Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is a really entertaining book. I quite enjoyed reading it, and I’m really glad it was assigned. The plot was so interesting! I am all for characters with crazy personality traits, and this book was totally full of them. First of all, there was a bizarre religion involved. That always mixes things up. In addition to that, there was a strange island with strange people ruled by a strange dictator (with that strange religion). Also, the home life of all of the Hoenikkers through out all stages of life was never normal. They always had something wrong with their lives.
I also liked the critique Vonnegut gave about the lies people tell themselves to feel better. The whole novel was so cynical about science and religion, often criticizing the perceived heartlessness of scientists and the blind faith involved with religions.
This book was great for all of that.
Seems that you and I have similar tastes in texts! I too enjoy all the strangeness that Vonnegut weaves into this and other novels. But I'd also like to learn more about how you interpret the meaning of such strangeness. From your post above, it would appear that Vonnegut prohibits "normality" from even having a place in the text, so does he set a new "normal"? How can we tell? And might the implication of such a strategy be?
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