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Mother Night

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To the best of my knowledge, there really is no other writer quite like Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Mother Night appears to be a rather straightforward, albeit quirky, novel at first glance, but as one delves down into the heart of Vonnegut's prose one finds grounds for contemplation of some of life's most serious issues. This novel is the first-hand account of Howard Campbell, Jr., a most remarkable character. Campbell is an American-born citizen who moved to Germany as a child and became the English-speaking radio mouthpiece for Nazi Germany during World War II. In the fifteen years since the end of the war, he has been living an almost invisible life in a New York City attic apartment. He misses his German wife Helga who died in the war, sometimes thinks about his pre-war life as a successful writer of plays and poems, and perhaps just waits for history to find him once again. As we begin the novel, he has been found and is writing this account from a jail cell in Israel, awaiting trial for his crimes against humanity. While he is reviled by almost everyone on earth as an American Nazi traitor, the truth is that he was actually an agent working for the American government during the war; this is a truth he cannot prove, though. Thus, in this 1961 novel, the hero is ostensibly a Nazi war criminal.

The primary moral of Mother Night, Vonnegut tells us in his introduction, is that "we are what we pretend to be" and should thus be pretty darned careful about what we are pretending to be (a secondary moral being the less enlightening statement "when you're dead, you're dead"). In the eyes of the entire world, Campbell is exactly what he pretended to be during the war, a traitorous Nazi purveyor of propaganda who mocked and demoralized allied troops as well as regular citizens. Internally, Campbell hardly knows what he is anymore; he claims no country, no political values, wanting only to live in a "nation of two" with his beloved wife Helga once again. A series of significant events forces Campbell out of the cocoon of his past fifteen years, and his thoughts and actions along the way provide big juicy morsels of food for thought: taking personal responsibility for one's actions, the harsh truths of war and peace, the sometimes vast differences between truth and fact, individual redemption before self and society, finding direction and a purpose in a world gone mad, etc. Vonnegut's scythe-like dark humor cuts deeper than mere satire, aiming directly at some of the darker sections of the human heart, areas which most individuals too often ignore or refuse to acknowledge. The gallows humor can be quite funny on the surface, but it is in actuality a scalpel which Vonnegut wields to open up the heart and soul of the reader for self-examination. Mother's Night, the title of which is taken from Goethe's Faust, is a relatively short but very powerful novel.

"My name is Howard W. Campbell, Jr. I am an American by birth, a Nazi by reputation, and a nationless person by inclination" are the opening words to Kurt Vonnegut's tale of an American playwright living in Germany who, once World War II begins, becomes a Nazi radio propagandist. He becomes infamous for his disgustingly brutal radio shows which distributed wicked Nazi propaganda. He was thoroughly hated by the Americans, and loved by the Nazis. But there is one thing that you should know about Howard W. Campbell. He is an American spy. His radio shows are the medium for transmitting secret codes out of Germany to aid the American cause in the war. He was one of the most effective spies of World War II, and one of the only ones to survive the war. But after the war, he is simply discarded in a small New York attic apartment, with enough money to live the rest of his days there, but with no more direction to his life. He lives his life simply there, away from civilization and anyone who might recognize him as a war criminal, until a white supremacist discovers where he is located, and he once again must face his past. Mother Night is not a traditional war book, for rather than concentrating on the brutal aspects of combat, it focuses heavily on the equally gruesome subject of hate. Vonnegut also dissects the schizophrenic mind of a spy after the war has ended who has not only lost the trust of everyone he loves, but most importantly, his identity altogether, as he realizes he is a "nationless" person. The narrator is constantly questioning his identity, which has been muddled by his spy experiences. Vonnegut also discusses the minds of the Nazis, how ordinary and often intelligent men and women could be prompted to become the vicious killing machines that they were during World War II

Mother Night is a sharp, funny book thats humor is both satiric and farcical. It is a very entertaining read with twists and turns at every corner, including a surprise ending that is sure to catch the reader off-guard. Although Kurt Vonnegut is more well-known for his novels such as Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle, Mother Night is truly an overlooked classic that offers an entertaining read for not just fans of war books, but any reader looking for a hilariously addictive and heart-breakingly poignant book.

