This sent me on a quest to look back at some of my previous readings of several of London's works. One thing I found was that I have been critical of London's racism (poignant in the wake of the Black Lives Matters protests beginning in the US and now happening in solidarity but focused on Indigenous deaths in custody here in Australia).
But I was also pleased to note that I had picked up on the problem (Jack London's To Build a Fire):
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination.
That's how I felt about Vonnegut's work. Until the meaning of the title came to my attention. The cat's cradle.
It's a child's illusion. It requires one's imagination. One flick of the hands and the cradle is gone. It doesn't exist.
I am usually way off but occasionally, like with Jack London, I am on the mark.
I found in Cat's Cradle the Stoic technique of the "bird's eye view". Once we view the world from above, we realise two things.
First, the insignificance of our petty existence. The arguments of today, the idiot tailgating me on the Hume highway last night, flashing his lights and sounding his horn. All nothing. I remember noting too, with flying, that once you are above the clouds it is always a perfect day, It is all a matter of perspective.
Second, we are all in this together. I am currently reading Ryan Holiday's Stillness is the Key. He mentions Edgar Mitchell's famous words upon viewing the world from space:
You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch.’
It is interesting that just this week, Mitchell's words have resurfaced in what has been called the world's first political protest in near space, but targeted at Donald Trump.
In the above musings, and almost two months after I finished reading Cat's Cradle, I realised Vonnegut's genius. It is all an illusion. There are hands, there is string, there is imagination. The cat's cradle is made up of reality and intangibles. Neither works without the other.
Fake news, The Guardian versus The Australian and all of the left versus right is more of the same nonsense. It is not imagination, it is not creative, it is dogmatic, divisive, and dodgy. Yet the people believe.
This is what I get from Vonnegut. It is not the illusion, but that we make sense out of the world through our "bounded rationality" combined with our sense of imagination. Not fake or make-believe, but creative and expressive and from the depths of our intellect.
Regrettably, Kurt Vonnegut reminds us that without imagination (the creative as opposed to the conspiratorial kind), we are doomed to an inevitable end. Like London's "everyman" in To Build a Fire, we are not reflecting on our mortality in the face of nature, but rather imagining ourselves to be something more significant and smacking of hubris. For London:
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances.
But London, too, was a fan of eugenics. Vonnegut was subtler, less egotistical, more realistic. If I had to sum up Cat's Cradle, I would say that London had too much imagination, whereas Vonnegut is the Goldilocks' little bear version of "just right".
P.S. It's a shame that The Three Bears was originally written by Robert Southey and not the Grimm Brothers to fit my German theme. And the original Goldilocks was an old woman and the three bears were bachelors. But you can use your imagination! I visited the Grimm Brothers Museum in Kassel, Germany, on 3rd December 2019.
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life event early last year has shifted the focus of my spare time. I purchased a Penguin Vonnegut at the airport for some light reading but didn't manage to finish until some months later. I found Vonnegut's work to be interesting but a little far-fetched - it smacked of a Woody Allen style of science fiction (see the trailer for "The Sleeper") that was somehow banal yet allegorical in a mildly interesting way.
Much of the social commentary was lost on me. I suppose for a conservative reader of the early 1960s the foot-touching free love may have been a bit out there, but for me it was all old hat. I had the feeling of the 'thirteen days' and the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Usually I am a fan of history but Vonnegut is rather economical with his contextual elements - an Animal Farm kind of focus on the sociological order rather than the 'iceberg' cerebral development approach. It was interesting today that I listened to a podcast on Jack London's literary style.
This sent me on a quest to look back at some of my previous readings of several of London's works. One thing I found was that I have been critical of London's racism (poignant in the wake of the Black Lives Matters protests beginning in the US and now happening in solidarity but focused on Indigenous deaths in custody here in Australia).
But I was also pleased to note that I had picked up on the problem (Jack London's To Build a Fire):
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination.
That's how I felt about Vonnegut's work. Until the meaning of the title came to my attention. The cat's cradle.
It's a child's illusion. It requires one's imagination. One flick of the hands and the cradle is gone. It doesn't exist.
I am usually way off but occasionally, like with Jack London, I am on the mark.
I found in Cat's Cradle the Stoic technique of the "bird's eye view". Once we view the world from above, we realise two things.
First, the insignificance of our petty existence. The arguments of today, the idiot tailgating me on the Hume highway last night, flashing his lights and sounding his horn. All nothing. I remember noting too, with flying, that once you are above the clouds it is always a perfect day, It is all a matter of perspective.
