Mother Night

"There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too. Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on its side." Vonnegut is known, at least to me, as a man of kindness. He attacks the...more

"There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too. Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on its side." Vonnegut is known, at least to me, as a man of kindness. He attacks the frailty of such institutions as religion and government and war with the weapons of humanity: understanding, pliability, empathy despite adversity. Mother Night is one of his best novels in my opinion. It is strange and wonderful to see such brilliant offensive combat against the most vicious human qualities of hate carried out with soft spoken meanderings. Vonnegut is missed by the world, whether it is realized.   hide

fun read! A neat perspective on post WWII.