Piezocuttlefish's review
The Sirens of Titan
by Kurt Vonnegut
Hmm...I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more, but I suppose I can see why.
You write, "Perhaps it is that I grew up in this sort of philosophical antediluvian state, one in which I never accepted western religion that existentialism needs us to reject, that makes this novel so unmoving to me: God never existed for him to need to die." I read most of Vonnegut for the first time in high school--church school, no less--and The Sirens of Titan and the rest of Vonnegut's works were new, shocking, and freeing for me.
The only Vonnegut book I've read recently is Slaughterhouse-Five, which I definitely still enjoy. I hope you'll give Vonnegut another chance and try that one.
Oops. I think "prelapsarian" better characterises the idea than "antediluvian".
Still, I found almost nothing in the story emotionally engaging. Clearly, in order for the book to be freeing for you, there had to be some sort of emotional bond. To what or whom did you bond in this book?
I'm not sure that statement is true. For the book to be freeing for me, it needed to present new (and, in this case, heretical) ideas, and I needed to enjoy them despite my anxieties about their appropriateness. I don't remember bonding to any particular person or thing in the book. It's been a long time since high school, so I might just be forgetting, but, in general, I recall the book as a whole (along with most of Vonnegut's works) as providing an intellectual stimulus, rather than an emotional one.
Frankly, i found the sirens of titan amazing. It did start off a little slow, with an arrogant character you knew would annoy you - instead, he turned into the much loved unk.
The book had its turning point way before the mercury stint. I think the realisation of whom unk really was, was a twist in itself; as well also the 'role playing' in which rumfoord played, in a knowingly way, throughout the book.
There were twists and turns in most corners of the book, and had enough going on, and enough wonderment to carry on reading.
It is true, that not only are you reading the journey of unk, but you are indeed reading vonneguts characteristics, and even about his very self (This very true and more apparent of Slaughterhouse 5 and timequake.)
The sirens of Titan is a true gem, which everyone should read.
Piezocuttlefish's review
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Piezocuttlefish's review
rating:
bookshelves:
owned
This is the first Vonnegut book I've read. I expected a thoroughly enjoyable experience, as everyone loves Vonnegut. I wish I'd gotten it.
Halfway through the book, I was left wondering when the book would pick up. A few pages later, there was a point (during Unk and Boaz's stint on Mercury) that made me cry, because it seemed for a few moments that I was getting into something substantial, something that would really speak to me. A few pages later, it was gone.
A cover review claims that not only does Vonnegut dare to ask the most important question, he dares also to answer it. It seems that he asked the most important question, took a corner of existentialism's answer to it, dumbed it down a bit, and put a cute plot behind it.
I can't help but think that, since so many other sophisticated readers love this book, that I am simply missing what is wonderful about the book. There are some things that I'm not missing. It has a little bit of Vonnegut's (as I understand) cha...more
Halfway through the book, I was left wondering when the book would pick up. A few pages later, there was a point (during Unk and Boaz's stint on Mercury) that made me cry, because it seemed for a few moments that I was getting into something substantial, something that would really speak to me. A few pages later, it was gone.
A cover review claims that not only does Vonnegut dare to ask the most important question, he dares also to answer it. It seems that he asked the most important question, took a corner of existentialism's answer to it, dumbed it down a bit, and put a cute plot behind it.
I can't help but think that, since so many other sophisticated readers love this book, that I am simply missing what is wonderful about the book. There are some things that I'm not missing. It has a little bit of Vonnegut's (as I understand) cha...more
Hmm...I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more, but I suppose I can see why. You write, "Perhaps it is that I grew up in this sort of philosophical antediluvian state, one in which I never accepted western religion that existentialism needs us to reject, that makes this novel so unmoving to me: God never existed for him to need to die." I read most of Vonnegut for the first time in high school--church school, no less--and The Sirens of Titan and the rest of Vonnegut's works were new, shocking, and freeing for me.
The only Vonnegut book I've read recently is Slaughterhouse-Five, which I definitely still enjoy. I hope you'll give Vonnegut another chance and try that one.
Oops. I think "prelapsarian" better characterises the idea than "antediluvian".Still, I found almost nothing in the story emotionally engaging. Clearly, in order for the book to be freeing for you, there had to be some sort of emotional bond. To what or whom did you bond in this book?
I'm not sure that statement is true. For the book to be freeing for me, it needed to present new (and, in this case, heretical) ideas, and I needed to enjoy them despite my anxieties about their appropriateness. I don't remember bonding to any particular person or thing in the book. It's been a long time since high school, so I might just be forgetting, but, in general, I recall the book as a whole (along with most of Vonnegut's works) as providing an intellectual stimulus, rather than an emotional one.
Frankly, i found the sirens of titan amazing. It did start off a little slow, with an arrogant character you knew would annoy you - instead, he turned into the much loved unk.
The book had its turning point way before the mercury stint. I think the realisation of whom unk really was, was a twist in itself; as well also the 'role playing' in which rumfoord played, in a knowingly way, throughout the book.
There were twists and turns in most corners of the book, and had enough going on, and enough wonderment to carry on reading.
It is true, that not only are you reading the journey of unk, but you are indeed reading vonneguts characteristics, and even about his very self (This very true and more apparent of Slaughterhouse 5 and timequake.)
The sirens of Titan is a true gem, which everyone should read.