Second, we are all in this together. I am currently reading Ryan Holiday's Stillness is the Key. He mentions Edgar Mitchell's famous words upon viewing the world from space:
You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch.’
It is interesting that just this week, Mitchell's words have resurfaced in what has been called the world's first political protest in near space, but targeted at Donald Trump.
In the above musings, and almost two months after I finished reading Cat's Cradle, I realised Vonnegut's genius. It is all an illusion. There are hands, there is string, there is imagination. The cat's cradle is made up of reality and intangibles. Neither works without the other.
Fake news, The Guardian versus The Australian and all of the left versus right is more of the same nonsense. It is not imagination, it is not creative, it is dogmatic, divisive, and dodgy. Yet the people believe.
This is what I get from Vonnegut. It is not the illusion, but that we make sense out of the world through our "bounded rationality" combined with our sense of imagination. Not fake or make-believe, but creative and expressive and from the depths of our intellect.
Regrettably, Kurt Vonnegut reminds us that without imagination (the creative as opposed to the conspiratorial kind), we are doomed to an inevitable end. Like London's "everyman" in To Build a Fire, we are not reflecting on our mortality in the face of nature, but rather imagining ourselves to be something more significant and smacking of hubris. For London:
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances.
But London, too, was a fan of eugenics. Vonnegut was subtler, less egotistical, more realistic. If I had to sum up Cat's Cradle, I would say that London had too much imagination, whereas Vonnegut is the Goldilocks' little bear version of "just right".
P.S. It's a shame that The Three Bears was originally written by Robert Southey and not the Grimm Brothers to fit my German theme. And the original Goldilocks was an old woman and the three bears were bachelors. But you can use your imagination! I visited the Grimm Brothers Museum in Kassel, Germany, on 3rd December 2019.
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LibraryThing member Widsith
Think what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise.
In 1963, when this book first came out, the world was still unclenching after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The nervy terror beneath the posturing of the Cold War is writ large here, and in cartoon colours; indeed the very name of the
And we will all go together when we go!
What a comforting fact that is to know!
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement!
Yes, we all will go together when we go!
Vonnegut's apocalyptic outlook is saved from the taint of adolescent cynicism because of his constant reminders that things could be so much better. There's a melancholy utopianism in his worldview, which is represented, in Cat's Cradle, by the Caribbean religion of Bokononism. Unlike most religions, Bokononism is up-front about its fictional nature: honesty, for Vonnegut, is the quickest path to wisdom, however uncomfortable, and the extracts from Bokononist teachings are among the most appealing parts of his story.
‘Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.’
It took me a while to warm up to Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut's approach is broadbrush, his language basic (though there are some nice lines – we hear that one character ‘ran to the heart of the house in the brainless ecstasy of a volunteer fireman’). The cast is made up of cut-out stock figures, including the brash American abroad, the high-minded impersonal scientist, the fat third-world dictator, the teenage hula-girl sex object. But in the second half of the (short) book, with everyone brought together on a remote fictional island, these elements start to combine in surprisingly powerful ways. When you look back on the book, this is the bit you remember: cartoon characters on an island, swapping religious parables and making jokes about imminent extinction. I suspect people who read this some years ago have forgotten the whole first half in New York – I suspect this because I read it a couple of days ago, and that bit's already hazy to me.
And the ending is so memorable because, despite the slapstick, it is deadly serious. Maybe a few years, or even months ago, one could have enjoyed the story uncomplicatedly, but it's funny how these things come around again. In his introduction to the Penguin Modern Classics edition, Benjamin Kunkel meditates on the following Bokononist verses:
Duffle, in the Bokononist sense, is the destiny of thousands upon thousands of persons when placed in the hands of a stuppa. A stuppa is a fogbound child.
‘Even the silly coinages of Bokonon,’ Kunkel deadpans, ‘seem to have taken on, for Americans at least, a certain utility and precision.’ But – oh god! – he wrote this in 2008, under George W Bush – a poor leader, but a peerless statesman in comparison to the detestable thundercunt presently in office, who has turned a book that should be a period piece into a model of contemporary relevance. Vonnegut would have been disgusted, but wholly unsurprised.
In 1963, when this book first came out, the world was still unclenching after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The nervy terror beneath the posturing of the Cold War is writ large here, and in cartoon colours; indeed the very name of the
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Cold War finds a deadly literality in Vonnegut's ‘ice-nine’, the chemical compound that will destroy all life on earth. Vonnegut's tone – a desperate hilarity which, I think, reflects real fear – has something in it that reminded me of Tom Lehrer's nuclear anthem ‘We Will All Go Together When We Go’ of a few years later:And we will all go together when we go!
What a comforting fact that is to know!
