Author | Kurt Vonnegut |
---|---|
Cover artist | Leo and Diane Dillon |
Language | English |
Genre | Dark humour, metafiction |
Publisher | Fawcett Publications/Gold Medal Books |
Publication date | 1962 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
Pages | 192 |
ISBN | 978-0-385-33414-3 |
Mother Night is a novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut, first published in February 1962. [1] [2]
The novel takes the form of the fictional memoirs of Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American, who moved to Germany in 1923 at age 11, and later became a well-known playwright and Nazi propagandist. The story of the novel is narrated (through the use of metafiction [3] ) by Campbell himself, writing his memoirs while awaiting trial for war crimes in an Israeli prison. Campbell also appears briefly in Vonnegut's later novel Slaughterhouse-Five .
The title of the book comes from a passage in Goethe's Faust , [3] where Mephistopheles gives the name Mother Night to the primordial Darkness before the Light of creation, and hopes and predicts that the Light, and creation, must soon fail and the Darkness return. [4]
Vonnegut told Charlie Rose in 1996 that he was paid $3,000 for it (equivalent to $23,000in 2023) at a time when he "needed the money", and also explained the idea for the story as follows: [5]
I got the idea at a cocktail party on Cape Cod. [...] I lived there for 20 years, and I met a spymaster. The guy had been a spymaster during the Second World War, and he was complaining about spy films, that they made no sense. He said, "Any time you have an agent inside an enemy country, this is a very sick person you are dealing with."
He also explains the inspiration for Campbell's character:
The British actually had a treacherous citizen who broadcast for the Nazis, Lord Haw-Haw, and he was hanged by the British after the war for treason. I said, "All right, suppose an American does this."
The novel is framed as the memoir of Howard W. Campbell, Jr. He is writing it while imprisoned and waiting for his war crimes trial for his actions as a Nazi propagandist. Campbell, an American who moved to Germany with his parents at age 11, recounts his childhood as the Nazi Party is consolidating its power. Instead of leaving the country with his parents, Campbell continues his career as a playwright, his only social contacts being Nazis. Being of sufficiently ″Aryan″ heritage, Campbell becomes a member of the party in name only. He is politically apathetic, caring only for his art and his wife Helga, who is also the starring actress in all of his plays.
Campbell is later approached by Frank Wirtanen, an agent of the U.S. War Department. Wirtanen wants Campbell to spy as a double agent for the United States in the impending world war. Campbell rejects the offer, but Wirtanen quickly adds that he wants Campbell to think about it. Eventually, he accepts. Once the war starts, Campbell begins to make his way up through Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry, eventually becoming the "voice" of broadcasts aimed at converting Americans to the Nazi cause (a parallel to the real broadcaster, Dr. Edward Vieth Sittler). [6] [7] [8] [9] Unbeknownst to the Nazis, all of the idiosyncrasies of Campbell's speeches – deliberate pauses, coughing, etc. – are part of the coded information he is passing to the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Campbell never discovers, nor is he ever told, the information that he is sending.
About halfway through the war, Helga goes to the Eastern Front to entertain German troops. Campbell is extremely distraught when he hears that the camp Helga visited in Crimea has been overrun by Soviet troops and she is presumed dead. In early 1945, just before the Red Army captures Berlin, Campbell visits his in-laws one last time. During the visit, he has a conversation with Helga's younger sister, Resi, that resonates with him for years afterward. After Campbell is captured by American forces, Wirtanen works out a deal in which he is set free and given passage to New York City.
Fifteen years later, Campbell lives an anonymous life, sustained only by memories of his wife and an indifferent curiosity about his eventual fate. His only friend is George Kraft, a likewise lonely neighbor—who, through an extraordinary coincidence, also happens to be a Soviet intelligence agent. He tries to trick Campbell into fleeing to Moscow by publicizing his identity and location. A white supremacist organization makes Campbell a cause célèbre , inviting him to speak to new recruits. The group's leader, a dentist named Lionel Jones, shows up at Campbell's apartment with a surprise: a woman claiming to be Helga, alive and well and professing her undying love. Campbell's will to live returns, and remains even after he finds out that she is not Helga, but rather Resi. They plan to escape to Mexico City after attending one of Jones' fascist meetings.
There, Wirtanen makes an appearance to warn Campbell of Kraft's plot and Resi's complicity. Heartbroken, Campbell decides to go along with the charade. He confronts Kraft and Resi, the latter swearing her feelings for him are genuine. The FBI then raids the meeting and takes Campbell into custody, while Resi commits suicide by taking a cyanide capsule. As before, Wirtanen uses his influence to have Campbell set free. Once Campbell returns to his apartment, however, he realizes that he has no real reason to continue living, and decides to turn himself in to the Israelis to stand trial.
