Read for my resolution to read Classic Sci-Fi

3/5 stars.

This isn't my first Kurt Vonnegut. I read Slaughterhouse-Five back in high school, but neither me nor my classmates nor anyone else who went to school in that era remembers it much. Perhaps a re-read is deserved. Hopefully, it'll be better than this.

The Sirens of Titan is about Malachi Constant, also called Unk or the Space Wanderer, the son of one of the world's most richest men. He catches the attention of Winston Niles Rumfoord, a man, along with his dog Kazak, who encountered a strange cosmic anomaly that allows them to physically materialize wherever they want and gives Rumfoord precognition. Along with Rumfoor's wife Beatrice, also called Bee, and her son Chrono, Malachi is thrown into some bizarre space shenanigans that are ultimately a philosophy about meaning in the universe. And boy is it weird.

This was one of the most "Okayest" experiences I've had reading a book. Aside from the ending, I didn't love it a lot--and I'm not saying I loved the ending because it ended. I didn't hate it either, even though there are some unsettling things in here. I just wasn't blown away by it like everyone else was.

Vonnegut answers the mysteries to the universe, particularly about God, but I was neither riled by those answers, nor moved, nor depressed by them. Ultimately, Vonnegut's message is that the universe and/or God doesn't really care about what we do and we should draw some sort of purpose out of that. The thing is, one, Vonnegut doesn't deliver this message in some sort of awe-inspiring way; not his style, I guess. So, I honestly felt like I just had some random stranger on the street walk up to me, say some stuff, and then walk away without it ever hitting me. Second, Vonnegut doesn't seem like he's trying to convince people of this view. Rather, it seems like he's speaking to those who already share his ideology--the influence on Stranger in a Strange Land can be seen!

It's an alright philosophy, I guess, but at some points in the story, it's enacted weirdly. For example, when Malachi gets back to Earth after being on both Mars and Mercury he says "Thank God!" and the minister of the Church of the Utterly Indifferent--Vonnegut's quite playful approach to organized religion--admonishes him for doing so. "Thank God!" isn't necessarily a religious pronouncement or some invoking any God(s). Plenty of non-religious people say it as a knee-jerk response to something good happening; there's no evidence that Malachi was ever religious. Another weird enactment is that when Beatrice/Bea is banished to Titan along with Malachi and their son Chrono, it is done because her accusers claim that she sees herself as unique among humanity, if not by God then herself. Where did she act like this or do this??? At most, she was just tired of Rumfoord's shit which by the end of the book I was too.

The book's plot doesn't really exist beyond Malachi has to go to Titan with Bea/Beatrice and Chrono because Rumfoord said so. There's also something about three beautiful siren women who don't make any actual appearances beyond artwork and pictures. Seriously! What is the point of the sirens!? Towards the end of the book we're told that Malachi knew what they once meant, but what is that? His sexual/romantic desires?

In terms of characters, I kind of like Malachi and Bea/Beatrice only because of what they went through. Every other character, except the robot Salo, was just either dislikeable or not memorable. Malachi is forced to go through some weird stuff in space he doesn't understand, war, and being forced to kill his best friend and loneliness. Bea/Beatrice has to deal with being treated like shit and having to tell everyone off. At one point we learn that Malachi, with no control over his own body as far as I can tell, raped Bea/Beatrice and that's how Chrono came to be. She later thanks Malachi for this--LIKE SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL!? Eventually they both die at an old age and Chrono goes and lives with the Titan birds or something. Malachi is taken back to Earth by Salo who just wanted a friend and before he dies Salo lets Malachi have a vision of his dead best friend take him to Heaven. It was actually kind of sad, but it was the only moment I felt moved by.

Maybe I should have just gone back to Slaughterhouse-Five, I don't know. This was just okay.

Ah, Kurt Vonnegut. I wouldn't say this one is his best, but I do enjoy his work. It's hard not to feel wry and comfortable in his company. Human nature, he seems to say, is well and truly messed up. The universe doesn't give a rat's ass about us. But instead of that making us bitter, it means we need to love each other more, be kinder, be connected. It's hard not to be affected by that.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

This is a classic satirical SF by Kurt Vonnegut, his second novel. The book was nominated for Hugo Award in 1960. I read as a part of the Monthly reads for December 2019 in Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group.

This is a mainstream book masquerading as a SF novel. What I mean by that is that the author doesn’t try to built ‘what if’ worlds but to comment on contemporary (and eternal) issues. One of the examples, which won’t spoil the story. There is a form of life on Mercury, Harmonioums

They have weak powers of telepathy. The messages they are capable of transmitting and receiving are almost as monotonous as the song of Mercury. They have only two possible messages. The first is an automatic response to the second, and the second is an automatic reponse to the first.

The first is, "Here I am, here I am, here I am."

The second is, "So glad you are, so glad you are, so glad you are."

It is nice and witty and I do like it but one can see that it is not an attempt to produce believable xenophorms, moreover, it mock the very idea that it is either necessary or feasible.

Just like most of his later novels there is a list of repeating themes: parodying organized religions with on a surface ridiculous cults (here it is The Church of God the Utterly Indifferent), opposing wars (here by suicidal attack by Martians) and “the American way of life”, including excesses of capitalism.

"The flag of that church will be blue and gold," said Rumfoord. "These words will be written on that flag in gold letters on a blue field: Take Care of the People, and God Almighty Will Take Care of Himself.

"The two chief teachings of this religion are these," said Rumfoord: "Puny man can do nothing at all to help or please God Almighty, and Luck is not the hand of God.

The formal protagonist is the wealthiest man alive ($3 bn, lol) Malachi Constant. His name meant faithful messenger and his motto under the coat of arms that Constant had designed for himself said simply, The Messenger Awaits. (What Constant had in mind, presumably, was a first-class message from God to someone equally distinguished.) his surname most likely best described by this Constant smiled at that—the warning to be punctual. To be punctual meant to exist as a point, meant that as well as to arrive somewhere on time. Constant existed as a point—could not imagine what it would be like to exist in any other way.

Once he meets with another wealthy man, Winston Niles Rumfoord, suffering (?) from chrono-synclastic infundibula i.e. being smeared across the time, so past and the future are the same for him. Rumfoord prophesizes Constant’s future (And book’s plotline), so we know what but not how or why.

An interesting read, still relevant in some parts.