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement!
Yes, we all will go together when we go!
Vonnegut's apocalyptic outlook is saved from the taint of adolescent cynicism because of his constant reminders that things could be so much better. There's a melancholy utopianism in his worldview, which is represented, in Cat's Cradle, by the Caribbean religion of Bokononism. Unlike most religions, Bokononism is up-front about its fictional nature: honesty, for Vonnegut, is the quickest path to wisdom, however uncomfortable, and the extracts from Bokononist teachings are among the most appealing parts of his story.
‘Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.’
It took me a while to warm up to Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut's approach is broadbrush, his language basic (though there are some nice lines – we hear that one character ‘ran to the heart of the house in the brainless ecstasy of a volunteer fireman’). The cast is made up of cut-out stock figures, including the brash American abroad, the high-minded impersonal scientist, the fat third-world dictator, the teenage hula-girl sex object. But in the second half of the (short) book, with everyone brought together on a remote fictional island, these elements start to combine in surprisingly powerful ways. When you look back on the book, this is the bit you remember: cartoon characters on an island, swapping religious parables and making jokes about imminent extinction. I suspect people who read this some years ago have forgotten the whole first half in New York – I suspect this because I read it a couple of days ago, and that bit's already hazy to me.
And the ending is so memorable because, despite the slapstick, it is deadly serious. Maybe a few years, or even months ago, one could have enjoyed the story uncomplicatedly, but it's funny how these things come around again. In his introduction to the Penguin Modern Classics edition, Benjamin Kunkel meditates on the following Bokononist verses:
Duffle, in the Bokononist sense, is the destiny of thousands upon thousands of persons when placed in the hands of a stuppa. A stuppa is a fogbound child.
‘Even the silly coinages of Bokonon,’ Kunkel deadpans, ‘seem to have taken on, for Americans at least, a certain utility and precision.’ But – oh god! – he wrote this in 2008, under George W Bush – a poor leader, but a peerless statesman in comparison to the detestable thundercunt presently in office, who has turned a book that should be a period piece into a model of contemporary relevance. Vonnegut would have been disgusted, but wholly unsurprised.
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Oh, Kurt Vonnegut, you're totally still funny! And the criticism of the arms-race and neutrality-of-science mentalities is still trenchant, and ice-nine is still terrifying, and you have kind of queasily problematic attitudes about pretty women and black dudes and midgets--namely, that they're all
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there in part for comedy--but this still makes a great airport read. Theodore Sturgeon said you'd better take it lightly because if you don't you'll never sleep again, or words to that effect. Good, accurate blurbing, that. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narshkite
This was my third read of Cat's Cradle. I am not much of a re-reader, but there are a few books I come back to as I need them and this is one. (As is Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut is one of four authors with multiple books on my re-read list.) Each time I read this book it tells me something
I won't go much into the plot, since thousands have recounted it already. All you need to know is that the narrator ("Call me Jonah") is purportedly writing a book about what real people were doing when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He ends up getting entangled in the lives of the unusual adult children of one of the A-bomb's inventors who was also working on something as lethal as the bomb (though different) at the time of his death. The subject of his last work was created in response to the Marines asking if he could "do something about mud" since Marines were tired of being dirty. As mentioned the inventor dies, the children have the new invention. The eldest son finds himself in a position of power on a colonized island, and his estranged sister and brother meet up with him on the island because he is supposed to get married. Hijinks of a sort (an apocalyptic sort) ensue.
I will say this is a post-modern satire aimed squarely at "pure" science, organized religion, and America. It is a post-apocalyptic/pre-apocalyptic 2.0/post-apocalyptic 2.0 story. I learned while reading this that Cat's Cradle was Vonnegut's Masters thesis at University of Chicago where he earned a Masters in Anthropology and that factoid actually changed the way I read the book.
The important stuff: This book is very funny provided one appreciates ice cold irony and has some basic grounding in 20th century American history. This is also one of the canniest 20th century novels I have read mocking American colonialism (there are many earlier books that delightfully stuck it to the British Empire of course.) This is often classified as science fiction, but as with Slaughterhouse Five I think it is a vast overstatement to call this sci-fi and people who read it looking for that are sure to be disappointed. Read it as one of the smartest sendups of nationalism, tribalism and religion. Vonnegut was a genius. He could say more with 100 pages of jokes that most cultural commentators say in 800 page heavily footnoted tomes, and in addition to saying a lot, it is hilarious. Win-win.
