Rating: 
Summary: whence the high acclaims?
Review: A lot of people seem to feel this is Vonnegut's best work. Be that as it may, I still wasn't very impressed. It was, however, better than the only other Vonnegut book I've read, Player Piano. But that isn't saying much. The book does have a somewhat humorous and not completely tired premise. However, that hardly makes up for the many weaknesses of the book. The first shortcoming is the poor characterization. Indeed, for the majority of the book the main character is a tabla rasa, virtually all personality wiped clean by induced amnesia, a tired trick if there ever was one. What little glimpses of his personality we had been given earlier in the book are obliterated under this hackneyed device. The other characters are equally flat and cardboard: the child savior, the virgin mother, the manipulator of events, all of them are flat and unconvincing. (One complaint about Vonnegut's writing. I wouldn't go so far as to say he is an outright misogynist but he not only cannot write female characters he has absolutely no imagination regarding them, either. This book is supposed to take place in a future not too far from our own yet we have a female character who attended a finishing school (how prevalent were those even back in 1959?) and has been married for seven years but is still a virgin. How are we supposed to take Vonnegut seriously when his characters are laughable caricatures?) While very little science fiction ages well, Vonnegut's is especially bad. Other authors, like Arthur C. Clarke actually took pains to understand not only current society and technology but the ways in which they might change in the future. Vonnegut does nothing of the sort. The ease with which Rumfoord wipes away all of the religions of the world is a joke. It comes across as nothing so much as Vonnegut writing himself into a corner and not knowing how to get out without some sleight of hand and hoping the reader doesn't notice. Unfortunately the book is full of such problems. For instance, why does Unk so readily agree to spend the rest of his life on Titan? Why do the woman and her child go with him? Why does Rumfoord want Unk to go to Titan in the first place? What is the point of Unk's time on Mercury? Speaking of Mercury, the riddle of how to escape was beyond stupid. Vonnegut apparently is unfamiliar with the concept of gravity. Are we to believe that a ship that only takes off and lands vertically would somehow be able to fly upside down? Once again it feels like the author has a destination in mind (getting the main characters to Titan so he can reveal his revelation about the meaning of life) but hasn't a clue about how to get them there without resorting to deus ex machinas. Finally we get to the climax of the book, where we are promised that, despite the apparent pointlessness of existence, Vonnegut will actually explain the point of existence. To be sure, it is a cute and vaguely clever explanation. However, it is certainly not an explanation of why we exist. If anything, it is an explanation of why we do the things we do. Which is hardly the same thing at all. Vonnegut seems to have confused the themes of this book: the majority of his book seems to be about the pointlessness of existence, yet at the end he fails to address the question in any way whatsoever. Which is fine, there's no reason it has to be answered. But he proffers an answer as if he were answering that question when he is actually answering a completely different one. One time at a party Vonnegut was told by his publisher that he should write another book. He responded that he already had an idea for one. The publisher took him into the bedroom and Vonnegut proceeded to explain what would become The Sirens of Titan. The only problem was he had lied. He hadn't had an idea for a book. He had made it up on the spur of the moment when the publisher asked for details. It seems like he never bothered to go back and fill in the details that this book badly needed. It is a decent read, but with all those problems never addressed, it is prevented from being a great read
Rating: 
Summary: Complex yet simple
Review: Were dinosaurs on this planet only for the purpose of providing modern-day man with a fuel source? The Sirens of Titan is a wild ride through the imagination of Kurt Vonnegut. The protagonist, an ordinary man cum messiah, takes himself and a constantly metamorphasizing cast of characters through amazing adventures, on many planets... for one simple purpose. It is the purpose of these travels that leave the reader pondering his/her role in the future of the universe. As always, this Vonnegut creation was impossible to put down. Entertaining and thought provoking, yet borderline absurd, I would recommend it to any reader enjoying satire.
Rating: 
Summary: Only the age of the book is a distraction
Review: This book is certainly one of Vonnegut's strongest and most imaginative works. The only downside is that, being over forty years old, much of the "science" half of the science-fiction seems a little more absurd than it must have when it first appeared. But as a societal satire it still can't be beat. This book may not be the best place to start for someone unfamiliar with his other works, but is a must read for anyone who has enjoyed his other classics.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut at his Best
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books. I first read this book when I was in high school. I so loved the work that I went on to read the rest of the books written by Vonnegut. Since then, I have become a voracious reader. It is all because of this book. It was perhaps the first book that taught me the joy of reading. Looking back on it now, I think of how it warned me of chasing my own sirens in life. If only then I had understood the book as I do now! Perhaps I could have avoided a wrong turn or two. In any event, this is really one of those books that everyone needs to read at least once.
