The Sirens of Titan is so ridiculous it might just be genius. I had heard of Kurt Vonnegut as I started getting into reading as the crazy psychedelic writer that might just have this whole meaning of life thing figured out. But instead of telling us exactly what it all means he uses time travel, space, and the made up planet of Tralfamadore to allow us to face our own strange existence. Vonnegut’s most famous work is Slaughterhouse-Five, but I actually found that I enjoyed The Sirens of Titan much more. From the first meeting of Malachi and Rumfoord where Rumfoord tells us exactly what is going to happen throughout the whole story to the bitter end you are completely drawn into the madness. What makes the prophecy of Malachi Constant perfect is that although you know what is going to happen upfront you are also defiant like Malachi that any of it can happen. And the beauty of this book is that as you read along you are caught up in the strange life of Malachi and Beatrice, and their son Chrono that you don’t even realize the prophecy is playing out right before your eyes. You share in this with the idiot Malachi too (which sort of makes you feel like an idiot but it’s chill). As you travel through space and time and come barrelling to the finality of the prophecy you realize that even Rumfoord’s manipulation can’t escape the absurdity that is the reason we are all on this Earth: to replace a part in a 200,000 year old ship. I promise this will all make sense if you read this gem.