Mother Night: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mother Night: A Novel
Book Review: Heil Vonnegut....
Summary: 4 Stars
I began reading Vonnegut on the suggestion of one of my English teachers. Thus, far I have read six of his novels. Mother Night is the first one I've read which has any possibility of actually occuring (it's not science fiction).
An American living in Germany becomes a spy for the Allies, loses everything that matters, thinks he regains it, then is crushed once more! Dark humor. check. Odd love scenes. check. great style. uncheck.
The novels that made Vonnegut a name for himself such as Cat's Cradle and Slaughter-House Five are certaintly amiss here. His anthropologist side even faded a little bit. In fact, some of the plot was so cheesy it was strange to remind myself that one of my favorite authors wrote it.
If you love Vonnegut pick this book up. It won't take long to read and you can decide for yourself. The book does deserve a 4/5 which is what I'm awarding it. It wins this due to just the right amount of cheek. However, I rather re-read Galapagos or Slapstick.
Book Review: His best?..
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply brilliant.
Howard W. Campbell writes this story from an Israeli prison where he is about to be tried for war crimes,- being a collaborator broadcasting propaganda from Berlin during the Second World War. From the beginning Campbell admits that he is guilty of what he is being charged with.
The book is full of Vonnegut humour and killer satire and it has a moral:
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.
This is more accessible than Slaughterhouse 5 I feel and I would suggest that if you haven't read "5" yet, you read this and then move on to "5".
What this book really made me do was wonder,would Vonnegut have been able to write these wonderful books if he hadn't been through the physical and mental hell that he endured in Dresden.
Book Review: Howard Campbell, the Man and his Guilt
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of Kurt Vonnegut's greatest pieces of literature that offers the reader a look into what happens when you pretend to be something you are not. Whether you make a new face for yourself believing it to be for the right reasons or not, there are always consequences. Having agreed to become a spy within Nazi Germany, our protagonist is so effective at spewing propaganda that when the time comes no one believes the actual truth of the matter regarding Howard Campbell Jr.
His life after the war in a cramped New York apartment is both terrifying for him and depressing, if not boring at times. The real poignancy of this story comes from the interactions between what our main character is supposed to be (a brutal Nazi supporter), truly is (one of the greatest spies of WWII), wants to be, and what happens because of the choices he has made in his not-so-real life.
Book Review: Howard W. Cambell Jr.'s story
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second book I've read by Vonnegut(after the exceptional Cat's Cradle) and Vonnegut proves his superior ability to create complicated characters. After finishing the book, I still have no Idea if Cambell was a real person or not. (I don't think so, but the author made him feel like a real person.) My only complaint is that the plot was never clearly defined and it constantly shifted in time. But other than slight lack of focus(which works in a way since it is the last written words of a probably soon to be convicted war criminal possibly about to be hanged, making the story all the more realistic.) Overall this was a great book with all issues such as morality and responsibility. In fact, I loved the idea that a man working as a spy could serve the side he is spying on far more than he could ever serve the ones he is spying for... all unintentionally. Vonnegut loads the story with humorous ironies also.Book Review: I've Read Better
Summary: 3 Stars
I love KV. I bought this book because it received 5 stars where books I truely love like Blue Beard, did not. I felt there was less circular nature to the writing, the story was thready, the message less than inspiring. Definately not a keeper, I put it right back on e-bay. In contrast to 4 copies of Blue Beard I have bought over the years, I can't quote a single passage from Mother Night, nothing really excited me.