Interesting Old Books: Cat's Cradle By Kurt Vonnegut (1963)

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Topic: Literature

Interesting Old Books: Cat's Cradle By Kurt Vonnegut (1963)

By Gareth Eastwood 2008-03-02

Reading this book in the 2000's you gain a different perspective of the author's meanings that the reader of the 1960's would have had. At that time the fear was current in almost everybody's mind that the atomic bomb would soon wipe us out. By now our thoughts about that have relaxed somewhat, firstly because it hasn't happened, and secondly because we are aware that other threats to humanity's continued existence might well finish us before a nuclear holocaust gets the chance. In that respect, Kurt Vonnegut was a true visionary. He asked the insightful question "What else are the scientists who created the bomb capable of inventing?"

Cat's Cradle is generally remembered as a science fiction book in which the author, true to his genre, seriously lampooned both religion and politics with cutting-edge wit. His invention of the Bokononist religion cleverly blended modern philosophical understanding with current age observations that may point to a spiritual realm in spite of what scientists think. However, this new creed takes those observations at face value. Its prophet Bokonon derived from them a belief that man cares for man, whereas God really couldn't care less. He further insists that all religions are a pack of lies, including his own.

However, it was through his portrayed architect of the atomic bomb, Dr Felix Hoenniker, that Kurt Vonnegut posed his most important question to the world. Hoenniker is a committed, dedicated and entirely focused scientist with little understanding of people and little interest in them. His concerns are entirely in the realm of physics and chemistry. "Is this the sort of person who created the bomb?" we are asked. "If so, what else is that sort of person capable of creating? Something more devastating? What would stop them? Probably not concern for humans."

We are then presented with the chilling and all too likely prospect of socially challenged individuals tinkering with the very structure of the world we live in, paying little or no heed to the possible consequences of their experiments.

The critical mass in the Hiroshima bomb was the size of a baseball, yet its impact was devastating. Nevertheless, its chain reaction was confined to one section of one city. It requires massive infrastructure, huge expenditure and generally war between countries for atomic bombs to be detonated in hostility.

Hoenniker invents a compound called "Ice Nine", small enough that a single crystal can cause a virus-like replication of it's effect. The resulting chain reaction could spread entirely around the planet. Yet it was stable enough that he could toy with it playfully in his own kitchen. Vonnegut paints the scenario of it falling into the hands of irresponsible fools.

Governments since 1945 have poo-pooed that sort of suggestion, but given some of the people who may soon possess nuclear weapons, the idea rings disturbingly true.

I enjoyed reading this book, though I found its characters lacked something in charm. Nevertheless, it was intellectually rewarding and quite entertaining. I gave it 9.0 out of 10.

Gareth Eastwood contributes articles to www.mindesque.com. He is an enthusiastic Rock 'n' Roll Dancer and teacher in Adelaide, South Australia. He maintains a premier website dedicated to Rock n Roll Dance at www.rocknrolldance.com. He also created and runs a large singles social network in Adelaide based around www.garethevents.info/