Cat's Cradle

Title: Cat's Cradle

Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Company: Dell Publishing

Reason, Type and Setting: As a part of our documentary project that we were assigned, our group was to read a book relating to our corresponding war. My group was assigned the Cold War. Kurt Vonnegut is known for his satirical writing and I've read a couple books of his before so Cat's Cradle really caught my eye when I saw it on the list of books to read on Elika's blog. The main happenings occur on fantasized island of San Lorenzo which is located in the Caribbean.

Plot: It's rather funny that I didn't notice that the main character was never referred to by name, or I just can't find it. Well, anyway, the book is written in first person as most of Kurt Vonnegut's books are. The book basically is somewhat an allegory you can say of the paranoia that the American's had about the Cold War, the destructive power of an atom bomb, as well as newfound ideology. It all starts when the main character is interested about the "father" of the atom bomb Dr. Franklin Hoenikker and his family, the main character later finds out that Dr. Hoenikker made the most destructive thing in the planet, Ice-9 which would cause everything to freeze. One could see the parallels between the atom bomb and this new substance ice-9. Vonnegut also touches up on religious topics, with an outlawed religion called Bokononism in the island of San Lorenzo. The plot is a bit hard to explain but this novel really makes you think as to how the Cold War relates to this book.

Character: Since the main character is a bit hard to describe, I will describe Frank Hoenikker, the son of the late Dr. Franklin Hoenikker. If I were to describe Frank I'd say that he a little bit mysterious. When he was younger many people would tease and call him Secret Agent X-9. He was very reserved and spent his days living in the basement of a colleague of his. There he built miniature replicas of cities. Later on, he somehow managed to go to the island of San Lorenzo and was appointed General because he contained a portion of ice-9 which was split up between him and his two other siblings. Further into the story, Frank is told that he is to become president since the current one was ill and Frank felt that he could not communicate well to the public and asks the main character to accept the position. In this way, Frank is just like his father.

Evaluation: I'd say that Kurt Vonnegut's books are sometimes a bit complicating to read and it was somewhat easier to find the correlation of the Cold War to this book than his other novels. I plan to read another book written by him for my Honors Outside Reading. Personally, I really like his writing style but I do not think many would find it very entertaining and may end up getting confused. If you are the type of person that enjoys satirical books such as Candide by Voltaire you'll enjoy Kurt Vonnegut's novels.

Author, Context and Trivia: Kurt Vonnegut was born on what he likes to refer as Armistice Day which is what Veteran's Day was originally called in the year of 1922 and has recently passed away on April 11th, 2007. He was known for his graphic arts in his novels as well as his writing science fiction and satire. He has written a number of books and short stories.