I finished Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle on my first day in Germany and I've been mulling over it for the last week. It took me quite a while to get used to his writing style and about half the book to really get into the story. It's an unusual book, well written with some interesting thoughts but I would struggle to say that I like it because I fundamentally disagree with it...
The book is an account of how the world ends told in hindsight by the author. The premise is the 'father' of the atomic bomb created something far more lethal before his death. A chip of ice called 'ice-9' capable of turning water instantly to ice. Seeing as most water is connected you could theoretically freeze the world almost instantly by dropping the chip down your toilet. Cat's Cradle is about the group of people, their journey and influence on each other and how the world is eventually frozen.
Good premise, original ideas and writing style but I struggled with the hopeless nihilistic attitude of the book. The author is a convert to the fictional religion Bokonism and his story telling is influenced by its philosophies and world view. Loosely based on Christianity but in many ways replacing Jesus with the Ghandi-esque figure of Bokonon it mainly believes that God groups people into 'karass' that he manipulates to fulfil his purposes. Cat's Cradle is the story of the Karass that ends to world.
The thing I find hard though is that this is a religion with out faith. The whole point of Bokonism is its statement that God and faith are lies. Man is evil and there is no hope for a better world. But to make yourself feel better chose to pretend to believe this and then you'll be a step ahead. Know your faith is empty so don't be naive, but embrace this philosophy to make you feel better when times are hard.
Maybe it's because I'm coming from the exact opposite worldview that means I can respect but not love this book. My faith is real, my God is real, yes he most definitely is my crutch, I couldn't live without Jesus but I don't see that as anything to be ashamed of. Man is not entirely evil, we have potential to choose both good and bad, there is hope, there is redemption. Hmmm...
It's worth reading. It's good to get into something that you don't agree with but provokes you to think. I would recommend Cat's Cradle and I think I may hunt out more Vonnegut in the future. xc