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The Sirens of Titan- Kurt Vonnegut
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May. 19th, 2009 | 09:00 pm
The scariest thing about Kurt Vonnegut is that he makes perfect sense.
Which is perhaps why so many people don't like him: we as humans ten to not like that which we fear.
Vonnegut published his novel, The Sirens of Titan, a story of alien invasion, sustainable life on other planets, and a united world in 1959- several years before humans even landed on the moon. In Vonnegut's fictitious, or prophetic universe however, we find Winston Niles Rumfoord, a man involved in an accident with a chrono-synclastic infundibula that can now materialize throughout the solar system, controlling Earth like a pawn on a chessboard.
After building a civilization on Mars he sends them to their slaughter by initiating an "attack" on Earth, designed to unite the world into a Brotherhood of Man that follows his created religion of God the Utterly Indifferent. It is, of course, more complicated than that. And in the end...I won't spoil it, but let's just say that Rumfoord wasn't quite as in control as he thought.
Vonnegut's novel is so easy to read that occasionally you forget that you're contemplating the meaning of life. The book is fast-paced, funny, and profound. The characters are original and well rounded, interesting although not terribly likeable. The reader is, however, compelled to find out what happens to them next.
For those who are too nervous to ponder their own existence and those with a complete lack of a sense of humor, I don't recommend this book. Everyone else should get at least a little enjoyment out of it.
So what IS the meaning of life? According to Malachi Constant, more or less the protagonist of the novel, it is "to love whoever is around to be loved." The machines of Tralfamadore "reported in all honesty that the creatures couldn't really be said to have a any purpose at all."
The meaning of life is for you to decide once you've read the book. For me? God the Utterly Indifferent is the most plausible explanation I've heard so far.
Which is perhaps why so many people don't like him: we as humans ten to not like that which we fear.
Vonnegut published his novel, The Sirens of Titan, a story of alien invasion, sustainable life on other planets, and a united world in 1959- several years before humans even landed on the moon. In Vonnegut's fictitious, or prophetic universe however, we find Winston Niles Rumfoord, a man involved in an accident with a chrono-synclastic infundibula that can now materialize throughout the solar system, controlling Earth like a pawn on a chessboard.
After building a civilization on Mars he sends them to their slaughter by initiating an "attack" on Earth, designed to unite the world into a Brotherhood of Man that follows his created religion of God the Utterly Indifferent. It is, of course, more complicated than that. And in the end...I won't spoil it, but let's just say that Rumfoord wasn't quite as in control as he thought.
Vonnegut's novel is so easy to read that occasionally you forget that you're contemplating the meaning of life. The book is fast-paced, funny, and profound. The characters are original and well rounded, interesting although not terribly likeable. The reader is, however, compelled to find out what happens to them next.
For those who are too nervous to ponder their own existence and those with a complete lack of a sense of humor, I don't recommend this book. Everyone else should get at least a little enjoyment out of it.
So what IS the meaning of life? According to Malachi Constant, more or less the protagonist of the novel, it is "to love whoever is around to be loved." The machines of Tralfamadore "reported in all honesty that the creatures couldn't really be said to have a any purpose at all."
The meaning of life is for you to decide once you've read the book. For me? God the Utterly Indifferent is the most plausible explanation I've heard so far.