While imprisoned in Israel, Campbell meets Adolf Eichmann and gives him advice on how to write an autobiography. At the very end of the book, he inserts a letter that he has just received from Wirtanen. The corroborating evidence that he was indeed an American spy has finally arrived, and Wirtanen writes that he will testify to Campbell's true loyalties in court. Rather than being relieved, Campbell feels disgusted by the idea that he will be saved from death and granted freedom only when he is no longer able to enjoy anything that life has to offer. In the last lines, Campbell tells the reader that he will hang himself not for crimes against humanity, but rather for "crimes against myself."
A film adaptation was released in 1996, starring Nick Nolte as Campbell, Sheryl Lee as Helga/Resi, Alan Arkin as Kraft and John Goodman as Wirtanen. The film was written and co-produced by Robert B. Weide, who was also at the time working on a documentary on Kurt Vonnegut. In 2021, the documentary was released as Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. [10]
In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of Mother Night, narrated by Victor Bevine, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks. [11]
A theatrical version, adapted and directed by Brian Katz, was premiered at the Custom Made Theater Company in San Francisco in 2017. [12] A revival, also directed by Katz, was presented at 59E59 Theatres in New York in October 2018. [13]
Kurt Vonnegut was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty-plus years; further works have been published since his death.
Theodore Sturgeon was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 short stories, 11 novels, and several scripts for Star Trek: The Original Series.
Cat's Cradle is a satirical postmodern novel, with science fiction elements, by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut's fourth novel, it was first published on March 18, 1963, exploring and satirizing issues of science, technology, the purpose of religion, and the arms race, often through the use of morbid humor.
Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years. Throughout the novel, Billy frequently travels back and forth through time. The protagonist deals with a temporal crisis as a result of his post-war psychological trauma. The text centers on Billy's capture by the German Army and his survival of the Allied firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war, an experience that Vonnegut endured as an American serviceman. The work has been called an example of "unmatched moral clarity" and "one of the most enduring anti-war novels of all time".
The Sirens of Titan is a comic science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history, with much of the story revolving around a Martian invasion of Earth.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, Kurt Vonnegut's fifth novel, was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and as a Dell mass-market paperback in 1970. A piece of postmodern satire, it gave context to Vonnegut's following novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, and shared in its success.
Bernard Vonnegut was an American atmospheric scientist credited with discovering that silver iodide could be used effectively in cloud seeding to produce snow and rain. He was the older brother of American novelist Kurt Vonnegut.
Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) is a collection of essays, reviews, short travel accounts, and human interest stories written by Kurt Vonnegut from c. 1966–1974.
Slaughterhouse-Five is a 1972 American comedy-drama military science fiction film directed by George Roy Hill and produced by Paul Monash, from a screenplay by Stephen Geller, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut. The film stars Michael Sacks as Billy Pilgrim, who is "unstuck in time" and has no control over where he is going next. It also stars Ron Leibman as Paul Lazzaro and Valerie Perrine as Montana Wildhack.
Palm Sunday is a 1981 collection of short stories, speeches, essays, letters, and other previously unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut. The collection provides insight into Vonnegut's thoughts on various subjects, including writing, war, and his own literary career. The book is known for its eclectic mix of genres and personal reflections.
Mother Night is a 1996 American romantic war drama film produced and directed by Keith Gordon. It is based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 novel of the same name.
Martin James Monti was a United States Army Air Forces pilot who defected to Nazi Germany in October 1944, joined the Waffen-SS, and worked as a propagandist and writer. After the end of World War II, he was tried and sentenced for theft and desertion. Monti was granted clemency six months later. However, in 1948, after his involvement in Nazi propaganda was discovered, he was arrested, pleaded guilty to treason, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Joseph Andrew Sittler was an American Lutheran minister and theologian who taught at Maywood Seminary, eventually merged into the Divinity School of the University of Chicago and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He was also active in the Christian ecumenical movement, working with World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.
Bernard Vonnegut I, WAA, FAIA, was an American lecturer and architect active in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Indiana. He was a co-founder of the locally renowned Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, and was active in a range of residential, religious, institutional, civic, and commercial commissions. He is the namesake and grandfather of scientist Bernard Vonnegut, father of the architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr., and grandfather of author Kurt Vonnegut.
Norb Vonnegut is an American author of Wall Street thrillers and a financial commentator on his blog entitled "Acrimoney". He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, and received bachelor's and Master of Business Administration degrees from Harvard University. His business career began in the Philippines and took him to Australia, South Carolina, and Rhode Island before he settled into the wealth management profession in New York City.
Harry James Cargas was an American scholar and author best known for his writing and research on the Holocaust, Jewish–Catholic relations, and American literature. He was a professor at Webster University for nearly three decades, and his circle of friends and collaborators included the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and sportscaster and humanitarian Bob Costas.
Edward Vieth Sittler (1916-1975) was an American musician and educator who renounced his United States citizenship before World War II in order to take German citizenship, and worked for the Nazis as a broadcaster during World War II.
Walter Sittler is an American-German actor, producer, and writer.