A Series of Accidents

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	• The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut The Dial Press, 1998 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 152 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Series of Accidents

In Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut combines science fiction with irreverent humor in a tribute to the funniest aspect of human existence: the utter random pointlessness of our lives, which are governed by a mostly illusory sense of free will. Malachi Constant, the book's hero and anti-hero, finds himself haplessly swept away by an interplanetary "series of accidents," which eventually have him participating in the Martian invasion of his own planet. Though he is a depraved character, obscenely wealthy and self-indulgent, one can't help but sympathize with him and his fumbling search for the one thing that may redeem his otherwise meaningless existence.

Much more cannot be said without ruining the novel's twisting (and somewhat twisted) plot. It is a great read, both funny and philosophical.

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Great!

The protagonist is Malachi Constant, originally of Hollywood, California, and the richest man in 22nd-century America. He possesses extraordinary luck, which he has used to build upon his father's fortune, but he has done nothing else significant with his life. He becomes the centerpoint of a journey that takes him from Earth to Mars in preparation for an interplanetary war, to Mercury with another Martian survivor of that war, back to Earth to be pilloried as a sign of God's displeasure, and finally to Saturn's moon Titan to meet the man responsible for his respective good fortunes (or lack thereof), Winston Niles Rumfoord.

Once on Titan, the non-robotic robot Salo is introduced, and is perhaps one of the most sympathetic characters ever created by Vonnegut - which is saying a lot. This book is chock-full of more of Vonnegut's wit and clever observations about the human race, and after reading it I found myself staring at the sky and wondering if there really was something out there so beautiful as the Sirens of Titan.

Relic113

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My Favorite Vonnegut

One of Vonnegut's earliest works and, in my opinion, possibly his best, The Sirens of Titan sees Vonnegut doing what he does so well...taking all the self-importance of humanity and reducing it to a mindnumbingly unimportant task. A book of such scope that it includes a fair portion of our solar system, it is only fitting that the ending is such as it is (I'll avoid putting a spoiler here). His wit, as always, is bitingly accurate, and we should all give great praise unto Vonnegut, if only for reminding us to take another moment to measure the scope of the universe and our size within it.

If you're interested in beginning a dive into Vonnegut, then this is as good a place to start as any other, and perhaps better than many.

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Good stuff

Mr. Vonnegut and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Indianapolis (as did David Letterman.) The sense of humor seems to be geographical as I find Mr. Vonnegut's books to be very funny while folks from other parts of the country often scratch their heads and complain about the fact that Vonnegut fails to fit into any one genre comfortably.

What struck me most about "Sirens of Titan" was how influential it must have been on Douglas Adams when he wrote "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Anyway, it's a good book. Give it a shot.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The richest and most depraved man on Earth takes a wild space journey to distant worlds, learning about the purpose of human life along the way.

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