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[Tragicomedy]

Thanks to Cyan for letting me hop in this month!

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night


Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all.

“A shaking up in the kaleidoscope of laughter . . . Reading Vonnegut is addictive!”
- Commonwealth

“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer . . . a zany but moral mad scientist.”
- Time


Find it here:
Kindle edition
Paperback edition

Or try your local library. Let's read!

Guidelines:
-Discussion of anything and everything is encouraged. It's a book club, let's chat!
-Please use spoiler tags sensibly.
-The milestones are there to help keep you on the path. If you get ahead or behind, don't worry--it will have no impact on your final grade.


Reading Milestones:
The book is 290 pages, so here’s a rough schedule.
Mar 1-8 || Chapter 12
Mar 9-15 || Chapter 23
Mar 16-22 || Chapter 36
Mar 23-29 || Finish


Previous Book Club Threads:
Blindness by José Saramago (Feb 2014)
The Quiet American by Graham Greene (Jan 2014)
If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (Sept 2013)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (July 2013)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Feb-Mar 2013)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (September 2012)
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (January 2012)
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (December 2011)
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy (Oct 2011)
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Sep 2011)
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Aug 2011)
Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian (July 2011)
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (June 2011)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (May 2011)
The Afghan Campaign, by Steven Pressfield (Apr 2011)
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (Mar 2011)
Flashman, by George MacDonald Fraser (Feb 2011)[/QUOTE]

 

[Shengar]

Since new thread is up, can I asked for recommendation? Recently I'm reading many information about Industrial Revolution, Meiji Restoration, and Victoria Era on the internet. But I deemed that floating information on the internet isn't enough to satiate my curiosity on the subject. So, does anyone on Gaf know which books is the best for me to read more on such subjects, Industrial Revolution, Meiji Restoration, and Victoria Era in general.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Since new thread is up, can I asked for recommendation? Recently I'm reading many information about Industrial Revolution, Meiji Restoration, and Victoria Era on the internet. But I deemed that floating information on the internet isn't enough to satiate my curiosity on the subject. So, does anyone on Gaf know which books is the best for me to read more on such subjects, Industrial Revolution, Meiji Restoration, and Victoria Era in general.

You might find help in here, but you're better off asking in the "What are you reading?" thread. That's more general purpose, and I'm sure Maklershed will have the March thread up soon.

 

[Shengar]

You might find help in here, but you're better off asking in the "What are you reading?" thread. That's more general purpose, and I'm sure Maklershed will have the March thread up soon.

Damnit, I thought this is the What Are You Reading Thread D:
Sorry for that inconvenience post here.

 

[Lafiel]

Kurt Vonnegut is the best author ever.

I've already read this but I might dip in.. think I bought a copy of it on my kindle!

 

[Tragicomedy]

Damnit, I thought this is the What Are You Reading Thread D:
Sorry for that inconvenience post here.

As penance, you have to read Mother Night!

 

[Ashes]

I thought we were gonna do a two month non-fiction stint? My bad I guess. I like Kurt so I guess I'm in.

 

[Empty]

love vonnegut but haven't read this one yet, sounds interesting.

just bought a copy!

 

[Shengar]

As penance, you have to read Mother Night!

All right, I'll accept my penance.

 

[Nezumi]

I'll join later this month since the beginning of march will be dedicated to first the re-read of Way of Kings and then Words of Radiance. Once I'm done with those I'm in

 

[Necrovex]

I barely finished Blindness in time. I loved what I read of Vonnegut so I am all in for this month!

Placed a request at my library, will read sometime next week.

 

[dmag1223]

Vonnegut, Yes! Loved Cat's Cradle, so I'm defiantly in.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I thought we were gonna do a two month non-fiction stint? My bad I guess. I like Kurt so I guess I'm in.

Cyan got too busy for this month. We can probably expect the two month blowout in April.

love vonnegut but haven't read this one yet, sounds interesting.

just bought a copy!

All right, I'll accept my penance.

I barely finished Blindness in time. I loved what I read of Vonnegut so I am all in for this month!

Placed a request at my library, will read sometime next week.

Vonnegut, Yes! Loved Cat's Cradle, so I'm defiantly in.

My hope was this would be a Vonnegut that most of us hadn't read. Looks like that may hold true.

