Cat's Cradle ~ June Classic

[LaLaLa Laura]

"Cat's Cradle deals with atomic scientists, ugly Americans, gorgeous sex queens, vengeful midgets, Caribbean dictators, undertakers, Hoosiers, a new way of making love, ice-nine, Bokononism, the end of the world... Ice-nine? Bokononism? The End of the World? No one but Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., could have created this masterful mix of satire, fantasy and all-too-real realism. An ultimate commentary on modern man and his madness, Cat's Cradle is one of the most brilliant and important novels of the decade."

[Julia]

This book is also still under copyright, so is not legally available online.

Vonnegut discusses Cat's Cradle in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ikv... His concern over Hiroshima is one of the core inspirations for the book.

Learning about Vonnegut himself is key to really understanding any of his books. He is a great deal like Mark Twain in his attitude toward humanity--both frustrated by our ignorance and still caring about us. And they both used humor as their tool for commenting on the human race.

[Melanti]

This book is one of those available for the lending library with Amazon Prime.

Also, I can loan a Kindle copy to one person for two weeks - first come, first serve.

This isn't my favorite Vonnegut book - I like his more sarcastic works a tad bit better - but it's still extremely good!

[Julia]

I agree, Melanti--I tend to prefer Vonnegut's non-fiction essays, especially A Man Without a Country, published in 2007 shortly before he died.

I subscribe to a great online newsletter called Brain Pickings, and they had a good article about Vonnegut on Sunday: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

I look forward to reading the book they mention, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young, a collection of nine of his commencement addresses.

[Julia]

Here's one quote that I really like, since the concept of Bokononism is one of the key points of this small gem of satire. I've found that any real Vonnegut fans will respond if I just say "Lucky Mud" to them :-)

The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith
(excerpt)

God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."

And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.

I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud
that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!

Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.

~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ~

[Julia]

The Books of Bokonon

Bokononism is a fictional religion invented by Kurt Vonnegut and practiced by many of the characters in his novel Cat's Cradle. Many of the sacred texts of Bokononism were written in the form of calypsos, or short poems.

Bokononism is based on the concept of "foma", which are defined as harmless untruths. A foundation of Bokononism is that the religion, including its texts, is formed entirely of lies; however, one who believes and adheres to these lies will have peace of mind, and perhaps live a good life. The primary tenet of Bokononism is to "Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy."



I googled "Bokononist merchandise" and can't stop smiling :-)

[Julia]

And here are some of the basic concepts of Bokononism :-)

BOKONONISM CONCEPTS

boko-maru – the supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons.

"Busy, busy, busy" – what a Bokononist whispers whenever he thinks about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.

foma – harmless untruths; lies that, if used correctly, can be useful.

granfalloon – a false karass; i.e., a group of people who imagine they have a connection that does not really exist. An example is "Hoosiers"; Hoosiers are people from Indiana, and Hoosiers have no true spiritual destiny in common, so they really share little more than a name. Another example is a Cornellian, a student or graduate of Cornell University.

karass – A group of people linked in a cosmically significant manner, even when superficial links are not evident.

sinookas – the tendrils of one's life

wampeter – the central theme or purpose of a karass. A karass generally has one wampeter that it revolves around, but there can be two if one is shifting out of focus (waning) and a new one is coming in as the central theme (waxing).

After finishing Cat's Cradle, I really want to read Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons!

[Greg]

Thanks for the info on Bokononism Julia! Just started reading Cat's Cradle today. :)

[Julia]

Hope you like it, Greg--my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Vonnegut is one of my "touchstones"--the authors who are so close to our hearts that we're hesitant to have others read them and NOT like them! I still prefer his non-fiction (especially A Man Without a Country), but this one has moved up a notch for me thanks to Bokononism :-)

[Greg]

I read Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions a long time ago, probably 15 years ago, and enjoyed them. But it's been so long I'm looking forward to reading Cat's Cradle again! I've never read his non-fiction, but it looks interesting - I'll put A Man Without a Country on my list! :)

[Julia]

My review of A Man Without a Country is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I've given away 5 copies to friends--what a passionate, sardonic curmudgeon he was! How he loved us as humans, even when we drove him nuts. I like this line:

"So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.”

[Greg]

Thanks Julia!

[♦Ashley♦]

I hope to start this as soon as I'm done with Death of a Salesman. I picked up a copy of Cat's Cradle today from the library. My husband is a huge Vonnegut fan, but this will be my first taste of Vonnegut:)

[Greg]

Enjoying my audio download of Cat's Cradle so far!

