It's amazing how perspective adds so much to how a book makes you feel. This time around, knowing the big reveal, I kept expecting the entire book to be just as exciting as the last few chapters, but truthfully, it was a little slow. I can't remember what I thought about Malachi Constant, our "hero," initially, but this time around I really didn't feel anything for him at all. Having read so much Vonnegut now, ti was easier to see how rough his style was here in his first book. And, while I still absolutely love the story, it didn't blow me away like it did before.
I feel like I took something totally different away from Sirens at this read than I did initially. At first read, this book was about the meaning of life and how disappointing and humorous humanity's "actual" purpose was. I loved the f-you to the scientific community about life on earth and evolution. This time around, the book was about emotion - how living without it makes you do stupid things, like invade Earth, and living with too much can make you a crazy zealot. Emotion is even powerful enough to force a robot to dismantle himself. In this way, the big reveal for me wasn't about the meaning of life, but rather the revelation of where to reside on the scale of emotional involvement. Malachi sums it up perfectly in the book, "a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
Vonnegut's humor was still delightful with this reread. I love how he plays with reality. I'm still definitely a Vonnegut fan and I still believe that Sirens of Titan is a wonderfully entertaining book, but I'm not sure it's my favorite anymore. I might have to reread Galapagos to see if that's worthy of the #1 spot.
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