#sirensoftitan

[ririrites]

Sirens of Titan!

Kurt Vonnegut scares me. Slaughterhouse Five not only ruined my perception of him, but also the perception of myself because of how abstract his writing seemed to me. Not gathering the relevance of prior historical knowledge set me up to utter confusion and disappointment reading this book in eighth grade. Also the fact that I did not think I was mature enough to be able to read his book in the first place.

I was young. I never enjoyed history or abstract writing- whatever that may be - until high school. I am sure that if I read the book again, I would be thoroughly intrigued.

That being said, I embarked on another Vonnegut novel, Sirens of Titan. Last year I started reading the book during Quarantine, and I do not know why I stopped reading it - I do not think I could focus on reading it amidst a pandemic.

Fast forward to college, and I am trying to finish reading all the books I did not get to finish in highschool/ been putting off because I have been lazy. . . . Going into the school year, I already had my forbearance against rereading Sirens of Titan, but I pushed through. . . .

I loved this book! Sadly I did not write down any quotes that stuck out to me, but this book gave me great Rosencrantz and Guildenstern vibes only because of the subtle discussions of existentialism and the universe.

Malachi travels from Earth to Mars to Mercury to Earth to Titan, a moon in Saturn’s orbit.

Understanding the multiple layers that Vonnegut must have had when creating this entire adventure - sci fi - commentary novel about our purpose in life, I cannot help but wonder if I like Malachi Constant or not. I think his purpose in the story is to reflect us. There was one point near the falling action of the novel where I pondered: [paraphrased] Malachi Constant could not think of one good thing he has done.

I am sure that we can all think of one good thing that we have done, but in the sense who are we to judge what kind of person we think we are. Actually, it might be two-fold: our opinions of ourselves matters, but also how we treat others and their opinions of us matters, as well. That was a mouthful. All I am saying is that the good that we think we do could be done more.

Malachi was “I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.”

This line was repeated by Malachi when he returned to Earth, and it is endearing. This quote reminds me of Bob Ross because the connotation of “accidents” can be good or bad. Happy Little Accidents vs Bad accidents. Whatever one it was, it makes me feel almost safe in a way. The universe is so fast and unyielding that perhaps we are all accidents that happened to live and love each other on the same timeline, which leads me to the next line that I found online:

“It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” All the times love was mentioned in the novel, it was a task and not very glamorous, but I had not realized that there were so many more subtleties that love comes through as. The novel shows us love prevails all if we so choose to notice who is around us through it all.

The novel moved through space and time taking my attention with it because of how structured it was. Malachi’s downfall as a modern day anti-hero reflects us as we both try to accept fate and find our own sense of free-will within it. How much is written in the stars, and how much is up to us?

Vonnegut has created the universe that we wonder and ponder today as a place of mysticism and a place of which is an all-knowing that both watches how we exist. Everything that happens in his book, has happened, already happened, and will happen, which is how we live our lives now.

I could talk about the novel more than I could write about it.

Kurt Vonnegut does not scare me anymore.

- Riri

[iiolo]

It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved

Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut, 320

[iiolo]

I just finished the Sirens of Titan and it is officially the second book I’ve ever read that has made me cry. Nothing about it was particularly sad, but I think I was moved by the beauty of the message and the unforgiving closure that Vonnegut planned.

[brookdlin]

"He was filled with the heedless, tender violence of a man who has had his lifetime cruelly wasted." . . . Me, if the Chiefs lose too. The Giants already disappointing me... In other news, I've been reading for pleasure tonight and it feels amazing. #KurtVonnegut #SirensofTitan #footballblues #alsovonnegutgivingme #existentialcrisis #stilltho #glitteraf

[janktunes]

Me and one of my favorite books. #glitch #glitchart #fractal #mosaic #kurtvonnegut #sirensoftitan #art #art🎨 #mirror #janktunes #defianceohio #ohio

[tumblarek]

1/14 down the brain. On to #SirensOfTitan.

[octoscribble]

Meant to lend this gem to a friend but I didn't get a chance 🐙 Check it out if you can, especially if you dig #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #kurtvonnegut #sirensoftitan #scifi #satire #recommended #novel #nonfiction (at Oshawa, Ontario)

[flyinglog]

Book Notes:  The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Finally read something by Kurt Vonnegut and it did not disappoint.  The Sirens of Titan is that rare piece of sci fi that doesn’t bog down in the technical details in order to weave a compelling tale of the future.

The book is a piece on the pointless nature of human existence and the illusion of free will.  In this case, Vonnegut creates an intricate story of how even when someone thinks they know the future they can be powerless to the control of others.  The book also highlights how malleable humans are to the idea of a greater power and how even if one exists, our understanding of it and its goals might be completely powerless.  The book also talks a bit about fairness and the role of luck in ones lot and life and how that interlaces with humanity.

My favorite part of the book was the message that was being carried from one end of the universe to the other and for which all of humanity’s existence had served to help keep moving across space.   Greetings.  

Vonnegut’s use of complex words and his thick descriptions of scenes made the reading quite enjoyable - if not slow because I was highlighting and looking up every third word!

I am going to have to stew on this one for a bit before I write a more detailed summary.  

Highlights:

Synclastic (sin-classtick) means curved toward the same side in all directions, like the skin of an orange.

He held up his watch to sunlight, letting it drink in the wherewithal that was to solar watches what money was to Earth men.

parvenu

desiderata.

There are, incidentally, two strong, common words that would have served handsomely, one or the other, in place of all of Kittredge’s jargon. The words are style and gallantry. 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.

"The insane, on occasion, are not without their charms," said Beatrice.

"Look," said Rumfoord, "life for a punctual person is like a roller coaster." He turned to shiver his hands in her face. "All kinds of things are going to happen to you! Sure," he said, "I can see the whole roller coaster you’re on. And sure—I could give you a piece of paper that would tell you about every dip and turn, warn you about every bogeyman that was going to pop out at you in the tunnels. But that wouldn’t help you any." "I don’t see why not," said Beatrice. "Because you’d still have to take the roller-coaster ride," said Rumfoord. "I didn’t design the roller coaster, I don’t own it, and I don’t say who rides and who doesn’t. I just know what it’s shaped like.

Fern read two books a day. It has been said that Aristotle was the last man to be familiar with the whole of his own culture. Ransom K. Fern had made an impressive attempt to equal Aristotle’s achievement. He had been somewhat less successful than Aristotle in perceiving patterns in what he knew. There is a riddle about a man who is locked in a room with nothing but a bed and a calendar, and the question is: How does he survive? The answer is: He eats dates from the calendar and drinks water from the springs of the bed.

The reason I told Ransom K. Fern to give you this letter only if your luck turned bad is that nobody thinks or notices anything as long as his luck is good. Why should he?

The only thing I ever learned was that some people are lucky and other people aren’t and not even a graduate of the Harvard Business School can say why.

When Rumfoord staged a passion play, he used nothing but real people in real hells.

"The worst thing that could possibly happen to anybody," she said, "would be to not be used for anything by anybody."