Bibliograph

The sirens of titan, Kurt Vonnegut

Type

Label

The sirens of titan, Kurt Vonnegut

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Intended audience

980L, Lexile

Literary Form

fiction

Main title

The sirens of titan

Medium

electronic resource eBook

Nature of contents

dictionaries

resource.readingGradeLevel

Grade 9 - Grade 12

Responsibility statement

Kurt Vonnegut

Summary

The Sirens of Titan (1959), Vonnegut's second novel, was on the Hugo final ballot along with Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers and lost in what Harlan Ellison called a monumental injustice. Malachi Constant is a feckless but ultimately good-hearted millionaire who, in this incondensable interplanetary Candide (lacking perhaps Voltaire's utter bitterness), searches the solar system for the ultimate meaning of existence.Constant is aided by another tycoon, Winston Rumfoord, who, with the help of aliens, has discovered the fundamental meaning of life. With the help of Salo—an alien robot overseeing the alien race, the Tralmafordians (who also feature in Slaughterhouse-Five)—Constant attempts to find some cosmic sense and order in the face of universal malevolence. Constant and Rumfoord deal with the metaphysics of "chrono-synclastic infundibula" and the interference of the Tralmafadorians. The novel is pervaded by a goofy, episodic charm..

Table Of Contents

Preliminaries; Copyright; Contents; eForeword; Chapter 1 Between Timid And Timbuktu; Chapter 2 Cheers In The Wirehouse; Chapter 3 United Hotcake Preferred; Chapter 4 Tent Rentals; Chapter 5 Letter From An Unknown Hero; Chapter 6 A Deserter In Time of War; Chapter 7 Victory; Chapter 8 In A Hollywood Night Club; Chapter 9 A Puzzle Solved; Chapter 10 An Age of Miracles; Chapter 11 We Hate Malachi Constant Because ... ; Chapter 12 The Gentleman From Tralfamadore; Epilogue Reunion With Stony

Contributor