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BOOKS I READ: Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963). There’s little that I can add to what’s already been written about this classic war satire that plumbs the depths of “human stupidity” other than to comment on why I decided to reread it. With the upcoming release of Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer, which is likely to portray scientists who make novel weapons with the potential to destroy the world conflicted, but not conflicted enough, I wanted to recall the farce that is Dr. Felix Hoenikker, one of the “fathers” of the first atomic bomb in the book, and also the inventor of ice-nine, which eventually destroys the world.
This time around a few details from the book connected in ways they didn’t before. To point out a couple: Bokonon or Lionel Boyd Johnson—another LBJ— is the inventor of Bokononism, a religion he outlaws to make it more appealing. He wrote and sang calypso songs, just like Calypso Gene, the stage name for none other than Louis Farrakhan before he became the head of the Nation of Islam. And the Fifty-third Calypso, from the opening of the book, was instantly recognizable as the lyrics for the song, “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” by Ambrosia, a soft-rock group from the 1970s, better known for hits like, “Biggest Part of Me,” and “You’re the Only Woman.” They do credit Vonnegut for the lyrics.
I have four of the Kurt Vonnegut Dial Press paperback reissues from 1998, designed by Carin Goldberg, featuring bright pastel colors and the cover-spanning V. I remember finding the books on sale at the Raven Bookstore in Northampton, Massachusetts. I was just passing through. I remember the bookstore on the hill, and the display that pulled me in.
See my Bookshop.org stand, supporting local bookstores, and my reading log. The previous book in the log is below:
