Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

I know Kurt Vonnegut is supposed to be a brilliant author with amazing ideas, but honestly, I had a hard time with this book. The premise intrigued me, but the further into the book I got, the more I just wanted it to be done with.


Cat's Cradle follows Jonah, who is writing a book on Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, and in his research, learns of a substance called Ice-Nine, a product that instantly freezes any water it comes into contact with, and is capable of destroying all life on Earth. Hoenikker's three children are in possession of the substance, however, they are located all over the place and not easy to pin down, and he spends his time travelling to different places, ending in San Lorenzo.

The whole end of the world plot was pretty boring in my opinion, and none of the characters stood out to me. In fact, it's been over a month since I read the book and I had to flip through it again to remind myself of the characters and plot. For as little as I've read this year, I should have been able to remember more about about the book, but that's how dull I found the book to be.

(Source: Giphy)

The once facet of the book I liked was the religion, Bokononism. It's a new religion, formed by Bokonon, who pretty much feels religion is a pack of lies.

"My Bokononist warning is this:

Anyone unable to understand how useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.

So be it." (pp. 5-6)

There is a lot of jargon in Bokononism-karass, kan-kan, wrang-wrang-and Vonnegut does tell you what they all mean, but, maybe because of my lack of interest, I kept forgetting what they all meant.

(Source: Giphy)

Luckily, this is only the second book on my 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list that I haven't loved or liked, so I'm still not considering the list a bust, but I hope my next book off of the list is more fulfilling.

Rating: 2/10

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction

Author: Kurt Vonnegut