Mother Night

"This book is rededicated to Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a man who served evil to openly and good to secretly, the crime of his times."

Kurt Vonnegut

Mother Night

Its turning out to be a summer of Vonnegut. And what a summer it has been. With church shootings, attacks on beach goers, and the beginnings of the the presidential campaigns I find that with every book of his I read, that he is still relevant.  The satirical ways he deals with race, politics, war, the lies we tell ourselves to make it all seem O.K. have become lessons that need to be re-examined and re-evaluated. After all "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."

Mother Night follows the story of Howard W. Campbell, a man who was a radio announcer in Nazi Germany. He was also an American agent, though he himself barely knew it. Years after the war, while living in New York, he is confronted with the things he said while pretending to be a Nazi, and the hate that was spread on both sides.

I love this book. It was dark and touching. I liked it more than Breakfast of Champions, and more than God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater(which rocked my socks off). The way he addressed this fury, this righteousness that people found in themselves when they allowed themselves to hate like they did, like we do even today, was striking....and terrifying. He explained it in such a clear way:

'"Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on it's side. It's that part of every man that finds all kinds of ugliness so attractive.

"It's that part of an imbecile," I said, "that punishes and vilifies and makes war gladly."'

I think this is a very important idea for us to examine. This whole idea of hating without reservation, whatever the reason (race, gender, sexual orientation, ect...) is terrifying, but I feel that it is something that I see often, which is even more horrific. And I find that it can only lead to more horrific acts. I'm not saying that we should forgive people for the atrocious actions they may commit, but that we should not let ourselves fall into that kind of a hate as an alternative.

I loved this book, I really do think that everyone should read it. Its a wonderful story of a man who is trying to live with what he has done, and the hate that has encompassed the world. It's one that I can't wait to read again.