Mother Night: A Novel
by Kurt Vonnegut
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Book Reviews of Mother Night: A Novel
Book Review: Be careful who you pretend to be...
Summary: 5 Stars
Is Howard W. Campbell's conscience clear? Should it be? Can Campbell function as an allied agent while spewing hateful propaganda over German radio? Is the good he does spying greater than the harm he does supporting Nazi power and by extension the Holocost and WWII itself?This is Vonnegut's most conventional novel (though none of them is sci-fi really) and Campbell's eventual exile and self-doubt is beautifully and convincingly rendered. Among other things, we are asked if Campbell's attitude--having no politics but a "nation of two" with wife Helga--is sufficient in a time of war. To what extent is he responsible for his actions regardless of his intentions? And what is he to do about it, both during the war and after? Could he have done anything differently or better? Would doing nothing have been better?
Aside from the moral conundrums there is a strongly realized and written novel here that holds its own with any other writer's work, with rich characters and scenes that might surprise the reader of other Vonnegut novels with its conventionality. In particular, Campbell's long exile in New York mourning Helga (and to a lesser extent himself) is often poignant. His nearly domestic relationship with George Kraft during this time is charming. Of course Kurt Vonnegut also puts Campbell in conversation with fellow Haifa prisoner Adolf Eichman, as only K.V. would do. One of Vonnegut's best.
Book Review: Perhaps Vonnegut's best attempt at dark humor
Summary: 5 Stars
Mother Night is perhaps the darkest of Kurt Vonnegut's novels in terms of it's storyline and sense of humor. Most of the humor within the book comes from Vonnegut's use of situational irony. The main character, Howard Campbell Jr., spent WWII as a double agent. He was a fairly famous German radio personality (dispensing all sort of pro-Nazi propoganda), and did his best to raise German morale during the war. At the same time, he was sending out coded messages for the allied troops over the radio. When the end of the war came, the US wouldn't aknowledge his part as an agent. Thus, Campbell became a war criminal. The novel, in large part, deals with Campbell's treatment after the war. This is where the irony comes into play. I won't go into what happens to Campbell (so as not to give away crucial elements of the plot. However, when reading, it is as Vonnegut states earlier in the book: be careful what you pretend to be [sic], for what you pretend to be is what you are. This story sticks out amonst Vonnegut's works as one of the most original, and suprising of his books. It is also a good introduction to the philosophies that are embodied in most of Vonnegut's other books. I believe that this particular novel is a good starting point for anyone interested in Vonnegut. (aside: do you ever feel like one of those little kids from Reading Rainbow when you're doing a book review?)Book Review: The Best of Vonnegut
Summary: 5 Stars
Authors have long had a great flaw in portraing good and evil in humans. The characters portrayed in art almost always seem to be either good or evil. Vonnegut, one of the best observers of human nature manages in this book to portray we humans as we really are, a composite of many things.
Our hero, Howard, is a American spy in Germany during WWII. A profession that would be the most nobel and great characters in anything but a Vonnegut work. Here he faces a delema, his cover is that of a Nazi propagandist. He is in fact the finist most convincing Nazi propagandist. The question is which side did he help more.
On the other side of the coin is a absurdly insane American Nazi dentist/embalmer. Yet oddly enough this character has gaps his his racist record. He never writes his insane essays about the inferior teeth of jews and blacks while he's married and loved.
There is an American war hero turned alcoholic who's drivin to take what little joy in Howards life away from him.
A Jew who survives Hitler by forging papers and joining the SS.
A camp survivor who wishes nothing more then forget the whole bloody thing and get on with his life and his mother who gains wisdom through her suffering.
Vonnegut turns the world inside out in what I consider the best literary treatment of human morality ever written
Book Review: valor
Summary: 5 Stars
I once heard this wonderful little quote:"Valor is to do unwitnessed what we would like to do in front of the whole world."
I think this quote applies very aptly to the main character of this book--he traded his wife, his career, and his sanity for a hidden role in a noble cause. At this point many (possibly including the author) would disagree with me. After all, was he not a Nazi? If Germany had won the war, would he not have continued to rant on in his propanganda-filled shows?
Unlikely. Considering how even Russia found out about his status as an American spy, I dare say that his secret would not have remained one for long in the mirror scenario.
The ultimate result of his choice would have been ignominious death no matter what the outcome of the war.
Finally, what about "you could never have served the enemy as well as you served us?" The veracity of that statement is moot to debate because we are not given exact information on the nature of messages he sent. Even if the statement *was* true, the fault would lie with his recruitor and FDR, not himself. The path of being a Nazi propagandist was paved by those two--Campbell could have easily been a neutral playwright through the war, and emerged unscathed in either outcome of the war.
Thus, my contention is that Campbell was a true hero.
Book Review: A Story With Conscience
Summary: 5 Stars
Intellectuals don't always resonate with intellect and occasionally the wisdom from the common man or woman far exceeds that of those who profess to be oh-so-educated and learned.
Kurt Vonnegut was a soldier and American P.O.W. during World War II and the horrors and absurdities he experienced in the fire bombed city of Dresden, Germany (as he helped collect the dead) as well as a sense of humanity generated by it resonate in his many stories and books. MOTHER NIGHT is a very good book, a fast read that carries a tone of conscience, compassion, humor, and a profound need for decency throughout. It tells of just and unjust causes with just and unjust results, of a need for the humane with an underlying appeal for hope.
I came to find Vonnegut's work in the late 60s and being of the era enjoyed them then and smile whenever I leaf through one now. Was I naive then? Probably. Did I come away satisfied from reading his work? Definitely.Vonnegut was a national treasure then. Still is, under th dust.
If you're new to his work start with Slaughterhouse Five and work your way through his books when you have the time or inclination.
You'll be entertained and might even be moved, two benefits that academics seldom achieve with their own tomes.
I'll take a readable story everytime.