 

[HappyBivouac]

Oh man this is such a good book you guys.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Subbing to this. Hopefully will join.

Vonnegut is my favorite author. So looking forward to going through this book again or seeing some GAF analysis on it.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Shit, my library doesn't have a copy of this. :/ I'll check my local used book store and cross my fingers...

 

[EverythingShiny]

Awesome. I forgot to post about Blindness in last month's thread, but I love these since they expose me to books I probably wouldn't pick up on my own.

Thanks Tragicomedy for the pick, I'm definitely looking forward to reading this one.

FYI, just discovered that if you have a Kindle and are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow this book for free as part of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

 

[daffy]

Thanks Tragicomedy for another book club

 

[daizydoesit]

I'm in. Looks like a good book. I have to buy it and catch up.

 

[demon]

I read this a couple years ago and it's a pretty good book, and fairly quick read too.

 

[survivor]

Looks like another good book I haven't read. Will be interesting as this should be my first Vonnegut's novel as well.

 

[B-Dubs]

I've been on a Vonnegut stint lately and it just so happens I'm up to this one. I'm in.

 

[thequickandthedead]

I just binged Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions in the last few days. While they were good I'm kinda sick of the guy. His books tend to be very incoherent and bizarre at times.

 

[Tragicomedy]

God, I love Vonnegut. This book just breezes by at such a brisk pace, and it's such a freaking pleasure to read. I sat down to read for about an hour and just blasted through the first two week's milestones.

At this rate, I suppose I'll just go ahead and finish it in the next day or two. It's difficult to put down.

 

[Necrovex]

God, I love Vonnegut. This book just breezes by at such a brisk pace, and it's such a freaking pleasure to read. I sat down to read for about an hour and just blasted through the first two week's milestones.

At this rate, I suppose I'll just go ahead and finish it in the next day or two. It's difficult to put down.

I am still surprised I read through A Man Without a Country within 24 hours. That type of reading *never* happens!

 

[dmag1223]

Welp, its supposed to snow 6-10 inches today. Can't think of a better way to spend today than reading Vonnegut.

 

[Arkos]

I'm going to make a feeble attempt to jump in on this. I really should read more and I like Vonnegut so sounds like a good combo. Hopefully pick it up tomorrow or Tuesday

 

[Necrovex]

The library is telling me my copy of Slaughterhouse Five is now on stock. I must resist reading it until I get my hand on Mother Night!

I'm hoping by the time I finish all of these books (i.e. three Vonnegut novels) for March, Words of Radiance will be in county's library.

 

[dmag1223]

So I'm about 75 pages in, and I'm defiantly feeling a more grounded tone for this book, in comparison to Cat's Cradle. The zany, mad scientist element is still there, but it just seems less pronounced.

Not that this is a bad thing. I've thoroughly enjoyed the read so far. Vonnegut is a genius.

Edit: Just finished today. I'll wait till more people finish to share my thoughts. Thread doesn't seem too active though.

 

[survivor]

Picked up the book today, about 60 pages into it. Been a pretty good read so far.

 

[Empty]

the tatty copy i got off ebay for cheap arrived the other day. need to finish another book first but i'm looking forward to jumping in.

 

[Empty]

okay. read the first 90 pages so far. it's certainly a vonnegut book: the very short loosely structured chapters, the unique mixture of very odd humour and sad humanist observations, particularly about war and with dresden references. a book about a nazi war criminal looking back on his life could be very over-wrought but this has such a light touch, though there's some very interesting moral stuff in it too.

 

[EverythingShiny]

Amazing. This was my first Vonnegut and what an incredible book. I'll post more (including some favorite quotes) later in the month after others have read it. Thank you, Tragicomedy, for picking this book! I probably would have never read it otherwise.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Glad you liked it! I need to pick up the pace on Words of Radiance so I can participate in some discussion here.

Vonnegut has long been my favorite author and he has yet to let me down. I'm expecting the rest of this novel to be amazing.

