In The Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut's writing style is very relaxed, and is written so that a child could probably read it. This style is not common for him, but it works very well for this book, because it helps get the themes across in a much more presentable way.
"The Freshening sea breeze ruffled Constant's blue-black hair. He was a well made man-a light heavy-weight, dark-skinned, with poet's lips, with soft brown eyes in the shaded caves of a Cro-Magnon brow-ridge. He was thirty-one.
He was worth three billion dollars, much of it inherited.
His name meant faithful messenger.
He was a speculator, mostly in corporate securities.
In the depression that always followed his taking of alcohol, narcotics, and women, Constant pined for just one thing-a single message that was sufficiently and important to merit his carrying it humbly between two points.
The motto under the coat of arms that Constant had designed for himself simply said The Messenger Awaits.
What Constant had in mind, presumably, was a first-class message from God to someone equally distinguished." (11, 12)
In Sirens, Vonnegut’s main theme is ‘purposefulness’, and how to attain it. Malachi Constant always wanted to fulfill his name and be a messenger, but never got a chance. He wished for a purpose, but found none in the midst of his hectic and depraved lifestyle. Once he meets Rumfoord, his journey for purpose begins. All that he goes through in the book-Kidnapped and sent to Mars, trapped on Mercury, and then finally sent to Earth again- plays into his role as ‘The Space Wanderer’, a weird man who bring the prophetic message of a new religion, to which Rumfoord is the leader.
Vonnegut’s laid-back writing style solidifies all that he says by making all of the explanations of scientific happenings, literary references, and historical events that he references make it sound like they’re being read to a kid. And this is a much more effective way to have an idea retained in the readers’ mind.
Considering I am currently in my 4th week of 11th grade, I can not honestly say I know much about what is going on. Junior seems like the kind of year that has its ups and downs, but in the extremes. ‘Yay, awesome classes!’, ‘Oh crap, the SATs.’ What I do know, is that this year won’t be a smooth ride, no matter what. So anything that can be done to ease it should be done. This includes what books are read in English class. This could possibly include One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
First off, EK-AAT…
Look at this guy, he’s attention-grabbing and colorful, you know you wanna read him, right?
Wrong.
Although this book seemed interesting before I read it, I was turned off of it before the end of the first chapter. It was difficult to grasp, used slang, confusing, and above all else, repetitious.
Over-all, I would not recommend this book for the 11th grade English course.
Next, Cuckoo’s Nest:
OK, enough negativity, moving onto the better book of the two: Cuckoo’s Nest. This book was far superior, in my opinion. It had none of the bad aspects of the other book. First off, it is much clearer than Acid Test, even though Kesey WAS on drugs while write, while Wolfe was not. Next, the idea of a story about mental patients who go through what they do is far more interesting than listening to tales of The Merry Pranksters trip, take a bus trip, disturb something, trip, take a trip, and mess something up…Again, and again….
This book definitely has the potential to be inspiring and educational, rather than just a book to be read, and I would definitely recommend it for the 11th grade English course.
