The sirens of Titan.

by Kurt Vonnegut

No cover — Kurt Vonnegut: The sirens of Titan.

(18 reviews)

"His best book," Esquire wrote of Kurt Vonnegut's 1959 novel The Sirens of Titan, adding, "he dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life, but to answer it." This novel fits into that aspect of the Vonnegut canon that might be classified as science fiction, a quality that once led Time to describe Vonnegut as "George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer ... a zany but moral mad scientist."

The Sirens of Titan was perhaps the novel that began the Vonnegut phenomenon with readers. The story is a fabulous trip, spinning madly through space and time in pursuit of nothing less than a fundamental understanding of the meaning of life. It takes place at a time in the future, when "only the human soul remained terra incognita ... the Nightmare Ages, falling roughly, give or take a few years, between the …

The villainous and super rich Malachi Constant is offered a chance to journey into the far reaches of outer space, to eventually live on the planet Titan surrounded by three beautiful sirens. There is the proverbial "small print" with this incredible offer, which Constant turns down, setting in motion a fantastic chain of events that only Vonnegut could imagine. The result is an uproarious, freewheeling inquiry into the very reason we exist and about how we participate and matter in the scheme of the universe.

The Sirens of Titan is essential, fundamental Vonnegut, as entertaining as it is questing in search of answers to the mysteries of life. As a work of fiction, it is a sure leap, in terms of craft, over his first novel, Player Piano. His writing here is pared down, more concentrated and graceful, richly in the service of his remarkable ideas. Vonnegut summons greatness for the first time in The Sirens of Titan, where the search for the meaning of existence looks and sounds like a kaleidoscopic dream but leaves the reader with a clear and challenging answer.

36 editions

jonn reviewed The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut carries so much love, he cultivates compassion even to most despicable people

5 stars

When I started reading this book, after Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse #5 which I read as a young person learning how fucked up the world is, I had a feeling of almost Adamsian lightness of talking about heavy social things. Oh how wrong I was!

So to those who want to venture into this book, a fair warning: expect soul-crushing stuff after every corner. Reading the book is like wandering the caves of Mercury.

The story is very layered and has some twists, so don't be too arrogant if you think you see where it's going. What's more, please think the book through from back to front after you complete it.

There is only one positive character in the book, but I felt so much compassion to another one, and another one later. Which, as I recover from the book hangover[1], I find slightly distressing, but it's a testament …

So to those who want to venture into this book, a fair warning: expect soul-crushing stuff after every corner. Reading the book is like wandering the caves of Mercury.

The story is very layered and has some twists, so don't be too arrogant if you think you see where it's going. What's more, please think the book through from back to front after you complete it.

Traditionally, I finish my non-specific reviews with a quote:

That's the worst thing you can do, Unk — remembering back," said Brackman. "That's what they put you in the hospital for in the first place — on account of you remembered too much.

[1]: www.cantonpl.org/blogs/post/book-hangovers-and-you/

sifuCJC reviewed The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Did I enjoy it?

4 stars

Vonnegut takes down government, religion and divine purpose. But even though there's humor and his trademark silliness, it's not an easy read. I felt kinda empty after. I don't know if I enjoyed it, but it's worth reading.

albyok reviewed Le sirene di Titano by Kurt Vonnegut

Review of 'Le sirene di Titano' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

E' il primo libro di Vonnegut che leggo e da amante di Douglas Adams non posso che aver trovato un'altra promettente miniera d'oro. Il suo stile mi piace e la lettura è scorrevolissima. Non ci si annoia mai e si percepisce dietro la storia, una storia più grande che è una critica a molti lati dell'umanità. Bello il pezzo in cui parla della Terra come una grande astronave. Sicuramente leggerò altri suoi libri.

Se amate la fantascienza condita dall'ironia, non potete che leggerlo!

nicknicknicknick reviewed The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Review of 'Sirens of Titan' on Goodreads

4 stars

1) ''When Rumfoord became the first person to own a private space ship, paying fifty-eight million dollars out of his own pocket for it---that was style.
When the governments of the earth suspended all space exploration because of the chrono-synclastic infundibula, and Rumfoord announced that he was going to Mars---that was style.
When Rumfoord announced that he was taking a perfectly tremendous dog along, as though a space ship were nothing more than a sophisticated sports car, as though a trip to Mars were little more than a spin down the Connecticut Turnpike---that was style.
When it was unknown what would happen if a space ship went into a chrono-synclastic infundibulum, and Rumfoord steered a course straight for the middle of one---that was gallantry indeed.''

2) ''Constant had not tried to fly the space ship. He hadn't dared to touch a single control. The controls of Salo's ship were far …