Community Reviews
[bc:The Sirens of Titan|304752|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320533763l/304752._SY75_.jpg|905970] sometimes made me laugh, but for a book this tiny, it was surprising how long it took me to get through.
[b:The Sirens of Titan|6588742|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434604850l/6588742._SY75_.jpg|905970] by [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] was our Crownpoint Pharmacy Student book club selection for July 2020. Vonnegut wrote the book with simple, short, repetitive sentences. Sometimes, I find myself mimicking the sentence structures of the authors. Does that happen to you?
Since I knew I would be hosting a book club, I looked for food and color clues of what to serve and what to wear. There were plenty of random references to culture, such as Tweety and Sylvester, The Miserable Ones, The Whale (the name of the spaceship, as in Jonah and the whale), and many others I didn't catch. Ultimately, I settled on decor with pictures of Saturn*, since Titan is a moon of Saturn.
Although it's a difficult read, [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] explores multiple themes in his book and generated lots of discussion for our book club. The book club also helped me dissect the novel a bit more and made me feel better about spending my time reading this book.
I recommend [b:The Sirens of Titan|304752|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320533763l/304752._SY75_.jpg|905970] for those who want to 1) gain familiarity with [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg]'s work and views 2) enjoy dark humor, and 3) piece together seemingly loose pieces and dissect themes.
Themes
Free will = lacking: None of the characters have chosen to be in their position, but external forces drive the characters, and they can only try to make the best of it.
Religion = unsatisfactory explanation: Malachi's father (Noel Constant) used the Bible as a tool to invest in the stock market and acquired a huge fortune. Rumfoord became the founder of the Church of God, the Utterly Indifferent. Rumfoord exiled Malachi to Titan, where he found personal contentment without spiritual insight. It's easier to grapple with the interaction between the Old Testament Jonah (Malachi) and a New Testament Messiah (Rumfoord) when you keep in mind that Vonnegut is a novelist and not a theologian.
Women = vain & can bear children: Rumfoord promised that the women on Titan are infinitely more beautiful than the women on Earth, showing him a picture of three stunning, scantily clad women of different colors (the Sirens). Although Malachi was raised by his mother and didn't meet his father until he was an adult, Florence, was never featured. Beatrice Rumfoord (Bee), the main female character, was also portrayed as an arrogant woman who hates her husband and cannot stand imperfection.
Even the genre of the book is up for discussion: Some may categorize [b:The Sirens of Titan|304752|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320533763l/304752._SY75_.jpg|905970] as a sub-genre of science fiction with satirical social commentary. But [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] seems to make fun of science fiction.
*Thank you, ABQ Library, for the beautiful copies of @NatGeo books & @DKBooks on space!
[b:The Sirens of Titan|6588742|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434604850l/6588742._SY75_.jpg|905970] by [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] was our Crownpoint Pharmacy Student book club selection for July 2020. Vonnegut wrote the book with simple, short, repetitive sentences. Sometimes, I find myself mimicking the sentence structures of the authors. Does that happen to you?
Since I knew I would be hosting a book club, I looked for food and color clues of what to serve and what to wear. There were plenty of random references to culture, such as Tweety and Sylvester, The Miserable Ones, The Whale (the name of the spaceship, as in Jonah and the whale), and many others I didn't catch. Ultimately, I settled on decor with pictures of Saturn*, since Titan is a moon of Saturn.
Although it's a difficult read, [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] explores multiple themes in his book and generated lots of discussion for our book club. The book club also helped me dissect the novel a bit more and made me feel better about spending my time reading this book.
I recommend [b:The Sirens of Titan|304752|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320533763l/304752._SY75_.jpg|905970] for those who want to 1) gain familiarity with [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg]'s work and views 2) enjoy dark humor, and 3) piece together seemingly loose pieces and dissect themes.
Themes
Free will = lacking: None of the characters have chosen to be in their position, but external forces drive the characters, and they can only try to make the best of it.
Religion = unsatisfactory explanation: Malachi's father (Noel Constant) used the Bible as a tool to invest in the stock market and acquired a huge fortune. Rumfoord became the founder of the Church of God, the Utterly Indifferent. Rumfoord exiled Malachi to Titan, where he found personal contentment without spiritual insight. It's easier to grapple with the interaction between the Old Testament Jonah (Malachi) and a New Testament Messiah (Rumfoord) when you keep in mind that Vonnegut is a novelist and not a theologian.
Women = vain & can bear children: Rumfoord promised that the women on Titan are infinitely more beautiful than the women on Earth, showing him a picture of three stunning, scantily clad women of different colors (the Sirens). Although Malachi was raised by his mother and didn't meet his father until he was an adult, Florence, was never featured. Beatrice Rumfoord (Bee), the main female character, was also portrayed as an arrogant woman who hates her husband and cannot stand imperfection.
Even the genre of the book is up for discussion: Some may categorize [b:The Sirens of Titan|304752|The Sirens of Titan|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320533763l/304752._SY75_.jpg|905970] as a sub-genre of science fiction with satirical social commentary. But [a:Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|2778055|Kurt Vonnegut Jr.|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433582280p2/2778055.jpg] seems to make fun of science fiction.
*Thank you, ABQ Library, for the beautiful copies of @NatGeo books & @DKBooks on space!
