I really liked Cat's Cradle. The book works well on two levels: as a book and as a message. The plot and story are interesting in its own right. But there is also a deep message behind it all. Balancing the two is a difficult task 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. It's a satire, but I don't think it's a "haha" satire. It mostly uses irony to convey the message. To be honest, on my first read through it, I felt that there was a very deep message that I simply wasn't getting. I used Spark Notes to get the main idea. Spark notes takes the view that this book is mostly a satire of science. Personally, I think it is more a satire of human intention, i.e. of virtue ethics. The book follows John, a writer investigating the personal lives of important people on the day Hiroshima was bombed. In this investigation we see the callousness of people towards the bombing, despite innocence and even good intentions. ( )

One of the formative novels of my teen yars. ( )

I read this as a teenager and had dim but enthusiastic memories of it -- mostly of ice-nine and environmental catastrophe. So I added this to the family story time shelf and ended up reading it out loud to the whole family -- which this book gave me a few moments to regret/question that decision as my youngest was eleven at the time. (Said moments having to do with some characterizations that did not age well, as well as sexualization that I had forgotten about.)

It was fine, though, and no riots occurred, so probably no great damage was done. They enjoyed it to some extent. I think my oldest picked up on some of the colonialism stuff, but I suspect it mostly went over my youngest's head. ( )

A writer named Jonah (or possibly John) looks back on his adventures, and his conversion to a religion known as Bokononism, while conducting research for a book about the late Frank Hoenikker, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb. The first leg of our hero’s journey takes him to Hoenikker’s hometown of Ilium, NY where he meets two of Hoenikker’s three adult children. There, Jonah learns that each of the children possesses a piece of Ice-Nine, a dangerous substance their father developed for the military.

He later learns that Hoenikker’s oldest son is a high-ranking official on the Caribbean Island of San Lorenzo, home to one of the poorest populations in the world. As it happens, Jonah accepts an assignment that takes him to the island and finds himself on the same plane as Hoenikker’s other two children.

Shortly after his arrival on San Lorenzo, Jonah finds himself in an unimaginable position just before all hell—and a lethal quantity of Ice-Nine—breaks loose.

With Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut delivers a satirical tale of religion, destiny, futility, and the end of days. It’s a delightful and quick read with most chapters no longer than a page. ( )

http://argosmagazine.com/?p=2044 ( )