Sirens Of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
The third Vonnegut I've read. I read Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat's Cradle when I was 19 and 20 and at the time they were my favourite books, I think this is relevant as Vonnegut is often described as being for teenagers. Sirens Of Titan is just as bleak and pessimistic about the world, and just as bright (if not hopeful) about what you can do with what you have as the other 2 I've read. However, approaching it as someone with several more years spent living I have to say that the message fell kind of flat. It was well written and it was a good story, but the characters live such depressing lives that it makes the soul shudder. It's obviously Vonnegut's way of saying "make the most of what you have", but I do think that you can actually take life by the reigns and make something else if what you have isn't all that great. I'm not a fan of accepting helplessness and just getting on with it, I think things can be better and I don't believe in fate, which I think Vonnegut does. That said, I really do like his message about living in the moment and not worrying so much about the past, I just think it's worth thinking about the future and perhaps that makes it eye rolling to read a book with a message telling you to not think too much about the past or the future. Even with my qualms, I can't be too critical of Vonnegut, I think his writing is great, I love his way of spinning a yarn.