Thursday, April 12, 2007

Farewell, Kurt Vonnegut

Mark Feeney has a fine Kurt Vonnegut obit in today's Globe.

My favorite Vonnegut novel is his 1963 masterpiece "Cat's Cradle."

It's a great example of the pre-apocalyptic genre, of course, which is
probably why I first picked it up, but what stuck with me was the
fictional religion of Bokononism, particularly its concepts of the
"karass" (a group of people who, often unknowingly, are working
together to accomplish something important; the people can be thought
of as fingers in a cat's cradle); "granfalloon" (a proud yet
meaningless association of human beings, a false karass); and
"wampeter" (the object, or point of a karass).

Apparently I'm not the only one who appreciated Vonnegut's critical
insights into human association. According to Mark Feeney:

Mr. Vonnegut studied anthropology at the University of Chicago. His master's thesis was rejected in 1947, but 24 years later the university granted him a degree in recognition of the "anthropological elements" in his novel "Cat's Cradle."

Check out the lovely image on the Vonnegut.com homepage today.

Posted by Joshua Glenn at 10:29 AM

Print | E-mail to a friend | Permalink | Subscribe via rss