Rating:
Summary: I don't mean to be rude, but what's all the fuss about?
Review: Vonnegut ranks in my mind as one of our most brilliant modern authors... and that's no small claim. But in Sirens of Titan, he's not at his peak of humor, and you can tell that it's an earlier, less certain philosophy driving things. The book takes an ever-building ball of sci-fi wackiness approach... although... not that wacky. And despite Vonnegut being basically an optimist and lover at heart, that stuff only gets a few lines air play throughout the book and there's much more dwelling on the humbugging. What hurts though, is that a lot of people could have written something like this, but when it has Vonnegut's name on it, people see it in a whole new light. I guess that's fair, considering his better accomplishments, and even the reason I'll still award the book 4 stars even though for me it was a ramble that didn't connect much, maybe because I'm too much of a conniseur of the 'refined, artful' ramble at this point... :) Read this if you feel like it, but Vonnegut really comes into his own in later works.
Rating:
Summary: Vonnegut's unsung glory
Review: The Sirens of Titan is the best Vonnegut book that nobody has ever heard of. Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse five get all the credit, but this book is Vonnegut's real achievement. With a bizarre story line that spans Earth, Mars and a Venetian moon, Vonnegut is able to bring about the ultimate joke: that of mankind's existance. At once hysterical and scathing, Vonnegut's view of human kind and the role that fate plays in all of our lives is summed up no better in any of his other works than it is in The Sirens of Titan. It would be possible to discuss how Malachi Constant, the main character, is evident of the fact that fate is fate and you can not run from it, as he tries to do, for you only end up walking right down the path that has been prescribed for you, as he ends up doing. But this book also transcends such Calvinistic thought by pointing out that whatever road you are on, and whether it is your choice that brought you there or the will of a marooned alien, it is still your road and you must make of it all that you can.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Vonnegut novels.
Review: What is the purpose of life? "Death," according to Sigmund Freud. "To Glorify God," according to Martin Luther. "To love whomever is around to be loved," according to a reformed Malachi Constant. This very early work differs significantly from KV's later and more famous books, but it's got a definite appeal. Vonnegut thinly conceals his brilliantly simple philosophy in a straight-forward science fiction story that can be enjoyed on several levels. On one hand, he gives us a thouroughly enjoyable fantasy story, complete with the aliens from Tralfamadore which later appear in "Slaughterhouse-Five." On the other, with characters like Malachi Constant, who does everything to excess, to Beatrice Rumfoord, who barely lives at all, he reveals a deep insight about the apparent pointlessness of life. But he believes, in spite of all the contrary evidence, that life does indeed have a purpose...and he REVEALS IT. Granted, this is an audacious endeavor, but Vonnegut has actually come up with one of the best answers to a question as old as consciousness that humanity has produced thus far. Fun, fast reading that won't disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: One of the truely great books
Review: This book is amazing...even reveals the meaning of life.
Rating:
Summary: Totally weird, but fun!
Review: This book was weird and almost pointless. I thoroughly enjoyed that about it, as I was in need of a light read. I can always count on Vonnegut's strange, quirky humor to ease the stress of my overworked mind. I recommend this book to those who aren't seeking a message, who aren't looking to be told what to think, and who just want some odd, enjoyable storytelling. Emphasis on odd.
Rating:
Summary: The best book that I still don't get
Review: This is a great book, but, as with alot of Vonnegut's books, also very profound. In fact, his books are so profound that I find I have a hard time always understanding them! Not that this fact makes his books any less enjoyable to read, but just shows how well crafted his books are on every level. On just a basic level, Sirens is just a good read, full of humor and wit. But Vonnegut also has alot to say about humanity and yes, even the meaning of life. I am not sure how to even describe the plot, but it has something to do with the predestined journey of Malachi Constant from Earth to Mars to Mercury to Earth to Titan and back to Earth again. And through this, Vonnegut makes statements about religion, fate, the military, friendship, and humanity. Not a book that is easy to wrap your mind around, but still one for the must-read lists.
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