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different. This time it told me that people, particularly Americans, have always ignored what was in front of their face, choosing their personal folklore over verifiable facts. It is fair to say QAnon would not have surprised Mr. Vonnegut one bit. And it would not have surprised Vonnegut how most people pay no attention to assaults on liberty and decency and the survival of humans on earth, opting to just play cat's cradle, to fiddle while Rome burns.I won't go much into the plot, since thousands have recounted it already. All you need to know is that the narrator ("Call me Jonah") is purportedly writing a book about what real people were doing when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He ends up getting entangled in the lives of the unusual adult children of one of the A-bomb's inventors who was also working on something as lethal as the bomb (though different) at the time of his death. The subject of his last work was created in response to the Marines asking if he could "do something about mud" since Marines were tired of being dirty. As mentioned the inventor dies, the children have the new invention. The eldest son finds himself in a position of power on a colonized island, and his estranged sister and brother meet up with him on the island because he is supposed to get married. Hijinks of a sort (an apocalyptic sort) ensue.
I will say this is a post-modern satire aimed squarely at "pure" science, organized religion, and America. It is a post-apocalyptic/pre-apocalyptic 2.0/post-apocalyptic 2.0 story. I learned while reading this that Cat's Cradle was Vonnegut's Masters thesis at University of Chicago where he earned a Masters in Anthropology and that factoid actually changed the way I read the book.
The important stuff: This book is very funny provided one appreciates ice cold irony and has some basic grounding in 20th century American history. This is also one of the canniest 20th century novels I have read mocking American colonialism (there are many earlier books that delightfully stuck it to the British Empire of course.) This is often classified as science fiction, but as with Slaughterhouse Five I think it is a vast overstatement to call this sci-fi and people who read it looking for that are sure to be disappointed. Read it as one of the smartest sendups of nationalism, tribalism and religion. Vonnegut was a genius. He could say more with 100 pages of jokes that most cultural commentators say in 800 page heavily footnoted tomes, and in addition to saying a lot, it is hilarious. Win-win.
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LibraryThing member g0ldenboy
Here's another easy read by Vonnegut that has left me confused upon review due to its disjointed, all-encompassing nature. Cat's Cradle is more focused than Breakfast of Champions only in that Vonnegut takes less side roads to blatantly profess his opinions. The plot itself, with its coincidences,
Because of Vonnegut's simplistic style, this is easy to whiz through regardless of its dense ideas. I'd probably find it more rewarding if I invested time in truly thinking about all that's here.
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nonchalance in the face of sobriety, San Lorenzo setting, and Bokononism, is arguably more ridiculous.Because of Vonnegut's simplistic style, this is easy to whiz through regardless of its dense ideas. I'd probably find it more rewarding if I invested time in truly thinking about all that's here.
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LibraryThing member ggodfrey
Vonnegut was one of those writers who took me from my sci-fi adolescence and into a more general pursuit of 'literary fiction.' My copy of Cat's Cradle is part of a three-volume set I got from the Book of the Month Club. When I was a teen I used to scam book and music clubs using a P.O. box and my
I read Vonnegut's entire catalog in about two weeks at age 16 before shelving my John Varleys and Robert Heinleins forever and tackling Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky--with his tragicomic heroes and holy fools--would have enjoyed Cat's Cradle.
I figured it was time to read Vonnegut again because I'd forgotten what a wampeter was. Kurt's like a really comfy sweater I can pull out when things are bleak and the world is particularly senseless. Not because he's an optimist--not at all. But he's dreadfully funny about dreadfully serious things. Cat's Cradle is delivered with the simplicity of a children's story, and I'll likely re-read it every twenty years or so if the world isn't encased in ice, burned by agitated atoms, or over-run by avian flu in the meantime.
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home address to sign myself up again and again as a 'friend' and reaping the benefits on both ends: free and very cheap books. After dozens of aliases and cancelations I had quite a library. Of course, these editions are crummy and crumble after a couple readings, but WTF? I just read it for the third time and my wife has read it three times too.I read Vonnegut's entire catalog in about two weeks at age 16 before shelving my John Varleys and Robert Heinleins forever and tackling Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky--with his tragicomic heroes and holy fools--would have enjoyed Cat's Cradle.
I figured it was time to read Vonnegut again because I'd forgotten what a wampeter was. Kurt's like a really comfy sweater I can pull out when things are bleak and the world is particularly senseless. Not because he's an optimist--not at all. But he's dreadfully funny about dreadfully serious things. Cat's Cradle is delivered with the simplicity of a children's story, and I'll likely re-read it every twenty years or so if the world isn't encased in ice, burned by agitated atoms, or over-run by avian flu in the meantime.
