Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut

Ting-a-ling. Hello.

Here is a Kurt Vonnegut book I have not read before.  It is about human relationships in a capitalist society.  Walter F. Starbuck, the main character, is in his mid-sixties.  He has just served three years in prison for his undistinguished role in Nixon's Watergate scandal.  Walter narrates the story of his life from his childhood to the events in the brief time of freedom he has before he is jailed a second time.

Walter feels that what he has achieved was accomplished through the patronage of others and that his mistakes were accidents.  His life is a demonstration of the old adage that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  

After graduating from university (his tuition having been paid by his father's millionaire employer), Walter seeks employment as a public servant for a noble purpose:

It was my plan when I entered Harvard to become a public servant, an employee rather than an elected official. I believed that there could be no higher calling in a democracy than to a lifetime in government.

Walter's career in the public service is safe and undistinguished.  Looking back on it he says: "Never have I risked my life, or even my comfort, in the service of mankind. Shame on me."  Crucially, Walter makes a decision not to repeat one of his mistakes and it lands him in jail.

 In Jailbird, Vonnegut examines the merits of socialist thoughts and actions as opposed to those of the capitalist ethos.  While Walter F. Starbuck puts forward the merits of socialism, he runs up against the stark reality that any wealth-creating enterprise is doomed if it does not turn a profit.  Indeed, one of the characters has embarked upon a massive scheme to return the wealth of the United States to its citizens; but the irony is that the means to do this is summed up in a capitalist directive: 'acquire, acquire, acquire.'

Vonnegut, being Vonnegut, raises some of the big humanist questions: Where is God during a war? How does meaning and kindness enter the world?  Walter F. Starbuck says, 'We are here for no purpose, unless we can invent one. Of that I am sure.'  Vonnegut, in his prologue, says:

So I have always been enchanted by brave veterans like Powers Hapgood, and some others, who were still eager for information of what was really going on, who were still full of ideas of how victory might yet be snatched from the jaws of defeat. “If I am going to go on living,” I have thought, “I had better follow them.”

Of course, there is a lot more to Jailbird than I can relate in the brief time and space available to me.  Vonnegut, comparing himself to himself, gave it an A along with The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night and God Bless You, Mr Rosewater.  Jailbird is certainly worth reading, but it gets a B+ from me.  The other three books are a smidgen better, IMAO.

Ting-a-ling.  Goodbye.