Reading 1001 discussion

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
3 stars

Once again, as seems to happen frequently with the 1001 list, I'm glad I read this book but am sure I didn't appreciate it or understand it as thoroughly as I should. The story's narrator, Jonah (or John, as his parent's called him) tells the story of the Hoenikker family and what the 3 grown Hoenikker children remember from the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the development of ice-nine and the religion of Bokonon . The book starts when Jonah attempts to contact Newt, a midget and the youngest of the Hoenikker children, to ask him about his memories of the day Hiroshima was attacked, with the intention of writing a book about the event more from the human side of the experience. Eventually Jonah ends up on an island with the 3 and learns about the island's covert religion and the invention of a weapon that can instantaneously freeze liquids, effectively bringing about the end of the world. I need to read something else by Mr. Vonnegut and hope that I enjoy it more.

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: July 2017

I feel the same as Beverly about this book, in that I don't feel I appreciated or understood it as I should. I have enjoyed some of Vonnegut's novels, especially Slaughterhouse-Five, but some of them leave me befuddled. I am glad I read it and I think it is certainly and important book, but it just wasn't as amazing to me as I aniticipated.

Rating: 4 stars
Read: August 2017


It was weird. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it but once they got to San Lorenzo, it started to pick up for me. I'm glad it was for my in person book club because I might not have pushed through that first odd bit.

Was there something to the odd lyrics for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? Why did he use the version from Alice's Adventires in Wonderland? I feel like there's something to the connection but I have no idea what it is.

Rating 3.3 stars, Read 1/30/18
Another Vonnegut completed and they all seem similar, satire, horrible events, end of the world. This is the story of one of the creators of the atomic bomb, his 3 children, ice 9 and the end of humanity. A quick read. My audio had a interview (poor) quality with Kurt Vonnegut. He talked a bit about Catch 22. Made me want to reread that one.

Rating: 5 stars, read February 24-27, 2019. I rated this book high, but I might not include it in my version of a 1001 list.
This book reminded me a bit of Tom Robbins's books, where all sorts of random people are drawn together by bizarre events, as if fate was bored and trying new combinations of events and participants to create a more entertaining reality. But, where Robbins's books tend to have a mixed but generally optimistic overall perspective, Cat's Cradle is very pessimistic. The end of the world has come, there is no escaping it, and there probably never was much chance that it could have been avoided. I was a bit skeptical about the science bits, but for classic science fiction the ice-9 seeds and their threat to the Earth was a cool idea. It certainly made more sense than the science bits of that film The Day After Tomorrow.

I love Vonnegut in general, and this book was no exception. I tend to be a web-thinker, love little weird anecdotes, and love books that weave in different references to history and many societal/philosophical themes into them. So, this is one was great for me.

Ice-9 as a cold-war cautionary tale was neat. But, beyond that, there was so many great ideas embedded into this book considering it's length. Bokononism's intentional falsehood as an exploration of the idea of the lived gospel, and it's suppression as a means to engage believer-ship (Catholicism in Ireland, Judaism in historical Europe, so many other examples), was full of great explorations about how people experience faith and belief.

The scientists who developed Ice-9's removal from the human ramifications of their work reflects the limitations of the idea of knowledge for knowledge's sake.

The lady obsessed with "Hoosiers" (my favorite weird tidbit of the book) exemplifying how we lean into cultivated identities, and the meaninglessness of that.

There were so many cool "ha! people are like that!" moments for me in this book, that I'm not surprised that he turned it in to receive the masters degree in anthropology that he had abandoned years previously XD. I gave it 5 stars.

3 stars

I read Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five a few months ago and it still confuses me a bit today. At the time I loved the historical bits of it. The discussion of the Dresden bombings was rich, fascinating and emotional and I learned a lot about that moment in history. But the science fiction parts of it and the sarcasm of it just hurt my brain. I didn't enjoy those aspects of it at all. The thing is, months later my mind keeps returning to the book. I keep wondering if I should give it a reread. I have never done that before with a book I rated lower than 5 stars, and I am stingy with those ratings.

I say all of the above -- about a different book -- because I think that this one may end up being the same. It might be something that tortures my mind and makes me think.

I don't really enjoy Vonnegut's style. It is a bit too outrageous. Too silly. Too political. I am not his intended audience. And yet...

This one centers around a journalist named Jonah who wants to write a book about the creators of the atomic bomb and has no idea what he's going to unearth. Dr Felix Hoenikker was one of the two creators of the atomic bomb and it is revealed that he also created a substance called Ice-Nine, which is a tiny granule that will instantly solidify any water it comes into contact with. The intention was aid the U.S. Marines to harden muddy soil and make their jobs much easier. Unfortunately it could destroy all life on earth. Jonah is now tracking Hoenikker's children in an effort to secure the Ice-Nine.

On the hunt, Jonah and Vonnegut introduce us to some wonderfully odd characters, a fictional island nation and its dictator, and a new religion known as Bokononism. The latter is Vonnegut's opportunity to rant against religion and in fact the character Bokonon who founded the religion is open about the religion being a big lie.

The book is smart and allows Vonnegut to explore themes of religion, war, politics and man's seeming need to destroy everything including himself. I didn't really enjoy it and have given it 3 stars... but I am guessing in a couple months I will be thinking that I underrated it.

read June 2021

This is one of Vonnegut’s earlier novels, but it delivers his trademark writing in spades. It is cynical, absurd, funny, satirical and thought provoking. It is a surprisingly ‘easy’ read considering the complex themes of pure scientific research vs the human desire to weaponize discoveries, right vs wrong in the moral sense, religion, politics, and environmental degradation. I was already a fan of Vonnegut, and this novel is one I would definitely consider rereading. 4.5*