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LibraryThing member jnwelch
Cat's Cradle satirically targets our zeal for scientific discoveries that can destroy us. The narrator, John a/k/a Jonah, initially hopes to write a book on what important Americans were doing the day the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Instead, he ends up getting involved with the family of the
The other main feature of the book is a satirical religion that makes fun of itself, called Bokononism. It seeks to undermine preconceptions and promote harmony in surprising ways. For example,
"The driver asked me if I would mind another brief detour, this time to a tombstone salesroom across the street from the cemetery.
I wasn't a Bokononist then, so I agreed with some peevishness. As a Bokononist, of course, I would have agreed to go gaily anywhere anyone suggested. As Bokonon says, 'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.'"
Bokonon even asked the island's governor to "outlaw him and his religion, too, in order to give the religious life of the people more zest, more tang." Everyone on the island is Bokononist and simultaneously denies being a Bokononist, for fear of punishment.
Written at a time of high anxiety about nuclear war, Vonnegut skillfully weaves in sharp-edged humor while indicting our self-destructive tendencies. In some ways the mirror he holds up is similar to Jon Stewart's, only with more flights of imagination. This one is a sardonic gem.
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bomb's (fictional) inventor on the Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, where the family has relocated. The inventor has also created the potentially catastrophic material ice-nine, which upon contact freezes any water into a solid. Each family member possesses a sliver, along with the temptation to sell it.The other main feature of the book is a satirical religion that makes fun of itself, called Bokononism. It seeks to undermine preconceptions and promote harmony in surprising ways. For example,
"The driver asked me if I would mind another brief detour, this time to a tombstone salesroom across the street from the cemetery.
I wasn't a Bokononist then, so I agreed with some peevishness. As a Bokononist, of course, I would have agreed to go gaily anywhere anyone suggested. As Bokonon says, 'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.'"
Bokonon even asked the island's governor to "outlaw him and his religion, too, in order to give the religious life of the people more zest, more tang." Everyone on the island is Bokononist and simultaneously denies being a Bokononist, for fear of punishment.
Written at a time of high anxiety about nuclear war, Vonnegut skillfully weaves in sharp-edged humor while indicting our self-destructive tendencies. In some ways the mirror he holds up is similar to Jon Stewart's, only with more flights of imagination. This one is a sardonic gem.
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LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
A weird and wonderful read! The main character starts the story trying to write a book about the atom bomb and somehow along the way becomes president of a small island! Quite a tale! Throw in some ice-9 and it's a recipe for disaster! Crazy enough to make me want to become a Bokononist! "No damn
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cat, and no damn cradle." Show Less
LibraryThing member .Monkey.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It put me in mind of Tom Robbins, which is always a good thing as he's one of my top 3 favorite authors of all time. I just love the kind of style used, with the sort of biting satiric humor and whatnot... And I found the ending flawless. Which is difficult, endings
I will definitely have to start reading more Vonnegut.
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are one of the things I am most critical of, it's hard to get them just right, and it's rare for an ending to leave me properly satisfied. But this one? Simply perfect. I will definitely have to start reading more Vonnegut.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Vonnegut’s novel poking fun at both war and religion is clever on so many levels. He captures the absurdity of creating an atomic bomb in the same way Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 tackles the subject of war. We seem hell-bent on insuring our own destruction.
Our narrator is researching the
“See the cat? See the cradle?”
… echoes through our minds as Vonnegut moves on to talk about the fictional religion, Bokononism. It’s a strange blend of cynical beliefs and nonsensical rituals and is practiced by the people who live on the remote island of San Lorenzo. In Vonnegut’s classic style, the belief system contradicts itself, overlapping forbidden laws and absurd practices. Vonnegut’s satire of religion is rivaled only by his mocking of the invention of weapons, in this case Ice-9, a weapon which freezes all the oceans of the world.
Vonnegut’s life was filled with tragedy; his mother’s suicide, sister’s death and his time as a prisoner of war in Germany. Yet despite all the horrors he experienced, he still had an irrepressible sense of humor. Sure, it’s an incredibly dark sense of humor, but it’s there.
BOTTOM LINE: One of my favorite Vonnegut novels, there is less of the extraterrestrial and more social commentary in this book. You don’t have to agree with all of his beliefs to appreciate his skill. If you’re a fan of Catch-22 I think you’d particularly enjoy this one.
“When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.”
“She hated people who thought too much. At that moment she struck me as an appropriate representative for almost all mankind.”
“The highest possible form of treason is to say that Americans aren’t loved wherever they go, whatever they do.”
Our narrator is researching the
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fictional inventor of the atom bomb, Felix Hoenikker, and he learns more about his background through his strange son, Newton Hoenikker. Throughout the book cat’s cradle, a children’s yarn game, is used to show the meaninglessness of things. When looking at the overlapping lines of string Newton points out that there is no cat or cradle in the designs. Newton’s constant refrain… “See the cat? See the cradle?”
