I initially read Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" in my late teens. I couldn't have told you much of anything about it prior to my recent re-read. I remembered some things as I read though. Specifically about Ice-9 as well as the use of a single word that Vonnegut says in his prose extremely early in the book. It's so familiar in tone, yet has a special meaning since one isn't hearing the book but reading the book. He says "Listen:" and then proceeds to tell more of the story.
I don't know why that struck me so much that I remembered it. Even now I can't explain it. I just love that touch, though.
This is the first book in a five-book Vonnegut series I purchased from Easton Press. Most, if not all, of these books I had read previously, but wanted to have the set because it is really nice and I happen to love Vonnegut's writing voice.
"Cat's Cradle" is about a man who goes by Jonah who is in the process of writing a novel about the day the first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima. Specifically, he is interested in the events of the day for one of the creators of the bomb per this account: Felix Hoenikker. I presume this is a namesake for Robert Oppenheimer for the purposes of this book, but I'm not clear on that.
Vonnegut is a bit cynical about the world and its inhabitants. At the same time, though, he is understanding and compassionate. His voice is soft. But he can suddenly break your heart while you're reading it even if you don't see it coming. There are some truly touching statements in this book sprinkled throughout.
Ultimately, "Cat's Cradle" is an apocryphal novel about humanity's wrestling with its own destruction and the tools used to that end. This is an extremely uneducated, personal, and space-shuttle height summary of the book, but it is what I am proposing here. It's a great book and I'm sure I'll end up reading it yet again.
I love that Vonnegut is often classified as a science fiction novelist, though he is seldom categorized that way in book stores. His fiction was almost too approachable to be put in its proper genre. It was too popular and familiar. I'll take it, though, whatever it is and wherever it is shelved. I put it in the V's section of my personal library.
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