Product Description

The Sirens of Titan is an outrageous romp through space, time, and morality. The richest, most depraved man on Earth, Malachi Constant, is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Of course there’s a catch to the invitation–and a prophetic vision about the purpose of human life that only Vonnegut has the courage to tell.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34336 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-08
• Released on: 1998-09-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer . . . a zany but moral mad scientist.”—Time

“Reading Vonnegut is addictive!”—Commonweal

“His best book . . . He dares not only ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life, but to answer it.”—Esquire

From the Publisher
8 1-hour cassettes

About the Author
Kurt Vonnegut’s black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959 and established him as “a true artist” (The New York Times) with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Mr. Vonnegut passed away in April 2007.

Customer Reviews

The best Vonnegut novel I have read
This is my fifth Vonnegut novel (I have already read Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Breakfast of Champions) and I can say with confidence that The Sirens of Titan is the best in this group.

It is neat to see Vonnegut's novels evolve over time: Player Piano, while still a masterpiece, is a very conventional novel without a lot of the craziness that is so evident in his later novels. Breakfast of Champions is the most unconventional novel I have ever read, its like the two books were written by two totally different authors.
The Sirens of Titan, on the other hand, is somewhere in the middle. There is a clear plot in the story, much like Player Piano, but it is not as structured as the former. We begin to see the early beginnings of what would later become one of Vonnegut's trademarks: unrelenting sarcasm and irony.

What makes The Sirens of Titan my favorite Vonnegut novel? Everything comes together at the very end. Throughout the novel, there is a clear question looming over the reader and the characters in the book: the purpose of human life. Vonnegut answers this question (or Malachi Constant, rather) in the last few pages of the story, and it is absolutely brilliant. The fact that the author even dared to ask such a question and then answer it, is extraordinary.

It has its moments
I liked the first few sentences and that's why I bought it. I imagined it would be a reflective read.

The book is very imaginative and at times quite complex in the range of psychological, theological, and political undertones. The author has a caustic sense of humour, the sarcasm is hillarious but at times disturbing. I was in particular moved by the part that describes the violent destruction of the Martian army, which turned out to be ordinary people, including women and children.

The author makes a valid point about the stance we take towards our accomplishments and self-worth, and things we attribute to ourselves such as the will of god and luck. For a related view, read Black Swan by Taleb, as well as other work discussing the role of chance in human life and our perception of chance.

By the end of the book, the author started rambling. It felt as if he was rushing to finish it and there wasn't much left to say. I must admit, I skimmed the last chapter or two. The imaginativeness started to get a bit annoying and repetitive. If you are a fan of Brecht's plays, you may enjoy this style.

I definitely feel I took a lot from this book and enjoyed reading it, but the last 25% put a dent in my experience.

I guess that someone up there likes me
This was one of the better books that I have read. Vonnegut is one crazy cat. I loved the whole church of God the utterly indiferent concept, it rocked my world. This was the second Vonnegut book that I have read and it won't be my last