In
this book Vonnegut presents caricatures of religion, the hubris of
scientists, and the dangers of technology. Jonah, the storyteller of
"Cat's Cradle", is writing a book about what some people were doing when
the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He focuses on the eccentric Dr.
Felix Hoenikker - "father of the atomic bomb" - and his three children.
He's told that Dr. Hoenikker was playing "Cat's Cradle" with a piece of string when the bomb went off. 
Jonah
also learns that, when the Marines asked Dr. Hoenikker to 'do
something' about mud (which was difficult to wade through while
fighting), he invented a substance called Ice-Nine - which causes water
to instantly crystallize and harden. 
Moreover, the effect rapidly spreads, solidifying all water far and wide - a very dangerous phenomenon.
Upon
Dr. Hoenikker's death his children divide his stockpile of Ice-Nine to
safeguard it. The children then go their own way. After a time, Frank,
the oldest child, becomes the assistant of the President of a Caribbean
island called San Lorenzo. 
When
Frank plans to marry, his sister Angela and his brother Newt - along
with Jonah - travel to the island to attend the wedding.
Jonah
finds that San Lorenzo is a very odd place whose residents practice a
forbidden religion called Bokononism, which has some strange customs
(e.g. people press their feet together in lieu of sex). 
He
also discovers that each of the siblings has given away a bit of their
Ice-Nine to garner some advantage for themselves. With Ice-Nine on the
loose all over the place can disaster be far behind? The book has an
eclectic variety of weird, often funny, characters involved in a mildly
engaging story.
Rating: 3 stars
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