The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The fickleness of chance and destiny are a major of theme of this novel-and an appropriate theme for an author who had suffered from random, unpredictable acts of violence over and over again during his brief life. Power reader, music historian and jazz critic Ted Gioia points out how the biographical does seep into this book, in yet another excellent text on Sirens, to be found on Conceptual Fiction.īut the lack of a taut narrative is part of Vonnegut’s intended effect. Still, Vonnegut had had his share of bad luck by 1959, and one would imagine that to be an emotional reservoir for any writer. As a result, I didn’t feel as invested in the characters & the storyline. Just below all the satire of his most known book is a thick layer of emotion, and that’s lacking here. But, it does not feel as invested and personal as SH5.

If I have to believe what I’ve read, it is only in Sirens that Vonnegut really found his voice, and it indeed reads as what I’ve come to expect from him: similar in themes & method. The general consensus is that SH5 is Vonnegut’s masterpiece, so I did not expect Sirens to top it, just as I didn’t expect Cat’s Cradle to top it. Slaughterhouse-Five, one of my all-time favorite books, was published 10 years later. The Sirens Of Titan is Vonnegut’s second novel.

Klein, and in doing so he tackles a lot of other aspects about this novel. The question of genre is exactly the subject of said essay. His voice is critical, satirical, grotesque. The fact that I did find one about The Sirens Of Titan attests to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s status as an author embraced by the literary establishment.Ī big part of that is the fact that Vonnegut did not write clearcut science fiction, but something that seems more important to the uninitiated. I generally read up on book before I review them, and it doesn’t happen a lot I come across a good, thorough scholarly essay that’s available online.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.