… echoes through our minds as Vonnegut moves on to talk about the fictional religion, Bokononism. It’s a strange blend of cynical beliefs and nonsensical rituals and is practiced by the people who live on the remote island of San Lorenzo. In Vonnegut’s classic style, the belief system contradicts itself, overlapping forbidden laws and absurd practices. Vonnegut’s satire of religion is rivaled only by his mocking of the invention of weapons, in this case Ice-9, a weapon which freezes all the oceans of the world.
Vonnegut’s life was filled with tragedy; his mother’s suicide, sister’s death and his time as a prisoner of war in Germany. Yet despite all the horrors he experienced, he still had an irrepressible sense of humor. Sure, it’s an incredibly dark sense of humor, but it’s there.
BOTTOM LINE: One of my favorite Vonnegut novels, there is less of the extraterrestrial and more social commentary in this book. You don’t have to agree with all of his beliefs to appreciate his skill. If you’re a fan of Catch-22 I think you’d particularly enjoy this one.
“When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.”
“She hated people who thought too much. At that moment she struck me as an appropriate representative for almost all mankind.”
“The highest possible form of treason is to say that Americans aren’t loved wherever they go, whatever they do.”
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LibraryThing member Othemts
I've not read much Vonnegut so I'm trying to make up for that. This Cold War novel is a dark satire of the atom bomb (and the scientists behind it), US government support of corrupt "Banana Republics," and religious cults with a dose of science fiction. The short chapters are full of biting satire
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and cynicism. Vonnegut creates some memorable, over the top characters and an interesting parallel to our world. Show Less
LibraryThing member thisisstephenbetts
Very similar in themes and atmosphere to Galapagos. That one has a much wider scope, whereas this is more synecdochic. The amorality of scientists is also a strong theme here, which I don't remember it being in Galapagos. It's also harsher - there is an almost savage glee in the ending of
For what it's worth, I think Cat's Cradle is probably a better constructed and written book (I particularly loved the abrupt but perfectly judged ending), but Galapagos perhaps more enjoyable.
While I like Vonnegut a lot, I do find he has a somewhat aggressive passivity to him, which can be a little annoying. Maybe it's a faked incomprehension of the everyday compromises and voluntary ignorances of life - while I tend to think he is correct, in an idealistic sort of way, there's something about his phrasing which I sometimes find jarring. That and his world weary tone means I need to take breaks between my Vonnegut, but I'm still looking forward to when I next pick one up.
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(in)humanity, instead of the serene fatalism of Galapagos. For what it's worth, I think Cat's Cradle is probably a better constructed and written book (I particularly loved the abrupt but perfectly judged ending), but Galapagos perhaps more enjoyable.
While I like Vonnegut a lot, I do find he has a somewhat aggressive passivity to him, which can be a little annoying. Maybe it's a faked incomprehension of the everyday compromises and voluntary ignorances of life - while I tend to think he is correct, in an idealistic sort of way, there's something about his phrasing which I sometimes find jarring. That and his world weary tone means I need to take breaks between my Vonnegut, but I'm still looking forward to when I next pick one up.
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LibraryThing member fvenez
I know it is supposed to be a good book, but I found it off-puttingly anti-intellectual and couldn't like it.
In the almost exact words used by one of the characters, the whole book seems aimed at getting us to admit that scientists are heartless, conscienceless, narrow boobies, indifferent to the
In the almost exact words used by one of the characters, the whole book seems aimed at getting us to admit that scientists are heartless, conscienceless, narrow boobies, indifferent to the
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fate of the rest of the human race, or maybe not really members of the human race at all. Show Less
LibraryThing member rmckeown
Back in the tumultuous 60s, I tried Kurt Vonnegut, because everyone had one or another of his books at the ready for spare moments of reading. Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Jailbird seemed to be popular titles. I read Mother Night, and a little later, Breakfast of Champions, but didn’t
Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1922. He passed away in 2007. He is known for his dark humor and imagination. Graham Greene declared, Vonnegut “was one of the best living American Writers.” I remember him as a writer everyone read, but no one would admit to owning any of his books.
