‘I Was There’: On Kurt Vonnegut (2012)

I'm kind of surprised by his dismissal of "Cat's Cradle" (or at least his demotion of it) as lighter weight and "adolescent." To this day I still think it is Vonnegut's best novel. I think that it is short and simple (at least in plotting) is a great strength because the book never digresses into distractions.

He says that the book is about scientists taking responsibility for their creations, but I think that is too narrow a reading. The book is filled with with characters (not just scientists) who think they are in control of their actions (and they are) but every action has consequences that they have no control over, and these have far more impact than the intended consequences. (Ice-9 is just one of many manifestations of this.) The sayings of Bokonon are kind of an oblique reference to this, since many of them are about other (divine?) plans that are performed by the karass, wampeters, and granfalloons. But as Bokonon says at the beginning, its a lie, there is no controlling force, are actions simply have unintended consequences.

There is also a second prevalent theme about deception and self deception, and recurs through-ought the novel.

(the author also says he can't even remember the narrator's name, but I'm pretty sure his name is never given in the novel.)

From the article:"Mother Night marks the first appearance in Vonnegut’s novels of a word that would become increasingly important for him: schizophrenia." I was surprised to find this passage without a mention that Kurt's son developed schizophrenia.