Vonnegut In Retrospect: The Sirens of Titan

The Sirens of Titan (1959)

Seven years after his good but not great debut novel, Vonnegut leaps into singular brilliance with The Sirens of Titan. It is couched in sci-fi, but clearly addresses the big questions of life in the here and now on Earth; fate, luck, religion, humanity's purpose. Our hero, Malachi Constant, goes from being a fabulously wealthy Hollywood playboy to a brainwashed member of a Martian army to trapped on Mercury, back to Earth, and finally to Saturn's moon Titan. At the end of it all, he says he has figured out that, "a purpose of a human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." Somewhere in the middle a new religion is formed on Earth: The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent. Vonnegut's famed humanism comes into play: "Take care of the people, and God Almighty will take care of Himself." The settings and characters sprawl, but somehow the book reads razor sharp.

I don't know why I'm writing these little reviews. I obviously have no book reviewing chops. But I'm glad I'm re-reading Vonnegut. He's flipping my wig all over again.

9.2/10