Cat's Cradle - Becca In A Book

Summary

Dr. Felix Hoenikker’s entire life revolves around science his whole life and when he died, he left something a little special for his children. A writer interviews his family and discovers that their father’s last gift may be more harmful than helpful.

My Thoughts

I’ve been a fan of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and his crazy and outrageous stories for a long time. I mean I read most of his books in college so unfortunately this book was a LOT for me. It really took me back to the days of my college literature classes so it was an adjustment to read this over my normal romance, fantasy, and thrilling reads.

This book is the oddest set of characters and ideas that I’ve ever read, but of course that’s Vonnegut. He is always taking you through a thrill ride of craziness and pure insanity, but his books always have a very important and relatable message that make his books truly great. The dialogue and thoughts of the narrator are ridiculous and completely outlandish, but again the deeper meaning of these random and memorable quotes. Vonnegut picks fun at the ideas of human morality and the hypocrisy of it all. He especially pokes his fun at the constant competition between science and religion.

Through the author’s wacky narrator, we discover a religion of Bokononism which is a religion purely based on lies. Ummmm say what? I honestly was shocked how far this author went especially given the time when the book was published. He truly pushed the boundaries on what people have been allowed to say and blew that out of the water. I mean this of course is an allegory of how religion really could be all based on lies, but also what gives it power is people’s pure and undoubtable faith in it.

The religion of Bokononism is ridiculous and entertaining to learn about throughout the novel. I especially enjoyed its wacky and odd traditions. I mean the thing with the feet was JUST CREEPY and entirely too much for my brain to comprehend. The author also poks his fun about the hypocrisy of science as well. This author really leaves no stone unturned and that’s what I love about his books.

In my opinion, I feel that the author is trying to point out that humanity is always searching for the truth, but struggles to see what actually is the truth. It was such an enjoyable and interesting journey that only Vonnegut could truly create.