Vonnegut's America of 1964 looks a lot like 2023
5 stars
It took me a while to get around to reading this. Perhaps it's the title, indicating that this is one of his non-SF books, inasmuch as any of his books can be described as SF. Vonnegut gently mocks himself, his characters, the entire universe, and that includes readers like me. I should have learned from him by now that it's actually absurd to approach Vonnegut from the direction of science fiction. He is clearly not a genre writer, unless you perceive him as being his own genre.
In my defence, I suggest that "Cat's Cradle", which preceded "God Bless You Mr Rosewater", is the best of Vonnegut's novels when read from the perspective of science fiction. But I digress...
There are several Rosewaters in the book - the main one is Eliot, heir to a fortune who turns his back on his privileged life and lives in a backwater county, …
It took me a while to get around to reading this. Perhaps it's the title, indicating that this is one of his non-SF books, inasmuch as any of his books can be described as SF. Vonnegut gently mocks himself, his characters, the entire universe, and that includes readers like me. I should have learned from him by now that it's actually absurd to approach Vonnegut from the direction of science fiction. He is clearly not a genre writer, unless you perceive him as being his own genre.
In my defence, I suggest that "Cat's Cradle", which preceded "God Bless You Mr Rosewater", is the best of Vonnegut's novels when read from the perspective of science fiction. But I digress...
There are several Rosewaters in the book - the main one is Eliot, heir to a fortune who turns his back on his privileged life and lives in a backwater county, devoting himself to giving away his money and being a friend to the poor. His father is the monstrous Senator Rosewater, who is staunchly, moralistically committed to the pure conservative ideas of capitalism and the power of money. He despises his son and is horrified at the idea of treating disadvantaged people with the same dignity as any other human being.
Senator Rosewater's speeches have a new currency in this age of American despotism, where the likes of Trump and DeSantis are rewarded with high office, in return for their vicious contempt for the masses they are intent on crushing. What's different today is the way the new breed of wannabe tyrants are lauded by the very people they trample on, as they slash welfare and health care, and shower the rich with dazzling largess.
While this book looks at the big ideas of America, the later "Breakfast of Champions" focuses on the small town and the personal trauma the USA inflicts on its people. In between, you have Vonnegut's masterwork "Slaughterhouse Five". You can see the germination of that book in "God Bless You Mr Rosewater". Eliot is a world war two veteran, his experiences in that conflict against the forces of tyranny lead him to develop a social conscience that his father so reviles. The war is the central motif in "Slaughterhouse Five".
Oh, and like all Vonnegut's work, "God Bless You Mr Rosewater" is laugh-out-loud funny, despite the dark and heavy themes that predominate.
I feel like re-reads of "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Breakfast of Champions" are in order. Vonnegut was a visionary and I love his work a lot. If I wasn't such a staunch atheist I'd say "god bless you Mr Vonnegut".
