Today is October-31-2020, and I just finished reading The Sirens of Titan for a second time. It's crystal clear to me right now that reading this book 35 years ago, in 1984, marked the beginning of my long voyage into sea stories and science fiction.
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| Sirens of Titan cover art by Peter Elson |
It was 1984. I was 22. In the US Navy. In Hawaii, at Pearl Harbor. Prior to that time I had not been in the habit of reading books. Sure I'd read a few novels assigned by English teachers in high school, but I had not until around about that time, in the early 1980s, been in the habit of finding book stores and browsing the stacks and picking out things that I wanted to read. I had a sea bag, a heavy canvas cylindrical bag issues to me by the US Navy during boot camp. And in my sea bag, I had begun to pack, along with my boondocker boots and cracker jack sailor suit, several books to read when we shipped out on a cruise. I recall having a stack of paperbacks, perhaps Cujo by Stephen King, Dessert Solitaire by Edward Abbey, Blackjack for Beginners, Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castenada and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Aboard the ship I wore baggy green canvas coveralls and always had a book in the back pocket. There were many opportunities to curl up somewhere in a corner, or while waiting on the long chow line to read. And I read voraciously during those days at sea. I still do.
Reading The Sirens of Titan was a foundational, primary experience in my life. This particular novel, a blend of literature, sea story and science fiction, written by one of the most zany and creative literary minds ever, was so perfectly matched to my situation and my personality, that it actually rearranged my brain. I'd go as far as to say it began the process of plotting the course of my life to college, travels abroad, a career in high tech manufacturing and the clean energy industry, and writing sea stories and science fiction (as well as horror and crime). The Sirens of Titan was the literary opioid that sparked my life long addiction to sea stories and science fiction. It was during those early-20s-years when I was craving travel, adventure, relationships, experiences, those years when we chase the dragon, those years when we go hard, when all we really crave is for life to put a dent in us. And Sirens of Titan put a dent in my memories that will last forever.
SEA STORIES: Dozens of sailors among the crew of 5,000 were my friends. We worked, ate and lived together while steaming from San Francisco to Hawaii, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mombasa, Perth, Sasebo, all ports across the Pacific and Indian Ocean. We went on shore leave, went sight seeing, shopping, to movies, gardens, amusement parks, bars and nightclubs. We went to hotels and down alleys, up back stairs to apartments with local people who enjoyed hanging out with sailors. SEA STORIES.
SCIENCE: After months of intensive training as a jet mechanic we set off from San Francisco aboard the USS Enterprise. Powered by 8 nuclear reactors, the Enterprise was, at the time, the largest conglomeration of nuclear reactors in the world. My job was to troubleshoot and repair aircraft hydraulic components. On the flight deck of the ship, F14 Tomcat fighter jets blasted off with tongues of fire rocketing from their afterburners, A7 Corsairs slammed down and grabbed an arresting cables with their tail hook in a controlled crash landing. Nuclear reactors, jet aircraft, steam powered catapults, arresting gear. SCIENCE.
If you enjoy a good Sea Story, these two salty tales are free on all eReaders.
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