Cat’s Cradle is a peculiar book in style, structure, and story-line. About 125 chapters make up the story, and most are only a page or two. This fragmented reading can cause some confusion, but large chunks of the book can be digested in each reading. The narrator, Jonah, wants to write a biography of a scientist involved in the Manhattan Project who had peculiar habits at best. He wanted to stay working at a small foundry, where his numerous patents were shamefully exploited by his employers. He also wanted to work with the construction of the bomb, but he wanted to work alone. When he died, his children scattered, and the narrator must track one of them to a near mythical island in the Caribbean, San Lorenzo. The islanders all adhere to a mysterious, Zen-like religion, Bokononism, which the dictator has outlawed. The islanders all follow this religion in secret, because the punishment for practicing it is a slow and painful death on “the hook.” This tyrant, known as “Papa” Monzano, is near death, and the heir apparent is Frank Hoenikker, son of scientist Dr. Felix Hoenikker the subject of the biography. Jonah becomes entangled in the politics and religion of the island
Vonnegut, was, to say the least as peculiar as some of his novels. Sampling his style here might leave my listeners as bewildered as I was while immersed in the story. Vonnegut’s moments of humor are as dark as a reader might expect, and those are to be savored. Here is a small sample, so good luck. As “Papa” lies dying, he asks for the last rites from his doctor, a shadowy former SS doctor. Vonnegut writes, “‘I am a very bad scientist. I will do anything to make a human being feel better, even if it’s unscientific. No scientist worthy of the name could say such a thing.’ / And he climbed into the golden boat with ‘Papa.’ He sat in the stern. Cramped quarters obliged him to have the golden tiller under one arm. / He wore sandals without socks and he took these off. And then he rolled back the covers at the foot of the bed, exposing ‘Papa’s” bare feet. He put the soles of his feet against ‘Papa’s” feet, assuming the classical position for boko-maru” (219-220).
Cat’s Cradle becomes another novel I have added to the list of works which need to be experienced, rather than merely read. Readers tend to two extreme views of Vonnegut: either, “I read all his books when I was in college; I love him,” or “Too weird for me!” I now place myself in the middle of these two extremes. If you read Vonnegut in the heady days of the 60s – or if you didn’t – he is certainly worth a re-visit. 5 stars
--Jim, 10/17/14
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care for them at all. About this time, I began to develop my love for the works of John Updike, so Vonnegut faded from my reading radar. Recently, a friend suggested Cat’s Cradle, and I owe hearty thanks in that direction.Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1922. He passed away in 2007. He is known for his dark humor and imagination. Graham Greene declared, Vonnegut “was one of the best living American Writers.” I remember him as a writer everyone read, but no one would admit to owning any of his books.
Cat’s Cradle is a peculiar book in style, structure, and story-line. About 125 chapters make up the story, and most are only a page or two. This fragmented reading can cause some confusion, but large chunks of the book can be digested in each reading. The narrator, Jonah, wants to write a biography of a scientist involved in the Manhattan Project who had peculiar habits at best. He wanted to stay working at a small foundry, where his numerous patents were shamefully exploited by his employers. He also wanted to work with the construction of the bomb, but he wanted to work alone. When he died, his children scattered, and the narrator must track one of them to a near mythical island in the Caribbean, San Lorenzo. The islanders all adhere to a mysterious, Zen-like religion, Bokononism, which the dictator has outlawed. The islanders all follow this religion in secret, because the punishment for practicing it is a slow and painful death on “the hook.” This tyrant, known as “Papa” Monzano, is near death, and the heir apparent is Frank Hoenikker, son of scientist Dr. Felix Hoenikker the subject of the biography. Jonah becomes entangled in the politics and religion of the island
Vonnegut, was, to say the least as peculiar as some of his novels. Sampling his style here might leave my listeners as bewildered as I was while immersed in the story. Vonnegut’s moments of humor are as dark as a reader might expect, and those are to be savored. Here is a small sample, so good luck. As “Papa” lies dying, he asks for the last rites from his doctor, a shadowy former SS doctor. Vonnegut writes, “‘I am a very bad scientist. I will do anything to make a human being feel better, even if it’s unscientific. No scientist worthy of the name could say such a thing.’ / And he climbed into the golden boat with ‘Papa.’ He sat in the stern. Cramped quarters obliged him to have the golden tiller under one arm. / He wore sandals without socks and he took these off. And then he rolled back the covers at the foot of the bed, exposing ‘Papa’s” bare feet. He put the soles of his feet against ‘Papa’s” feet, assuming the classical position for boko-maru” (219-220).