I'm on a pit-stop midway on my drive back to California, and I looked up a couple references I didn't know in Chapter 24. Maybe others share my ignorance and can make use of them :)

The Marie Celeste (or Mary Celeste) was a famous - though unkown to me - maritime mystery that other writers of the time referred to, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1872, the boat was found in fair weather with all the passengers missing, and none of them were ever found: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_C...

The Marmon was a type of car back in the 30's: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1931-19...

[Melanti]

Julia, have you read Slapstick yet?

I was looking for something to read last night and it just happened to be the first Vonnegut book that caught my eye.

It's not one of his best (Vonnegut himself gave it a D, but I'll probably give it 3 stars when I'm done) but he covers a lot of the same topics he does in his nonfictional work - especially things like the need for bigger families.


P.S. Don't think I've mentioned it yet in this group, but my favorite Vonnegut book (so far) is Mother Night, with Bluebeard second, and Cat's Cradle third.

[Christina Howard]

this is why I love book clubs. I would have never picked up this book and read it myself. but I loved it just the same.

[Nakia]

Wasn't able to find on Kindle Store. Anyone find it online?

[Melanti]

It's there. It's just hiding with a translation. There's two versions oddly enough, but this one has lending enabled. (Haven't loaned my copy to anyone yet, by the way.)

http://www.amazon.com/Cats-Cradle-Kur...

[LaLaLa Laura]

thank you melanti!

[Holly]

I had never heard of Vonnegut before, so was glad that you suggested this read. I very much enjoyed "Cat's Cradle." Short chapters are perfect for me! I'm sure that on a more thorough reading I would be able to identify symbolism and philosophize on religion, war, etc. But, for an initial read, I'm going to just let it go with being entertained!

[Greg]

This was definitely a book of ideas. I enjoyed the intelligence and humor of the book, but in the numerous characters that came and went, I couldn't really find anyone much to care for. That's entirely proper for a satire; so it's not a criticism of the book so much as a statement of personal preference - generally, I'm more of a Edith Wharton, Henry James, or even an Emile Zola kind of guy.

As far as themes, there was a awful lot going on here, plenty that could be talked about, but I guess what struck me most was the struggle to make life meaningful in the face of a completely hostile truth. When facing a truth so dire, some playful lies might come in pretty handy. If the islanders have no prospect or hope for a better life, at least they can indulge in the entertaining comfort of a drummed up grand conflict between good and evil. I like what Dr. Koeningswald says: "I am a very bad scientist. I will do anything to make a human being feel better, even if it's unscientific." If lies make people feel better, maybe they're preferable to the truth. Maybe that's what Vonnegut saw himself as doing with the book, comforting his readers with entertaining lies.

There were two parts of the book that genuinely moved me. The first one was ambassador Minton's searing tribute to the island's war dead. At the end of the speech, I flipped straight back to the beginning and read it through again. His speech was just plain electrifying. The second was the silly but very touching description of the Bokononist last rites. The "mud" recitation was just beautiful. I don't know why it touched me so deeply, but it did. It might be silly, but there's a true poetry in it.

The rest of the book I didn't love but did genuinely like. My perspective on humanity is nowhere near as bleak as Vonnegut's, but there's no doubt that human beings occasionally fail in an epic way, and there's plenty of humor in the mirrors he holds up to those failings. I wouldn't read it again and again, but I was happy to have re-read it as an adult because of this Short & Sweet group.

[Elsbeth]

I just finished this. Great book. I read that Vonnegut actually got his masters degree in anthropology for this! I've studied anthropology myself, so I was really curious as to the anthropological aspects of this book. And since one of my main interests during my study was religion of people, I had an anthropological good time with this read ;)!
I think he did a great job with creating this religion - like most other religions, I think, it seems like a lot of rubbish and a very deep view of life, the universe and everything combined... So in a way, it all makes sense...

A book I won't easily forget.

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Julia wrote: "And here are some of the basic concepts of Bokononism :-)

BOKONONISM CONCEPTS

boko-maru – the supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged contact b..."

I love the creativity involved when an author creates a religion in their story. So far, I'm greatly enjoying the book and do have to reference the concepts on occasion to keep myself up to speed.

[Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ]

Yes, the book was quite cynical about humanity, quite dark and bleak. However, I see a bit of truth in Vonnegut's work, especially when I think of how religion is used by many as a tool.
The theme that I thought had the most impact was the struggle to find meaning in life from the ideas of creating and practicing Bokononism to the feelings expressed of 'children' that march off and die in war to the game cat's cradle.
I took my time reading this story to have time to reflect on how Vonnegut's themes continue to apply to the modern times.