While many of these "texts" don't really have the ability to relate to me, I still cannot even begin to connect with them due to language and honestly, because of the date they were written. It's not that I cannot find the humor, I just downright cannot enjoy the reading, in general. Cat's Cradle, however, took me aback with its language and content. I found myself sucked into the reading in a way that hasn't really happened yet. While I, obviously, was very into Morreall because it directly picked apart all aspects of humor, the various interpretations of humor we've read through short stories have lacked any of the characteristics I find to be funny.
Cat's Cradle was, in itself, absolutely ridiculous. I found myself constantly having to re-read the text on the page to fully understand that what I was reading. From the ice-nine to Bokonon, I was thrown into a text that quite obviously didn't relate to myself with its general content, but was able to grab my attention because the content was so ridiculous.
The dark undertones of the novel dealing with greed, religion, etc. all hidden within a ridiculous take on the society is what really solidified my enjoyment of the novel. So much truth was masked by the ridiculousness of the fictional elements of the novel that seem to fake to reflect any portion of modern day society, but is truly set as a social commentary that critiques the various aspects of society in keeping an open mind and the reflection of fulfilling one's desires rather than improving the betterment of society.
From these two aspect of the nonsensical and the true, I wasn't absolutely connected to the novel through the aspect of humor, because I honestly didn't laugh once. It was the context, the setting, the downright oddity that had my interest piqued and connected to the odd personalities presented throughout the novel. It definitely appealed to the senses, just not my funny bone.
Michael, I agree with a lot of your points. I found myself intrigued with this novel a lot more than the short stories we've previously read. The satire about religion, science, war, and just humans in general made this reading very entertaining. However, you didn't laugh at once, and I constantly giggled while reading alone at 2 in the morning. The irony and ridiculousness of the whole situation cracked me up. Despite our differences in humor, excellent post.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Michael. The best part about satire, in my opinion, is its ability to feed you completely unbelievable things in a way that makes you believe them. That is what Cat's Cradle did with me, as well. Some of the things were so far fetched but they made me think a lot about how they could actually occur.
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