 

[Empty]

finished it today

i thought it was pretty good, but i didn't love it as much as some of my favourite vonneguts. it's funny and readable in the usual vonnegut style, there's some wonderful little sad philosophical passages littered throughout about war or how you live and i find the ideas in the premise very interesting - the moral in the introduction that you are who you pretend to be, how to determine whether what you are doing is right and how powerless individuals can be in the face of greater political forces and the decisions we make as a result. however i found a lot of the zany and absurd humour and structural elements served to undercut the emotional strength of campbell's story, by the fifth twist or odd character in the story it felt like it was escaping the central moral conflict and i kept feeling i wanted more introspection from campbell, to really get into how he felt about things. i get that a lot of the book was about how the death of his wife, his current situation, the emotional baggage, all the stuff with all the 'ums' and the dialogue about chemicals in the brain and the lack of a country to believe in has left him numb and depressed but it meant that i found it a little unsatisfying and insubstantial.

it's maybe a little hard to reconcile this with my complete love of slaughterhouse 5 which has way more odd stuff and even more of a cipher in billy pilgrim but idk i think that book had a more perfect marriage of form and theme than this or maybe i've read a few too many of his books and his spell is falling off.

 

[survivor]

Finished reading it couple of days ago, really liked it. I though it would be a full comedy, didn't think it would question the morals of what people do at wars. Anyway, I think I should checkout other books by Vonnegut, probably gonna read Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle pretty soon.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I finished it tonight - ★★★★ - I'll post more detailed notes tomorrow, but suffice it to say I really liked it. This is classic Vonnegut, both funny and haunting.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Stellar book. Here's my more detailed take on it, complete with significant story elements (SPOILER ALERT!!!).

This is the story of Howard J. Campbell, Jr., recounted by the protagonist as he awaits his sentencing in an Israeli prison cell. He is being charged as a Nazi sympathizer and a WWII propaganda agent of the Germans. We do not find out until much later in the book that Campbell turned himself over to Israel of his own free will.

The protagonist's name was familiar to me, so I had to look it up. It turns out he made a minor appearance in Slaughterhouse-Five, fulfilling his role as a Nazi propagandist. An interesting easter egg.

The big picture takeaway for me was the nature of secret identities, and how one can lose his or her grasp on what is real when living in a duplicious manner. Vonnegut tells us in the introduction that the moral of the story is, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Campbell struggles to know where one side of his life ends and the other begins.

While serving the Nazi party during the war, Campbell is recruited by the US War Department to secretly aid the US by releasing codes in his broadcasts. Tentative at first, Campbell eventually agrees to the arrangement. The big problem is that only three people in the US know of the arrangement (the president and two military members), and the only surviving member in that party does not publically acknowledge it post-war. This results in Campbell being captured by the US at the end of the war, and only through his American counterparts behind the scenes work is he granted safe passage to NYC.

Remnants of his past life slowly seep up to the surface. In typical Vonnegut fashion, these come in the form of zany characters and organizations. Campbell's "best friend" is a neighbor who is a bumbling Soviet spy. A love interest comes into his life claiming to be his wife, but is really his sister-in-law now working for the Soviets. A white supremacist organization finds out about Campbell's whereabouts and try to parade him about as a war hero celebrity. The soldier who captured him at the end of the war discovers his identity and becomes obsessed with destroying Campbell.

Campbell seems disinterested in the whole ordeal. He recognizes what he said in his broadcasts as being objectively wrong, but he clings to the understanding that he was "one of the good guys" working behind the scenes for the Americans. He does not recognize himself as the same person he is perceived as by others.

One particular scene stood out the most to me, and that was during his final meeting with his American agent counterpart (Frank Wirtanen). Wirtanen asks Campbell what he would have done if the Germans won the war, with the unspoken accusation being that he would have gladly continued living as a pro-Nazi party member. Vonnegut does a great job of stressing the blurred lines of Campbell's identity. He may not have honestly believed the stuff he said in his broadcasts, but he certainly had no problem embracing the lifestyle it provided him during the war. Did he contribute to helping bring down the Nazi regime, and if so did he do enough?

Campbell certainly doesn't seem to think so. When he's finally offered a literal get-out-of-jail free card at the end of the book, he declines to accept the offer. He doesn't feel like he's committed serious crimes against humanity, but instead that he has committed "crimes against himself." Campbell ultimately lost his identity and in doing so also lost his will to go on living.

 

[Necrovex]

Is it unusual that I enjoyed Mother Night much more compared to Cat's Cradle? Reading that now, and I am unable to get into it. :-(

 

[Cyan]

Hope you guys are ready for some kick-ass nonfiction, because the next Book Club thread is a go! http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=792869