"Mother Night" by Kurt Vonnegut is a probing tale (a parable perhaps) about the difference between appearances and reality.

"Mother Night" is actually one of three books I have recently read (or reread) that deal with the dichotomy between appearance and truth. "Mother Night" is clearly the least subtle book as far as advancing an argument...yet it is far and away the most powerful. Vonnegut navigates this ethical minefield in an entertaining, yet sobering manner.

"Mother Night" tells the story of an American playwright who is enlisted to be a spy within World War II Germany. The playwright becomes part of the upper crust of Nazi society. Working as a talk-radio personality, he encodes top secret information in his pro-Nazi broadcasts. In so doing, he helps to bring about the eventual victory of the Allies.

The war-time story-line of "Mother Night" is told in retrospect by the playwright who is living a secluded life in 1960's New York City. The reason he must live in hiding is that his Allied contact person during the war disappeared. He has no one left to testify to the fact that he worked for the Allies.

The story takes off in grand Vonnegutian style as the "protagonist" of the story is discovered simultaneously by Nazi-hunters, Soviet agents, white supremacists, and a woman claiming to be his ex wife.

Through it all, Vonnegut asks hard questions about what action, motivation, intent, and reality have to do with reality.

I found this book to be eye-opening. It is engagingly told; containing passages of great beauty, sorrow, and even humor. I recommend this book.

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?)

... With this simple thesis that Vonnegut lays out in the introduction to his stellar "Mother Night," we are entered into the morally complex world of Howard W. Campbell, Jr. You see, Campbell acted as a spy for the U.S. during WWII, but he was so deep under cover that even the American government has no evidence that he was actually working for them, that the broadcasts he was making on Nazi radio contained coded messages for American intelligence. There is only one man who can save Campbell from his trial, and he has no idea who he really is or how to contact him. Now, looking back on his life, Campbell begins to understand how morally suspect he is, no matter what his intentions were. In posing as a Nazi Campbell was party to some terrible atrocities that he, as well as the reader, must come to terms with and decide if he is a hero or just as bad as the villains he was ostensibly helping us fight. Is his plight tragic or deserved? Vonnegut, in top form, weaves together a compelling tale with his typical blend of dark humor and drama in what is, in my most humble opinion, his best novel ever -- and with a canon that includes "Slaughterhouse Five," "Breakfast of Champions," and "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater," that is really saying something. An absolute must read.

This may be one of the most difficult to read of Vonnegut's novels. The themes of absurdity and fatalism are presented in a dark manner. Although the narration itself flows easily like a natural conversation and Vonnegut presents his themes in no uncertain terms (pages 224-225, 251), the characters are difficult to warm up to because each is traced with evil. The protagonist, Howard W. Campbell, Jr, was a "beacon" for Nazi propaganda and associated with the most notorious of the Nazi anti-heroes. The story goes back and forth between skittish encounters and tragic events that depict the illusion of an individual's purpose on earth. Entertaining, enlightening, but heavy.

A key in interpreting this convoluted and dark novel is Vonnegut's dedication "to Mata Hari." Some brief research into the life of Mata Hari reveals some obvious parallels with the confessions of Howard W. Campbell, Jr. Mata Hari's haunting legacy is whether she was guilty of espionage or not. Mother Night starts with the same question regarding Campbell. Similar to Hari, Campbell had been generally viewed as an artist, a free-spirited bohemian prior to his war experience. Also, similar to Mata, Campbell's relationships and liaisons with powerful men took him across international borders frequently, which eventually would lead to his downfall.

In both cases, it is pointless to speculate whether or not Campbell or Hari were spies. Both were not only helpless in the face of the war machine ("gear teeth" in the "cuckoo clock of hell"), but also naïvely ignorant of the gravity of their respective situations after their arrests by the military. Hence the behaviors of both seem unfathomable, considering that each had actively determined the course of their life and constructed their own legendary persona, but also seemed pre-determined to be pawns in the immense storm of war.