Cat’s Cradle becomes another novel I have added to the list of works which need to be experienced, rather than merely read. Readers tend to two extreme views of Vonnegut: either, “I read all his books when I was in college; I love him,” or “Too weird for me!” I now place myself in the middle of these two extremes. If you read Vonnegut in the heady days of the 60s – or if you didn’t – he is certainly worth a re-visit. 5 stars
--Jim, 10/17/14
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LibraryThing member Ambrosia4
With this work, Vonnegut delivers a critical commentary on humanity, technology, and religion. His quirky, unique writing style and dark humor spoke particularly well to me in this novel. His short stories have always been favorites of mine because of the way they point out idiosyncrasies in life
Cat's Cradle describes one possible apocolypse in a world where invention has surpassed accountability. It centers around the island nation of San Lorenzo and it's chief, albeit outlawed, religion of Bokonism. Whilst describing this fictional nation and it's inhabitants and visitors, Vonnegut points out everything from the idea that lies are the only way we can be happy, to the inherent hilarity of religion, to the problem with rapid industrialization and research for research's sake.
At it's heart it makes the point that life cannot be simply about making yourself happy without consideration of others. The seemingly innocent characters of the Hoenikkers set out to be happy and ultimately bring about the end of the world. Vonnegut's eminent work is justified in this book and his bleak outlook on life shines through, which made me feel much more at home.
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and make readers look at basic human qualities in a new way.Cat's Cradle describes one possible apocolypse in a world where invention has surpassed accountability. It centers around the island nation of San Lorenzo and it's chief, albeit outlawed, religion of Bokonism. Whilst describing this fictional nation and it's inhabitants and visitors, Vonnegut points out everything from the idea that lies are the only way we can be happy, to the inherent hilarity of religion, to the problem with rapid industrialization and research for research's sake.
At it's heart it makes the point that life cannot be simply about making yourself happy without consideration of others. The seemingly innocent characters of the Hoenikkers set out to be happy and ultimately bring about the end of the world. Vonnegut's eminent work is justified in this book and his bleak outlook on life shines through, which made me feel much more at home.
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LibraryThing member midwestms
OK. I read and fell in love with it in high school, but it is still a wonderful book about the self-destruction of man and his inanities. Dark humor.
LibraryThing member ShellyS
This is a book I wish I'd read years ago but am finally getting around to. Vonnegut's genius is how he can convey so much in such simple prose. In this satirical tale, the narrator is writing a book about one of the father's of the atomic bomb. His research leads him to the man's three grown
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children, a mysterious substance called ice-nine, and the ultimate end of times, at least for Earth. I suppose I would have had a stronger reaction to the message contained in the book's pages had I read this in my teens or twenties, but it does still resonate. The world might end in a cataclysmic war, or it might end in a totally banal fashion due to the arrogance and carelessness of humanity. Into that mix, Vonnegut threw in a fake religion created by a calypso singer, something that doesn't sound at all strange in today's world. Show Less
LibraryThing member nicholasjjordan
Hilarious, absurd, biting. Must be Vonnegut.
LibraryThing member drardavis
Vonnegut leads you laughing down the icy road, straight to Hell.
LibraryThing member joeltallman
I love this book. It's everything great about Kurt Vonnegut--desperate and funny.
LibraryThing member zmobie
Such a wonderful book, a must-read. The infinitely-quotable Bokonon and the countless other fascinating little ideas this novel presents make it probably my strongest recommendation of all the books in my library.
LibraryThing member gazzy
The search for the mysterious ice-9 before it destroys the world.
LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger
In Slaughter House Five Vonnegut took on war, sex and revenge. Here he takes on religion, not to attack it, but turn it inside so it might start to make sense again.
PS the Grateful Dead publishing company for their music is called Ice Nine.
PS the Grateful Dead publishing company for their music is called Ice Nine.
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1963
Physical description
198 p.; 18.5 cm
Local notes
Omslag: Ole Vedel
Omslaget viser titel og forfatternavn på en baggrund af diverse farveklatter
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "Cat's Cradle" af Arne Herløv Petersen
Side 128: Tiger må jage, // småfisk må svømme, // mennesker spørge 'Hvorfor?' som i drømme. // Tigre må sove, // fisk gå på krog. // Mennesker siger de nu kan forstå.
Original: Tiger got to hunt, // Bird got to fly; // Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' // Tiger got to sleep, // Bird got to land; // Man got to tell himself he understand.
Omslaget viser titel og forfatternavn på en baggrund af diverse farveklatter
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "Cat's Cradle" af Arne Herløv Petersen
Side 128: Tiger må jage, // småfisk må svømme, // mennesker spørge 'Hvorfor?' som i drømme. // Tigre må sove, // fisk gå på krog. // Mennesker siger de nu kan forstå.
Original: Tiger got to hunt, // Bird got to fly; // Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' // Tiger got to sleep, // Bird got to land; // Man got to tell himself he understand.
Other editions
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (Paperback)
Similar in this library
Pages
198
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |