1001+ Books:
#7 - Cat's Cradle
by: Kurt Vonnegut (1963)
"See the cat? See the cradle?"
As we all know, this is, indeed, nonsense. As anyone can plainly see, when you play with a piece of string and happen upon the formation of the "cat's cradle", a series of X's criss crossing over each other, as displayed on the book cover above, on thing is certain when it comes to what can be found: no damn cat, no damn cradle. Look close enough, and what do you see? A bunch of silly strings. "No wonder kids grow up crazy..." says Vonnegut. And it's hard not to see his point. In the end, what do humankind's feelings and ideas about god amount to when scrutinized up close, when looked at through the clear-eyed lens of science? No damn cat, no damn cradle.
Vonnegut, in another of his masterpieces here, skewers the sacred cow of religion by inventing his own; and one of the more sensible ones at that. Enter Bokonism: a pack of foma (lies in plain-speak). Bokonism is a religion centered around the idea that all of its ideas are completely untrue, something it acknowledges in its very first lines. Despite this, it is (secretly) the reigning religion on the island of San Lorenzo, something everyone there believes, but can never admit to. The creator of the religion, Bokonon, is a fugitive who is wanted by the government and their president, "Papa", who is secretly a Bokonist as well.
When the novels narrator visits the island, he is also converted into the religion. He is Jonah, or John, and he is working on a book about the father of the atomic bomb, one Dr. Hoenikker. In his research, he seeks out the three children of Hoenikker, and finds them on the island of San Lorenzo by chance, or, as Bokonon would say, "as it was supposed to happen." He also manages to fall in love, become next in line as the president of San Lorenzo, and witnesses the end of humanity as we know it to the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, ice-nine, also fathered by Dr. Hoenikker. And all by chance. "As it was supposed to happen."
And that is what the book is about, among many things: chance. Or, in other words, the complete and utter meaningless of it all. That's where religion comes in. Despite what the first paragraph of this review may entail, this book is the best argument for religion that I've come across in a while. In the throws of nuclear terror, in an age where something like ice-nine can wipe out the human race in seconds flat, what's the harm in playing pretend to keep you from going insane. Sure, like anything, religion can weaponized, but is it a necessary evil? Do the pros outweigh the cons, or is it, like the island nation, caught in an eternal balance of right and wrong, a yin-yang that must never be thrown out of balance, just like the balance of outlawed yet widely practiced Bokonism and Christianity on the island.
Alas, more than it is about religion, or destruction, or randomness, it is about humanity. Specifically its chronic idiocy. Everyone in the book is capable of, and acts upon, the stupidest accidents that needn't have happened, like one character licking ice-nine and having their body frozen solid. And there is also stupidity on a grander level, like the invention of ice-nine itself, the greatest threat to mankind created out of curiosity and used to detonate the world by clumsiness. But as much as Vonnegut attacks the stupidity of humans, he defends us as well, for he is a humanist at heart. You can tell that he feels for these people in his writing. You can tell how he cares for us poor, clumsy, stupid, meaningless things. "Mud that sits up" as we are called.
In the beginning (not that beginning), I was slightly disappointed by the book. It wasn't quite as hilarious as Breakfast of Champions, and it didn't quite grab we in its tight fist the way Slaughterhouse-Five did (one of my favorites, ever). It's one of those pieces that I realized how much I enjoyed it and how much I admired it after I was finished, in my reflection and writings on it. It grows in its absence. Not quite Slaughterhouse-Five, but a good second place.
As we all know, this is, indeed, nonsense. As anyone can plainly see, when you play with a piece of string and happen upon the formation of the "cat's cradle", a series of X's criss crossing over each other, as displayed on the book cover above, on thing is certain when it comes to what can be found: no damn cat, no damn cradle. Look close enough, and what do you see? A bunch of silly strings. "No wonder kids grow up crazy..." says Vonnegut. And it's hard not to see his point. In the end, what do humankind's feelings and ideas about god amount to when scrutinized up close, when looked at through the clear-eyed lens of science? No damn cat, no damn cradle.
Vonnegut, in another of his masterpieces here, skewers the sacred cow of religion by inventing his own; and one of the more sensible ones at that. Enter Bokonism: a pack of foma (lies in plain-speak). Bokonism is a religion centered around the idea that all of its ideas are completely untrue, something it acknowledges in its very first lines. Despite this, it is (secretly) the reigning religion on the island of San Lorenzo, something everyone there believes, but can never admit to. The creator of the religion, Bokonon, is a fugitive who is wanted by the government and their president, "Papa", who is secretly a Bokonist as well.
When the novels narrator visits the island, he is also converted into the religion. He is Jonah, or John, and he is working on a book about the father of the atomic bomb, one Dr. Hoenikker. In his research, he seeks out the three children of Hoenikker, and finds them on the island of San Lorenzo by chance, or, as Bokonon would say, "as it was supposed to happen." He also manages to fall in love, become next in line as the president of San Lorenzo, and witnesses the end of humanity as we know it to the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, ice-nine, also fathered by Dr. Hoenikker. And all by chance. "As it was supposed to happen."
And that is what the book is about, among many things: chance. Or, in other words, the complete and utter meaningless of it all. That's where religion comes in. Despite what the first paragraph of this review may entail, this book is the best argument for religion that I've come across in a while. In the throws of nuclear terror, in an age where something like ice-nine can wipe out the human race in seconds flat, what's the harm in playing pretend to keep you from going insane. Sure, like anything, religion can weaponized, but is it a necessary evil? Do the pros outweigh the cons, or is it, like the island nation, caught in an eternal balance of right and wrong, a yin-yang that must never be thrown out of balance, just like the balance of outlawed yet widely practiced Bokonism and Christianity on the island.
Alas, more than it is about religion, or destruction, or randomness, it is about humanity. Specifically its chronic idiocy. Everyone in the book is capable of, and acts upon, the stupidest accidents that needn't have happened, like one character licking ice-nine and having their body frozen solid. And there is also stupidity on a grander level, like the invention of ice-nine itself, the greatest threat to mankind created out of curiosity and used to detonate the world by clumsiness. But as much as Vonnegut attacks the stupidity of humans, he defends us as well, for he is a humanist at heart. You can tell that he feels for these people in his writing. You can tell how he cares for us poor, clumsy, stupid, meaningless things. "Mud that sits up" as we are called.
In the beginning (not that beginning), I was slightly disappointed by the book. It wasn't quite as hilarious as Breakfast of Champions, and it didn't quite grab we in its tight fist the way Slaughterhouse-Five did (one of my favorites, ever). It's one of those pieces that I realized how much I enjoyed it and how much I admired it after I was finished, in my reflection and writings on it. It grows in its absence. Not quite Slaughterhouse-Five, but a good second place.
Rating: A-
No damn cat. No damn cradle. And religion as the anecdote for insanity and therefore necessary. Very astute my boy. And I r " in the beginning " reference was pretty clever. I gotta say, you make me excited about reading these classics again.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this one, but now am curious too for sure. I as well really liked Slaughterhouse-Five. Really nice writing here, I felt unlike with some of your film reviews that I had an idea not just about how it was written and the ideas around it but a glimpse of what it is about. The longer form is where you really shine I think. When you give yourself space to think and explore your reactions.
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