![]() ![]() ![]() So this book succeeds as a satire, fails in terms of the author's intended moral. Rather, Vonnegut seems to be arguing that even pretending to be a Nazi can have terrible consequences. However, from the author's introduction, we know that Vonnegut intended this story to have a moral: "we are what we pretend to be." Campbell's claim is that he never believed in Nazism, but that no matter how ridiculous his Nazi propaganda seemed to him, there was always an audience for it! Yet does pretending to be a Nazi, supposedly on behalf of the Allies, make one a Nazi? I don't see that Vonnegut ever makes his case. At that level, I found it entirely successful. On the face of it, this is a madcap, fast-paced satire that is a quick and enjoyable read, full of strange and amusing characters, and not a few twists and turns. but his existence is finally revealed, and soon everyone is after him - the Israelis, the Communists, American patriots, and American Nazis! In despair after the apparent loss of his wife during the war, Campbell is content to be "invisible". Soon Campbell is writing Nazi propaganda and then making English-language broadcasts, but embedding coded messages for the Allies.Īfter WWII, the Allies refuse to acknowledge their relationship with the despised propagandist, and arrange for him to "disappear" back in the U.S. is Campbell telling the truth, or lying?Ĭampbell describes himself as a playwright in pre-war Germany, more interested in the love of his life (Helga) than in politics, who is persuaded to become a mole for the Americans within the Nazi government. intelligence, but that they disowned him after the war due to his terrible reputation. From prison, Campbell is now telling his side of the story - that he was working undercover for U.S. During WWII, Campbell (an American) broadcast propaganda on behalf of the Nazis. This novel begins with Howard Campbell, Jr., a prisoner in an Israeli prison, a suspected war criminal. I haven't heard anyone talk about Vonnegut in years (was he just a fad?), but I'm curious what his books are like, so I spend $0.99 USD and grab the book in its Kindle edition. ![]() People just didn't know what 'category' to put him in.)ĭecades pass, and one day Amazon puts Mother Night on sale as its featured Book of the Day. (Which, in retrospect, was accurate - Vonnegut began as a science-fiction author, was often described as such, but many of his later novels aren't science fiction at all. I tried some of his books (I don't remember which, now), and was disappointed to find they weren't really science fiction. When I was growing up, Kurt Vonnegut was hailed (or pigeonholed) as a "brilliant" science-fiction writer. ![]()
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