Kurt Vonnegut is fast becoming my favorite novelist. His ability to tackle the broadest of themes, yet address them on a very human and personal level is uncanny. Personally, I really appreciated his invented Bokononist terms karass, referring to a group of people that, knowingly or unknowingly, are working together towards some predestined achievement, and granfalloon, essentially a false karass, a group that people imagine they belong to but that is devoid of real meaning or purpose. Vonnegut uses the example of 'Hoosiers' in the novel, hinting towards the larger characterization of all 'nations' as being granfalloons. We invent these groups to feel wanted, needed, or part of something larger than ourselves. In our quest to create this fantasy for ourselves, Vonnegut points out, we often miss the truth that is staring us in the face.
He uses the island society of San Lorenzo as a stage for his commentary on the destructive power of both science and religion. Using Ice Nine to portray the cold, destructive power of science, he contrasts this with the religion of Bokononism, whose text's opening sentence is, "All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies." Bokononism displays Vonnegut's belief that while religion may not save from destruction, it can make the road to oblivion that much more enjoyable, until the tornadoes come.
From the pages whose corners I folded over during the course of reading:
Fold 1/Page 15 - "They won't fight unless you keep shaking the jar." Newt Hoenikker referring to how the bug fights that his brother Frank staged inside glass jars distracted him from the terror his father caused him. I thought this said a lot about the nationalistic, prejudicial conflicts that our society engages in to distract us from the real dangers, such as those posed by the weaponization of science.
Fold 3/Page 63 - "As Bokonon says: 'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.'" Pretty self-explanatory. If your karass is illogical and ignores religious, nationalistic, and other man-made boundaries, it must also defy geography.
Fold 4/Page 92 - "Other examples of granfalloons are the Communist party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company, the International Order of Odd Fellows - and any nation, anytime, anywhere." So when I said that Vonnegut 'hints' at nations being granfalloons earlier, I was making a gross understatement.
Fold 6/Page 101 - "Pay no attention to Ceasar. Ceasar doesn't have the slightest idea what's really going on." Bokonon's paraphrase of Jesus' suggestion, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's."
Fold 7/Page 190 - "I rolled out of bed at the first bang and ran to the heart of the house with the brainless ecstasy of a volunteer fireman." I just really liked the imagery. It made me laugh out loud.
Fold 8/Page 198 - "Maturity, the way I understand it, is knowing what your limitations are" says Frank Hoenikker. "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything" says Bokonon. I would say that knowing your limitations must be a bitter disappointment. I intend to avoid maturity at all times.
I other folds seemed irrelevant upon further review. There were probably many pages that should have received folds, but sometimes I read when I'm high.
No comments:
Post a Comment