The Sirens of Titan | Kurt Vonnegut

The Sirens of Titan | Kurt Vonnegut | Very Good Book

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The Sirens of Titan

	The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut The Dial Press, 1998 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 155 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The richest and most depraved man on Earth takes a wild space journey to distant worlds, learning about the purpose of human life along the way.

My Favorite Vonnegut

One of Vonnegut's earliest works and, in my opinion, possibly his best, The Sirens of Titan sees Vonnegut doing what he does so well...taking all the self-importance of humanity and reducing it to a mindnumbingly unimportant task. A book of such scope that it includes a fair portion of our solar system, it is only fitting that the ending is such as it is (I'll avoid putting a spoiler here). His wit, as always, is bitingly accurate, and we should all give great praise unto Vonnegut, if only for reminding us to take another moment to measure the scope of the universe and our size within it.

If you're interested in beginning a dive into Vonnegut, then this is as good a place to start as any other, and perhaps better than many.

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Very Good Book

This is a classic book and has many of the themes Vonnegut uses in later works. This book and Cat's Craddle are must reads. It is easy to see why this book had such a profound effect on Jerry Garcia, I only wish the issues regarding the film rights could be worked out.

amazing

i loved it! it makes you re-think your religion and some of your morals. because somehow, you end up sympathizing with an immoral character like malachi!

The Meaning of Life....

How does one even begin describing this book? Can you even sum up the plot and do it justice? Talk of Malachi and his adventures/mishaps or Beatrice... Do we follow Roomford as he appears and disappears as the earth rotates? Do we talk about the invasion from Mars? Or the years spent on Mercury? How do we discuss the plot when in reality the plot is only a vehicle to get the reader to the destination, the realization that Vonnegut is trying to make us come to. The best summary that I can come up with is that we follow Malachi/Unk through the end of his life... starting from his receiving a prediction that he would go to Mars, Mercury, back to Earth, and then to Titan... and ending at the end of his life and his journeys.

So what is this book even about? Well there's religion, and the sense that God is not responsible for us, or our futures, rather we survive in a series of random accidents. Then there is the meaning of life, and the futility of the search for it. We have the satirical take on family, business, politics, and war. Then we have the long and involved satire of our purpose, and being used as humans toward a purpose that is both completely beyond our mental grasp, and not something that we would be happy to know about in the first place.

I personally cannot stand sci-fi so I put off reading this book for quite a while, even through I LOVE Vonnegut. In the end, the Sci-Fi aspect did not bother me because Vonnegut never spent all that much energy on that aspect. Sure they were on Mars, and Mercury, and Titan... and there was an alien life form or two and some spaceships... but as with the plot, the sci-fi aspect of this book is merely a vehicle to drive the reader to the proper conclusions. People are often upset that one cannot classify a Vonnegut book into any one genre; I find that this is because he is a philosopher who is wiling to take you to any extreme in order to open your eyes to what he views as reality. And what is Vonnegut's reality? Simple - Life is a series of accidents, both good and bad. The Creator is off doing what he does best - Creating, not guiding our every movement and desire. And finally, that we shouldn't put too much stock into our purpose, instead focus on just being nice, and being happy in the life that you have.

Even if you are not a fan of Sci-Fi I highly recommend this book. True it is not Vonnegut's seminal work, nor is it his most humorous, but it has so many important themes running through it that it should be required reading in school. The number of discussions that can be had after reading and truly dissecting this book are amazing. The Simple line stated by Boaz on Mercury when he makes his decision, the true purpose of the Martian attack, the over all meaning of life. The ending of this book is a truly joyous, utterly ridiculous and yet so profoundly meaningful revelation that the reader cannot help but sit back and shake their head in both disbelief and astonishment, both appalled and amused, and most of all, completely unable to keep from wondering... is that what it really IS all about? Something so..... Now I don't want to spoil it for you!

Though this book is only just over 300 pages, it took me longer than normal to read it, because you really don't want to skim. The language is brilliant, and the satire is sometimes so deeply laced into what is being said that it can be easy to miss if you aren't paying attention. As I said before, I highly recommend this book.

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Good stuff

Mr. Vonnegut and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Indianapolis (as did David Letterman.) The sense of humor seems to be geographical as I find Mr. Vonnegut's books to be very funny while folks from other parts of the country often scratch their heads and complain about the fact that Vonnegut fails to fit into any one genre comfortably.

What struck me most about "Sirens of Titan" was how influential it must have been on Douglas Adams when he wrote "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Anyway, it's a good book. Give it a shot.

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