Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle is a 1963 science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
The plot concerns the search for a substance called ice-nine, an (imaginary) alternative structure for water which is solid at room temperature. The book follows the history of the creation and eventual "release" of ice-nine in a bombing, leading to the decimation of life on Earth as all water turns to ice-nine.
The book also describes an imaginary religion, Bokononism, together with several concepts that are central to it. Amongst these are:
- karass - a group of people who, unknown to them, are doing God's will.
- granfalloon - a false karass, i.e. a group of people who think they are doing God's will but are not.
- wampeter - the central point of a karass.
The title of the book derives from the string game "cat's cradle".
Note: Vonnegut's fictional ice-nine is not to be confused with the real substance Ice-IX (also pronounced "ice-nine"), which does not have the properties of Vonnegut's fictional ice-nine. See the article on ice for more details.