Mother Night is a two-fold investigation of self-deception and fatalism. Fatalism seems to be a product of the funny mind games we play with ourselves when we rationalize that what we are doing not only right, but our only choice. Possibly, fatalism is a product of learned helplessness, where we no longer feel our actions can make a difference. Therefore, we tell ourselves lies to make our actions seem justified and we are lulled into inaction. In the end, the damage is done and the lesson is that our lies may be more influential than our truths.

I don't see much point in describing the plot, because no plot summary can give you any adequate idea of what this amazingly powerful book is really all about. But then it's also hard to describe what it's all about, except to say that it encompasses themes of good and evil, responsibility and innocence, remorse and redemption, and the all-important question of whether our intentions can truly justify our actions. It's difficult for me to describe the effect this book had on me--perhaps I can convey some idea of its impact by saying that I frequently found myself raising my head from its pages with the words "oh, _man_" upon my lips and subsequently staring into space for several minutes while allowing the sentence I had just read to work its way through my system. At times I felt as though I'd been kicked in the gut...but it was well worth it. Few books I've read have been as profound or as thought-provoking. Don't expect it to make you happy--but expect it to make you think very seriously about the human condition and about the actions that even the best of us benighted beings are capable of.

Vonnegut starts out this book with a warning : "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." This story follows the life of an American playwright, Howard W. Campbell Jr., who happens to live in Germany during the Nazi regime. He is confronted by the Americans to work as a spy, sending secret messages through a radio broadcast. He agrees to this but at the same time his broadcasts are filled with propaganda, all in favor of Hitler and his actions. True to Vonnegut's style, the plot gets more and more twisted as the story goes on, ending with Campbell in an Israeli prison. This was a wonderfully well written novel with action and intrigue that made it hard to put down! Each time I finish one of Vonnegut's novels, I find myself longing to head back to the library to find another one.

I recently read "Mother Night" for the second or third time. In the first readings I saw the novel for what it pretended to be--a story about a World War II spy, perhaps too dedicated and what happened to him after the war.

In the last reading I recognized a story more representative of the today's world where the consequences of being dedicated--to both good and bad policy can have disastrous effects. Just a casual look at the economic problems of the last few years and the behavior of people on both sides of every issue leads one to question blind dedication that is often accompanied by a failure to see the big picture.

Leaders today seem to be all too anxious to align themselves with certain causes, policies, and constituents. In some cases, it is doubtful they even believe strongly in them but there is personal gain to be gotten and so they believe. Vonnegut's warning: Be careful what you pretend to be.

"Mother Night" can be read as an interesting piece of historical fiction or it can be seen as social commentary about taking positions that might grant immediate rewards or even make sense in the short run but that will later lead to problems. We are all being asked to lend our support to causes, to take a bigger role in politics, to become more active in the world around us. Vonnegut didn't tell us not to do these things but he did warn us to be careful.

I recommend "Mother Night" because of the novel approach it takes to bringing these situations to life. It is an interesting story and a compelling problem that we should all be aware of, whether we are the ones doing the pretending or just following a pretender.

Kurt Vonnegut must be the most deceptive author in history. His books have such a lithe and jocular style to them they feel like beach-reads, but you always finish them with a knot in the pit of your stomach.
There's a great deal of well crafted sugar to make the medicine go down, but you still always taste it.
Mother Night is by far the darkest of the Vonnegut novels I've read. Even more so then Slaughterhouse-Five. But where Slaughterhouse dealt with the hell that is war, Mother Night traces the purgatory that follows it and the lost wandering of one man that did both the greatest of good and the fiercest of evil.
In each chapeter he gives you the set up for a joke, but intead of a punchline, he tells you the dog just died. It's dark, but always told with that knowing grin and that understated sleight of hand that makes all of his work so easy to overlook, but impossible to ever forget.